# Evil Character You Can't Help Liking **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470 "2005-01-19T00:53:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/41 "2005-01-19T14:56:08Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I’m sorry. I completely disagree. His portrayal as a campy villian in what was supposedly a serious film was what totally ruined the movie for me. “Serious film”? This is the version of Robin Hood with the patented flaming-arrow-cam, right? The one where they infiltrate a castle by loading themselves into a catapult and flinging themselves over the walls? It was sillier than _Men in Tights_. I gotta agree with the Alan Rickman nominations Daniel ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/42 "2005-01-19T15:03:18Z")
> [@shadowfax33](#): > > I also have a fondness for that Shakespeare-quoting baddie–can’t remember his name–in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. KAAAAAANNNNNGGGGG!!! 😃😃😃😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/43 "2005-01-19T15:16:27Z")
> [@Bill Door](#): > > Al Swearengen (played by Ian McShane) on Deadwood. Couldn’t possibly agree more. I love Al Swearengen-- best TV villain _ever_. I also love Omar from _The Wire_ and Tony from _The Sopranos_. I was rooting for Gary Oldman as Dracula in Coppola’s version of the movie-- how could I root for the pathetic Harker played by Keanu Reeves? Along those same lines, I was hoping Agent Smith would eat Neo in _Matrix: Revolutions_. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/44 "2005-01-19T15:43:17Z")
Bender, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/45 "2005-01-19T15:55:25Z")
Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) from **Fright Night**. Spike from **Buffy**. Lestat from **Interview with the Vampire** , etc. Any other sexy vampire I’ve forgotten. Sesshomaru from **Inuyasha**. Karen and Jack from **Will & Grace**. I know they’re broad cartoon characters, but they totally kill me. (I read in _Entertainment Weekly_ last week that part of the reason Will and Grace’s characters have devolved and become more obnoxious is to compete with the scene-stealing Karen and Jack, but instead of becoming a fun sort of evil, they’ve just become jerks.) ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/46 "2005-01-19T16:53:53Z")
Jurt from Roger Zelazny’s Merlin books. Jurt always got the sticky end of the lollypop. Everyone I know thought the character was stupid and annoying, but I’ve always felt so sorry for him. Possibly because we both hate Merlin so much, the tosser. _sigh_ Poor Jurt. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/47 "2005-01-19T16:57:28Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > KAAAAAANNNNNGGGGG!!! > 😃😃😃😃😃😃 Chang, actually. [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0102975/combined](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0102975/combined) I’ll add Mr. Gone from **The Maxx**. A serial rapist and murderer, but damn, he’s just so cool. You hate to like him, but you can’t help it. Second Spike, and the Trio. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/48 "2005-01-19T17:35:01Z")
> [@emekthian](#): > > What, Kefka isn’t hot? > > I thought Kefka was pretty hot… :dubious: He’s a super deformed sprite. The [character designs](http://www.rpgland.com/ffmythology/kefka.jpg) of him aren’t that hot-looking, and the new CG version of him is just plain [creepy](http://www.ffcompendium.com/chara/6kefka-s.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/49 "2005-01-19T17:47:27Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > I wouldn’t exactly call him a villain. He’s a bastard. He’s annoying as all-get-out. But he’s also sort of not-evil. I mean, he risks an awful lot to save the world. Maybe he doesn’t really care about people (aside from finding them quite funny) but he’s done a few decent things in his life and at least feels like keeping the whole world around. He’s not really a villain, though he’s not exactly what I’d cal a good-guy. Well, sure, he isn’t the destroy/take over the world kind of evil, but personally I think that makes him all the more dangerous. For him, it’s all a big game - the plots, counterplots, manipulation, etc etc etc etc. He does take risks, but they’re all calculated; I don’t think he ever puts himself in a situation where he’s truly in over his head. (Why, no, I’m not biased about Xelloss, not at all. :D) ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/50 "2005-01-19T18:13:53Z")
