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Why are superhero villains portrayd as sympathetic villains when a superhero kills someone they care about despite the villain themself murdering nameless innocents? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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For hypothetical example; Father/son duo are criminals, harming, killing, and stealing innocent civilians. Superhero fights them, resulting in the father dying. Son is now portrayed as a sympathetic villain because all he wants is to avenge his father... despite all the fathers of children they murdered whilst comitting crimes.

Side question; do you feel sympathy for the villains portrayed like this?

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[–] 4 points 3 years ago (1 child)

I'm really struggling to remember any instance of this, although admittedly I'm not that much up on superhero comics.

But that said, I'd look at:

  • Is the hero responding with an appropriate amount of force, given the capabilities and crimes of the antagonist?

  • Is the villain also affected by some larger system or circumstance which makes their actions, when examined on a larger scale, sympathetic?

  • Does the surviving villain understand that what they are doing is wrong?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I think this was Black Manta, his dad and Aquaman in the Aquaman movie.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    that's also the same movie where the hero unleashed an army of piranha zombies on both sides of a civil war he was trying to stop and made out with his girlfriend for like 30 seconds while his pet kraken massacred his soon-to-be subjects... it was an enjoyable action film, but nuanced writing wasn't it's strong point imo, haha

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