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Please don't list this on a work's page as a trope.
Examples can go on the work's YMMV tab.

Love to Hate

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"A hero is a hero, but everybody loves a great villain."

This villain trope is for the characters we love to hate.

"Love to hate" is a term used to describe villains we enjoy. We love them for various reasons, such as excellent character development, being hilarious, getting the best writing, having a memorable personality, or being lucky enough to have a top-notch performance by their actor. But at the same time, the fans still want to see the baddie get their comeuppance in the end. There is still hatred, after all. Also named Heel Hate.

Faux Affably Evil, Affably Evil, Laughably Evil, Magnificent Bastard, and Card-Carrying Villain are sub tropes for different reasons. Being a Large Ham definitely helps (see also Evil Is Hammy). An Anti-Villain is often one of these due to the character development they often get. A villain who's The Scrappy or Creator's Pet is typically not eligible for this trope as are some villains who cross the Moral Event Horizon. Jerkasses are also usually not eligible for this trope, but it's possible for them to be eligible if they're sufficiently entertaining enough.

Not to be confused with Draco in Leather Pants, which is when a villain's fandom will gloss over the actual nastiness of a villain and insist that they are just misunderstood, i.e they throw their sympathy to them even though they don't deserve it; in this, fans acknowledge the atrocities the villain has done but they like them for their villain traits. Also not to be confused with when the heroes would love to hate the villain, but just can't manage it.

This is someone whom the fans enjoy and even maybe respect because of their unapologetic evilness. Their shamelessness is cathartic to us, and they retain their awesomeness as time goes by without Villain Decay.

In order to be eligible, a villain must be generally well-regarded/well-liked by said fandom while the same fandom still acknowledges they're a villain. Being here means that said villain is part of the pantheon of great villains. Therefore, it is possible for a Complete Monster to be listed here (for example, the Joker, Pennywise, and the Red Skull).

Compare Hate Sink, where a character's intended role is to be hated by the audience. They can fall under this trope if viewers find them engaging despite being someone for them to root against. Also compare Jerkass Dissonance, where a character becomes beloved in spite of being so detestable. Can also overlap with Rooting for the Empire if the villain is so entertaining the audience actually WANTS them to win.

See also Evil Is Cool, a major cause of this sentiment.

Example Subpages:

Other Examples:

    open/close all folders 
    Advertising 
  • Big Bill Hell's: Bill Hell is a grade A Card-Carrying Jerkass and an open scam artist with no redeeming features, but he's so blunt and up front about it, not to mention hilariously over-the-top, it's almost impossible not to laugh at his ad.
    Audio Plays 
  • Jeff the Killer (Pastra): This version of Jeff lacks any redeeming or cool qualities that have been associated with the character in the past. Because of this and the fact that he lacks any superhuman strength but relies more on planning, the general audience considers him a very threatening and genuinely scary villain that creates tons of suspense in the story. Even people who prefer the concept of Jeff as a sympathetic villain or who would've rather not had a story attached to the character generally agree that this version of Jeff is threatening and leagues above his original creepypasta self.
    Comic Books 
  • Ultron of The Avengers. Oh yes. He is possibly one of the evilest characters in the Marvel universe, and fans love him because of it, not despite. Imagine someone with the intelligence of Hank Pym only completely amoral and basically immortal.
  • The Joker in Batman, due to being so dang funny and so evil. His interactions with Batman, who refuses to let him get away with his crimes, get corrupted by him, or laugh at his jokes often draws people in.
  • Captain America: The Red Skull, even though he's a former Nazi. It helps that he was only into Nazism for the oppression and mass murder. He derided the whole race ideology as hogwash despite occasionally paying lip service to it.
  • The Anti-Monitor, first introduced in Crisis on Infinite Earths as effectively the Big Bad of the entire DC multiverse, remains beloved for being such a colossal, epic threat that led to what still remains one of the most dramatic and memorable Crisis Crossovers in not just superhero comics, but perhaps all fiction. Despite being the textbook example of a Generic Doomsday Villain — he has no real personality, backstory, or motivation beyond "destroying the multiverse" — his demonstrations of grand destruction is of such an impressive, appropriately apocalyptic scope that one can easily take him as the multiverse's biggest monster, and as a result, it's hard to not find him memorable.
  • Doctor Doom of Fantastic Four. He's an egotistical prick and dictator who blames everyone else for his own flaws, but few villains can match his sheer charisma and theatricality.
  • Judge Dredd: The Dark Judges are evil inhuman monsters, and their leader Judge Death in particular is a unmitigatedly horrible sociopath. However, their over-the-top sadism, hammy-ness, and dark humor make them very entertaining villains at the same time.
  • Thanos is one of the Marvel Universe's most popular villains. He may be an insane and Omnicidal Maniac but he has such charisma and he's so powerful and intelligent that fans can't help but love him for it. Some even root for him against the heroes. Speaking of which, Thanos was able to defeat powerful heroes like Captain America and Hulk as if they were ants. That's how strong he is.
  • Loki of The Mighty Thor. Gotta love the brotherly hate they feel towards each other but gotta hate his attitude. Up until he died and came back as a mischievous pre-teen Magnificent Bastard. It's only a matter of time until his inevitable turn back to evil, but right now he's all love. Or not. The child committed Heroic Suicide and a copy of the old consciousness took over his body. This old-new Loki's still not evil though, the kid was so much love that gave them yet another chance, which they're determined to use... sadly nobody else wants them to change, including an evil future version of themself, who is this trope full stop. Loki's truly Loki's own worst enemy. For what it's worth, there are fans (maybe even the majority of them), who would like them to stay split for the obvious reason to neither lose the version they love, nor the one they love to hate.
