Why are antagonists in western media portrayed as being ugly?

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Look at that chad and his cute little doggy, Hades, lord of the underground :

Let's remember that Hades isn't fundamentally evil, he's just the guardian of the Underworld.

I still loved the way he made jokes in Disney's but I get your message

Then Kid Icarus' Hades is in-between

Not made to look ugly while still making quips like Disney's.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I'm kinda of the opinion that a despicable person IRL kind of becomes physically unattractive once you find out they are, no matter how "hot" they might be in general.
I get really confused when people I know call some horrible, baby-eating politician hot, because even if they were, them being pieces of shit kind of makes their physical attractiveness moot. I don't know if there's a term for that, but I guess I find personalities attractive?

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As for portrayal in media, I think it's just a basic signifier that's easy to go for. People can't be as muscular as Rob Liefeld characters, but they're exaggerated to make their traits stand out. "Ugly" evil fictional characters are also usually unrealistically ugly too, so I'm not really convinced it's much of a problem.
Though, speaking a character designer, I don't think I'd ever use "ugliness" as a synonym for evil. That feels distasteful and part of a different set of traits entirely.

I like the inverse more (but I guess that's because I prefer heroes to villains). Yangus is definitely the most "conventionally ugly" Dragon Quest character, but he's like the kindest and best character they ever made, unlike Angelo in the same game, who is hyper-handsome but his personality makes him come off as a creep.

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Is the first pic from Roald Dahl? I like that you should be optimist but forcing yourself to smile can also be qualified as "toxic positivism". Forcing yourself to smile or act happy can lead to a faster "mental decaying".


On a side note I've noticed that sometimes villains were portrayed as "disabled people with technological prosthetics" to enhance their ugliness but then you got people assuming that Davros from Doctor Who being disabled (well, technically he's more of a cyborg that looks like a Dalek since he made them to his image) being offensive so they made him able to look again and without his mechanical chair.

I think they took the wrong message there: he was blinded metaphorically and could only see the world through a Dalek-like lens.

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

Why it feels like this thread is inspired by this video

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Why it feels like this thread is inspired by this video

Maybe I've subconsciously remembered that one.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Cause its unappealing
Theres lots of jp stuff with monstrous or ugly villains, or they at least look unlikable

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Theres lots of jp stuff with monstrous or ugly villains, or they at least look unlikable

It depends of the era but handsome antagonists are also present in there.

 

[Lee__Kanker]

It depends of the era but handsome antagonists are also present in there.

Yeah I said they had monstrous antagonists alongside pretty ones

 

[ciro64]

I wish I could make an anime where protagonist is the ugly bastard, his friends are monsters and they are all well-intended super heroes, but for some reason they talk in villainous-toned monologues proceeded by maniac laughs so they're often misunderstood. The actual villains, on other hand, are super handsome and well adjusted guys but with no morals whatsoever, and uses their charm to manipulate the crowd into thinking they're the heroes.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I wish I could have some social and psychological analysis but have you noticed how easier it is to portray the villain as an old guy?

Usually it could mean that the old generation has to let space for the new one for a better tomorrow but some are clawed so deeply to their power without letting it go so they portray with an overly aged person to tell they haven't given up life yet.

 

[fake-kun]

I wish I could make an anime where protagonist is the ugly bastard, his friends are monsters and they are all well-intended super heroes, but for some reason they talk in villainous-toned monologues proceeded by maniac laughs so they're often misunderstood. The actual villains, on other hand, are super handsome and well adjusted guys but with no morals whatsoever, and uses their charm to manipulate the crowd into thinking they're the heroes.

Sounds like real life.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I wish I could make an anime where protagonist is the ugly bastard, his friends are monsters and they are all well-intended super heroes.

I feel that there are light novels about that.

Antiheroes are basically that definition as well.