The Monarch, from the Venture Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/51 "2005-01-19T18:22:22Z")
C. Montgomery Burns (from _The Simpsons_) and Jean-Baptise Emmanuel Zorg (from _The Fifth Element_) are two of my favorites. And on preview, I second the Monarch! ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/52 "2005-01-19T18:36:52Z")
> [@Einmon](#): > > As to the OP, I offer David Bowie in _Labyrinth_. Oooh, 80s hair! His character was certainly the villain of the story, but I don’t know if it’s fair to call him _evil_. His defense of himself at the end of the film is fairly accurate, if self-serving – his worst crime was doing exactly what the heroine asked him to do. The rest of his behavior was hardly exemplary, but I don’t think it was truly evil. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/53 "2005-01-19T19:10:46Z")
Bowser. He’s evil, but always has time for a friendly game of tennis or a go-kart race. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/54 "2005-01-19T19:27:34Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > … a god guy or a bad guy … Those aren’t mutually exclusive. What about Ares from _Hercules_ and _Xena_ fame? 😃 OK, OK, so it’s a typo. Still, Ares was certainly a fun bad guy on those series. > [@Kaspar Hauser](#): > > Bender, of course. Bender’s not evil. He’s more of a “Chaotic Neutral”. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/55 "2005-01-19T19:47:28Z")
Ooh! Ooh! Satan, from _Highway 61_. In order to finance his cross-country trip, Satan goes to a small-town Church Bingo game and whips everyone’s butt, winning the prize money and a macrame plant holder made by one of the little old bingo ladies. As he leaves, an angry woman mutters under her breath that he must’ve been cheating, at which point he turns around and says, “Lady, you can’t cheat at bingo. If you could, I would, but you can’t. I won because I was lucky - lucky to wind up in a town full of losers!” He then drops the plant holder into a trashcan and leaves, while I’m rolling hysterically on the ground. And that’s not even getting into the scene where he corrupts a little girl, one of the wrongest and funniest things I’ve ever seen. A close follow-up: Satan, from _The Book Of Job_ Satan: Sigh, I’m bored. Oi, God! God: Hmmm? Satan: I betcha you can’t torment and torture your most devout follower, putting them through unimaginable agony, and they’ll still like you. God: Oh yeah? You’re on! Satan: heh heh heh Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/56 "2005-01-19T20:22:10Z")
the Master (#1 - Roger Delgado) Davros & the Daleks Sil – All the above from “Dr. Who.” Scorpius from “Farscape.” Barnabas Collins & Angelique from “Dark Shadows.” Patsy Stone from “Absolutely Fabulous.” (an aging, self-absorbed party-queen & leech on Edina, but funny, funny, funny) Bart Simpson (who, as we know from that “Treehouse of Horror” episode is the evil twin!) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/57 "2005-01-19T20:55:32Z")
Al Pacino’s devil in \*The Devil’s Advocate \* has already been mentioned. Robert de Nero’s devil in \*Angel Heart \* was better than the rest of the movie. Jack Nicholson’s devil in _The Witches of Eastwick_. “Are women one of God’s little mistakes? OR DID HE DO IT TO US ON PURPOSE?” In comic books, I can’t help feeling sorry for Starr in _Preacher_. He keeps trying to be the diabolical evil mastermind, but he keeps getting himself screwed. Literally, in one case. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/58 "2005-01-19T20:58:41Z")
George Costanza. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/59 "2005-01-19T21:37:45Z")
I love the Mummy from, of course, _The Mummy_ and _The Mummy Returns_. Such a yummy face (once he actually has a face; before, not so much) and such a tormented soul. I have a hard time rooting for the good guys in those movies. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470/60 "2005-01-19T21:44:52Z")
Several from Get Smart Ziegried and Stalker Bronzefinger The Craw (Not the Craw, the Craw!) Hagbard Celine from Illuminatus! Lord Vetinari from the Discworld books [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-character-you-cant-help-liking/285470.md?page=4)