Why do we love them anyway...?

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BillieHunter

~**Hillbilly Hunter**~
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DXY brought this question up in another thread, but it was closed because it went over a hundred posts and no one got to answer. I am very curious to what people would say though.

Originally posted by DXY
Another thing.....What do you think of us loving characters like Spike and Angelus,who've probably killed and brutalised thousands and thousands of people??It doesn't seat easy with me sometimes......
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We've season after season, seen them both in flashbacks or on the show kill hundreds of people. In the Buffyverse they have both killed even more. So i would just like to hear your ideas on DXY's question.
 
We love Spike because he's a bad boy, but he's also human. I feel sorry for him when he gets his heart crushed. He is a complex character and Joss & Co. have done a great job of getting fans to be invested in him to the point of where we feel what he feels.

Angelus, on the other hand, fans love him probably because he's killed and brutalised thousands and thousands of people. He has so much fun doing it that I love him for it. He takes pleasure in torturing people and doing it so intimately that he's my most favorite villian. It's evil and wrong, yet entertaining to watch. Besides that, he's hot.
 
Some people just like them because they look good, I liked Angelus because he was truly evil and you actually didnt see that alot.
 
I love Angelus cuz he is evil,smart,a bit pyscho,hot and funny.
I know I should feel bad for the people he killed,but I can't.I just lvoe when he kills someone,...I remember the first time I watched Passion,my sister was watching it with me,when Angelus killed Jenny she was like'omg!,poor jenny!' and I was like 'yay!,go Angelus,I love you!',...I dunno why I like when he is hurting people,I just love it!-I also love his sarcasm and the way he can hurt people by talking to them.His personality is so,..I don't know...he has a 'something' that melts me,I can't help it,I just love him!
 
I figure there's a good deal of vicarious thrill involved in these characters. They say and do things we really wish we could (there's a guy at work who'd look real good wearing Gunn's battleaxe, if you know what I mean). All great stories have to have complex and interesting villains, or you get Barney the purple dinosaur. I understand the attraction, I enjoy the stories, but I really wish some people wouldn't keep picking the "bad guys" in real life...gets old and boring really quick...ok, gotta go regrind my axe now...
 
I think probably, apart of us is attracted to that evil side of the soulless Angelus and Spike (me, more so Angelus then Spike) and to evil in general, its the temptation. Plus, Angelus is just fun! Can't say I would want to be locked up with him though. 😛

(I pick the good guys in real-life though. I pick Angel over Angelus all the time).
 
Originally posted by AngelsGirl
Angelus is just fun! Can't say I would want to be locked up with him though. 😛
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I would like that too,...he could sire me and then we could go togther to kill Jamie Bergman😛!
 
hey..don't forget bout me...He'd sire us both..Seriously I like mysterious,tall,extremely sexy guys who happen to be vampires...😉
 
Originally posted by slayerangel
We love Spike because he's a bad boy, but he's also human. I feel sorry for him when he gets his heart crushed. He is a complex character and Joss & Co. have done a great job of getting fans to be invested in him to the point of where we feel what he feels.

Angelus, on the other hand, fans love him probably because he's killed and brutalised thousands and thousands of people. He has so much fun doing it that I love him for it. He takes pleasure in torturing people and doing it so intimately that he's my most favorite villian. It's evil and wrong, yet entertaining to watch. Besides that, he's hot.
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Well said, Slayerangel! That's the whole thing in a nutshell...I can't think of anything to add to that!
 
Originally posted by killerdwarf
I figure there's a good deal of vicarious thrill involved in these characters. They say and do things we really wish we could (there's a guy at work who'd look real good wearing Gunn's battleaxe, if you know what I mean). All great stories have to have complex and interesting villains, or you get Barney the purple dinosaur.
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very very true, although when i was younger i was afraid of Barney.....like seriously afraid, if my sister ever watched it, it made me cry...

But anyway.....People seem to be attracted to people that do things they just wish they could but know they shouldn't. People are naturally attracted to the darker side.....
 
They haven't actually killed thousands, big revelation up ahead... it's all fake.

And because of that, we need not show guilt over things they did in their made-up past.

But there's more, these characters, else then real people, aren't about their deeds, they're symbols for things greater.

A bit like slayerangel said.

Spike embodies the beaten down guy, that takes his anger out on the world.

Angelus embodies pure evil. And face it, we, humans, are fascinated by it.
 
I think for the women its the bad boy(and they're both very nice to look at lol). For the guys its just that they are both really "cool". But it does go deeper than that. I think people can relate to the characters in some way. For example one of the ways people relate to Spike is in season five. Everybody has loved someone, but has been burned by them or hasn't gotten love or attention back from them. And of course people seem to be attracted to evil.
 
Allycat,of course its all made up...but its the characters that alot of people like...characters who have supposedly killed many people
 
Yeah, Billiehunter, people are fascinated by the dark side, and in that context, I see why people like these characters. It is a very safe way to take "pleasure" in the things that others do, even if it is all fictiony (like allycat said). The good thing about these bad boys is that when they do go good, they do it with a vengence, a lot like those ex-smokers. It is a big payoff to see someone atone for their sins and get their reward...I really look forward to the time Angel gets his...except that would mean the series is over...hope it takes a while!!
 
No, it shouldn't sit well with me being attracted to these demons that have caused so much pain and death...I don't know about Angelus but I know that I love Spike for many reasons.
I don't condone all of the bad that he did but I feel for him because he was such a pure soul...he was so kind and good...then he was turned into a monster. Society turned him to the dark temptation that he gave into and Angelus put the icing on the cake. Sure he was bad for so long and that's no good but he found a strength inside and he came such a long way. Suffered and tried so hard. And I always saw that softer side of him that held the promise to be the man he really could. Bad boy front or not he always had a goodness/tenderness in him.
I relate to this character on such a fundamental level. I get what drives him and I respect the core person that he is. It's not that I love all of the killing and horror...it's the REAL man inside that always fights, always struggles and always tries. I love him for that. For all of the strength and that soft underbely that he guards so desperately. He has come so far and I respect the hell out of him for doing what he did. And for the greatest cause, the same reason he's done damn near everything if you think about it...love.
 
It's the complexity of evil that I love. Spike has a very humane side to him, yet he was evil before he got the chip and I hated him. Buffy turned him down in S5 and I felt sympathy for him. He abused her in S6 and I hated him. He got his soul and I felt sorry for him. He's evil, but somewhat complex.

Angelus is so devious and my definition of pure evil. He stalks people and hits them where it hurts most and he takes so much pleasure and has so much fun doing it that I have fun watching him. Everything he does is exciting and bad-boy-ish.
 
We love them because they're extremely interesting, rich characters. Hot ones at that!

Plus, everyone has darkness in them....
 
Well I personally think it's fun to watch them go psychotic. I'm horrible, I love evil characters. Angelus in season 4 of Angel was just the best....but going a little deeper, I think I love them both as characters because I want to see them find redemption.
 
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