What Happens When the VILLAIN is Right?

Heroes are supposed to be right… right? But what happens when villains surpass the heroes? What happens when the societies that heroes defend are the ones that create villains? What happens… when the villain is right?

Let's look at Tai Lung, Spider-man 2099, Silco, Grendel, and more to investigate the world of villains, antagonists, and anti-hero motivations...

Scrawls profile picture and sprite Art by Mouse

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#spiderverse #videoessay #cartoon #pussinbootsthelastwish

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:33 When the Hero Sins (Puss in Boots)
4:31 When the Villain Grieves (Castlevania)
7:10 Tai Lung's Injustice (Kung Fu Panda)
9:46 Societal Rage (Arcane)
12:46 Everyday Evil (Phineas & Ferb)
15:30 Fallen Hero (Spider-verse)
18:14 The Answers...
20:03 Goodbye Grendel

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Media Shown: Adventure Time, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, Jujutsu Kaisen, Aladdin, Kung Fu Panda, Mulan, Arcane, Grendel Grendel Grendel, Beowulf (Movie 2007), Castlevania (TV Series 2017), The Princess and the Frog, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Phineas and Ferb, Smiling Friends, Moana, Milo Murphy’s Law, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands (TV Show 2016), Black Panther, Undertale

Additional Media:


Grendel by John Gardner

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♫Music Used: Overture “Coriolan” op. 62 by Beethoven, Sinister by Anno Domini Beats, Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, Air on a G-String by Johann Bach, Alone by Emmit Fenn

Additional Music and Sounds:

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Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

This video and the pictures and clips used are critiques covered under this “fair use”. I did not create the movies, shows, games or media shown. If you wish to fully access the media, please buy a legal copy online or in stores.

This content is made for a general audience. This video essay is not specifically made for kids.

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[scrawls]

Hey! I did not expect this video to get as many views as it did, so thanks for the watch! I’m new to this style of video—and there are already things I would want to change! So my apologies for some of the errors I made here. Overall, I wanted this video to be contemplative and question a lot of aspects of these antagonists. Firstly, few major clarifications:

1. When I talk about each villain being right, I generally don’t mean that their entire belief system is correct, but that they may have a point or be right in some aspect. Tai Lung is DEFINITELY wrong in thinking violence is the solution, but he’s right to feel shitty about the way much of his life was built up. His execution, pride, and other values are all wrong! I took being “right”, moreso as having a human justification but taking it to an evil extreme. I discuss their rightness as coming from parts of their motivations, but I can see how that wording can be an issue.
2. Antagonists and villains are definitely separate things, and I argue that Death is both an antagonist, and a villain and Miguel is in an antagonist who is in a gray-space between anti-hero and villain. This is because of how drastic and malicious their interactions with the heroes seem! Death terrorizes Puss into panic attacks, so it can be argued he is more villainous. I acknowledge that this is a looser interpretation of "villain" and you’re perfectly allowed to disagree!

This video is meant to spark debate and questioning about villain and hero dynamics. Thanks for bearing with the issues in this and I hope to improve in my reasoning for the next video!! Please be kind and civil in the comments :)

Smaller Corrections:

- Beowulf is a Old English story not Old Norse!
- Jinx *SPOILER* killed Silco, but its less of a thought-out choice and impacted by her spiraling mental health to be fair.

[ghostknight]

the thing that made dracula even more mad at humans than he already was, is that he gave them a full year to just say sorry, and instead when he came back to what he wished would be a heartfelt apology, he saw only a festival celebrating her death, and not only the leaders where comemorating, but every single person, the nobles, commoners, and even the children

[wander]

This is why Anti-Villains are underrated in Fiction, Imo.

Cuz while Anti-Heroes are
- "I'm the 'Hero', but that doesn't mean I'm a Saint."

Anti-Villains are
- "I'm the 'Villain', but that doesn't mean I'm a monster."

[miaiguy]

you forgot to mention this wholesome fact about Doofensmirts, none of his tragic backstories involve his ex-wife, they simply grew apart and he doesn't have the want to get her, and for his daughter Vanessa he's extremely invested in her life because he didn't have good parents

[presidentbordrr]

Miguel O'Hara is the perfect example of: "You can either be the good guy, or the guy who saves the world."

[Bread]

when you started the puss in boots section and you said "it's chasing you right now" I genuinely thought it was gonna be a sponsorship

[aswdmod]

Tai lung is probably the best example of how to make a villain that we fear and understand at the same time

[newdeoterent]

my favorite trope with villains being right is when they are right up until the last point. when they get all the information and come to almost the correct conclusion, likely something almost identical to the hero's ideology, but that has just been twisted slightly so its the worst version of that line of thought.

[MKor-wf]

Kung Fu Panda 1 plot be like: “we understand your child has sociopathic tendencies, so we are going to hard bait them with a trip to Disney world and then cancel at the last second”

[justsomeanimator]

Going from silco to doofensmirts is hilarious

[whcwcjecjecuecuw]

0:58 "what happens when the societies that heroes defend are the ones that create villains" 🔥🔥🔥

[RagtagOcean]

Dr Doof is not trapped. Unlike Sisyphus who is trapped and tortured in a loop, Doof finds contentment in his loop. There is a reason his machines always have a self-destruct button, and why he always awaits Perry’s intervention before acting. He relishes the idea of having a routine, and his evil comes off as more of a way to express himself rather than do actual harm. He is a villain at the end of the day, with a very tragic backstory, but his main motive isn’t to rectify his past or the injustices he faces, it is to be the perfect foil to his greatest enemy and friend

[egbedunmomore]

Your video made me feel stuff and rethink my view on what I think a “villain” or someone we would otherwise consider a bad person is. I love you man. You earned yourself a sub.

[joshuaford]

My favorite quote about how to write a great villain is "they should be a protagonist for the other side of the story."

Edit: Because so many people misunderstand the word protagonist and the meaning of the quote itself, let me explain it. This quote doesn't mean "the character opposite the protagonist has a morally just reason or is actually a misguided good person".

It means that they are their own person. they move idenpendantly from the protagonist they do not act like a character in a story doing nothing until the protagonist shows up. They are moving forward in their own journey, not waiting on the "hero" of the story to spring them to life. They have their own motivations and goals that they are striving to achieve. This is what the quote means it has nothing to do with morality and has everything to do with agency, motivation, and purpose.

[FAISALALYAHYA-]

"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!"

My favorite villain line of all time

[toxic_tomb]

Tai lung wasn't really right, but he did have a justification, being promised this title of great honor, for his entire life, working hard until he heard his bones crack, just to be denied, that is a decent justification but it's a justification for revenge, so not REALLY right but it's understandable.

[N.G.L-eljv]

the end scene of grendle lying on the floor is truly sad. just watching a helpless animal lie there in pain as he is about to cry with no one there to comfort him brought tears to my eyes. I would never wish this on anyone.

[reaperandyel]

Being understandable is not exactly equal to being right.
Most good writings make villains understandable by showing you why he's on that path but very rarely show that the path itself is the right one.

[ConMan-bxrk]

I love how Miguel is shown to be wrong through Miles’ perspective being outside of what is expected of Spider-Man. Miles is doing his own thing and immediately recognizes that all the other Spider-Men are willing to sacrifice the ones they love to keep order, but he believes there must be another way. Took me by surprise and excited to see where it leads

[hweiktomeyto]

0:28 Beowulf is Old English. If there is an Old Norse counterpart, it would be býulfr