# Stories with a Villain as Protagonist **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976 "2008-05-29T02:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/1 "2008-05-29T02:40:48Z")
Can people tell me about some books, or movies with a villain as the protagonist. Not an anti-hero, but a villain. Like: Grendel Mr. Brooks Please don’t just give me lists, please give a bit of background on it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/2 "2008-05-29T02:53:16Z")
[American Psycho](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/). Protagonist is a 1980s-era New York investment banker and also a serial killer (without spoiling anything). [There Will Be Blood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/). Protagonist is a villainous oil baron. ---
**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:** [May 29, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/3 "2008-05-29T03:04:31Z")
_Soon I Will Be Invincible_; much of the book is from the viewpoint of Dr Impossible, a comic book style supervillain. He’s on his twelfth plan for world domination. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/4 "2008-05-29T03:07:03Z")
Has there been a movie version of _Pinky and the Brain_? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/5 "2008-05-29T03:08:07Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] [American Psycho](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/). Protagonist is a 1980s-era New York investment banker and also a serial killer (without spoiling anything). [There Will Be Blood](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/). Protagonist is a villainous oil baron. [/QUOTE] Both great films. I had the opportunity to see “There Will Be Blood” on the Little Boston set. It was fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/6 "2008-05-29T03:08:31Z")
Gangs of New York The book version of _LA Confidentiial_. And pretty much any book by James Elroy. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/7 "2008-05-29T03:19:05Z")
Paradise Lost? Ostensibly its purpose is to “justify the ways of God to man,” but Satan is the driving force through most of the narrative and the most complex and developed character. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/8 "2008-05-29T03:54:27Z")
Depending on one’s definition of “villain,” several of John Waters’ early films could be in this category. “Pink Flamingos”: the protagonist is “the filthiest woman alive.” “Female Trouble”: the protagonist is a multiple murderer. “Desperate Living”: the protagonist is a murderess. It’s been too long since I’ve seen “Multiple Maniacs” but the protagonist, “Lady Divine,” is not a terribly nice person. You could include “Eat Your Makeup” here too, as the protagonists kidnap women and force them to model themselves to death. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/9 "2008-05-29T04:15:03Z")
All of the works of Tim Dorsey. His protagonist, [Serge A. Storms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_A._Storms), is a serial killer and complete nutjob. For that matter, Flashman might qualify. He’s hardly a hero. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/10 "2008-05-29T04:21:14Z")
**The Fly** (1986). Seth Brundle becomes the villain, and Stathis Borans becomes the hero. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/11 "2008-05-29T04:25:45Z")
Arguably, Humbert Humbert is the “villain” in _Lolita_. I hesitate to call him that, but not because he isn’t evil (he is). It’s just that the way the book is structured, there isn’t really a place for a traditional “villain” character. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/12 "2008-05-29T04:30:59Z")
**If** you believe that the events are real, then this can be said of _The Voyeur_ by Alain Robbe-Grillet. _Perfume: The Story of a Murderer_ by Patrick Suskind ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/13 "2008-05-29T04:41:25Z")
Well, Tom Ripley in the Patricia Highsmith books probably qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_Next\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/14 "2008-05-29T04:55:33Z")
Clint Eastwood’s “A Perfect World” had Kevin Costner in the lead playing a bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/15 "2008-05-29T05:00:26Z")
The Belgian film [Man Bites Dog](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Bites_Dog_%28film%29) features a serial killer as a protagonist ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/16 "2008-05-29T05:09:15Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Well, Tom Ripley in the Patricia Highsmith books probably qualifies. [/QUOTE] Beat me to it. Possibly the best protagonist villain ever. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/17 "2008-05-29T07:28:08Z")
There’s **Natural Born Killers,** where Woody Harrelson and…I forget…go around killing persons innocent and otherwise. There’s a GREAT scene in a diner where they blow everyone but…it turns the whole horror-movie last-survivor thing around. **Reservoir Dogs** (hell, any Tarantino flick): main characters squabble amongst themselves, kill bystanders to their unsuccessful diamond heist, and capture and torture a cop. **To Live and Die in L.A.** , featuring Secret Service agents who decide that the end DOES justify the means. Coolest car chase ever. I mean that. EVER. Someone will be along to mention Shakespeare; I’m gonna stop now. 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 29, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/18 "2008-05-29T12:40:48Z")
In Roald Dahl’s story, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” the protagonist is a murderer and at least slightly psychotic. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/19 "2008-05-29T12:42:55Z")
John Gardner wrote a series of books with Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis in one book and novel by Doyle, and in a LOT of pastiches) as the narrator and central character. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976/20 "2008-05-29T12:48:12Z")
I haven’t seen it yet, but the film [Baxter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_%28film%29) has as its protagonist a pit bull who mauls and kills people. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-with-a-villain-as-protagonist/450976.md?page=2)