14 TV Villains Who Actually Weren't Evil And Made Good Points When You Think About It
We asked the BuzzFeed Community which TV villains ended up not really being villains at all. Here's what they said:
1.Sue Sylvester from Glee
"There are times when Sue Sylvester has a legit point about Will and the education system. She was against him doing Rocky Horror as the school production, something even he admitted she was right about. When it came out that Karofsky had been bullying Kurt, Sue resigned from being principal in protest. As principal, she had a good point about the nutrition or lack thereof in the cafeteria — no one in the quickfire montage could identify broccoli as broccoli. There was no 'my hands are tied' mentality on Sue Sylvester’s watch; whereas, it seemed to be Figgins's catchphrase at times.
Sue even has a soft side. She can be abrasive, it’s her default personality, but you know where you stand with her, and some of the best comedy with her comes from her bluntness and creative insults."
"Sue Sylvester was right about 90% of the time."
2.John Murphy from The 100
"I still stand by the fact that one of the BEST character arcs of all time is John Murphy from The 100. He starts off as just an antagonist, but then by Episode 4, he’s revealed to be an actual threat. And by the end of the season, he’s the direct cause of a lot of pain.
His development over the seasons — from bully to enemy to reluctant ally to snarky associate to teammate willing to risk his life for his friends — is just so, so well written."
3.Roger from Friends
"He saw the group for what they were, almost immediately. And when he called them out on it, instead of saying, 'Y'know what? He's right, we should work on ourselves and not spend the next decade bouncing from one failed relationship to the next,' they badmouth him behind his back and throw cookies at him after he leaves the room. He was the hero they needed but didn't deserve."
4.Skyler White from Breaking Bad
"She actively was against Walter, who we weirdly rooted for, but IRL, we would have backed her up."
5.Karen Filippelli from The Office
"She was a 'villain' for no other reason than she was a stumbling block to Jim and Pam getting together. Karen was a really fun character, that didn't have any bad qualities, but people hated her because she wasn't Pam."
6.Louis Litt from Suits
"Yeah, he was emotional and had a temper and did some shady shit, but it was mostly because he was constantly undervalued and overlooked by Jessica and Harvey. Once people at the firm started taking him seriously, you could even see how he changed for the better. From the beginning, all he needed was just a little love and appreciation because deep down he really is a lovable character with a huge heart."
7.Petra Solano from Jane the Virgin
8.Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs
"In the beginning, he’s a total jerk, but as the Chief of Medicine, he’s under tons of pressure every day running a hospital. He’s also a product of his generation, but even he knows when that’s not a fair excuse. Yes, he’s not a very nice man, but you see him become a softer person as the seasons go on. He’s a devoted father who accepts his son as he is, he looks out for the other doctors during lawsuits, he 'looks the other way' when the doctors help patients who don’t have insurance, and he’s really not a villain. He’s just an old man with an incredibly stressful job."
9.Tory Nichols from Cobra Kai
"Okay, yeah, Tory hasn't always made the best decisions, and she does let her anger get the best of her sometimes. But when you actually see how difficult her home life is, you can't help but understand why she does the things she does. Also, Sam never took the time to get to know Tory and immediately accused her of stealing when they first met. If it were me, I'd probably be pretty hostile, too."
10.Addison Montgomery from Grey's Anatomy
“Listen, Addison is presented as a villain, especially when she arrives with her iconic, ‘You must be the woman who’s been screwing my husband’ line in the Season 1 finale, but she really isn’t bad. In fact, I’d argue that in this scenario, Derek was WAY worse than Addison — I mean, he never told Meredith he was married! I’m so glad that Addison got to stick around on Grey’s Anatomy, and then got her own spin-off with Private Practice, so she was able to evolve from just the spiteful wife getting in the way of Meredith and Derek and become one of the the BEST Grey’s universe characters ever.”
11.Chuck McGill from Better Call Saul
"He was ultimately proven 100% correct in asserting that his brother being a lawyer would eventually ruin lives and hurt people. Granted, he was a total dick about expressing it, as well the way he went about undermining Jimmy...but he was right."
12.Adalind Schade from Grimm
"She is literally the first villain to show up on the series. She was perfectly written as a multifaceted character, with a redemption arc, which showed that there’s more to the nature vs. nurture debate. Although Adalind was 'evil' by nature and was raised by a woman who taught her to be evil, when she was presented with CHOICE for the first time in her life, she chose to be good. She even chose to raise her children to be good, too."
13.Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender
"He was just a kid when his father banished him and truly had a heart of gold."
"The poor boy wanted love and affection, but couldn't get it because his dad sucks. He did mess up with that betrayal in the caves, but it wasn't for power or glory. He thought he was getting his family back."
14.And finally, Byron and Ella Montgomery, aka Aria’s parents, from Pretty Little Liars
"They’re villainised for not letting their high school daughter date her teacher??"
"I understand they tried to do the show from the teen's POV; however, it just doesn't fit. Like, in real life, Ezra is a predator and would be in serious trouble."
Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.
