Best "Villains in Name Only"?

[Relish in Chaos]

Who do you think are the best examples of "Villains in Name Only"? As in, the antagonistic opposite of an antihero - perhaps, an anti-villain?

I think one of the best examples is Magneto from X-Men, a tragic Jewish Holocaust survivor who just didn't want anything like that to happen against the mutant population, largely oppressed by the rest of humanity.

As MovieBob's Magneto Was Right implied, if the X-Men universe existed in real-life, I personally think I would side with Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Idealism doesn't suit me.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Well, you kinda killed your thread in the first post with Magneto there OP.

I guess another good one, although he's nothing like Magneto, would be Gollum/Smeagol from LotR, as none of what he does is really his fault. He encounters the One Ring by accident having absolutely no idea what kind of power it wielded, and from that moment on would never be able to shake off his addiction to it. He's definitely a villain, but you can sympathise with him because of his total and pitiful lack of control over himself.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well, Magneto was sorta a villain in that he thought genocide on an unprecedented scale was a good idea. You kinda lost your "in name only" for that.

 

[MetalDooley]

In the Ultimate X-men series Magneto reversed the earth's poles causing massive Tsunamis which killed millions of people and caused destruction on a global scale.I think that kinda puts him firmly in the actual villian category

 

[Shadowstar38]

Agent Bishop from TMNT 2003 series. He's the Torchwood of ninja turtles universe, protecting the planet from aliens. He just tends to go a bit overboard.

Also, as Gunsmith said, the Witch of the West from Wizard of OZ. She's evil because...she want's her sister's shoes back? Which are hers being that she's next of kin? WTF Dorthy?

For more examples, be sure to go here [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WellIntentionedExtremist].

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Stannis Baratheon from the Song of Ice and Fire.

Stannis isn't a bad guy, he's just Lawful Good/Neutral. He views order as the most important thing, he despises the chaos of war which is causing such hardship to the people, and he even forbids his men from looting, raping, and doing the other things that the rest of the would-be kings are doing. Even Melisandre isn't that bad; she's just a religious extremist who, while she has killed a few people, seems to actually be trying to help (by putting Azor Ahai reborn on the throne) so he can save the world from the Others.

 

[Fractral]

Stannis Baratheon from the Song of Ice and Fire.

Stannis isn't a bad guy, he's just Lawful Good/Neutral. He views order as the most important thing, he despises the chaos of war which is causing such hardship to the people, and he even forbids his men from looting, raping, and doing the other things that the rest of the would-be kings are doing. Even Melisandre isn't that bad; she's just a religious extremist who, while she has killed a few people, seems to actually be trying to help (by putting Azor Ahai reborn on the throne) so he can save the world from the Others.

I assumed that he was supposed to be the good guy, seeing as he sorta sides with the Starks in the later books. Insofar as that series even has villains, except perhaps the others and the slavers. Hell, I'd add Tyrion to the list, seeing as he does try to stop Joffrey from being such an asshole. There are plenty of other characters that might be considered the same, depending on who you view as 'bad' and 'good'.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I think Mr. Freeze suits this description and I really like what they did with him in Arkham City.

Kind of a tragic villain.

 

[Denamic]

Stannis Baratheon from the Song of Ice and Fire.

Stannis isn't a bad guy, he's just Lawful Good/Neutral. He views order as the most important thing, he despises the chaos of war which is causing such hardship to the people, and he even forbids his men from looting, raping, and doing the other things that the rest of the would-be kings are doing. Even Melisandre isn't that bad; she's just a religious extremist who, while she has killed a few people, seems to actually be trying to help (by putting Azor Ahai reborn on the throne) so he can save the world from the Others.

Stannis was never supposed to be a villain, and he was never even described as such. He was described as unlikable at worst. He's got a huge stick up his ass, but he's by no means evil, or even an antagonist.

 

[Guffe]

The opponents in pokemon silver/gold.
I mean all he wants to do is become the best trainer there is but due to maybe some sort of tragic childhood or something he comes off as a really evil animalrapist.
He of course understands after the last encounter before the PokemonLeague what it means to be a trainer.

 

[jthm]

Harley Quinn from Batman the animated series. Such a case of battered woman's syndrome.

 

[elvor0]

They already beat me to it about Magneto. One can be "right" and even understandable about his goals, but then do incredibly evil things to make it happen like, you know, mass murder.

No, wouldn't be on his side either given his methods.

anyway, the "Wicked" Witch of the West.

Seriously, what WAS the reasoning behind her being a villian? Maybe I missed something since it's been ages since I picked up a Baum book (yes, there were several books and they were neat, dark reads), and if Wicked/Son of a Witch are to be considered canon as well, her only crime seemed to refuse to be a scapegoat in her circle based on her looks and flip the bird to an extremely corrupt regime.

I take it you've read this? http://www.cracked.com/article_18881_5-reasons-greatest-movie-villain-ever-good-witch.html

Puts a whole new spin on the story

 

[Not Matt]

the origial joker. closest any acter ever got was mark hamill. when he was the joker it was like he was taking instructions from bob cane (the guy who made batman) himself. he did it the way the joker should have been. not a gangster like jack not a dark monster scarecrow might have made up. just a smiling murderer who likes to see the world burn.

 

[BrotherRool]

the origial joker. closest any acter ever got was mark hamill. when he was the joker it was like he was taking instructions from bob cane (the guy who made batman) himself. he did it the way the joker should have been. not a gangster like jack not a dark monster scarecrow might have made up. just a smiling murderer who likes to see the world burn.

This thread is really about people who are antagonists but not villains, so people who are fight against the main character or scheme against them, but aren't actually evil

 

[Adept Mechanicus]

Roy Batty from Blade Runner. All he wants is to escape slavery and live as a human, but he can't because of his own biology. He's more sympathetic than any other character in the movie, especially with that ending monologue.

 

[Skeleon]

Xanatos from Gargoyles. A rare cartoon antagonist who isn't blinded by petty revenge.

 

[Genocidicles]

Looper spoilers (I wont spoil the major twist of the film though.):

Spoiler

Old Joe. He goes back in time to kill the most evil person alive in the future, and save his wife. Only problem is he hasn't narrowed the search down to one person, so a few innocents will die.

 

[Ziame]

Saren from Mass Effect

granted, he is somehow disturbing (Anderson's story), but let's be honest - he was probably indoctrinated already and besides, his reasoning while with Sovereign? He thought he was going to save trillions of lives. Tragic character in my opinion. And dat voice.

 

[Mordekaien]

cough.... cough.... Darth Vader... cough... cough...

Nobody brought him yet?