Should An Evil Protagonist Save The World?

[Arch9CivilReactor]

I started to have this thought because it’s hard for me to understand if an Evil Protagonist should even have that option. A lot of stories give karma to evil deeds and bad karma can’t go unpunished. If they ‘win’ in the end then that just makes the whole story morally questionable.

I’ve seen stories where the ‘Evil Hero’ is either a misunderstood goth or an antihero, but it’s not the same. Heroes tend to fight ‘Evil’ so if they are selfish and malicious, then what sort of theme is that supposed to invoke and make us feel?

You would feel bad for the misunderstood and antiheroes, but Evil Protagonists rub people the wrong way. Even if they do a good deed at the end of the story, I’m sure that would give a tonal whiplash from what they read until that point.

Anyone have any recommendations or examples of evil protagonists like that? And not the NTR ones because those don’t make any sense to me (since thats more being scum than outright villainy that causes countless deaths).

Definitely want to look into that.

 

[Valeforge]

It's possible. I mean, depending on the type of evil they are or the type of danger to the world. If they want to be the one to destroy it, they could save it as a means of "If I can't be the one, then neither can you!" A sort of "if I lose, so do you".

Or you could frame it as "Hey, I'm evil, not heartless. I want to torture and kill and murder. Can't do that if there's no world left because jack-wagon here exploded it."

 

[Arkus86]

Why is the evil protagonist evil? What makes them evil? What is their goal?

If they want to take over the world, and there was something that threatened to destroy the world, then they could save it if there is noone else to do it. Because what's the point of ruling over ashes, even if you make it through and your goal is not ruined?

 

[TheEldritchGod]

It's called "Enlightened Selfishness".
Google it.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

A great example would be Lex Luthor.
Here we have an evil being constantly trying to find a way to hurt or kill millions, and yet when it comes down to Earth itself, he's 100% on the side of the superheroes.
An evil person is usually in things for themselves; for them to show some kind of empathy for the Earth would mean they either have a turnaround of their feelings, or Earth is too important to their future plans. *^^*
I mean, unless you have a spaceship on call and ready to fly, I don't think anyone's ready to blow up the Earth. *^^*
"That's where I keep my stuff!", as The Tick would say. ?

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Sure they can. You can easily have an ends justify the means type of guy that destroys humanity to save the planet or something.

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

Why wouldn't they? Villains are villains because they're trying to do something that benefits them regardless of how it effects others. No matter what their ultimate goal is, stopping the world from getting destroyed or taken over by another evil force works entirely in their favor. Well, assuming they're a well written villain, and not a two dimensional bad guy who works against their own self interests just to be an obstacle for the hero, at any rate.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Depends on the character. Doctor Doom has saved the Marvel Multiverse on at least one occasion, whole worlds on others. Lex Luthor has helped save the world a few times.
The thing of an anti-hero or villain saving the world is: what is in it for THEM. The aren't doing it because it's the right thing to do. Maybe it was a challenge. Maybe they just want to show they're better than the so-called "hero." Maybe the world is "where they keep their stuff" and they don't want to lose that. Maybe the other guy they stopped is just flat-out worse than they are.

 

[RepresentingDesire]

Well everything that needs a system to survive would be well motivated in keeping the system to a degree that serves oneself operational. If you live in a society that suits your needs not at all you will try to change it in a way that meets your needs.

A basic explaination of actions according to basic economics because without broad answers you can't answer broad questions.

Mostly the division between heroes and villains are the values, Darth Vader and Ironman are (at certain points of their stories) Keepers of the Status qou, those that defend a social state are defenders of the status quo regardless of how your values are.

Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

A girl woke up in a white room, with no memory of who she was. Yet she knew deep inside her held a power unlike anyone, represented by the markings, the tattoos of the Eight Pointed Star, given to her by an unknown force. With her power, endless possibilities were...

www.scribblehub.com

Spoiler: Light spoiler as an example

Is a wonderful example of what I mean due to the protagonist in question being unquestionable evil from my observed median of values around me, but there is as well the idea of proctecting humanity and the earth as the habitat for humans.

 

[Shade01]

Maybe not what you are looking for but Daud from Dishonored my favorite villain was evil assassin doing whatever he wanted until he killed wrong person who held the city he lived in together he felt guilty for it as world he known and worked in became worse and worse and when he was given clue how to help even if just name he hunted it down and was prepared to die without anyone knowing that he done something good.
Villian will feel good to do whatever he wants because he will not pay for it if he is good enough, but when consequences hits he will be more fanatical than anyone to get rid of the problem because he is not used to it and it is not what he wants. be it getting rid of his guilt with his death or hunting down a god

Daud muses on the events that transpired during his pursuit of Delilah, noting that "our choices always matter to someone, somewhere", and that people must live with the consequences of their decisions.

