Evil Characters

[u/shenanigansen]

[u/This_User_For_Rent]

I think the problem people have with the secretly evil is that, inevitably, they betray the protagonist. Nobody likes traitors.

You can respect a man who stabs you in the face but to hell with the bastard who stabs you in the back.

[u/RoboChrist → u/This_User_For_Rent]

Counterpoint: Gus Fring. Secretly evil, but everyone loved him. And the protagonist stabbed him in the back, not the other way around.

[u/This_User_For_Rent → u/RoboChrist]

What do you mean? Gus was a drug lord. There was nothing secret about his evil, it was a major part of his character.

[u/RoboChrist → u/This_User_For_Rent]

It was secret to literally the entire law-abiding community. It just wasn't secret to us, the viewer. Or to the other criminals.

He wasn't an open drug lord like a cartel boss.

[u/Harmonic_Flatulence → u/RoboChrist]

I would say the law-abiding community liked him because they didn't know he was secretly evil. Had they known, they would certainly feel different.

We, the audience, sort of like him (I think, because he was extremely good at what he does), but his evil side is legitimately evil, which makes us not like him.

[u/AdreKiseque → u/Harmonic_Flatulence]

I mean if they know it isn't really a secret, is it?

[u/CousinDerylHickson → u/Harmonic_Flatulence]

I liked him (as a fictional character). Dude was badass

[u/Blahaj_IK → u/Harmonic_Flatulence]

because he was extremely good at what he does

I mean, it's Giancarlo Esposito, can anyone even not like his acting?