  • My Little Pony: FIENDship Is Magic:
  • Darkseid of the New Gods is a prime example of this, his fans agree about how appallingly evil he is being a part of what makes him such an awesome villain.
  • Shazam! gives us Dr. Sivana and Mister Mind. Sivana for being a likable Affably Evil mad scientist while still being a threat, Mind for being the Marvel Family's most ruthless and terrifying villain.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
    • Nack the Weasel. He's a greedy, somewhat charming, and amoral bounty hunter whose inability to win has won him many fans. Unlike other villains, Nack is smart enough to know that Sonic outclasses him and tries to work around this.
    • Dr. Finitevus, for his awesome-looking evil overlord appearance and sophisticated demeanor. His exceptionally high intellect and being an expert Chessmaster easily make him one of the most awesome and popular villains from the comic books.
    • Dark Enerjak, particularly the Knuckles incarnation, due to being such a far cry from his original counterpart's descent into Butt-Monkey territory. He is one of the few villains to be such a bastard, yet is so badass and monstrous that he just deserves respect. He was able to defeat almost all the main cast in one fell swoop.
    • Scourge the Hedgehog, being an evil version of Sonic the Hedgehog. Being so snide and sadistic has never looked this entertaining.
    • Lien Da, a sexy, sadistic assassin wearing revealing, provocative leather outfits, and is a whip-toting combatant.
    • Adaptational Villainy made Dr. Eggman into this. He's way more dangerous here than in any other incarnation and takes an almost sadistic glee in his bouts with Sonic, and considers it all part of an elaborate game where he's the mastermind.
  • Spider-Man villain Boomerang is a slimy, lying asshole who has canonically thrown one of his best friends off a bridge for a quick buck. And yet he's just so freaking snarky, charismatic, and hilarious that fans love him. He's so popular that he managed to star in a short-lived book of his own.
  • Superman:
    • Lex Luthor. Being an ordinary human who serves as a credible arch-nemesis to the original Flying Brick through his sheer intellect and ingenuity has a way of doing that for a villain.
    • Brainiac is one of the few villains who can go toe to toe with the man of steel. His cold desire for Knowledge at any cost and status as the thematic Evil Counterpart to Superman make him one of the most well-liked members of the Superman Rogues Gallery.
  • X-Men:
    • Magneto, Professor X's ruthless counterpart who believes that humans will never accept mutants, and thus must be subjugated. There's a reason he's never completely Heel-Faced.
    • Apocalypse from the same series, as one villain so dangerous and detestable even Magneto wants him dead.
    Fan Works 
  • Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): On top of Ghidorah's Evil Is Cool representation from canon; its extra characterization in this story (especially Ichi/Eldest Brother's malice towards Monster X) and Ghidorah's plan to turn Vivienne into a hopelessly Ax-Crazy cudgel of its will are enough to ensure the readers still enjoy Ghidorah's personalities, while also rooting against its goals and wanting to see Viv and San triumph over and defeat it.
  • Avengers: Infinite Wars:
    • Ultron is a vile, cruel, sadistic, hypocritical monster who wants to kill every living thing and causes the protagonists and countless innocents great suffering in attempting to do this, but he's also an incredibly dramatic, deviously cunning and effective strategist and fighter, which makes him a formidable challenge for the heroes, and a joy to read about.
    • Dr. Olivia Octavius is a smug, amoral and spiteful Mad Scientist whose cruelty is only matched by her genius, but her cunning, charm and wicked sense of humor makes her a delight to see on page, which is why readers were so happy to see her becoming a recurring antagonist after the Spider-Verse arc, when she joins the True Sith.
  • Code Prime: The Decepticons in this iteration embody Evil Is Cool to a complete extent. But Megatron in particular gets a tone of praise from the readers, from being the one calling out Suzaku on most of his wrongdoings and questionable morality, to being a worthy opponent for Lelouch for everything he's done throughout the story, down to the very destruction of the Britannian Empire itself. One could say that Megatron is the embodiment of the kind of person meant to represent the kind of person Zero Requiem is meant to host the world's hatred, the only difference being that Megatron actively relishes in it. It's because of these that Code Prime's Megatron is an archetypal Iron117Prime villain fitting the qualities to a T.
  • Yuuma Seta, from Continuance is generally considered an awful father to his son Souji (the protagonist of Persona 4), alternating between neglecting him and treating him as a means to an end. At the same time, he's also considered a well-written and complex character, and some theorize that he may actually care about his son to a certain extent.
  • Duffy's Digital Circus: The Jester, for all the ways she torments the players and proves herself to be an irredeemable psychopath with nothing but pure disdain for her fellow humans, is still an incredibly well-liked character amongst the fandom simply for how well she fits the show's villain role and contrasts Caine both from this series and The Amazing Digital Circus itself, with her torture of the players being just as exciting to watch as it is horrifying and her personality in non-canon material having much more of a darkly comedic charm to it.
  • The Big Bad Checker Monarch from Getting Back on Your Hooves is basically the My Little Pony equivalent to Frollo or Umbridge: A villain so loathsomely evil and so subtly terrifying that it's honestly amazing. Bonus points for the writer STILL managing to maintain Original Flavour despite her inclusion.
