People Are Sharing The Movie Villains They Now Empathize With, And There Are Definitely Some Points Being Made

    Honestly, I'd be pretty mad if my boss left her fortune to her cats too.

    Hannah Marder
    by Hannah Marder

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Recently, Reddit user u/Arsh0911 asked, "In what movie did you relate more with the antagonist?" Here are some of the most popular responses!

    1. Iceman in Top Gun:

    Val Kilmer as Iceman in Top Gun
    Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "Maverick never should have been there in the first place. Top Gun is an instructor course. Graduates return to their squadron as training officers. A hotshot who doesn't follow the rules and flies dangerously is not going to be a good instructor. Iceman gets just-as-good results while obeying regulations and flying safely. He was a better Top Gun candidate and will make a better instructor."

    —u/Boomhauer440

    2. The parents in School of Rock:

    Dewey tells the parents he's been touched by their kids and has touched them as well, and the parents look horrified
    Paramount Pictures

    "As a kid I didn't really get it, but it's 100% creepy AF for some middle-aged dude to pretend to be a teacher and get all the kids to join him in a band to play a gig."

    —u/emcmahon478

    3. Roy Batty in Blade Runner:

    Roy Batty says, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain"
    Warner Bros.

    "Though you're supposed to — that's kind of the point. By the end of the movie, the robot antagonist has shown far more humanity and empathy than the human protagonist."

    —u/rockit5943

    "Not so sure that he shows far more humanity, because he does murder people (like the eye-maker), but he maybe shows equal humanity. He's a tragic character, and I do empathize with him. He learns how precious life is, and rather than kill Deckard, he spares him. Deckard then also understands that Batty didn't want to be a killer, and neither does he, so he in turn spares Rachel and runs away with her. I think they're two sides of the same coin."

    —u/BuckNutley

    4. Adam Frawley in The Town:

    Jon Hamm as Adam Frawley, sitting in an office and talking on the phone
    Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "He just wanted to catch some career bank robbers."

    —u/earhere

    5. Magneto in X-Men: First Class:

    Michael Fassbender as Magneto stares into the camera
    20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "He’s just a man who lost everything each time, and he wanted to live in peace."

    —u/themanyfaceasian

    "If I were a mutant and treated the way mutants are treated in that universe, I can’t say I’d be on the side of being diplomatic and a pacifist."

    —u/cloudstrifewife

    6. The dad in The Lego Movie:

    The dad says they should play a game where they put everything back where they found it as his son protests and says he doesn't understand
    Warner Bros. Pictures

    "The dad just wanted to enjoy his hobby in the basement, to relax, and to get away from his stressful job and life. But his kid would not let things be and kept messing with his stuff. I get it; I have two small children. All I want is an hour to myself to do something, like garden or crochet, and they're in my face, breaking plant stems because they want to 'help' repot, or tangling my yarn as they 'help' hold the ball. I felt for that man so much."

    —u/Long-Wishbone

    7. Baroness Schraeder in The Sound of Music:

    Christopher Plummer as Baron von Trapp and Eleanor Parker as Baroness Schraeder
    20th Century Fox / Everett Collection

    "She just wants her fiancé and his kids to like her. She's not used to being around kids, or remotely domestic, and literally no one gives her a single break in this regard. She immediately walks into a situation where everyone hates her, her man prefers a younger woman, and her only confidant (Max) ends up preferring Maria. Georg does literally nothing to help, and heaps affection on Maria. She's the smartest person in the film and knows what's up before anyone else. Then this woman classily exits so the man she loves can be with her rival. AND PEOPLE THINK SHE'S A VILLAIN! I hate society."

    —u/HollyHobbyOxenfree

    8. Tai Lung in Kung Fu Panda:

    Tai Lung confronts Shifu for doing nothing when Oogway said he wasn't the Dragon Warrior — Shifu says he wasn't meant to be, and it wasn't his fault, and Tai Lung says Shifu filled his head with dreams and denied him his destiny
    Dreamworks

    "All he wanted to do was impress his adopted father."

    —u/Indianfattie

    9. No Face in Spirited Away:

    Toho

    "He just wanted a friend. :("

    —u/Space_Jay_5

    10. Captain Hook in Peter Pan:

    Disney

    "I felt sorry for Captain Hook having to deal with all those little shits. Nothing more annoying than pesky kids sticking their noses where they're not wanted."

    —u/LeonJersey

    "Plus, he's relentlessly pursued by a crocodile named Tick-Tock, who swallowed a clock, and its constant ticking drives Hook insane, plainly a metaphor for his mortality: 'You're older than you've ever been, and now you're even old. And now you're even older. And now you're even older.'"

    —u/hucklebutter

    11. Pitch Black in Rise of the Guardians:

    Paramount Pictures

    "I thought Pitch Black was pretty damn justified and the Guardians were twats."

    —u/burymewithbooks

    "The Man in the Moon made Pitch, too, right? His nightmares clearly served a purpose; nightmares can help kids process things happening in their waking hours or protect/prepare them for actual dangers. It's a less enjoyable purpose than, say, bringing joy or collecting memories, but it was a job he was given. Then he gets vilified for doing it? Seems pretty unfair."

    —u/TheDreamingMyriad

    12. Hades in Hercules:

    Disney

    "He's just a whole mood, and I am here for it."

