Fictional villains can be relatable, in some pretty stark ways. For example, is it any wonder the Grinch is miserable? Or that the Wicked Witch of the West hated Dorothy?
stenotype0 asked Reddit: Which villain actually had a point?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
He'd be better a better leader than Donald Trump too.
Dr. Doofinsmirtz, he would've ruled the tri-state area better than his stupid brother.
He was also actually a really great dad spending years searching for a toy his daughter wanted when she was younger just to make her happy.
Jerry is the heel... or is he?
Tom from Tom and Jerry was just trying to be a normal house-cat and taking care of pests. Most people don't want mice in their homes, so they kill them or set them free, so it's perfectly normal for him to want to kill Jerry.
Jerry is the villian in my eyes.
They're actually friends and don't actually hurt each other. If you pay attention during some points in the show, you realize neither of them actually want to kill each other. If one of them isn't waking up, the other gets extremely worried because they're friends. They enjoy chasing each other and their shenanigans. Jerry is just as much justified as Tom either way. Jerry is in his home, hes just trying to protect himself.
Being a lizard can't be all bad.
The Lizard from Spider-man that wanted to turn everyone into lizards because being a lizard is so great
"I don't want to cure cancer. I want to turn people into dinosaurs."
I just want his powers.
Magneto. I don't condone his methods, but the man has a valid point.
Especially after Logan. It's literally the exact thing he feared would happen.
The older I get, the more the Grinch's anger makes sense.
The Grinch!
I'd be f*cking pissed to If I was an outcast from the only city in the world, and they won't f*cking shut up. I have no problem with celebrating Christmas, but all f*cking year?
The Grinch has serious heart problems and the whos are a bunch of assh*le neighbors who wont shut up. In the movie Christmas day is depicted with beautiful singing, but had he not "stolen" Christmas it would have been a cacophony of noise. This is a being that just wants peace for his few remaining years and not one Who gives a damn.
He's my favorite Christmas character. Think about it- he doesn't hate Christmas, he hates the consumer culture surrounding Christmas. This is evidenced by the fact that he saw the beauty of human connection at the end, when all the consumerism was stripped away and he saw the Whos banding together and singing. I f*ck with the Grinch.
Humanity is an environmental nightmare.
Recyclops. Humans ARE bad for the environment.
The hero we deserve.
Elphaba's pain is understandable, go see "Wicked."
The Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy did kill her sister and steal her ruby slippers, plus she was instigating rebellion in Munchkin Land.
Have you read Wicked by Gregory Maguire? Good book. The musical is great, too (well, I can only speak for the soundtrack). It's a lot more complex and interesting than The Wizard of Oz, which is more of a children's book, so it is what it is. I never cared much for the original but I really liked the retelling.
Barbosa was not a bad guy. He just wants to eat an apple.
Barbosa from Pirates of the Caribbean just wanted to have the curse on his crew lifted. He honestly could have just asked for Will to give a bit of his blood to cure them instead of taking him hostage and trying to kill him. It would have been a much more peaceful ending to that movie though.
Barbossa isn't "just" trying to cure his crew. He's still a pirate. He has plenty of wealth but he'd not want to pay someone to come spill their blood like a normal person would. He wants to take what he wants and he has the power to do it.
Not to mention that he can't just walk up port royale and ask for a chat with the governers daughter. They'd (attempt to) kill him and sink the pearl. Even if they didn't shoot on site, what makes you think any respecting citizen of port royale cares whether a filthy pirate is cursed. Even if he was paying, that's stolen money, they can't accept that.
Sideshow Bob is a sociopath.
Sideshow Bob.
"I thought I was your mortal enemy!"
"I have a life outside you, Bart."
He's just like Trump.
Lord Farquaad.
"Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
One of the best villain lines.
An unwillingness to learn
"I feel like the classic example is being unable to change your opinion or idea when you are presented with new information."
"You don’t have to set everything you believe in stone."- Rusty_of_Shackleford
"I think a key thing that separates the intelligent from the less intelligent is curiosity and how far you actually go to learn."- TuxedoWolf07
When even they don't know what they're talking about.
"Maybe not unintelligence but ignorance."
"People getting angry when I ask them to explain what they just meant as I want to understand them and not misunderstand."- smokinstuff·
"Getting angry when someone ask them to explain their point."- SuvenPan
Working Julie Andrews GIFGiphyIt's never attractive to gloat
"Obsessively telling everybody how intelligent you are."- terribleUsername18
It's ok to admit defeat every now and then...
"Playing 'last word' in an argument you've lost."- LennonMcCartney65
"Being defensive when corrected instead of just accepting it."- Marthstewart123
"Claiming they are always right but not being able to argument why or have a serious debate about it."- GReatChinook
Drop The Mic GIF by In Real LifeGiphyAre you sure about that?
