# Evil protagonists. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445 "2009-03-05T21:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/21 "2009-03-06T03:07:37Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Just saw _Chicago_ the other night, and Roxy Hart struck me as pretty evil. Cheats on her husband, murders her boyfriend, talks her husband into taking the fall for her, and once she’s in prison, all she can think about is how to parley an act of murder into a showbiz career. All while still shamelessly manipulating her clueless lump of a husband. Never shows an ounce of remorse for anything she does. Yeah, I agree. I think they tried to make her sympathetic in the movie (they sort of make that guy she killed look all abusive). In the play, Fred Casely just walks out and she shoots him–no melodrama about him pushing her or or anything. She and Velma and Billy and everyone except for Amos (oh and the Hungarian woman) are pretty awful. But that’s what makes it so fun. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/22 "2009-03-06T03:09:52Z")
It’s been a number of years since I last saw the movie, but maybe Harvey Kietel in _Bad Lieutenant_? Does he turn it around in the end? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/23 "2009-03-06T03:16:16Z")
While not actually evil, some of W.C. Field’s protagonists were pretty nasty lowlifes. Probably the epitome is Larson E. Whipsnade in **You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man**. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/24 "2009-03-06T05:32:27Z")
Kain the vampire, of the Blood Omen video games. “Vorador was right. We are Gods - Dark Gods - and it is our duty to _thin the herd_.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/25 "2009-03-06T05:48:22Z")
**Lolita** **Bob Roberts The Player The Omen Profit** (TV w. Adrian Pasdar) **Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Star 80** (Paul Snider/Eric Roberts) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/26 "2009-03-06T06:05:27Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Bomb Queen from the Image comic of the same name There’s maybe a half dozen people in that series who AREN’T evil. All of them except Blacklight and the she-Spawn end badly, too… ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/27 "2009-03-06T06:12:22Z")
Yuri Orlov from the movie **Lord of War** might fit the bill. I’m nervous about giving too much away, however. Suffice it to say, he conforms pretty nicely to the standards set out in the OP ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/28 "2009-03-06T10:12:22Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Does Dexter Morgan count? Yup. [QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Tony Soprano on “Sopranos” is pretty much a sociopath. Does he count? [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/29 "2009-03-06T12:45:41Z")
Dr. Impossible from Grossman’s _Soon I will Be Invincible_ is a supervillain, and proud of it. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/30 "2009-03-06T13:17:05Z")
Andrew Vachss’s Burke and his merry gang. Especially Max the Silent. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/31 "2009-03-06T13:17:39Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > The Omen The protagonist was the Gregory Peck character, though, right? The father? Not Damien. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/32 "2009-03-06T13:44:01Z")
Blackadder. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/33 "2009-03-06T13:49:44Z")
Jack of _Jack of Shadows_ is fairly evil, or at best amoral due to lacking a soul. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/34 "2009-03-06T14:14:15Z")
Cowin of Amber considered **himself** to be evil. He once called himself “an evil that destroys other evils”. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/35 "2009-03-06T15:03:00Z")
The writer and director of **Die Hard** both think that Hans Gruber is the protagonist. [The Writer (Steven De Souza)](http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:i0qB6qGFk2gJ:www.alan-rickman.com/articles/DHscore.html+protagonist+%22die+hard%22+gruber&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us) > [@](#): > > [http://www.worldsgreatestcritic.com/diehard.html](http://www.worldsgreatestcritic.com/diehard.html) > > it’s fun to play with McTiernan’s theory that Hans is the protagonist of Die Hard, working hard toward his goal while McClane’s spoil-sport antics make him Hans’ logical antagonist. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/36 "2009-03-06T15:37:35Z")
Dr. Horrible, of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. (“Freeze ray! Tell your friends.”) ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/37 "2009-03-06T16:33:28Z")
Having never seen it, I’ve heard Al Swearigen from HBO’s Deadwood is a very evil man. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/38 "2009-03-06T16:46:29Z")
Does Dexter count? He is a murderer, but he has his own moral code, and only kills other killers…I don’t know if I would call him evil… As for my entry, I’ll go with an old one - Macbeth. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/39 "2009-03-06T17:02:54Z")
Tyler Durden. And pretty much any protagonist Chuck Palahniuk has ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445/40 "2009-03-06T17:29:01Z")
Richard III, from Shakespeare’s play. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evil-protagonists/488445.md?page=3)