‘What’s a story where the ‘bad guys’ are actually, completely, 100% right?’ – 22 misunderstood villains who don’t deserve their reputation

Do you ever find yourself watching a film or reading a book and realise that you’re rooting for the people who aren’t the so-called ‘good guys’ that you’re meant to be rooting for?

You’re not the only one. Over on Reddit, user WidowofBielsa asked:

‘What’s a story where the ‘bad guys’ are actually, completely, 100% right, to the point where it’s weird the story keeps calling them the bad guys?’

And there were lots of people who felt that there are plenty of apparent villains out there who actually turned out to be right. Like these…

1.

‘Not so much a ‘bad guy’ as he was an antagonist, but Ice Man was totally right about Maverick in Top Gun.’
–cascadianwizard

2.

‘Dennis the Menace. The older I get the more I sympathize with Mr Wilson. Get off my lawn, you little shit.’
–redesckey

3.

‘The insurers requiring additional proof of safety at Jurassic Park.’
–SwansBeDancin

4.

‘The older I get the more I realise that the mean parents were 100% justified. Baby’s dad in Dirty Dancing was actually a decent guy. He still helped that girl after her botched abortion. No one corrected him when he assumed who the father was. What dad wants his teenage daughter seeing an older man who he thinks just got another girl pregnant?’
–AriasK

5.

‘The mother in Mrs. Doubtfire. For years, she’d been dealing with a man-child who undermined her, upstaged her, and caused messes which she wound up having to clean up. Then, instead of making serious efforts to clean up his life, he decides to make her look like the bad guy and disguise himself to sneak back into her home.

In the end, the movie makes the mother look like she learned a lesson, when it should have been him.’
–definitely_alphaz

6.

‘The Jungle Book. Shere Khan didn’t want the man cub around because ‘he’ll set the jungle on fire’. By the end of the story, what does Mowgli do? Set the jungle on fire.’
–Cu3bone

7.

‘Sarah Silverman’s character in School of Rock. Jack Black is a sponge who takes advantage of her fiancé. He then steals his identity and puts his whole career at risk, but then she calls the police she’s portrayed as some kind of major asshole.’
–coolhotcoffee

8.

‘Emily in The Devil Wears Prada. She worked hard at Runway Magazine and lived and breathed fashion. She still deserved to go to Paris.’
–singledxout

9.

‘The Wicked Witch of the West was certainly nasty, but on the other hand, just wanted her dead sister’s shoes! That bitch Glinda comes floating in in her bubble and steals the shoes off a fresh corpse, and when the dead woman’s sister wants the only thing that survived a house falling on them, Glinda’s like ‘they must be powerful because she wants them so bad’.

No! You just denied a grieving woman an heirloom that belonged to her sister, you absolute monster. Glinda’s the real villain of The Wizard of Oz.’
–Gneissisnice

10.

‘Tom and Jerry. And don’t let me get started on Sylvester and Tweety. Justice for Tom and Sylvester!’
–Seniora-Tonight7955

11.

‘Hermione trying to give the elves rights in Harry Potter. The books portray her as in the wrong but she’s 100% right.’
–Chagdoo