Why do we like villains more than heroes?

So villains tend to act upon the world more so than the heroes. I’ve read studies that show full fledged adults tend to gravitate towards villains a tad bit more than children and teenagers do. Villains, to me, would fair better in the real world. read more

We want to see the people like us, the people with flaws and mixed morals. We want to watch the people who don't know how to behave correctly all the time and don't always make the morally correct decision. read more

Conditioning: Ivan Pavlov would say we can learn to associate supervillains with other things we value – like entertainment, strength, freedom or the heroes themselves. Behaviorist B.F. Skinner would likely argue that we can find it reinforcing to watch or read about supervillains, but without knowing what's reinforcing about them, that's a bit like saying it's rewarding because it's rewarding. read more

A lot of main villains are written as more intelligent than their hero counterpart. This is usually because intelligence gives the power to outwit physical strength, which can be interpreted, or misinterpreted I should say, as overall weakness. read more