  • Ignited Spark:
    • Kanshi Shiryoku/Intelli, President of the HPSC and High General of the Inner Circle may be a devious woman, and while fans hate how she uses fan favorite Lady Nagant as her personal chew toy, there is no denial over how charming her unapologetic Evil Genius personality is.
    • Just like in You're Next, Ignited Spark's version of Valdo Gollini, a.k.a. Dark Might, is detested by the readers for his Adaptational Jerkass tendencies, but 3People is clearly having a blast writing how utterly despicable he is, and readers are happy to route for his painful downfall.
  • Kingdom Hearts: The Antipode:
  • lies of attrition: Chrysalis is a manipulative, lying, evil mastermind with an Evil Is Petty streak a mile wide and a habit of putting the heroes on edge just for her own sick amusement, but she does it all with such style and flair that she ends up stealing the show with every appearance.
  • Mischief:
    • All for One, is a vile and remorseless scumbag with no redeeming qualities, and loves to make the lives of everyone around him, specially Hirona, a living hell. Yet, readers can't get enough of him, if only so his eventual defeat comes off as an example of Catharsis Factor.
    • Overhaul and the High Evolutionary. Alone, they are hated. Together, they are despised by the readers, managing to top even All for One as the most cruel and amoral villains decipted on page. Fans have a blast submitting ideas and plotting their gruesome demise, not to mention how in a set full of complex characters, having two villains so irredeemably evil is way more fun than it should be.
  • NES Godzilla Creepypasta: Red is popular for this reason. He may have led Melissa to suicide, directly taunted and threatened Zach, and nearly killed him, but that, along with his creepiness, is why he's popular.
  • Steven Universe: Alternate Future: Black Rutile is a smug, smooth-talking Evil Genius with a grudge who's proud to be a Card-Carrying Villain and doesn't take kindly to things not going her way, but she has so many funny lines and is a Determinator to boot. The same also goes for her fusion with Bluebird Azurite, Eagle's Eye who just adds the little gem's quirks onto hers.
  • Caecilia from Stray Dog Records is this for the writer, who genuinely admitted to missing writing this Ax-Crazy, hammy, Alpha Bitch of a character when the story ended.
  • Super Danganronpa Another 2 has Kanade Otonokoji, the Chapter 3 culprit. Initially, she seems to be a very shy, submissive girl who's often pushed around by her older twin sister Hibiki. However, Kanade not only proves to be a huge help in investigations and trials, but she reveals she's a lot more forceful, stern, and even cruel when she wants to be. All of this culminates in the third trial with The Reveal that not only is she really the dominant sister, but she's a ruthless, manipulative Serial Killer who's murdered and maimed well over 60 people for getting too close to her sister. A sister who she's also sexually attracted to and has been gradually breaking down psychologically into her submissive puppet. Thanks to this, she also executed the longest and most complex murder situation in the entire game, killing Cool Big Sis Setsuka just for getting too close to Hibiki, and in the end, she gets both herself and her sister killed so they could be together in death. All of this has come together to make the character simultaneously one of the most popular and despised characters among the fanbase.
    Literature 
  • Ladd Russo from Baccano! is a deranged Serial Killer who brutally kills several people throughout the story, including a child. On the other hand, he's just so goddamn happy about what he does that it's hard not to like him, and the child he killed was an immortal, anyway.
  • Venandekatra the Vile from the Belisarius Series can be like this. Just the sheer effort of cramming so much evil and vice into the same character is amazing.
  • Blood Meridian: Judge Holden is considered by many to be one of the most terrifying villains in all of literature, which is also why he is one of the most memorable villains in literature due to how nightmarishly compelling he is.
  • Carrie: Chris Hargensen is the Alpha Bitch who torments Carrie throughout the story. She's such a delightful brat that she's among the more memorable characters in the story. Nancy Allen, who played her in the 1976 adaptation, didn't realise how evil she was because she assumed the character was functioning more as bumbling comic relief.
  • Almost every Big Bad from the Dragons of Requiem series counts. Many of them are fully fleshed out in each trilogy and make sure they go well out of their way to murder and torture as many innocents as possible in excessively brutal, creative ways. Dies Irae, in particular, is so over-the-top in what he does that it's impossible not to enjoy how much he relishes in his wickedness.
  • Ryuunosuke Uryuu and Bluebeard/Caster from Fate/Zero. They are both shown to be quite the bombastic performers for the theatrics. They even discuss this trope, with Ryuunosuke claiming that in his world-view, God is a playwright writing the greatest tale known to man and thus loves all of his characters no matter how wicked they are; after all, what good is a tale without a villain? Caster embraces Ryuunosuke's ideology and decides that the pair shall honor God by performing an act of villainy unmatched so far in Creation.
  • Spoiled Brat and the queen of Aesop Amnesia, Reva Dalby from Fear Street is a mean-spirited brat who has repeatedly endured horrific encounters each holiday season, swears to be a better person, and does absolutely nothing to follow up on it. R. L. Stine has stated that he loves writing her because she's so bitchy, so this was the intended reaction.
  • Harry Potter:
    • Dolores Umbridge is an interesting example. There are eviller villains in the series, to be sure, but none of them are quite so passive-aggressive about it, nor are many of them the type of people readers might actually encounter in real life. As a result, Umbridge is more fun to hate even than the Big Bad.
