# Villainous characters who truly love one other person **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959 "2008-09-10T16:25:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [September 10, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/21 "2008-09-10T20:53:41Z")
Narses of the Belisarius novels is pretty villainous and ruthless, willing to betray anyone, by his own admission. Oh, yes, he did help the good guys win in the end because it was best for him - but they still made a point of giving him chests of treasure and a one way trip to China. Despite that, he clearly loves Ajatasutra in a father-and-son sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/22 "2008-09-10T21:08:04Z")
Hardly heady lit, but there was a series of bestselling historical “bodice ripper” novels and an accompanying miniseries about a Georgia plantation called _Beulah Land_. The villain was Roscoe Elk who begins as the racially ambiguous overseer of Beulah Land and becomes its nemesis and the richest man of color (what that color is exactly not even Roscoe knows- he just knows he’s free and dark skinned- possibly mulatto, possibly Indian) in the south. He’s a despicable, murdering, socipathic character, but late in his life he becomes a very affectionate grandfather towards his grandson, Roscoe III; everyone is surprised at his tenderness towards the boy (who becomes a philanthropical “anti-Roscoe” in later novels). ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/23 "2008-09-10T21:09:45Z")
Angus Thermopyle from The Gap series was a very very evil man who took a lot of risks and made some huge sacrifices out of love. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/24 "2008-09-10T21:20:05Z")
Jaws in Moonraker Khan. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/25 "2008-09-10T22:25:08Z")
The eponymous Flashman was an utter bastard, but in his own admittedly perverse {and decidedly non-monogamous} way, he genuinely loved his dimwitted but redoubtable wife Elspeth, and not just carnally. Rather touchingly, they lived into their nineties together. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/26 "2008-09-10T22:58:33Z")
One of my pet odd theories is that in James Cameron’s _Titanic_, Billy Zane’s character really does love Rose quite a bit; he just has no idea how to handle her. If the ship hadn’t sunk, I could see him forcing her into a mold she was never meant to fit, making her miserable, and destroying the very things he loves about her. If you wear your tinfoil hat just so, he’s a rather tragic figure. OK, stop laughing! ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/27 "2008-09-10T23:14:49Z")
The villain in The Bad Sleep Well, who really loves and dotes on his handicapped daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/28 "2008-09-10T23:19:51Z")
Hannibal Lecter loved his sister Mischa. To lesser degrees he loved his aunt (name eludes me- Japanese lady married to his uncle in Paris) and Starling. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/29 "2008-09-10T23:34:43Z")
Boris and Natasha seemed fond of each other when they weren’t making 'Beeg troe-bil for Mooze and Squoreel. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/30 "2008-09-11T00:18:38Z")
Dr. Horrible, of course- though he’s more of a villain-in-training than a true evil mastermind. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/31 "2008-09-11T00:24:58Z")
Sulla from the _Masters of Rome_ book series truly loved his son, Young Sulla. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/32 "2008-09-11T00:54:00Z")
I think it was implied in one story, at least, that Lex Luthor had a thing for Lois Lane. And Namor definitely has a thing for Sue Richards (he was a villain who did his [Heel Face Turn](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeelFaceTurn) really early on). ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/33 "2008-09-11T01:07:13Z")
There’s this guy on the Straight Dope boards who has a complex multipoint plan to take over the world and become it’s overlord, [thread=481902]dividing the management of it into multiple satrapies run by deserving dopers [/thread] He also introduced his wife to the Boards. Is this the kind of thing you’re after, M’lord? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/34 "2008-09-11T01:12:44Z")
The Mayor’s sincere love for Faith occurred to me when I read the title of the thread! Of course, you used him in the OP. Spike & Drusilla were together for a long time. We hoped those crazy kids could make it! Even at the end, Spike admitted he was Love’s Bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/35 "2008-09-11T01:13:32Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > What are some good examples of incontrovertibly wicked characters who, nevertheless, genuinely & wholeheartedly love one (and only one) other person? > > I don’t necessarily mean sexual or romantic love. In fact, the first example that occurs to me is utterly asexual: the Mayor on BtVS, whose love for Faith was, surprisingly, born of the heart, not the testes. Anybody else? ## Also on Buffy, I think it’s clear that villainous Spike loved Drusilla very sincerely. (edit) and now I see that Bridget beat me to this observation by one minute. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/36 "2008-09-11T01:33:13Z")
Doesn’t the Joker occasionally seem to love Harlequin? I might be remembering this wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/37 "2008-09-11T01:42:33Z")
> [@Siege](#): > > One of my pet odd theories is that in James Cameron’s _Titanic_, Billy Zane’s character really does love Rose quite a bit; he just has no idea how to handle her. If the ship hadn’t sunk, I could see him forcing her into a mold she was never meant to fit, making her miserable, and destroying the very things he loves about her. If you wear your tinfoil hat just so, he’s a rather tragic figure. > > OK, stop laughing! I actually agree with this theory. Remember, Cal realized a small moment of redemption when he gave up a waiting seat on that lifeboat in order to make sure that Rose made it off the ship safely. “Oh, damn it all to hell…” I actually felt sorry for, and maybe even admired him a little in that moment. Not to mention he’s also the funniest character in the movie: “Picasso? He won’t amount to a thing. Mark my words!” ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/38 "2008-09-11T01:42:59Z")
Scorpius from the _Farscape_ series. I can’t quite put my finger on the flavor of love he has for his second-in-command, Braka (though it probably involves bondage), but they’re definitely joined at the hip. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/39 "2008-09-11T01:56:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Doesn’t the Joker occasionally seem to love Harlequin? > > I might be remembering this wrong. I was coming in to mention Harley Quinn. I don’t know that she really counts as a villain. And yeah, Joker loves Harley. Otherwise, she’d be dead. Of course, a lot of that is because everything she does is wrapped up in him, so it’s massive ego-boo, but no one said it had to be healthy love. How about Black Adam and Isis? Oh, and Mumm-ra loves Ma-mutt. Most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2008, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959/40 "2008-09-11T12:25:15Z")
From the Vincent Price fanclub- Dr. Anton Phibes- his wife Victoria & perhaps his android Vulnavia, Edward Lionheart- his daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg) in THEATRE OF BLOOD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/villainous-characters-who-truly-love-one-other-person/462959.md?page=3)