# Works of Fiction Where the Villain is the (or a) Main Character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778 "2012-05-13T15:53:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/41 "2012-05-14T02:32:21Z")
Is the Dexter series too obvious to mention? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/42 "2012-05-14T02:33:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Crime stories told from the criminal’s POV, of course, make up a whole genre of their own. Where would Hollywood be without them? All the way back to _Scarface_ (1932), _The Public Enemy_ (with James Cagney), _Little Caesar_ (Edward G. Robinson), etc. Because, [Evil Is Cool,](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilIsCool) and, [Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster) But, [Do Not Do This Cool Thing!](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoNotDoThisCoolThing) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/43 "2012-05-14T02:35:43Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Is the Dexter series too obvious to mention? _Dexter’s Laboratory?_ If we’re getting into animation, my first choice would be _Pinky and the Brain._ There’s _Megamind,_ but the character-development would seem to disqualify it, especially as that’s what the story is all **about.** ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/44 "2012-05-14T02:52:27Z")
Isn’t the Devil the main character in Paradise Lost? Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven and all that? ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/45 "2012-05-14T02:56:34Z")
Scrooge in _A Christmas Carol_ sort of fits. The story is of his redemption, but he’s a bad guy at first. And don’t forget that bitch Carol. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/46 "2012-05-14T03:22:46Z")
Gustave Flauberts Madame Bovary character was very nasty, and I remember loathing her as a young reader. Honore de Balzacs criminal mastermind Vautrin, Jacques Collin, Tromp-la Mort - a heroic villain. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/47 "2012-05-14T03:47:16Z")
Steven Brust’s _Taltos_ novels certainly fit the bill. The protagonist, Vlad Taltos, is a human hit man and small-time boss in (essentially) the elven mafia. The books are written in first person, and Vlad comes across as clever, engaging, and often sympathetic, but he’s unquestionably a cold-blooded killer. Most of his friends aren’t particularly nice, either. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/48 "2012-05-14T04:11:34Z")
_Soon I Will Be Invincible_, told from the P.O.V. of a supervillain. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/49 "2012-05-14T04:19:37Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Cronenberg’s **The Fly.** > > In fact, the protagonist and antagonist do a reversal, Seth Brundle becomes the villain and Stathis Borans saves the day. Likewise [Dead Ringers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094964/) and [Tunes of Glory](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054412/). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/50 "2012-05-14T04:23:13Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > _Soon I Will Be Invincible_, told from the P.O.V. of a supervillain. I read that a couple of years ago - I just loved it. I borrowed it from the library - I think I’ll have to buy it so I can re-read it regularly. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/51 "2012-05-14T05:42:23Z")
Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds and his ragtag band of thieves, rebels and fugitives. I supported Unification. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/52 "2012-05-14T06:36:55Z")
I suppose, in a sense, The Simpsons could fall into this category. More often than not, the episode focus will be on Bart, the chronic mis-behaver, or on Homer, who’s usually portrayed as lazy, stupid, and self-centered. At times, Mr Burns will be the antagonist as being the “greater evil,” but more often than not, it takes the rest of the family to bail them out from the consequences of their villainy. And sometimes an episode will simply end with said consequences being suffered. ---
**Author:** ![Clarence\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47c2d/32.png) [@Clarence\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clarence_R)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/53 "2012-05-14T07:30:26Z")
Blood Meridian ---
**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 14, 2012, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/54 "2012-05-14T07:39:23Z")
Arguably The Chronicles of Amber. At least, Corwin seems to _think_ of himself as fairly villainous, at one point he refers to himself as an “evil that destroys other evils”. The short story _Local Champ_ by Spider Robinson. The main character is an extremely evil warlock who has tormented humanity for millennia. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/55 "2012-05-14T07:42:24Z")
Blade Runner Although him realizing this is a big part of the whole film. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/56 "2012-05-14T07:44:56Z")
“V”, in _V for Vendetta_. Also, many of John Sandford’s _Prey_ series of crime novels (_Winter Prey, Hidden Prey, etc._) often feature chapters whose focus alternates between the protagonist Lucas Davenport and the book’s villian (usually a serial killer or multiple murderer - and sometimes an abductor/abuser/killer of young girls or women). There’ll be a chapter or two where the focus is on Davenport and his thoughts and actions, and then one or two on the villain and his thoughts and actions. (It can be rather unsettling getting a look into the minds of such people and how they think.) This back and forth usually keeps up until the climax at the end where hero and villain finally confront each other. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/57 "2012-05-14T10:23:53Z")
The title character in the book _Sir Apropos of Nothing_ isn’t exactly a villain, but he eventually realizes that he’s supposed to be the bad guy in a story about someone else, and decides to kill him and become the main character himself. ---
**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 14, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/58 "2012-05-14T11:30:45Z")
[Villains by Necessity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villains_by_Necessity), where the protagonists are some of the last survivors of the forces of evil, who have to save the world from accidental destruction by the forces of good. ---
**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 15, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/59 "2012-05-15T00:12:27Z")
**American Psycho.** ---
**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 15, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778/60 "2012-05-15T00:14:55Z")
**Fight Club.** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/works-of-fiction-where-the-villain-is-the-or-a-main-character/621778.md?page=4)