    • Bellatrix may be a better example because she actually has enjoyable qualities as a character - she's badass, sexy, hopelessly insane, and Helena Bonham Carter gave a fittingly psychotic performance in the films. By contrast, Umbridge's character mostly exists to be a Hate Sink.
    • Vernon Dursley, Harry’s abusive and wizard-hating uncle. While the rest of the Dursley family gradually comes to respect Harry, Vernon never ceases to be petty and mean. Nevertheless, thanks to his many quotes and blunders, as well as Richard Griffiths’ scenery-chewing film portrayal, Vernon contributes to many funny and meme-worthy moments.
  • High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!: Duke Glaux Einzgarm is a corrupt POS who backs the Principles Party not because he believes in their ideals, but because he wants to accumulate wealth for himself and his cronies. He also proves to be a more interesting antagonist than the previous ones, since he knows how to use Elm's democratic process and two-party system to his own advantage, as opposed to the other aristocrats relying on brute force. While it's satisfying to see the protagonists expose his crimes and put him in his place, all the antagonists who outlast him won't be able to contribute as much to the Democracy Is Flawed aesop, since they aren't manipulating the system from the inside.
  • I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream: AM has the honor of being considered one of the vilest villains in, not only literature, but all of fiction as well. And fans love that. Also worthy of mention Harlan Ellison's bombastic perfomance in the game adaptation, making the cruel AI even more incredible to see.
  • My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! has an In-Universe case for the Fictional Videogame Fortune Lover. Hate Sink Alpha Bitch rival Catarina was utterly adored for her status as an entertainingly aggressive and bitchy villain who acted as a cathartic Asshole Victim in almost all of the routes including her, to the point that when the Fortune Lover II sequel was made, it specifically followed off the "Friendship" route because it was the only route that gave a perfect excuse for her continuing to antagonize the characters, and thus setting up more situations for her to act as an entertaining jerk. Of course, the actual main-story reason for such an occurrence is as a setup for the Catarina with her Past-Life Memories that became a Nice Girl to experience new plots and meet new characters.
  • Older Than Steam: Honest Iago of Othello is thouroughly despicable with no redeeming qualities, and yet his sheer evil and theatricality make him a delight to witness. There's something inherently enjoyable about seeing him act like an angel in front of his supposed friends only to plot their downfalls when their backs are turned.
  • Paradise Lost: Satan is incredibly well-spoken and says almost all of the best lines of the story, making him the favorite character of just about every reader, yet he's such a self-contradictory and self-aggrandizing jerk that he's still an effective villain.
  • The Pendragon Adventure: Saint Dane is the biggest monster in the entire series bar none but his intelligent dialogue, personal rivalry with Bobby, and status as Big Bad make him one of the most popular characters in the series by far and an interesting villain in general.
  • George Wickham of Pride and Prejudice. He starts off as the charming, handsome victim of Darcy's selfishness, but a few strokes of Darcy's quill expose him as an unprincipled cad who seduces people's younger sisters. Janeites take every opportunity to gleefully trash him.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire:
    • Joffrey Baratheon is one of the biggest, shallowest, spoiled douches in the series, and that's before he becomes king and able to put Westeros through so much pain and misery by killing Ned Stark as his establishing act, but he's oh so fun to loathe.
    • Also, Walder Frey (even in-universe). His case is so bad, it infects most of his family — particularly after a certain incident. To the point that other families (be they greater, lesser, or simply hopeful to become a House) openly make it a sport to bait Freys in any way they can get away with. Also... murder them.
    • Cersei Lannister is a secondary character throughout the first three books. She's an interesting combination of callousness, ruthlessness, and motherly protectiveness. In the fourth and fifth books, she becomes a POV character and we see from her thoughts and actions just how unfit she is to rule seven kingdoms. She enters further into "Love to Hate" territory when many of her schemes backfire in her face, usually to comic effect.
    • Euron Greyjoy... is getting there. He's a more sophisticated Ramsay Bolton with better looks, more charm, bigger plans, and even more abuse of his family. That is, if he isn't actually just a little bit too scary to count as this trope.
  • Spy School: Murray Hill may be a petty and immature Dirty Coward with a Chronic Back Stabbing Disorder, but his hilarious dialogue and The Chessmaster ploys keep him entertaining.
  • Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Also Nom Anor, a recurring villain of the New Jedi Order are probably the two most popular Star Wars villains who never appeared in any of the movies; Thrawn because of his being Wicked Cultured and cool under fire, Nom for being deliciously and unapologetically treacherous and duplicitous while also being the Only Sane Man of his fanatical species, and both for being certified Magnificent Bastards
  • Sword Art Online:
    • Of the villains, Kayaba is the most charming of the bunch. It also helps that he's Affably Evil while being a Badass Bookworm VR junkie with high moral standards.
    • Death Gun is a depraved Serial Killer with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but he's so theatrical and intimidating that many fans want to see more of him before his eventual defeat.
    • PoH is one of the most evil villains in the series and is beloved because of this. His raise in popularity increases in War of Underworld due to the legitimate threat he poses, especially when he logs back in with an army of Chinese and Korean players, his rather hammy mannerisms, his actually rather tragic backstory, and just how cool and intimidating his abilities and weapon are.
  • Some readers of These Words Are True and Faithful say that what they enjoy most is seeing how Ernie, the Villain Protagonist, gets himself into trouble and ultimately gets his comeuppance.
  • Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle: Fugil starts out very hated due to his betrayal of Lux and mockery of the latter's ideals. After later volumes flesh him out, he's generally considered a well-written villain due to having his own warped definition of heroism, having a backstory as a Fallen Hero, constantly debating against Lux, occasionally helping Lux for his own agenda, and being a Strong and Skilled Drag-Knight. The combination of his combat prowess and Jerkass behavior makes Lux's victory against him in Volume 19 that much sweeter.
    Music 
  • Disturbed has a song called "Love to Hate", which is all about the damage that blind hatred causes.
  • Erasure has a song "Love to Hate You", but it's not this trope.
  • Ice Cube claimed to be "The Nigga Ya Love To Hate" on his debut album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, because of the firestorm of controversy surrounding him at the time.
  • In reference to the Ice Cube example above, the notoriously contentious (and successful) Eminem described himself on "Renegade" as "the new Ice Cube, motherfuckers hate to like you!"
    Professional Wrestling 
  • The role of a heel wrestler is to get the audience to hate them in a way that makes them long to see said heel wrestler get humiliated and ultimately be defeated. If a heel is not a wrestler or someone else who normally gets similarly punched/choked/stretched, then their job is to make the fans want to see them get punched/choked/stretched all the more. If someone becomes hated in a way that fans do not want to see them at all, that's X-Pac Heat. For instance, fans could make money selling rocks to throw at Dutch Mantel and Ox Baker, two of WWC's most successful heels; while The Gangstas (New Jack, Mustafa, D'Lo Brown) ended up scaring people away from SMW (not hate, fear, which was bad for business), and X-Pac matches were deemed to be good bathroom breaks (the worst for business).
  • Tommaso Ciampa is on his way to achieving the status of the ultimate heat magnet due to brutally betraying his tag team partner Johnny Gargano and destroying the fan-favorite team. Since coming back from a knee injury, he's been met with a chorus of boos and "Fuck you, Ciampa!" shouts. Ciampa was so hated as a heel that, during his feud with Gargano in NXT, his entrance music was no music. He would simply walk out, with no announcement and no music, and the crowd booing would be deafening.
  • Michael Cole was legitimately hated (both for the right and wrong reasons) during his heel gimmick. However, people tend to look back on this era more positively, praising his work as one of the few truly unlikeable heels in modern WWE.
  • Breakout star Gorgeous George was hated by audiences, but he was also the highest-paid athlete in the country, showing how vital a good heel can be.
  • Chris Jericho is this in spades. No matter what, even when he is the most despicable heel in the company (especially during 2008 in WWE), fans just can't get enough of him and look forward to seeing him get every bit of Laser-Guided Karma he might have coming to him. He is just so charismatic that he can play both sides equally as convincingly.
  • Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is great as a babyface, and superb as a heel. He's famously one the greatest and most charismatic talkers in wrestling in large part due to his sharp wit and having a hilarious comeback to everyone around him, and as a heel, he gets to take it out on the fans, and it produces some of the loudest outrage you'll ever hear near the ring. From his run as Hollywood Rock from the early 2000's to the Final Boss Rock of the early 2020's, his smug, despicable behavior draws heat in the best way possible, and fans eat up every minute of it.
  • MJF is perhaps one of the most recent examples of how a Heel manages to get enough heat from the crowd, so much that they love to hate him! He's the quintessential Hate Sink of All Elite Wrestling, whose despicable actions rank from backstabbing Cody Rhodes to calling the Midwest Area as "Mid" (as in mediocre).
  • In contrast to his father, Dominik Mysterio proves himself to be a natural-born heel in the mold of MJF, as he plays an unrepentant prick to a degree of legitimacy way above most wrestlers, let alone those of his age, to the point that certain crowds have been known to refuse to so much as let him speak. As a result, the fans love him, way more than they ever did as his dad's babyface sidekick. Notably, when he became the NXT North American Champion due to interference from Rhea Ripley, the crowd instinctively cheered in genuine joy for Dom's first singles accolade... then remembered who he was and booed him out of the building.
  • Ring of Honor fans had a special hatred for Jimmy Rave. They would bring toilet paper rolls to the shows for the purpose of throwing it at him in place of the usual streamers.
  • Bully Ray seemingly goes out of his way to be a heat magnet, and it works magnificently. Case in point: Lockdown 2013, where his betrayal of the Hogan family as president of the Aces & Eights got energy drink cans tossed into a caged ring from all over the arena. Going back to the Dudleys' original run in ECW, Bubba Ray described them as "the definition of the word 'heel', we were the worst of the worst," bordering on Hate Sink; they weren't afraid to cut incendiary promos where they would directly insult the crowd, nearly causing riots in some cases, and compelling people to pay good money to see them get beat up. In a WWE-produced retrospective of the Dudleys' ECW and WWE careers, Bubba Ray mentioned that they went to the lengths they did because heels are supposed to be hated, not "cool" like contemporary heel groups such as the nWo or D-Generation X.
  • After years of receiving X-Pac Heat from the IWC for being WWE's designated top star, Roman Reigns achieved this trope after finally pulling his long awaited Face–Heel Turn. Roman received far more positive reactions as a heel than he ever had as a face and all he had to do was lean more into his more arrogant and despicable traits and fans couldn't get enough of it.
