Writing for our sister site, Anime Vice, has given me a lot of perspective on these comics I love so much. For instance, I recently asked “When is it OK to Root for the Bad Guy?” in my Almost Otaku column; the topic stemming from an anime show called DEATH NOTE about an unusual kind of vigilante. Rather than put on costume to fight crime, the main character Kira (a teenage class president) kills scores of criminals simply by writing their name into a magic notebook. There’s much more to the show’s premise than that, but I’m bringing it up because there’s been a discussion amongst the Anime Vice lunatics over whether viewers should root for this anti-hero protagonist Kira, or his various lawman antagonists.

Kira’s somewhat of a supernatural Punisher, but I’m not interested in a debate about whether heroes should uses lethal force or not. I’m more interested in extending this discussion of “When is it OK to root for the bad guys?” to comics.  == TEASER ==

See, I never really liked crime movies when I was younger because, back then, my answer to that question was a definite “never.” However, as I got older, I realized that was something of a double-standard. Some of my favorite comics characters are the villains: Thanos in THE INFINITY GAUNTLET, the Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT (and the first BATMAN movie, really), MAX's Punisher, the various iterations of SUICIDE SQUAD and THUNDERBOLTS, the monstrous sociopaths in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN and basically all the characters in SIN CITY.   Their exploits are utterly compelling to follow, because you really can’t predict what they’ll do next and there’s usually a lot more complexity to their characterizations than what you get out of heroes.

I suppose the difference here is that, as evil as these characters ever get, they’re still far enough removed from reality. SIN CITY’s a crime story like the ones I didn’t like as a kid, but nobody’s going to describe it as street-level realism. But what do the Comic Vine maniacs say? When have you rooted for the bad guys?

-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Studios and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. HYBRID BASTARDS! is available  here and UNIMAGINABLE is available here for pre-order on Amazon.com.  

i do alot  
one of my favourite characters is Taskmaster 
he isnt a malicious character 
he just wants to challenge others and prove himself 
why does he do is petty crime (and fighting heroes etc..) when his workshops of training villains are so lucrative  
its because he wants to put his ability to the test

Zod in Super Man war

Now I have not rooted or cheered for the bad guys but have been compelled by their actions to watch/read anytime Goodfellas is on I tend to watch however much is left. 
 
My problem comes from a stupid played out thing which is making villains good it is a boring trope that undermines the villains it's happened allot to Batman villains like  Catwoman, Riddler, in some ways Bane and some others it's dumb to think that just because someone does not consider themselves a villain does not mean in their actions they should be honorable. 

Secret Six

Only when they're killing off crappy characters.

The "Good Doctor" himself. HAIL DOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

" @Nobody:  Oh yeah! I should've mentioned that. I love that series. "

I'm with Marvel Boy as well. I loved that series. Noh is one of my all times favorites....too bad they gave him that stupid costume. 
 
I did find myself rooting for Normy during Dark Reign...sometimes. There was a confusion about him, I felt bad for him....sometimes. Like I hoped he did turn over a new leaf and lead the country into a good place...but alas no...but I knew that from the start

" Secret Six "

          I might occassionally root for Bane

" I'm with Marvel Boy as well. I loved that series. Noh is one of my all times favorites....too bad they gave him that stupid costume. "

I usually root for the bad guys in crime-themed movies & TV shows (Scarface, King of New York, The Wire, Goodfellas, The Sopranos, etc.), but in comics I only root for Dr. Doom & Thanos.

M. Bison

Only time I have ever rooted for the bad guys was when I watched some any gundam series from the Universal Century. I always wanted Zeon to beat the Federation.

" @SoA: thats a very zoom argument   "

" @hdorman1 said:

" @SoA: thats a very zoom argument   "

zoom?? "

I almost always like the villain more than the hero as a character even Batman I root for the Joker and the rest the villain cast.  Something is much more intriguing and almost easier to get behind a villain than a hero.  The only time I find myself rooting for a hero is Captain America against Red Skull, because well dude Nazis.

All the psychopaths such as joker for example because I get a sick thrill out of it and well.... its soooooo  fun ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha : ) Why So Serous? Lets pit a smile on that face! 

I always rooted for the dark avengers

 @hdorman1:  i completely blanked on that one . i thought you meant  zoom as a view like on a camera , not the villian lol thanks for clarifying
but yes the hero is just as good as his villian , batman has joker  superman has  brainiac , wolverine with sabretooth, hulk has the leader , ff have doom  , daredevil has bullseye
etc etc .  hero and villian complete each other so well . in a way i think that is what has comic readers wanting more , not only to see their hero , nut ultimately to see the return of that villain 
, maybe its a subconscious thing? i think i should post  this as a  topic ...  lol

Actually it will be near impossible NOT to root for the villains in Transformers 3 since the main baddie will be Shockwave! All they need to do is redo Soundwave and the Autobots will be in for it! I often root for female villains because it's so fun to watch them beat up on the male heroes.

Villains are my favorite characters. Osborn and company taking over Marvel was epic, I only wish it could have lasted longer.

Myself, I'm a fan of Baron Zemo. Because when first readThunderbolts he just became this dangerous x-factor in the Marvel universe, I wasn't sure what he would do next. Even when he became "good", I still had this inkling in the back of my mind that he wasn't quite done with his master plan. And he still isn't...

more villians should have this way of thinking  : 
http://www.comicvine.com/zoom/29-41085/all-images/108-214121/zoom_01/105-1232570/                 thanks  hdorman1

I do it all the time!

 " Zealots, drug addicts, megalomaniacs, sociopaths... you know, your old pals."
 
 
I thought we were talking about comic characters.
☞ Sounds more like modern politics to me.

"Secret Six "

I've rooted for alot bad guys. Mostly Deadpool, Rorschach, Black Adam, Comedian, Ozymandias, Joker, Iron Patriot, Bullseye Hawkeye, Daken, Rulk, Venom, Doctor Doom, Taskmaster, Punisher. And Carnage.

" I've rooted for alot bad guys. Mostly Deadpool, Rorschach, Black Adam, Comedian, Ozymandias, Joker, Iron Patriot, Bullseye Hawkeye, Daken, Rulk, Venom, Doctor Doom, Taskmaster, Punisher. And Carnage. "

"

"

always on Deathstrokes side. The dude is too epic to hate, even when he's trying to kill my favorite heroes.

And DP helped Spiderman and Daredevil.

Spike from Buffy, always

The bad guys help define the heroes, don't they?  While I can't necessarily say I will root for the bad guys all the time, there are times when their exploits make you think their reasonings are valid.   
 
Black Adam, Dr. Doom, and Thanos, and all the characters of the Secret Six (well the writers of these characters) have made me think twice due to their reasonings from time to time, and that's what makes a "good" villain.   
 
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the simple straight forward black and white good guy vs. bad guy scenario, but when a baddie makes you think why he's being bad and you ALMOST agree with his reasoning, well, sign me up, because that's entertainment.  
 

I always root for the bad guy to be honest villains just do it better. Bastion, Magneto, & Doctor Doom are the best villains ever

Is this just about comics? Of the top of my head, Return of the Jedi and Avatar inspire some major rooting for the bad guys.

IMO if you take your favorite character from the heap of villians and declare him an anti-hero, its ok to root for him....("DOOM will save us!""MAGNETO was RIGHT!")

secret six and Deathstroke fighting the justice league in Identity Crisis because that was badass