Rule of Cool: Good Guys vs Bad Guys

[DinoRexMax]

l'm not firm believer in this trope, but it's clear that in the design process all of the harsh jagged metal armour, intimidating edgelord colour schemes, and actually lethal weaponry and abilities seem to be made exclusive to the Villains. Meanwhile, good guys are often relegated to looking like Fisher-Price goofballs (slight exaggeration, but they're usually designed to appear more safe, lacking edges, points, or sharp corners).

My question is, are their any good guys that are unequivocably cooler than the bad guys? Don't overcomplicate this, this is purely an aesthetic arguement, obvioulsy Heroes are more likable than Villains because they aren't dirtbags, but Skeletor is still a big purple skeleton man with a ram-skull staff and He-Man has a dorky page-boy haircut and fuzzy underpants.

I'm gonna start by saying that Optimus Prime is, without a doubt, cooler than Megatron. It's hit or miss between the Autobots/Maximals and the Decepticons/Predacon teams as a whole, but I think that's a solid plus for the franchise as a whole. Especially since it's based on toys, so that kids never need to feel too bad about picking a side to play as. The Autobots have Ultra Magnus, the Dinobots, Superion, Elita-1, Omega Supreme, Vector Prime, and Fortress Maximus. The Decepticons have Devestator, the Duocons, the Triple Changers (before Springer and the other Autobot Triples Changers show up after the movie), Trypticon, the Insecticons, Soundwave, and Scorponok.

But Optimus is the clear deciding factor in who's cooler or not. He's got the Energy Axe arm, the sharp face mask, the angular winged helmet, grill abs and window pecs make him look tough, and he's suped up with the battle platform trailer (often times a straight up armoured powerup, as early as Powermaster Prime from 1988, or even the Diaclone Powered Convoy pre-Transformers that eventually became Ultra Magnus).

I'd also argue for Mobile Suit Gundam, since Gundams are pretty cool, but nobody gives a shit about GMs, Guncannons or Guntanks. Plus, I know way to many people who vouch for Zakus and other spacenoid mechs as peak, whcih I find it hard to argue somedays (though, I like the Nazi Germany allegory, stating that Zeon lost the war to due to overdiversification like with German tanks, which gives a sensible drawback to the sheer variety of their weaponry when compared to Earth).

 

[DunkeyKong]

Me when I see another Optimus Prime enjoyer:

 

[Zerohour2k12]

Like how Vader is cool as with the many Sithlords as opposed to the Jedi. Designs are almost always intentional though some turns it the other way around.

 

[Boo Man]

Me when i see another He-Man hater:

 

[polter99]

Undeniably, objectively, and with 100% certainty... Nergigante is the coolest good guy. The hunter is just a side-character in Nergi over-arching story.

Notice how Nergi first appearance is during Zorah Magdaros siege, he enter from the top turnbuckle, and get slammed and repelled by the player. Just like how the average good guy lost first before coming back. There is also theory (well... MH Wiki Fandom lmao) that Nergi is keeping the nature, the Elder Dragon (such as Zorah) in check by hunting and feeding on them.

Then in Iceborne, you sought to hunt Shara Ishvalda... but before that, you face-off Ruiner Nergigante because you ruin his life and now live on poverty and stamp, and you finally kill Nergi after extensive and exhaustive training arc.

But wait! Shara Ishvalda finally came from its long slumber and you eventually finish the long journey in the New and Old World.

But wait (shocking I know)! Ruiner Nergigante show up again when you thought you kill it, proceed to shove you off, and feed on Shara Ishvalda now weakened by you, the player. And the day was save... not because the hunter, but all thanks to Nergigante being the guardian of the world by finishing the business to Shara Ishvalda.

(then you kill Nergigante for good in the most anticlimatic way)

 

[WallachiaResident98]

I'd also argue for Mobile Suit Gundam, since Gundams are pretty cool, but nobody gives a shit about GMs, Guncannons or Guntanks.

The Jegan, GM Sniper II, the RX-77D, and GM Cannon:

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

Making the bad guys look more “edgy” really dates long way back and we can thank consumerism for that. Way back in the 1980s Hasbro and Mattel mostly in this case Hasbro made a living out selling toys based on children’s Saturday morning cartoons. While animation studios were on the roll because toy companies commissioned them to do those series based on the current toy line those companies are selling.

Parents are the ones who have the money so they buy that toy which they think we’re “cool”. Think about it why would a parent buy a robot toy that transforms into an “ugly” car(Volkswagen Beetle/Bumblebee(when their child could have the one that’s transforms into a fighter jet(Starscream). When the child receives the toy the kid will tell his parents that the toy is the bad guy and he wanted that yellow car so he can something to fight it with.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Making the bad guys look more “edgy” really dates long way back and we can thank consumerism for that. Way back in the 1980s Hasbro and Mattel mostly in this case Hasbro made a living out selling toys based on children’s Saturday morning cartoons. While animation studios were on the roll because toy companies commissioned them to do those series based on the current toy line those companies are selling.

Parents are the ones who have the money so they buy that toy which they think we’re “cool”. Think about it why would a parent buy a robot toy that transforms into an “ugly” car(Volkswagen Beetle/Bumblebee(when their child could have the one that’s transforms into a fighter jet(Starscream). When the child receives the toy the kid will tell his parents that the toy is the bad guy and he wanted that yellow car so he can something to fight it with.

Some stereotypes play into it too. Ever notice how there were a lot of heavy metal singer villains? Probably had something to do with the satanic panic, punk being associated with noise, or the idea of rebellion being disruptive. This then loops around to people thinking they're really cool because have you seen Ember Mclain?