Villains are written into movies and TV shows for a reason.
Their main job is to stir up trouble and add suspense. And yet, some TV shows and movies feel the need to try and turn their villains good with a redemption arc.
While this can work sometimes, it backfires more often than that. Case in point: these 10+ villains who didn’t deserve a redemption arc.
1. Billy from *Stranger Things*
When Steve Harrington had his redemption arc in Season Two, this made total sense. He was a jerk who was able to own up to his actions and become a better person.
But Billy didn’t deserve the same treatment.
For a seriously bad dude, it would require a *lot* of redemption to make him smell like a rose to fans.
Plus, Billy’s redemption made the show seem formulaic, as they already had Steve undergo his redemption arc just a season earlier.
2. Azula from *The Last Airbender*
“Think she works better in the story as a tragic character. Not everyone needs to be brought into the fold; a villain who is truly monstrous due to the cruelties they’ve faced can be very powerful.” – Redditor Zetor
3. Starlight Glimmer from *My Little Pony*
“She destroyed the world multiple times (but not really cause of time magic) because she was jealous of friendship. But no just forgive her.” – Belias
Who knew My Little Pony was so interesting??
4. Jaime from *Game of Thrones*
While a lot of fans loved who Jamie became at the end, there was still a major part of him that hadn’t changed: his relationship with his sister.
Even with all the good he had done, this was too weird to overlook.
5. Stefan from *The Vampire Diaries*
I’m the first to say, by most standards, yes, he’s one of the good ones.
But why does everyone just forget about his ripper days? He killed a lot of innocent people for no reason!
6. Julie Cooper from *The OC*
She was the kind of villain that you loved to hate since she was always doing despicable things that were crazy entertaining.
While her redemption was believable, fans found her to be more fun when she was a gold digger.
7. Minene Uryu from *Future Diary*
“Remember that time she blew up and ended dozens of children’s lives? No, But she sure does look cute when she’s getting flirted with. Look how adorable she is in that dress. Is she going to kiss the police man? Look at her blush!” – Redditor weraru_1
8. Doug/The Pontiac Bandit from Brooklyn Nine-Nine
It’s hard to imagine that a cop/bad guy friendship could work and be so awesome, but it was possible with these two.
Every time Jake thought he could trust Doug, Doug would swindle him. This was too priceless to lose.
9. Sue from *Glee*
Admit it: you sooo liked her better as a “villain” on the show.
For one, it made her character hilarious and two, she was able to get the results she needed by pushing people to the limit.
10. Spike from *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
Since the show debuted a long time ago in the ’90s, it feels like Spike was one of TV’s first original villains.
His name suited it well and he had a grungy style.
In Season Two, his time as the villain was simply electric.
Everything went downhill, though, when the writers softened up his spikes and added in the storyline of him and Buffy dating.
No one wanted to see a lovesick Spike.
11. Angel from *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*
His name may be Angel, but fans liked him when he wasn’t acting like one. Evil Angel did interesting things for viewers, like when he killed Jenny Calendar.
He was also really boring as a good guy.
12. Merle from *The Walking Dead*
One look at the character and you’re instantly reminded of the fact that he was racist, misogynist, and horrible big brother to Darryl.
This made his redemption hard to believe since you could never really trust his motives
13. Megatron from *Transformers*
“Megatron started a war that killed over 6 billion cybertronians, an incalculable amount of organic worlds and canonically built death camps. His redemption was great but it still amazing to me he wasn’t carpet bombed the moment he surrendered” – Redditor onetruezimbo
14. Regina from *Once Upon a Time*
For a character who’s legit called The Evil Queen, she was meant to stay bad.
She was just so much more entertaining that way with her snark, sassy attitude, and and cool outfits.
15. Zelena from *Once Upon A Time*
Like her sister, Regina, Zelena became a reformed character.
This was nice and all, but she was a much better character as a villain. Plus, fans liked it better when she was an evil duo with her sister.
16. Damon from *The Vampire Diaries*
It’s not that Damon didn’t deserve a redemption arc; it’s that he didn’t need one.
He’s a vampire who has natural tendencies to kill in order to survive (vampires can’t all just eat deer like Edward Cullen).