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

It's called "Enlightened Selfishness".
Google it.

Enlightened Selfishness doesn’t seem ‘Evil’. It’s more just blending in. But I get your point that an Evil Protagonist could save the world because he lives there and not doing so means death. Saving others because it will boost war efforts not friendship.

 

[LordAstrea]

Arguable whether this is truly a villain protagonist in the First Law fandom, but one who does some terrible, villainous things would be Sand Dan Glokta from Joe Abercrombie's First Law series. He would have to rely on his cleverness and scheming to save the world because he does have a hard time moving around. There are people he cares about, so he would save the world for them at a great cost to others.
On fandom site, there is the inconsistently heinous wiki that briefly describes what he has done if you don't mind spoilers. The page does have a mature content warning.

 

[Xcalibur_Xc]

Yup! Or where else would the MC rule? Save the world only to rule it.

 

[RepresentingPride]

You already got a few answer there, but here another exemple that might be a reason for an evil protagonist to save the world.

Ever heard the quote : "A hero will sacrifice the person they love to save the world, but a villain will sacrifice the world to save the person they love."

Now just imagine the only way to save his/her lover is to save the world.

Also, you just said that he/she save the world, not how, he/she can kill millions of lives to achieve that.

 

[Shade01]

Maybe another one like handsome Jack from borderlands who will save the world because he believes he is a hero :)

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

Riddick from the Riddick franchise. He is simply a murderer. If he just so happens to save the world in his selfishness, that is simply a bonus.

For a book I was making before hitting a wall: The motivation of the protagonist is helping enslave the world.
Briefly put:
He got a kid as a pre-teen and got out of a toxic family at the same time. The only support he had after scrounging money for his daughter and himself by kidnapping people to get murdered was Father. Father is a charismatic sixty year old man who, after the world suddenly developed superpowers, decided that the world was too unstable. That technically, the ones who developed mutations are a different species and too emotionally volatile for co-existence.

The MC helps out his megalomaniac of a father figure to rule over the world. He doesn't want to do it himself but is fine helping his father along with his brothers and sisters that had someone they could finally put their trust in. Kidnapping, slavery, human trafficking, he does it all with a "us vs them" attitude. In his personal life and among the gang/family, he is the most helpful and supporting guy around. With everyone else he is neutral or see's them as useful before not hesitating to hurt them if they ever fall out of favor with him.

In the end, it encompasses what the Riddick franchise mentioned in the second movie, “In normal times, evil would be fought by good. But in times like these, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil.”

 

[Elevens_Listener]

I started to have this thought because it’s hard for me to understand if an Evil Protagonist should even have that option. A lot of stories give karma to evil deeds and bad karma can’t go unpunished. If they ‘win’ in the end then that just makes the whole story morally questionable.

I’ve seen stories where the ‘Evil Hero’ is either a misunderstood goth or an antihero, but it’s not the same. Heroes tend to fight ‘Evil’ so if they are selfish and malicious, then what sort of theme is that supposed to invoke and make us feel?

You would feel bad for the misunderstood and antiheroes, but Evil Protagonists rub people the wrong way. Even if they do a good deed at the end of the story, I’m sure that would give a tonal whiplash from what they read until that point.

Anyone have any recommendations or examples of evil protagonists like that? And not the NTR ones because those don’t make any sense to me (since thats more being scum than outright villainy that causes countless deaths).

Definitely want to look into that.

They can "save the world" from a greater evil to ensure that they are the one who wills weep the world instead. Or it could be a situation where the big bad demon lord wants to subjugate the minor villains but villain protagonist says no.

 

[Daitengu]

It's a pretty common trope for western comic villains to help the heroes when they and/or the world are at risk of death. There's not many villains who want to destroy the place they live, so much as control it in some way. Be it politics, violence, or economically.

 

[Placeholder]

> Evil Protagonist

They're not evil, they're heroes of their own personal narrative.

So the question is whether or not "saving the world" is in line with their own personal hopes and dreams. Or whims. Or grudges.

Including personal goals like not burning to death.

 

[RainyLiquid]

I dunno. Do they live in the world? I know I wouldn't want my home to be blown up or destroyed or whatever lol.