  • Solo Sikoa, upon taking over The Bloodline's reins following Roman Reigns' defeat at WrestleMania XL, has absorbed all of the heel heat and none of the transcendent acknowledgement that his cousin had, causing fans to chant "We Want Roman" at the top of their lungs every time he came out to cut a promo. Him simply motioning for an increasingly terrified Paul Heyman to stop talking and give him the microphone became enough for him to get Dominik-level boos in short order. By the time Solo's "Acknowledgement" in Madison Square Garden concluded with the mixed Fatu-Tongan Bloodline violently expelling Heyman from the group for refusing to accept him as the Tribal Chief, hood-oriented fans were shouting expletives at Solo as they exited to the back and he was pointing them out to Tama Tonga as if ordering a hit or saying "we got 'em." Said denial of Solo even got Paul Heyman cheered.
  • When UltraMantis Black declared his fatigue regarding the human species and became a supervillain, he was met with chants of "Oh Thank God" in Chikara. Apparently, they had been waiting for an excuse to boo him.
    Roleplay 
  • Clio Gabriella of Survival of the Fittest, full stop. This is a girl who relishes her kills. Yet to quote one of the members of the site:
    Clio is an absolute bitch who will eventually get what's coming to her. But, you know, Clio could easily be a character that I actually WOULD hate just on principle alone, were it not for how she was written.
    Tabletop Games 
  • Individual villains in Dungeons & Dragons number in the thousands. Many are forgettable, but some have become beloved of fans for being a Magnificent Bastard (Raistlin, Fzoul Chembryl) or for being That One Boss (Acecerak is probably the foremost example.) Since individual villains inevitably die at some point, evil organizations are even more common as the faction players love to take on - the Archdukes of Hell, the Zhentarim, or the Scarlet Brotherhood, for example.
  • Exalted: Chejop Kejak is the Anti-Villain that any Solar players would love to hate. This is the guy who spends every day manipulating everyone and everything just so he can tell himself that Usurpation was the Right Thing. He doesn't care about how many Fair Folks / Death Lords / Third Circle Demons you slaughter, to him he's always right and you're always wrong. And he's got 50 or so fate-ninjas to shut you up, even though said fate-ninjas really should be directed in helping you save the world.
  • There are a few characters in Warhammer, for example; Nagash the Undying. He usurped the throne, almost single-handedly destroyed a nation, and planned to turn the world into a realm peopled by only undead obedient to him; he's the most feared and far-reaching villain in-universe outside of the Chaos Gods. At a meta-level, when Games Workshop started the End Times, to get everyone's attention they opened by literally bringing him back from the dead.
  • Virtually any "villain" faction from Warhammer 40,000 will have its own dedicated fans and players:
    • Chaos Space Marines — Powered Armor clad warriors covered in Spikes of Villainy, driven insane by thousands of years of hateful war and the machinations of the Dark Gods. These guys look like they stepped off a Heavy Metal album cover.
    • Orks — Laughably Evil, the green tide is full of murderous interstellar fratboy hooligans who will cut a bloody swath across the galaxy for no other reason than because it is damn good fun. This is reflected in their unpredictable, uncomplicated, and crazy style of gameplay.
    • Dark Eldar — Cruel beyond belief, wearing armor covered in blades, the Dark Eldar will capture and torture any who are not swift enough to get out of their way (and very few are) simply because they like watching others suffer. Not only are they swift and deadly, but they look gorgeous doing it.
    Theatre 
    Visual Novels 
  • Nearly any villain from the Ace Attorney series. Each villain is thoroughly explored and wonderfully played. A few cases in point:
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Manfred von Karma, the original final Big Bad who set up the quality standards for every other Final Boss of the series. He's a ruthless Amoral Attorney who will do anything to achieve a perfect "Guilty" verdict, a complete Jerkass, an Abusive Dad to both Miles Edgeworth and Franziska von Karma, the Greater-Scope Villain of the original trilogy, and a gigantic piece of work in general. And yet he's still to this day, one of the most iconic villains of this series. The fact that he's capable of putting up a massive fight is very helpful, and his iconic Villainous Breakdown is the cherry on top.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice For All: Matt Engarde. He drove a woman to suicide, had a man assassinated, and had Maya Fey kidnapped as a bargaining chip, at which point she was nearly starved to death. Why? To preserve his image. He also manages to sneak a glass of bourbon into the detention center. His reveal to Phoenix Wright was top-notch, and the fact that he taunts you about Maya's capture makes him all the better. He forces a Sadistic Choice on Phoenix (get him convicted and have Maya killed, or get him off the hook for the sake of Maya) that makes him question his moral beliefs, but Phoenix can turn it around and turn Engarde's choice-forcing back at him (Engarde pleads guilty and is presumably executed or given life in prison, or Engarde pleads not guilty and is assassinated by the very man he hired the moment he's out of police custody) for one of the most satisfying moments in the game.
    • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations: Two words: Dahlia Hawthorne. This charming and yet vile little lady was capable of playing around with everyone else. She doesn't even need the political power of Manfred Von Karma or the wealth of Matt Engarde, just her pretty face. She started her criminal career with the theft of a diamond, using a mentally disabled man for the job, and successfully gets away from justice. Then she tries to manipulate a young Phoenix and everyone in court, getting very close at winning (being one of the hardest first bosses in the series), only to be defeated by Mia Fey. And even after her death, her intelligence remains the same and is still able to give the heroes a lot of trouble. This culminates in her final confrontation, with her satisfying and yet creepy Villainous Breakdown, with a pretty awesome animation. Overall, her presence in this series is very iconic, and she's one of the primary reasons why Trials And Tribulations is considered one of the best games in the entire Ace Attorney series.
    • Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit: Excelsius Winner, who may as well win the title of "Vilest character in the entire series". From being one of the primary reasons for the corruption present in the legal system (at the point of influencing the rise of Simeon Saint, the true Big Bad of the game), to being involved in international conspiracies and illicit dealings, to attempting to frame an amnesiac Kay Faraday, and to being a horrendous father to his own son Eustace, at the point of making Manfred von Karma look like a saint in comparison. And speaking of von Karma, do you want to know who gave him the penalty that lead him to cause the DL-6 incident? Excelsius himself, the TRUE Greater-Scope Villain of the series. And yet, he wouldn't be as memorable as a villain if it wasn't for all of this, making his eventual downfall extremely satisfying.
  • Danganronpa:
    • Monokuma is a teddy bear who cracks bear puns like no one's business, has an awesomely twisted theme song, and indulges in innuendos and black comedy. He's also more than happy to manipulate high schoolers into murdering each other for no reason other than to make them suffer ultimate despair, crushing their hopes and dreams at every opportunity. And yet, he's proven to be one of the most popular characters in the entire series. By extension, there's "his" true identity, the Ultimate Fashionista Junko Enoshima, who loves to pull off complicated gambits and, oh, destroyed the entire world.
    • Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls: Monaca's character was intentionally designed to be as utterly loathsome a Hate Sink as can be, without even any Evil Is Cool factor like Junko Enoshima, Mukuro Ikusaba, Izuru Kamukura, or Nagito Komaeda, or even the Black Comedy Laughably Evil traits of Monokuma. As a result, she's gained quite the fan following of people who just enjoy hating her guts and rooting for her downfall whenever she's on-screen. Helping matters is that following Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School and Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Monaca became more commonly regarded as the last really great major antagonist in the franchise.
  • Fate/stay night:
    • Kirei Kotomine, who does evil just because, making a nice Foil for Shirou, who does good just because.
    • There is also Kirei's servant Gilgamesh, a colossal prick who longs to make the heroine Saber his, wants the whole world to himself, and, like Kirei, loves to do evil just cause. He also has the power to back up his smug attitude. Both he and his master have their arses kicked with much gusto.
  • Hatoful Boyfriend: Doctor Shuu. He's an unapologetically Ax-Crazy Mad Scientist who literally murders you in his romantic route and is pretty creepy otherwise... and he takes to the role so well, you can't help but love the bastard. He's even this in-universe, as during one route in Holiday Star the human girl comments on how much she misses the fluffy little heretic.
  • Umineko: When They Cry:
    • The 5th installment introduces Erika Furudo. She's a (self-proclaimed) Great Detective who washes up on Rokkenjima and proceeds to hijack the gameboard. She's a Canon Sue, Parody Sue, and Black Hole Sue, and while the narration won't stop gushing over her the characters in-universe can't stand her, especially after she pins all the murders on Natsuhi, kills Beatrice, gets into a fight with Maria over candy and makes her cry, and tricks Battler into a logic error with a Wounded Gazelle Gambit. Erika is completely ruthless and amoral. Despite that, she is a fairly popular character. Also, in-universe, Battler acknowledges her as an opponent in the end and is upset at her absence at the after-party.
    • On one hand, many fans loathe Kinzo for how selfish, possessive, and abusive he is, and how he caused the ruin of his own family. On the other, his madness is widely considered to be entertaining as hell and makes him the source of much Memetic Mutation.
    Web Animation 
  • Battle for Dream Island:
    • Four, with his sociopathic personality and humorous moments.
    • Fanny, the often rude Jerkass who Hates Everyone Equally, has surprisingly a lot of fans, for berating the extremely-despised Loser, defending Bubble from Match almost like if she was Bubble's mother, and acting like a fearless leader of the BFB veterans who left for TPOT.
    • When PDA was given A Day in the Limelight in "Plan Dissolve Adhesive", their horrible, self-centered personality struck a chord with fans for just how unabashed it is, finding them to be a very entertaining Villain Protagonist.
  • Camp Camp: Daniel is a very popular character for being such an extreme case of Vile Villain, Saccharine Show and having a good Villain Song.
  • Final Fantasy VII: Machinabridged: The Machinabridged version of Sephiroth is nigh-universally popular despite being a creepy, despicable lunatic. The secret ingredient is that, unlike virtually every other abridged series villain in existence, Sephiroth is played entirely straight, and he manages to be a genuinely scary character in an otherwise silly show.
  • Happy Tree Friends: The scheming duo of Lifty and Shifty, even though they're both divisive characters to some people (Especially Shifty). However, they both also have a good amount of fans who enjoy them for their witty humor, memorable moments, and getting their comeuppance in the most hilarious ways possible.
  • Helluva Boss:
  • LEGO Friends: Girls on a Mission: Fans love to hate the second season's antagonist, Carter Greene, for his hammy performance, competence as a villain (but never in a such a way that makes him too scary for the show's target audience), and eventually getting his comeuppance in a humorous and pathetic fashion. It also helps that he's a Foil for the misguided antagonist Dr. Alvah, highlighting Carter's lack of morals.
  • Evelyn Claythorne from Meta Runner exists only to make viewers hate her as much as possible. Thankfully, she gets some satisfying Villainous Breakdowns at the end of the second and third seasons (she was not present in the first season), which make her rude and entitled (and later, downright evil) behaviour worth tolerating.
