# Unintentionally Silly Over the Top Villains (Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136 "2023-01-12T22:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/21 "2023-01-13T06:02:30Z")
Shakespeare’s _Titus Andronicus_ > **[Titus Andronicus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Andronicus)** > > Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were extremely popular with audiences throughout the 16th century. > Titus, a general in the Roman army, presents Tamora, Queen of the Goths, as a slave to the new Roman emperor, Saturninus.... ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/22 "2023-01-13T08:54:33Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m convinced that Thomas Harris was trolling everyone when he wrote it. I agree. He creates Hannibal Lecter as an objectively terrifying killer, and sits back in satisfaction. But then the audience says, “He’s super interesting, we’d love to see more of his adventures!” And Harris goes (raised eyebrow) “Really? Like, _seriously?_ Well, all righty then!” And continues the story with as much ridiculous gruesomeness as he can muster, implicitly mocking the character’s self-described “fans” with every elegantly ludicrous atrocity. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/23 "2023-01-13T10:27:21Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > No matter which way you slice it, it’s hard to swallow. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/24 "2023-01-13T11:57:12Z")
Speaking of Hannibal Lecter, I always thought the part of the film “The Silence of the Lambs” where he’s disemboweled one of the guards, hung him on high and strung out his entrails like streamers was just silly. I’m fine with stretching reality for the sake of creepiness—and the film excels at that, IMO–, but once he’s portrayed as superhuman, it takes me right out of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/25 "2023-01-13T12:19:40Z")
The thinking that led to the actions of Thanos in the movie, “Avengers: Infinity War”, was silly to me. On one hand, he isn’t at all adverse morally speaking to killing 4 billion people just to get rid of them but, on the other hand, he believes it is only “right” for the half being killed to be offed at random and not by a conscious choice on his part. If I’m callous enough to kill off half of humanity to make the human race and the world as a whole stronger, then I’m going to off all the criminals in the world, the masses of crowded poor people, etc. I’m going to retain scientists, artists, and gifted people in general. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/26 "2023-01-13T12:48:53Z")
But then you’re making value judgements. I mean, I’d do the same, but Thanos’ schtick was that the problem was too many people (for an expansive definition of people). So the solution is fewer people - and when you have a universe to clean up, it takes too much time to assign a value to each person. Count off by two’s, evens to the right, odds to the left, shoot everyone on the left, next planet. Plus, you don’t know how many of the people in the unwashed masses are unsuccessful for societal reasons or genetic. Cleaning out half of the ruling class leaves space for others to shine. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/27 "2023-01-13T13:03:21Z")
I like your line of thinking, but I also like mine. So, perhaps a hybrid approach is in order. I would make the choices I described, but then I would leave the rest up to chance for the reasons you described. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/28 "2023-01-13T14:01:02Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The thinking that led to the actions of Thanos in the movie, “Avengers: Infinity War”, was silly to me. On one hand, he isn’t at all adverse morally speaking to killing 4 billion people just to get rid of them but, on the other hand, he believes it is only “right” for the half being killed to be offed at random and not by a conscious choice on his part. Thanos is literally a comic book villain. Not all comic book villains are silly, but the silliness is practically baked into the genre. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/29 "2023-01-13T14:05:20Z")
Thanos’ motivation in the comics was even sillier than in the movies. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/30 "2023-01-13T14:38:06Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@Shoeless](#): > > > > Wasn’t there a Hannibal Lecter book where he cuts open some guy’s skull and eats the brains while the guy’s still alive? I seem to remember saying “Oh, come on now…” at that point. That was just stupid. > > That was in Hannibal from 1999, and I’m convinced that Thomas Harris was trolling everyone when he wrote it. I didn’t think he really wanted to write a book, which is why we got a ridiculous story that made Lector the hero. But then Harris went on to write another ridiculous Hannibal book making him the hero again . So who knows? Yeah, I read that book, and Clarice also became Lector’s love interest at the end of it. It was totally Harris trolling, saying “let’s see them make a movie out of _ **this** _!” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/31 "2023-01-13T14:44:44Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Thanos’ motivation in the comics was even sillier than in the movies. How many of us have done something stupid or dangerous to impress a girl? Okay, maybe it was a little much. