Whiny Bad Guys

[Laughing_Crow]

Is it me or are the majority of bad guys shown in film, television or video games turn into whiny children when they are beaten? I am so sick of the lines ‘I cant lose’ ‘This isnt happening’ blah blah you get my point, the bad guys whining their death is ‘unfair’.

I personally love enemies that die with dignity. For instance, the video game Way of the samurai 3 has a major character named Shuzen Fujimori, Lord of Amana. When you kill him (in all but one ending) he compliments your skill, saying you may be able to fight and defeat Nobunaga. If you defeat him with blunt attacks (the game allows you to flip your blade over. You can win the game without killing a single person) he tells you that if you want strength you cant have mercy before killing himself via Seppuku (ritual suicide where a samurai would disembowel themselves before having there head cut off) and saying as he does it you can not afford to hold on to your humanity if you want power.

Why I like him is because he goes to death accepting his defeat, even complimenting or ‘teaching’ the character with his death. He doesn’t say his death is unfair (though in one ending he does say ‘No…Can’t die here’) and accepts his fate.

We need more bad guys like this, people you hate, want to see beaten but still respect them for holding onto their beliefs, even as they die, respecting there opponents strength and most of all, accepting they were beaten by someone who was more skillful, stronger and better then them.

 

[havana1]

Is it me or are the majority of bad guys shown in film, television or video games turn into whiny children when they are beaten?

It might just be you. Did you ever watch any episodes of “24” before it was cancelled? Jack Bauer had to literally dig into a bad guy’s intestine to get a data chip he had swallowed. I’d hardly call that acting like “whiny children.” “Oh, no, Jack, stop it, you’re hurting me.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard that on “24.”

 

[Alexander_Smith]

I think I know what you mean. I hate this even more in the good guys though. Especially the “super” heroes who are usually whiny kids with no realistic perspective on life and no direction.

Some of my favorite bad guys are the ones in “The X-Files” (my favorite TV show ever!). They are deadly, ruthless, but are sometimes shown as having motivations that many would consider good. They aren’t made into monsters, but they are still evil, and they are often killed by those they trusted. Such is the way with evil, if you’re willing to murder, who says you’ll keep a promise.

 

[Joe_5859]

I think a quote from “Burn Notice” is very apt in describing what you observe:

Michael Westen: Spend time with corrupt, homicidal political figures, and you’ll hear a lot of self-pity. What kind of man throws political enemies in prison, and tortures them to death? Usually it’s a guy who feels so sorry for himself, he feels justified doing anything. Killers, by and large, are whiny losers. But that doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

 

[ronnie_bonigli]

Heath Ledger’s Joker had to be the most un-whiny bad guy ever. His embrace of chaos and a total lack of societal rules were fascinating. Until after you’ve seen the film a few times and realize that he is actually the personification of the devil, then you just get a little creeped out that you reluctantly enjoyed the guy’s style

 

[GinaMC]

I think a quote from “Burn Notice” is very apt in describing what you observe:

Michael Westen: Spend time with corrupt, homicidal political figures, and you’ll hear a lot of self-pity. What kind of man throws political enemies in prison, and tortures them to death? Usually it’s a guy who feels so sorry for himself, he feels justified doing anything. Killers, by and large, are whiny losers. But that doesn’t make them any less dangerous.

Ooh, great quote! I love Burn Notice.

 

[Laughing_Crow]

Heath Ledger’s Joker had to be the most un-whiny bad guy ever. His embrace of chaos and a total lack of societal rules were fascinating. Until after you’ve seen the film a few times and realize that he is actually the personification of the devil, then you just get a little creeped out that you reluctantly enjoyed the guy’s style

I loved the Joker, not just The Dark Knights version. I love his outlook on life. (then again I always loved ‘dark’ characters. Rorschach, The Comedian, The Major from Hellsing, The Jackal from Farcry 2 etc). I love them because they scare us as you think them inhuman monsters, but some of the things they say resonates truth (Jokers ‘Chaos is fair’ line and about plans, Jackals ‘how to break a man’ speech). You want to see them as crazy or inhuman but in some ways they are more human then the hero’s.