If there’s one true thing about mankind, a trait that seems to remain the same even across various cultures and societies, it must be the fact that we do love a good story. Stories, fairytales and all forms of slightly ritualized narratives have accompanied us from, well, basically, from the beginning of our humanity. And another constant seems to be that every story has a good set of characters and a bad one, at least up to some point. While it’s true that modern stories tend to be more complex and try to also portray the motivations of the “bad guy” and to therefore cast him in a more humane light, every story still needs some kind of struggle or tension between the good and the bad. Therefore, there will always be a need for villains to make a story worth repeating. As long as mankind exists in it actual form of humanity, there will always be a job for movie villains in every Hollywood story.
But how about those kind of nice movie villains that are so cute that we just can’t hate? As if resonating with the bad guys up to some point and seeing the problem from their perspective wasn’t enough, some villains are also impossibly cute or just so charismatic that we can’t really want them to lose. Since those delightful fellows are such an interesting mix of good, wrong, and plenty of spice, it was time to have a cover story that featured the most memorable of this strange villain breed. Therefore, here’s our take on how the list of top 5 lovable movie villains should look like, in a random order.
1. Victor from “Despicable me”
Victor is, initially, a pure villain who is, well, just despicable. But the problem is that even the term best used to describe him, despicable, is in itself impossibly cute. Really, each time one hears “despicable” being used to describe something, one can’t help but smile, right? So since the bad guy in this movie makes you smile even from the beginning with the way his evilness is described, that should be a strong hint for what’s to follow. The cute movie villain falls in love with three adorable little girls and adopts them, while the audience falls in love with him. And they conquer the world together, happily ever after.
2. Dracula (from almost all Dracula movies)
The daddy of all vampires, Dracula provides movies with a very rich and seemingly inexhaustible source of inspiration. We’ve previously shared with you a list of the best movie depictions of Dracula, and it’s already pretty clear that in many cases, the character is so charismatic and sometimes so human (like when he shows us his vulnerable side that is nostalgic for his dead wife and falls in love with Mina) that we can’t help rooting for him. Admit it.
3. Loki from “Thor”
We won’t deny that Tom Hiddleston’s charms may have very much to do with it, but even though Thor is the main character in the series, Loki has a way vaster girl fandom. The man (well, villain) is pure erotic intensity in a pack, walking around and throwing witty come-backs. How could anyone not like him?
4. Beetlejuice
There are two reasons to be crazy for this guy. One, he’s one of Tim Burton’s best creations and we’re in love with that man’s mind. Two, even though we don’t secretly root for him and want him to win at any point in the movie, the character is just so cool (in a 90s kind of way) that everyone agrees he deserves to have the movie named after him. P.S: He brags about the good times he had during the black plague. Adorable!
5. Hannibal Lector
Even though the man is clearly psychotic and probably the only truly evil entry on this list, we all somehow hold up a small hope that he genuinely loves Clarice and that this details makes him a bit more human. Also, we’re fascinated by his intellect, thus making a list of lovable movie villains incomplete without him.