"Constantly saying 'facts' that are extremely false."
"Gets on my nerves."- Sharkifish
Read the instructions!!!
"I just started driving for UberXL."
"The amount of people who think they can fit 8 people with all their luggage into a midsize SUV is astonishing."
"You can see which car comes to pick you up and it says fits 5 people."
"If you have a piece of luggage each then it's more like 3 people."
"I had one group sit there and stare me down like they didn't understand."
"I swear some people just have a mental limit for figuring things out and they all find each other and never get anywhere."- predict_irrational
One should always reserve judgment, as one never knows for sure what lurks beneath the surface.
Even if more often and not, you are left with little to nothing which encourages you to see what's there.
Overprotective parents tend to be evasive about discussing the birds and the bees with their kids because they feel it's not up to them to have that conversation.
Remember Carrie White's religious mom who refused to talk about intimacy with her 16-year-old?
We all know how that turned out in the classic Stephen King novel.
Anyway, parents turning down an opportunity to have the uncomfortable convo or having their kids miss out on sex education can lead a child to potentially develop damaging misunderstandings about their body and puberty.
The effects of which were explored when Redditor sparklingshanaya asked:
"What’s a sexual misconception you had for way too long?"
It helps to have an earlier understanding about your body when you're younger.
Sex Education
"As a girl, I had no real idea of where/what the vagina was until I was like 11 or 12. My mom didn't give me a real sex talk, just a puberty/body book that said 'the vagina is between the woman's legs' and just had a full frontal diagram (legs closed) of a woman with an arrow pointing to her pelvic region. I also didn't know a period lasted longer than a day until I got mine at 14, and then wondered why it was still going on the next day."
"When my mom realized how abysmal my sex education was, her solution was to rent a video from the library about it and make me watch it on the big family TV in the living room at like 3pm. Granted— it was a very educational video but I won't ever forget one of the educators (a 50 year old woman) talking about how to give a satisfactory blow job."
– ash-on-fire
Hard Epiphany
"Ok so I grew up in a VERY conservative household. Was not allowed to take sex ed in middle school and they helicoptered in high school. Any internet access they had access to view so I never watched porn/looked at pics. Absolutely nothing. So for a long time I thought penises were shaped like a smaller pringles can. I thought it was just like...a straight up cylinder. Moved out at 17 and googled some things and man I had men's anatomy SO wrong."
– WholeLottaIntrovert
Wrong End Of The Stick
"Friend of mine has a similar background and I just about lost my mind when she said the balls are the END of the penis. Like she had seen those doodles and had it upside down so they just dangle off the end of the shaft lmaooo."
– xchakrumx
Let's get verbal about getting oral.
Satisfy A Woman
"Learn to go down on a woman, like become a master at it. Do this."
– ecallawsamoht
Excuse For Supper
"I second this. Been married for 20 years and it's something I'm happy to do."
"Get involved, people."
"Edit: thanks for the medals and upvotes, people! Be assured that I'll be celebrating tonight."
– AhabVanCleef
Semantics
"Friend of a friend thought it meant kissing. And they were like 19. So glad they found out through a conversation and not through a dude asking for it, or her talking about it. That would've been extremely confusing for everyone."
– SilverWaters793
Pucker Up
"My friend back in middle school thought a blowjob meant to literally blow on it. I still tease her about it to this day."
– Ashurii_desu
Failed Expectations
"Man, I thought I was gonna get so many blow jobs. That’s just not true."
– Studying_Politics
As young adolescents, these Redditors got these terminologies mixed up.
Dirty Talk
"When I was around middle school age I thought that oral sex meant talking dirty :’)"
– strawbrykat
"I used to sext with my girlfriend in high school. When we broke up, she just went crazy and told everyone in our grade that I was great at 'oral sex' (she meant sexting💀) School hasn’t been the same since then."
– Particular-Ad4356
Learning By Example
"I was kind of sheltered growing up, and like most sheltered kids, I learned a lot about sex through porn. I kept seeing 'blowjob' videos, and (i had no idea what a blowjob) assumed it was some kind of sex blooper. Like, something got messed up and the director said 'Oh darn, you blew it! Let’s take it from the top.'”
– Danny_my_boy
I had sex education in sixth grade after my parents gave the school permission for me to attend the special assembly centering on the topic.
But I remember how vague the instructor was. By the time I eventually had my first nocturnal emission, I remember being terrified, yet simultaneously elated. It was very confusing, and I didn't know what happened.
I remember reflecting back to sixth grade and thinking the school must've skipped that part in sex ed.