Spoiler Warning: The following article contains partial spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
As seen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, is one complex villain. She does terrible things but for incredibly relatable reasons, and she’s not the only sympathetic antagonist in the fantasy genre. Audiences may not agree with these characters’ methods, but when they can understand how a bad guy got to be how they are, viewers are far more likely to become emotionally invested in the entire story.
Villains will appear sympathetic for a variety of reasons. They may only be considered a villain because of their upbringing, such as Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, or their wicked ways could be a part of an otherwise likable nature, like Jareth from Labyrinth. No matter the reason, some viewers can’t help but root for them. Despite their morally questionable decisions, there are several villains from fantasy movies that have softened fans’ hearts and earned — at least a little bit — of sympathy.
The Lord Of The Rings – Gollum
Gollum from The Lord of the Rings is a pitiful creature all around. He gained ownership of the One Ring by murdering his friend and was shunned by his community as a result. He ended up living hundreds of years in seclusion while slowly losing his mental faculties because of the Ring’s power. While it is clear that he was never a good person, the drawn-out, lonely, and desperate life that he led may have been too harsh a punishment.
While Gollum is nasty in disposition and not exactly easy on the eyes, audiences couldn’t help but become fond of him. There is an underlying hope that he might be able to forget the Ring and find happiness, but that, of course, was not his fate.
Labyrinth – Jareth The Goblin King
Jareth may be the antagonist, but he is still the best character in Labyrinth. He did Sarah no favors by granting her wish to take her brother far away, and his evil deeds continued as he toyed with her throughout her quest in his Labyrinth.
Despite his evil nature, audiences have a difficult time hating Jareth. He comes across as more of a mischievous fae than an evil being. His backstory or motivations are never revealed, but something about his playful personality makes him a character that people want to cheer for — even at the cost of the protagonists.
Pirates Of The Caribbean – Barbossa
Captain Barbossa serves as the main antagonist in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. He seeks only glory and riches for himself, which led him to steal cursed Aztec gold, despite the legends warning those who might be tempted. To release himself from the curse, Barbossa went to evil lengths, like kidnapping and murder.
Despite his misdeeds, Barbossa’s goal to return to a mortal life was understandable. While he often spoke with a lot of pomp and flair, it was clear that his desperation to feel again was sincere. The end of the first Pirates film saw him get his wish, but all he had time to feel was his own life slipping away.
Raya And The Last Dragon – Namaari
In Raya and the Last Dragon Namaari betrays Raya, revealing that she only cared about securing power for her nation. This betrayal led to the downfall of humanity and made Raya become distrustful.
Namaari is the product of her upbringing. She wanted peace in her heart but feared how that peace might affect her nation. Her mother had taught her to think only of her home, and Namaari’s actions always revolved around this value. In the end, she proved that the sympathy audiences felt for her was valid. She earned both redemption and Raya’s forgiveness.
Harry Potter – Draco Malfoy
For the majority of the Harry Potter series, Draco is a solidly unlikable character. He is a bully with an attitude of superiority simply because of his blood status in the wizarding world. He has a deep fascination with dark magic and enjoys the sense of power that he can achieve with it.
However, in Half-Blood Prince, it’s proven that he is just a product of his upbringing and that he is not evil to his core. Unlike Voldemort and other Death Eaters, Draco takes no pleasure in murder. His fear and desperation are clear, and while he still isn’t a great person, he rightfully earned fans’ sympathy.
Peter Pan – Captain Hook
The story of Peter Pan is from the perspective of a child, and therefore the morality of the characters is rather black and white. Captain Hook is an evil grownup who wants nothing more than to use his hook to gut the children that find their way to Neverland. This makes him terrifying to the characters in Peter Pan, and a clear-cut bad guy.
However, from an adult’s perspective, Captain Hook seems like a slightly sadder character. He clearly has a bloodlust that places him firmly in the “evil” category, but there are frequent hints that he is lonely and greatly unhappy. In the end, his final words of “old, alone, done for” cause audiences to feel a little sad for the classic villain.
Dragonheart – King Einon
Dragonheart first introduces Einon as a young prince who shows only small potential for his father’s evil ways. When Einon himself has a hand in his father’s death, it becomes clear that he had suffered horrible treatment at the king’s hand. However, by the time Einon is an adult, he is every bit his father’s son.
It would have been difficult to feel sympathy for Einon if it wasn’t for Bowen. Bowen is the movie’s protagonist and Einon’s old teacher. He loved Einon like a son, and desperately hoped that the young king would prove his ability for good. While Einon never achieved this, the love of his teacher gained him some sympathy from viewers.
The Mummy – Imhotep
Imhotep is the antagonist of The Mummy movies. In life, he fell in love with the wife of the Pharaoh, and as a punishment, he was mummified alive. Thousands of years later, Imhotep rose from his grave and set off on a mission to resurrect his lost love, Anck Su Namun.
If Imhotep had gained any sympathy for his forbidden love, it was lost as he murdered remorselessly to regain power. By the end of the terrifying sequences in The Mummy, it was a relief to see him returned to his grave. The real sympathy came in The Mummy Returns when Imhotep begged his love to save him, but she ran away to save herself. The devastation on his face turned a purely unlikable character into a sympathetic one.
Fantastic Beasts – Credence
Many villains start as misunderstood. In the case of Credence in the Fantastic Beasts series, he should have never become a villain to begin with. The combination of his orphan status, as well as his fear of accidentally using magic, causes him to turn into a powerful but deadly (to others and himself) being called an Obscurial.
Credence ends up doing evil deeds to assist the series’ main antagonist, Grindelwald. However, despite his actions, Credence remained a very sympathetic character. He was only ever a villain because of the abuse and manipulation that he faced, not because of any inherent evilness.
The Avengers – Thanos
Thanos caused the death of a lot of favorite Avengers characters, and can therefore only be considered the worst villain of the MCU. His mission was to eliminate half the beings in the universe, and he went to any cost to be successful, including killing his daughter.
While Thanos’ actions were clearly problematic, many viewers couldn’t help but understand his logic. Thanos had grown up in a world where no one ever had enough. Technically, if there were fewer people in society, there would be more resources to go around and less suffering. His logic was difficult to argue with, and many viewers felt unexpected sympathy for Thanos. In the end, the loss of half of all living things was too steep a price to pay, but it was still easy to see where he was coming from.