  • Red vs. Blue: Felix was a notably Base-Breaking Character before The Reveal of his true nature. After this, that aspect had significantly reduced and he became one of the most popular characters of The Chorus Trilogy with many people appreciating his manipulativeness, charm, humor, and skills as a badass fighter. All in spite of his unrepentant dickishness (and not in an endearing way like the protagonists). Many still hated his guts at the same time, but he was a highly entertaining character. His extensive Humiliation Conga in the penultimate episode of Season 13 in addition to Locus turning on him had many cheering.
  • RWBY:
    • The wisecracking Affably Evil Roman Torchwick. He's a sadistic criminal who annoys everyone he meets...but the show would be less funny without him, which leads to his death when Cerebus Syndrome kicks in.
    • Cinder Fall is without a doubt one of the most monstrous and loathsome villains in the entire series. A sociopathic sadist of the highest order who is responsible for killing several heroic and beloved characters, causing the Fall of Beacon and turning humanity against each other, and enjoys tormenting Ruby and her allies in every scene she’s in. Even the reveal of Cinder's backstory did little to exonerate her; if anything, the only thing that her reflecting on her past actually achieved was that she decided to commit Kick the Dog smarter, not lighter. In light of Season 8, Cinder Fall is a textbook example of From Nobody to Nightmare, even among other villains; as both her stepfamily, Neo and Dr. Watts all found out too late, one should never take Cinder for granted. This evolution, combined with her unique moveset and Awesome Ego, alongside a healthy dash of Karma Houdini Warranty, all serves to ensure that Cinder Fall is one of the most complex monsters of the world of Remnant, and a conversation piece whom the FNDM will always consistently return to.
    • Adam Taurus cements himself as this in his brief appearance in Volume 3. Even the show's writers are disgusted by him, and to say the fandom would really like to see him get his comeuppance is an Understatement. Brutally maiming Yang, one of the most universally liked characters on the show, will do that. Word of God also suggests that Adam was an abusive boyfriend to Blake in her time in the White Fang.
    • Co-Dragons Mercury and Emerald also get some of this, especially Mercury, who is a snarky Jerkass who is one of the most capable fighters in the series. It helps that the fight scenes that he is involved in tend to be some of the best in the show. The "hate" part comes into play mainly due to their involvement in Yang being framed, and then topping it by having Penny be murdered.
    • Dr. Arthur Watts is a condescending and petty Sociopath who openly mocks his allies and plays his role in destroying the Kingdom of Atlas to spite Ironwood. However, his deadpan delivery, Christopher Sabat's charismatic performance, and his talents as a hacker and manipulator make him beloved among audiences. His gunfight with Ironwood and his brutal put-down of Cinder's failures are both lauded for showing how badass Watts can be even when the tables are turned against him.
    • The Red Prince's every action and line is filled with spoiled cruelty, but it's so over-the-top that viewers can't help but laugh. It also makes it all the more cathartic when he loses.
  • The Death Alpha from Wolf Song: The Movie is this. Next to no redeeming qualities, belittling those around him and even killing of many popular characters in highly graphic and brutal ways. There’s plenty of reason that fans tend to view him in this manner
    Webcomics 
  • 8-Bit Theater: Black Mage Evilwizardington. He's a completely amoral jerkass whose evil is so audaciously horrible that it becomes funny and the character is beloved by fans.
  • Homestuck:
    • Lord English/Caliborn. He's an egotistical, rude, misogynistic, obnoxious, creepy, and self-centered little shit but very few people actually dislike him. This may be because nearly every scene he appears in is fucking hilarious.
    • The Condesce maybe even more. She's a horrible empress of a Proud Warrior Race who isn't below subliminal imagery and brainwashing people into doing her bidding...but is also revered by the fandom due to her being magnificent, petty and her younger reincarnation being Sophisticated as Hell.
  • Looking for Group has Richard, the Token Evil Teammate warlock who embodies the trope Chaotic Evil. He's as big of a scumbag as he possibly be and constantly commits horrendous crimes (zapping a guy into dust is probably one of the least evil things he's done) but he's just so damn hilarious.
    Richard: (after seeing the child of a man he just killed crying over his father's death) This day just gets more fantastic!
  • The Order of the Stick:
    • A lot of the fandom's love for Xykon stems from the fact he's a convincingly written villain motivated by being evil who still manages to be a Cloudcuckoolander that happens to be Brilliant, but Lazy.
    • Miko's fall from grace turned her from simply Scrappy to this. When she killed the Cool Old Guy, the hatred she'd garnered up to that point reached critical mass, in-universe and out.
    • Tarquin, who manages to be smug, Genre Savvy, helpful, and balance competence with being a Large Ham, is a meta-example. He knows he's an evil archvillain, and will eventually get defeated by a dashing hero, but he's entirely okay with that because at least he'll be an awesome villain whom everyone will like more than the hero.
  • Chase Brenton from Rain (2010) is a truly despicable and slimy human being. But the sheer depravity of his actions are what make him a great antagonist.
  • Roommates:
    Web Original 
  • The Federal Epidemic Containment Agency (FECA) from the live zombie game/event Dead Town. Within the narrative, FECA agents routinely shoot at the protagonists, even calling airstrikes on them and more or less ignoring zombies to instead attack the heroes. The Dead Town creators say that FECA merchandise is the most popular they sell. There is a button with a cartoon man in a gas mask that reads, "FECA: We're Here to Help." Even though FECA did not help when you play Dead Town, they're fun to hate.
    Web Videos 

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