    —u/aahermreck07

    13. Syndrome in The Incredibles:

    Syndrome says "when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes. And when everyone's super...no one will be"
    Pixar

    "He wanted superpowers to be available to everyone so superheroes wouldn't be in this special class all their own, responsible for saving the world all the time. He was trying to redistribute superpowers to the people so they could protect themselves instead, all while trying to make the world a better place. He just couldn't really accomplish it with the OG superheroes around to stop him. There are some heavy-handed political metaphors in that movie."

    —u/velveeta_blue

    14. The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas:

    Universal Pictures

    "Man just wants some peace and quiet."

    —u/ksauceyt

    15. Burnham in Panic Room:

    Forest Whitaker as Burnham
    Columbia / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "I felt weirdly sorry for Forest Whitaker’s character. He had a pretty sad backstory and goes out of his way to help the family while losing everything for himself. I really thought the film was building to some sort of narrative where the mother and daughter said or did something to bail him out at the end, but it never came. At the same time, he was a criminal trying to break into a panic room, but still."

    —u/HueyLewisAndTheShoes

    16. General Hummel in The Rock:

    Hummel demands money as reparations for soldiers who died and were forgotten in one of his missions
    Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

    "He was pushed to a position where he had no choice other than to abduct tourists to make a simple demand: Pay the soldiers who died in clandestine missions."

    —u/Indianfattie

    17. The vice principal in The Breakfast Club:

    Universal Pictures

    "When I was 13, he seemed like a bully and a jerk; after teaching for a while, I watched it again and realized he's spending his Saturday there because the kids were doing dumbass stuff like shooting flare guns into their lockers and assaulting other kids in the locker room, and they don't have the decency to just sit there during detention and not be pains in the ass."

    —u/Lupus76

    18. Ken in Bee Movie:

    Vanessa calls Barry the nicest bee she's met in a long time, and Ken asks, "Long time? what are you talking about? Are there other bugs in your life?"
    Paramount Pictures[

    "The boyfriend, obviously."

    —u/Jambo83

    "The boyfriend reacted how any sane person would if their girlfriend left them for an insect."

    —u/SpartanElitism

    19. Loki in Thor:

    Loki asks if he's just another stolen relic for Odin to use, then says it makes sense why Odin favored Thor, because Odin could never have a frost giant sitting on the throne of Asgard
    Marvel

    "My guy just wanted to be Thor's equal. Being the younger sibling, I can relate."

    —u/anxiousbiscorpio

    "I mean, people take it hard when they are 17/18 and find out they are adopted...imagine being 802 before you found out."

    —u/silversatire

    "And finding out you belong to the race you have been conditioned to hate."

    —u/Bobozett

    20. The Vulture in Spiderman: Homecoming:

    Adrian says he bought trucks and brought in a new crew for the job, saying he could lose his house if he loses it, and the woman shutting down his operation says there's nothing she can do
    Marvel

    "Average working Joe, scraping by to make a living, investing in his team, then some random government agency walks up and tell him, 'Tough, it's ours now,' without the slightest bit of compensation for all the money he's spent to get things set up."

    —u/jasontredecim

    21. Prince Nuada in Hellboy II:

    Prince Nuada in a warrior pose
    Universal / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "Elves go along with nature until humanity takes over and destroys everything, and he’s supposed to hide with all the other supernatural creatures and just watch; otherwise they’d all be obliterated. Anyone would be pissed in his place — besides, I don’t like humanity either."

    —u/badkarma343

    22. Imhotep in The Mummy:

    A bare-chested Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
    Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

    "He loved this woman so much that he died repeatedly trying to bring her back and have a life with her. Sure, the curse sort of made him a plague on Earth, but that wasn't his doing or his original intent. Prior to the curse, he was just a man in love with a woman who was chosen by the pharaoh."

    —u/Mardanis

    23. Eric Gordon in Billy Madison:

    Universal Pictures

    "I knew some people like Billy — most of us probably did: some arrogant asshat given his life on a silver platter who throws it all away. Now, all of a sudden, he wants it all without doing any of the work required to achieve it. The antagonist was a douche, but he was qualified for the position and made it there through legitimate means."

    —u/f_ranz1224

    24. Aaron Burr in Hamilton:

    Burr singing "History obliterates — in every picture it paints, it paints me and all my mistkaes"
    Disney+

    "I found myself rooting for him throughout the entire show...mostly because Leslie Odom Jr. played him to perfection."

    —u/Adventurer_3

    25. Sid in Toy Story:

    Pixar

    "That kid had some obvious problems because of his environment, and no one seemed to want to try to reach out to him or want to be friends with him. From the state of his house and the lack of any supervision, it seemed that his parental figures were kind of out of the picture and didn't put forth much effort either. If someone had tried to show some compassion or be his friend, he probably wouldn't have been as antagonistic or destructive. You'd think Woody of all toys would have known what makes a kid tick, but he probably scarred him for life by talking directly to him."

    —u/Danielrh9

    26. Kingpin in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:

    Sony Pictures Releasing

    "He wanted to see his family. Although I wouldn't go to that great length, you see that he just wants his wife and kid back."

    —u/No_Association1630

    27. And finally, Edgar in The Aristocats:

    Edgar eavesdrops as Georges asks Adelaide if she's leaving her vast fortune to Edgar, and she clarifies she wants to leave it to her cats
    Disney

    "The butler worked really hard for years, and the old bonkers Madame just wants to give all of her money to her cats."

    —u/Celia_Lei

    Which antagonists or villains do you find relatable or sympathetic? Let us know in the comments!

    Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.