Do Malevolent Characters Consider Themselves As Being Such?

[Argonus]

... basically what the title says.

I think this pertains more to Marvel's villains than it does to DC's...

...as DC is so "black & white" with "Joker is an insane murderer" and "Luthor destroys countries while safely behind his desk at LexCorp"...

...while Dr. Doom is Lording (for better or worse) over his country while trying to rescue his Mother's soul from Mephisto, and pestering the FF/whomever else when he has some "down-time", with Magneto only attacking humanity because they threaten his people: Mutantkind.

Laid out like that, it seems like DC's villains are more likely to know they're engaged in villainous behaviour, while Marvel's may see what they're doing as "what's right to them".

Obviously the "street-level" villains don't apply, here.. both Paste-Pot Pete and Reverse Flash know that robbing a bank is wrong. I'm thinking of the more grandiose villains.

Of course, characters like Thanos and Sinestro blur the lines a bit between the two... even Darkseid could fall into this, to some degree.
.. just curious, and I haven't done a "What If" in a few weeks, I don't think.

[Mean Green]

Magneto's always been a tragic character to me - very well portrayed in X-Men: First Class. I haven't read much of the X-titles recently but isn't he on the good side now?

[MrYac]

i've always found the villians who don't really understand that they are villians to be the most interesting, Apocalypse i think is a good example as sure the man is evil and vile BUT deep down everything he does is in his mind for the betterment of the entire world, to him purging the weak and allowing the strongest to rule is the ultimate goal for life, so by culling the inferiors and allowing the superior to take over he's doing what should be done

[risingstar]

Most "evil" characters seem to have become evil due to circumstances, e.g., being fired, being dumped, being used, and so on. There's a major "I'm a victim" component which, more often than not, provides them with all the justification and entitlement they require to move forward with their evil doer world-domination needs... lol. There are probably only a handful of true evil beings in the Marvel Universe e.g., Loki, Red Skull, Mephisto, Thanos, Nightmare, Annihilus, Surtur. I wouldn't group characters like Doc Ock, Tiger Shark, Batroc, or Super Skrull with those others.

[lord odin]

Punisher kills people he doesn't have to ditto for Black Adam but they both are right.

[MrYac]

Originally Posted by risingstar

or Super Skrull with those others.

he's another interesting variation here, because he is a villian to us but techincly he's a super-hero to his people....even if they are a bit wishy-washy on actually respecting him

[Argonus]

Half the time, Thanos was just trying to impress Death through his actions; lately, he's just wanting to be left alone. He actually saw the danger Annihilus posed in the original "Annihilation" series and took steps towards stopping him, until Drax showed up.

[risingstar]

And, impressing Death by murdering half the universe sounds like something a nice guy would do........??

[Argonus]

Originally Posted by risingstar

And, impressing Death by murdering half the universe sounds like something a nice guy would do........??

Sure, if Death puts out afterwards.

Hahah.. good point, but Thanos doesn't rub his hands together and say "I'm killing everyone, because I'm 'evil'"; he just did it because it was a means to an end... in that case, he did it to impress Death.

[risingstar]

Originally Posted by Argonus

Sure, if Death puts out afterwards.

Hahah.. good point, but Thanos doesn't rub his hands together and say "I'm killing everyone, because I'm 'evil'"; he just did it because it was a means to an end... in that case, he did it to impress Death.

What evil person ever actually says, "I'm evil".....??
Maybe it's just me but I'm thinking murdering half the Universe might fall into one of those "actions speaks louder than words" type things.