# Best stories in which the bad guys win **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591 "2010-06-09T23:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/101 "2010-06-12T22:44:20Z")
Fun with Dick and Jane (the first one) The Ninth Gate Burnt Offerings ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/102 "2010-06-13T01:36:58Z")
**First Blood** - you may empathize with the vets plight, but the psychotic PTSD case ultimately blew up a town because he was disrespected. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/103 "2010-06-13T01:44:43Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > **First Blood** - you may empathize with the vets plight, but the psychotic PTSD case ultimately blew up a town because he was disrespected. It’s a good point, but John Rambo only “won” if you consider being locked up in prison for his (righteous cause) rampage winning… ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/104 "2010-06-13T02:33:36Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > It’s a good point, but John Rambo only “won” if you consider being locked up in prison for his (righteous cause) rampage winning… Well shit, The Italian Stallion went ten rounds but he didn’t _win_ either. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/105 "2010-06-13T02:57:18Z")
Yeah, nevermind me. I need to stop drunk posting. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/106 "2010-06-13T19:40:16Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > BTW, while the bad guy wins in the movie of “A Clockwork Orange,” it seems that in the English version the last chapter has Alex repenting. But not in the American version of the novel which I own, so I can’t confirm this. He doesn’t exactly repent, but after he meets one of his old droogs, who has gone straight and gotten married, he realizes he himself has grown out of wanting to commit crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/107 "2010-06-13T22:13:22Z")
Josie and the PussycatsSure, Fiona and Wyatt were exposed. But don’t forget, they were putting subliminal messages in songs for the government. And Agent Kelly used Fiona and Wyatt as fall-guys and said that the government had already decided to switch to putting its subliminal messages in movies instead. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/108 "2010-06-13T23:10:05Z")
[Flesh+Blood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089153/) [Basic Instinct](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103772/) No heroes, just some villains more charming than others. Paul Verhoeven has a rather grim view of humanity. Speaking of which, would [Showgirls](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114436/) count? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/109 "2010-06-13T23:17:04Z")
_The Omen_ Original baby dies. Babysitter dies. Mom dies. Photographer dies. Dad dies. In the end Damien walks home happy and free with a political powerhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/110 "2010-09-07T18:35:47Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > _Rosemary’s Baby_ Bumping this thread to mention Ira Levin’s _The Stepford Wives_. I would call killing and incincerating your wives so you can replace hhem with robots as the bad guys winning FUCKING BIG TIME! ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/111 "2010-09-08T12:31:10Z")
The Beast Wars episode “The Probe”. Megatron clearly and decisively wins the day. [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The\_Probe](http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Probe) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/112 "2010-09-08T13:41:24Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > The movie [_Payback_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120784/) although there are no good guys just less bad.😉 Interesting most people’s responses are movies. The OP said stories. Richard Stark’s (Donald Westlake) entire Parker series (which Payback is based upon the first ‘The Hunter’) is about a bad mother f’cker that seems to always get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/113 "2010-09-08T14:08:27Z")
_Crimes and Misdemeanors_. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/114 "2010-09-08T14:36:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > _Crimes and Misdemeanors_… I came in to say that. Also _The Boys From Brazil_. Maybe the Hitler clones will all turn out to be peaceful fellas… but the book reveals that at least one is already having dreams of mass adulation and power. Uh oh. And _Breaker Morant_. Of the three protagonists, two are shot and the other is imprisoned after a sham court-martial. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/115 "2010-09-08T17:57:51Z")
The novel "Lets Go Play At The Addams’ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/116 "2010-09-08T19:21:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > And _Breaker Morant_. > > Of the three protagonists, two are shot and the other is imprisoned after a sham court-martial. No way.The murdering bastards were guilty. While I am against the death penalty, they were definitely not the good guys. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/117 "2010-09-08T19:24:54Z")
Would Chicago count? There are only two truly innocent/moral characters in the film, Amos and the Hungarian inmate. In the end, the former is left alone and pathetic, and the latter is executed. Everyone else gets exactly what they want.I realize it’s satire, but I always saw the story as a reverse morality tale. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/118 "2010-09-08T19:56:13Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Kizarvexius](#): > > > > _It’s A Wonderful Life_. > > > > ::shudder:: > > Are you calling George evil, or Clarence? Potter gets the same money twice, with no repercussions. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/119 "2010-09-08T20:27:09Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > > [@Sitnam](#): > > > > **First Blood** - you may empathize with the vets plight, but the psychotic PTSD case ultimately blew up a town because he was disrespected. > > It’s a good point, but John Rambo only “won” if you consider being locked up in prison for his (righteous cause) rampage winning… In the book The colonel blows the top of Rambo’s head off with a shotgun as he is crawling away from the final confrontation with the sheriff. I would also say that John Rambo is more than just disrespected. He is literally driven out of town and then arrested when he refuses to stay out. When they take him off to jail, he has not committed any crime other than looking dis-respectable. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591/120 "2010-09-08T21:23:28Z")
[Dawn of the Dead (2004).](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363547/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-stories-in-which-the-bad-guys-win/542591.md?page=7)