Comic Strips

Realized I was guilty of this trope while drawing illustrations for a game I'm working on.

So anyway, here's the entrance to Adolf McMurder's secret lair (you're meant to think this is not cool at all):

One thing that annoys me is when the "bad" guy not only has all the style and charisma, but also starts making too much sense and ends up completely in the right, but they can't let them win because that would change the sacred status quo. So they gotta make them do something really fucked up so everyone can see that they're supposed to be the bad guy, even if the thing they do is random, out of character, and/or has nothing to do with the entirely valid point they're making. Like what they want is basic civil rights, but they also murder orphans. So the good guys gotta stop their nefarious plan to give everyone basic civil rights.

I'm so tired of "we keep losing because we refuse to break the rules" copaganda

Honestly this is where good Trek shines. Picard is the rebel bad boy who understands the weight of his responsibility and agrees with the mission and foundational rules of the Federation. He understands that the rules are there for a reason and weighs breaking them against that. Meanwhile the villains are less cool at their coolest.

I'm begging writers to have more heroes who are good because it's ultimately to their and everyone else's benefits for the world to be better, for their complexity to be between their instincts and emotions and their knowledge of consequences and costs. For heroes who are neither fascist propaganda by being big strong hero who breaks the rules nor by being the weenie standing next to the big strong villain who breaks the rules. More Picard, more Aang, more Tiffany Aching [or any other Pratchett hero]

Warhammer 40k effect.

Games Workshop Writers: "Hey let's make a universe where it's extremely clear that all factions are representations of the worst aspects of human society at their most extreme and how they each contribute to creating a world of unending war that justifies itself by feeding into the cycle of violence."

Warhammer Fandom: "For the Emperor! The Imperium are the good guys! Space Marines are so cool!"

(I say this after beating Space Marines 2, having absolutely reveled in the power fantasy of stomping out xenos scum)

YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO HAVING YOUR MORALITY SHIFTED BY BASIC AESTHETIC CHOICES 🤖

I feel like the new Superman hit the perfect pitch with Lex Luthor: he's charismatic and powerful, but such a shitty person that you can't help hating his guts. He's just so lame, and insecure, and terrible; he's hoarded all this power and just uses it to glorify his own ego and accumulate more.

Killmonger, we miss you so much...

Blake's 7.

The show was defined by the 'heroes' ranging from idealistic zealots to self-interested criminals, and includued a cybernetically restrained murderer.

The villains embodied the clean, slick farce of fascism, and either wholly believed in it or knew exactly how to exploit it for their own gains.

For anyone hoping for something that bucks the trend of this depicted complaint.

Just art imitating life. Humans aren't a simple as just "good guys" and "bad guys". Villains could be awesome people but it's their bad moral choices that make them the villains.

We like fictional villains because they're fictional. Someone liking fictional villains doesn't mean they'll like real life villains.

The villain isn't cool-looking enough.

If he's one generation older than the protagonist, then he's somehow related, e.g. I am your father, uncle, much elder sibling, etc.

...are we supposed to hate the villain and think the villain isn't cool-looking? I don't think that's been the case for like, decades