Poll: Which is scarier?

[freakydan]

I've always been fascinated by villains in whatever medium, from comic books to novels to television to movies. I was talking with a friend about the topic earlier today, and he brought up an interesting question. Which is scarier, a villain who really, truly believes that he/she is doing the right thing, or one who knows he/she is doing the wrong thing, but doesn't care?

What say you, Escapists?

 

[Magic Muffin Man]

Well, if you think it's good, then you can usually back it up with reasons why you think it's good, and maybe some people will agree with you.

People who just don't care, meanwhile, scare me precisely because they are fully aware of their atrocities, but they just don't really give a hoot. For example, let's look at the two Columbine shooters: Dylan Klebold was a depressed, suicidal teen who just wanted to end it all. He didn't really see the harm in what he was doing because he couldn't see the joy in life, and probably thought he was doing all those kids a favor by killing them. Eric Harris, meanwhile, was a psychopathic madman who wanted to go down as the biggest terrorist since the Oklahoma bomber. Had he not been stopped at the school, he would have suicide-bombed the rescue vehicles coming to help the survivors. That, to me, is way more terrifying.

 

[FactorySlave]

Well I think you forgot a type.
There's people who do evil, but think they're doing good.
There's people who are doing evil, but for a motive.
And then there's people who are doing evil, but for no reason.

The first is misguided, and perhaps the least scary. The second are calculating, evil, but understandable; A person who is paid to kill other people and makes good money doing it, evil? Certainly, but we can understand their motive and why they do it. And finally the ones who simply does evil for the sake of it. These are possibly the scariest, they aren't misguided, they aren't trying to gain something, they just don't care that what they're doing is bad.

Though evil is subjective, to quote Yahtzee "Even Jeffrey Dahmer wouldn't call himself evil, just misunderstood." Evil is something ambigious and hard to define, and varies from person to person. For my examples just assume killing people - in my personal view human life is the most valuable things we as people have, and thus one of the worst evils.

 

[latenightapplepie]

Depends.

The Joker from The Dark Knight was quite terrifying.

But so was Pyle from The Quiet American. In a different way, though.

 

[Ishnuvalok]

Other. Cosmic horror that we cannot comprehend is the scariest.

 

[Sovereignty]

The second because they likely can't be dissuaded from what they're doing.

 

[Drazeric]

totally one who doesnt know they are doing something evil because they will fight for what they think is right. People usually fight harder for something they believe is right

 

[Avaholic03]

I think someone who believes they're right is scarier, because then they can get a bigger following (see: Hitler). Evil for the sake of evil is pretty rare, and not as big of a threat.

 

[Deh Zebra]

Other. Cosmic horror that we cannot comprehend is the scariest.

Ahh, i agree. Being a jerk is bad, an unknown horror in the form of one's self is worse, but an unknown unknown, something which we cannot comprehend, that's some scary stuff right there.

 

[1nsignia]

When they're dedicated to what they're doing, They're relentless. The ones that think they are doing good are the scariest because they actually have a cause they're fighting for..

 

[godofallu]

A man who does evil for fun has no pretenses. He does what he feels like and can't be reasoned with or bought, and that is truly frightening.

 

[waroftheflyingzebras]

If they believe in what they are doing there is a chance to change their minds, or at the very least there is some reason which means that you can mess with them on an intllectual level to gain an edge. However if they are doing it for the Evuls then the only way they are going down is with a really big hammer. I would rather attack my oppenets mentally rather than physically.

 

[Rylot]

totally one who doesnt know they are doing something evil because they will fight for what they think is right. People usually fight harder for something they believe is right

I've got to agree and add that usually when someone is doing something evil which they think is right they have a seductive logic to back it up.

 

[Lbsjr]

Everyone believes they are in the right. Christians were "right and just" during the Crusades and the Inquisitions, and the Muslim extremists were equally "right and just" during the attacks of 9/11. Its when someone knows its completely wrong and keeps doing it is when they are truly scary because they can grow more and more powerful and experienced and lie later and say that they were controlled or disillusioned or some other tripe that can usually get them off the hook. If you thought you were right, you'd do anything you could to keep fighting. If you know your wrong, you'll keep doing it every chance you can doing your best not to get caught, and thats what scares the piss out of me. Its also why I think Hitler didn't think he was right otherwise he would have kept killing the people trying to get into his room other than killing himself, but thats off topic.

 

[VanillaBean]

Ozzymandious from Watchmen comes to mind, and thats pretty scary.

 

[spartan231490]

I've always been fascinated by villains in whatever medium, from comic books to novels to television to movies. I was talking with a friend about the topic earlier today, and he brought up an interesting question. Which is scarier, a villain who really, truly believes that he/she is doing the right thing, or one who knows he/she is doing the wrong thing, but doesn't care?

What say you, Escapists?

The book, "Wizard's First Rule" by Terry Goodkind, has a really good analogy for this, that I am going to use.
"Who would you be more afraid of: a two-hundred-pound man who wants to steal a loaf of bread from you, and knows he is doing wrong, or a one-hundred-pound woman who believes, wrongly, but believes with all her heart, that you stole her baby?" Asked Zedd
"I would run from the woman. She wouldn't give up. She wouldn't listen to reason. She would be capable of anything."

This is a bit of an oversimplification, but the point remains valid. Someone who believes they are justified is far more terrifying to me.

 

[Trivun]

If a villain believes that they're doing the right thing, then it means they have the best of intentions and are good at heart. Therefore, there's a chance, no matter how slim, that they can be turned away from their evil acts and redeemed. Whereas someone who knows they're evil and doesn't care can't be turned like that, and will stay bad. So surely the scarier one is the one who knows they're evil and doesn't care?

 

[xdom125x]

I find the ones that think they are doing the right thing scarier because they will never feel guilty for all the hurt they cause.