Guides on villains
Thematic and comparative guides that explain criminology’s key concepts —psychopathy, the dark triad, the banality of evil, the trolley problem…— with the archive’s villains that best illustrate them.
Guides by franchise
// Pillar guideWho is the villain of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and why are they the way they are →From Ozai to Yon Rha: the criminological theory behind each of the 10 villains of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and what a century of war reveals about how perpetrators are made.// Pillar guideWhy Batman’s villains are the way they are →From the Joker to Firefly: which criminological theory explains each of Batman’s 20 great villains, and what Gotham reveals about how a criminal is made.// Pillar guideWhy Demon Slayer’s demons are the way they are →From Muzan to Kaigaku: the criminological theory behind each of Demon Slayer’s 10 demons, and why almost all of them were broken humans before they were monsters.// Pillar guideWhy the villains of The Lord of the Rings are the way they are →From Sauron to Shelob: which criminological theory explains each of the 10 villains of The Lord of the Rings, and what the One Ring reveals about how power corrupts.// Pillar guideWhy JoJo’s villains are the way they are →From DIO to Funny Valentine: the criminological theory behind each of the 9 villains of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, part by part, and whether evil runs in the blood of the Joestars and the Brandos.// Pillar guideWhy Game of Thrones villains are the way they are →From Cersei to Khal Drogo: the criminological theory behind each of Game of Thrones’ 12 villains, and what Westeros says about a world where violence is the currency of power.// Pillar guideWhy Jujutsu Kaisen’s villains are the way they are →From Sukuna to Reggie Star: the criminological theory behind each of Jujutsu Kaisen’s 15 villains, and what the jujutsu world says about how evil is born.// Pillar guideThe villain of The Simpsons and Springfield’s eleven other bad guys →From Mr. Burns to Russ Cargill: the criminological theory behind each of the 12 bad guys in The Simpsons, and why Springfield’s biggest criminal never sees the inside of a cell.// Pillar guideWhy Naruto’s villains are the way they are →From Madara to Gaara: the criminological theory behind each of the 13 villains of Naruto and Shippuden, and why the ninja world keeps producing orphans, weapons and revenge.// Pillar guideWho is the main villain of Tokyo Revengers, and why its villains are the way they are →From Kisaki to Ran Haitani: the criminological theory behind each of Tokyo Revengers’ 7 villains, who the main villain really is, and what Takemichi’s time travel says about whether a criminal career can be turned around.Psychopath vs. sociopath: the real differences (with fictional examples)
People use them as synonyms, but they aren’t, and neither one is an official diagnosis. What really separates them, what the DSM-5 says and which villains embody each profile.
Examples of psychopathy in film and TV
From the refined predator to the void disguised as success: the most accurate portraits of psychopathy in the archive, and the clinical trait each one illustrates.
Strain theory, explained with examples (Joker, Tyler Durden and more)
What happens when a society promises goals it doesn’t hand out. Merton’s and Agnew’s strain theory, illustrated with villains from the archive.
Types of serial killers: the FBI classification (organized vs. disorganized)
The typology born at Quantico to read crime scenes: what separates the organized killer from the disorganized one, what real criminology says and which villains embody each profile.
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD): what it is and examples in fiction
The clinical name for a persistent disregard for others, not the insult “psychopath.” What the DSM-5 says, how it differs from psychopathy and which villains illustrate it.
What is cultural criminology (and why crime is sometimes “felt”)
The school that stopped asking about the cold causes of crime and stepped into the moment itself: the adrenaline, the transgression and the style. Explained with villains from the archive.
The trolley problem and the villains who kill “for the greater good”
Would you sacrifice one to save five? The thought experiment that lays utilitarianism bare, explained through the villains who do that math… and act on it.
The Dark Triad: psychopath, narcissist and Machiavellian (with examples)
Three distinct traits that share a core of coldness and manipulation. What really sets them apart, what psychology says, and which villains embody each corner.
Female villains: women who kill and what feminist criminology reveals
The science of crime was built by looking at men. What we miss when the villain is a woman, and the women in the archive who break the stereotype.
Are villains born or made? The free will debate
Criminology’s oldest tug-of-war: does the criminal choose, or do biology and environment decide for them? Villains who fall on each side, and the ones who complicate it.
The psychology of the con artist: why fraud doesn’t look like a crime
White-collar harm moves more money than every robbery combined and almost never sees the inside of a prison. What drives the fraudster, and the villains who embody him.
The banality of evil: how ordinary people commit atrocities
Most perpetrators are not monsters: they are people who switched off their conscience. Milgram, Arendt and Bandura, with villains who believed they were the hero.