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/32 "2023-01-13T14:52:04Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Yeah, I read that book, and Clarice also became Lector’s love interest at the end of it. It was totally Harris trolling, saying “let’s see them make a movie out of _ **this** _!” Ahh, that makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/33 "2023-01-13T15:35:26Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > It stands to reason that if she chewed, it wouldn’t be recognized on the autopsy as testicles. > > No matter which way you slice it, it’s hard to swallow. Testing stomach contents tends to be something done during murder investigations, and testicular tissue is still recognizable - I can remember sectioning it for slides and it was not like muscle meat or most other organ meats [sot of like spleen or pancreas] Still, I have had Rocky Mountain Oysters, not my favorite offal. I prefer heart. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/34 "2023-01-13T16:06:22Z")
One movie that stands out to me is _Dirty Harry_. It stars Clint Eastwood as a gritty rules-breaking cop who utters the famous lines “Do you feel lucky today” and “Go ahead. Make my day.” He doesn’t do any of this sissy liberal crap of due process under the law. He has shootouts with criminals, approaches them when they’re incapacitated, then does his “I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire five bullets or six?” shtick. The villain Scorpio, a serial killer based on the Zodiac Killer, gloats, squeals and cackles so much, it’s embarrassing to watch. (He’s played by Andrew Robinson, who later redeems himself as Garak in DS9.) At one point, he kidnaps a teenage girl. Harry and his partner arrange to deliver the ransom and trap Scorpio, but he gets the drop on them. He beats up Harry, then tells Harry in a giggly falsetto voice, “I’m going to let her die! Hee hee heee!” Later, Harry traps Scorpio in a stadium and tortures him to get the girl’s location. Scorpio squeals “You can’t do this to me! I have rights! I want a lawyer!” Sure enough, the sissy District Attorney says Harry obtained the evidence and confession illegally, and they have to let Scorpio go. When Harry captures Scorpio for the last time, he does his “Do you feel lucky today?” shtick. Scorpio giggles “tee hee hee” and picks up his gun. Harry of course had the sixth bullet in his chamber and scrots Scorpio, then throws his badge in the river. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/35 "2023-01-13T18:01:34Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > One movie that stands out to me is _Dirty Harry_. It stars Clint Eastwood as a gritty rules-breaking cop who utters the famous lines “Do you feel lucky today” and “Go ahead. Make my day.” He doesn’t do any of this sissy liberal crap of due process under the law. He has shootouts with criminals, approaches them when they’re incapacitated, then does his “I know what you’re thinking. Did he fire five bullets or six?” shtick. _Magnum Force_ is equally silly. I lost count of how many naked women were shot right between the boobs because I had to turn it off, but it was definitely a theme. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/36 "2023-01-13T18:07:12Z")
Boardwalk Empire- Bobby Canavale’s Gyp Rosetti bad guy in season 3. He’s like a cartoon character he’s so over the top–like he’s from an entirely different genre than the rest of the show. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/37 "2023-01-13T19:25:35Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > The thinking that led to the actions of Thanos in the movie, “Avengers: Infinity War”, was silly to me. On one hand, he isn’t at all adverse morally speaking to killing 4 billion people just to get rid of them but, on the other hand, he believes it is only “right” for the half being killed to be offed at random and not by a conscious choice on his part. Question- how long after Thano’s first snap did the Avengers reverse it? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/38 "2023-01-13T19:28:26Z")
Five years. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/39 "2023-01-13T19:44:37Z")
Terry Silver from The Karate Kid: Part III definitely falls into this category. They later “lampshaded” him (I think that’s the right term) in _Cobra Kai_, but in the initial film portrayal he was over the top in every way and I _don’t_ think they were doing it ironically, I think the producers of that film actually did not expect the audience to question the fact that a multimillionaire executive of a toxic waste disposal company would literally _take time off work_ with the express purpose of tormenting a teenage boy by organizing a fraudulent karate training program. Or that said man was supposed to be decades older than said teenage boy, despite his actor being _younger_ than said teenage boy’s actor. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136/40 "2023-01-13T20:43:38Z")
Let’s talk about The Walking Dead television series. I’ll nominate a character named Alpha as an unintentionally silly villain. Alpha leads a group of people who make their living by disguising themselves as zombies and using herds of real zombies as protection and to attack people. She makes all of her followers abandon their real names, hence why she’s referred to as Alpha, she kills a few of her followers not because they’ve done something wrong but because they witnessed a moment of her weakness. When you’re an over-the-top villain who just randomly cuts the throats of your followers, it’s hard to take her seriously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unintentionally-silly-over-the-top-villains-spoilers/978136.md?page=3)