// By decade

Classic villains, before 1960

The best villains from before 1960 analysed with real criminology: 105 case files applying genuine criminological theories to the characters you already know.

105 case files63 theories

Stigma 4

Poster of Milady de Winter, villain from The Three Musketeers

StigmaMilady de WinterThe Three Musketeers · LiteratureMilady de Winter and stigma: in The Three Musketeers, Cardinal Richelieu’s agent bears on her shoulder the brand France burned into criminals, and every man…Read the case file →

Poster of Gwynplaine, villain from The Man Who Laughs

StigmaGwynplaineThe Man Who Laughs · LiteratureThe Man Who Laughs and stigma: as a child, Gwynplaine had a permanent smile carved into his face and was displayed at fairs. The crowd pays to laugh at him…Read the case file →

Poster of Erik, villain from The Phantom of the Opera

StigmaErikThe Phantom of the Opera · LiteratureThe Phantom of the Opera and the theory of stigma: Erik is a prodigious musician no one will ever listen to, because his face makes whoever looks at it scream.…Read the case file →

StigmaClayfaceBatman · ComicsClayface and Goffman's theory of stigma: how a man who loses his human face ends up internalizing rejection and taking on the role of monster the world assigns…Read the case file →

CPTED 4

Poster of A. J. Raffles, villain from Raffles

CPTEDA. J. RafflesRaffles · LiteratureA. J. Raffles and CPTED: the amateur thief who studies a mansion's access points, routines and blind spots with a forensic's patience. The analysis of space,…Read the case file →

Poster of Simon Templar, villain from The Saint

CPTEDSimon TemplarThe Saint · LiteratureSimon Templar and CPTED: the vigilante who masters the reading of space—access points, floor plans, routines—and turns it against the real criminals. The same…Read the case file →

Poster of John Robie, villain from To Catch a Thief

CPTEDJohn RobieTo Catch a Thief · FilmJohn Robie and CPTED: the climber who steals from above, the route no design foresaw. Natural surveillance watches the doors; the Cat comes in through the sky.Read the case file →

Poster of Bob Montagné, villain from Bob le flambeur

CPTEDBob MontagnéBob le flambeur · FilmBob Montagné and CPTED: the veteran who studies every alarm, every guard and every reaction time of a casino. The methodical analysis of space—the exact…Read the case file →

Psychoanalytic criminology 4

Poster of Conde Orlok, villain from Nosferatu

Psychoanalytic criminologyCount OrlokNosferatu · FilmCount Orlok and criminological psychoanalysis: the vampire as the return of the repressed. The uncanny, the death drive and an unchecked id that confuses love…Read the case file →

Poster of Vera Claythorne, villain from And Then There Were None

Psychoanalytic criminologyVera ClaythorneAnd Then There Were None · LiteratureVera Claythorne and psychoanalytic criminology: in And Then There Were None, the young woman who let a child drown so that her lover would inherit outlives…Read the case file →

Psychoanalytic criminologyHushBatman · ComicsHush and criminological psychoanalysis: how an infantile parricidal wish and an envy never worked through shape the adult who bandages his face to destroy his…Read the case file →

Poster of Hugo Strange, villain from Batman

Psychoanalytic criminologyHugo StrangeBatman · ComicsProfessor Hugo Strange and criminological psychoanalysis: envy, projection and the desire to take the rival's place. How the man who analyzes Batman ends up…Read the case file →

Deficient socialization 4

Poster of Heathcliff, villain from Wuthering Heights

Deficient socializationHeathcliffWuthering Heights · LiteratureHeathcliff and deficient socialization: the boy taken in and then degraded, humiliated and stripped of affection, who turns that wound into a project of…Read the case file →

Poster of Lampwick, villain from Pinocchio

Deficient socializationLampwickPinocchio · FilmLampwick and deficient socialization: the boy with no adult guidance or limits who gives himself over to immediate pleasure on Pleasure Island until he turns,…Read the case file →

Poster of Jack Merridew, villain from Lord of the Flies

Deficient socializationJack MerridewLord of the Flies · LiteratureJack Merridew and deficient socialization: remove the adults who uphold the rule and watch how long it takes a well-raised boy to become a hunter, a tyrant and…Read the case file →

Poster of El Grinch, villain from The Grinch

Deficient socializationThe GrinchThe Grinch · LiteratureThe Grinch and deficient socialization: the excluded, lonely creature whose resentment toward a community that never welcomed him hardens into hatred.…Read the case file →

Moral cost-benefit 3

Poster of Claudio, villain from Shakespeare

Moral cost-benefitClaudiusHamlet · LiteratureClaudius and moral cost-benefit: the brother who poisoned the king of Denmark prays, feels the guilt and still cannot repent, because repenting would force him…Read the case file →

Poster of Charles Foster Kane, villain from Citizen Kane

Moral cost-benefitCharles Foster KaneCitizen Kane · FilmCharles Foster Kane and the moral cost-benefit: a man who auctions off his principles one by one on the altar of power, convinced each time that the deal is…Read the case file →

Poster of Fred C. Dobbs, villain from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Moral cost-benefitFred C. DobbsThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre · FilmFred C. Dobbs and the moral cost-benefit: a gold prospector whose conscience cheapens gram by gram. The treasure lowers his moral cost until distrust,…Read the case file →

Postcolonial criminology 3

Poster of Coronel Sebastian Moran, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Postcolonial criminologyColonel Sebastian MoranSherlock Holmes · LiteratureColonel Sebastian Moran, Moriarty’s right-hand man, and postcolonial criminology: the best shot in India kills in London with the same technique he used to…Read the case file →

Poster of Conde Drácula, villain from Dracula

Postcolonial criminologyCount DraculaDracula · LiteratureCount Dracula and postcolonial criminology: Bram Stoker’s vampire buys an estate in England, learns English from books and travels to London on a ship loaded…Read the case file →

Poster of Cutler Beckett, villain from Pirates of the Caribbean

Postcolonial criminologyCutler BeckettPirates of the Caribbean · FilmCutler Beckett and postcolonial criminology: the corporate face of empire. The Company lord for whom slaughter is just a line on a spreadsheet.Read the case file →

Free will 3

Poster of Yago, villain from Shakespeare

Free willYagoOthello · LiteratureOthello and free will: Iago is the villain with no excuse at all—no trauma, no poverty, no madness. Only the will to destroy. The purest case of the classical…Read the case file →

Poster of Ricardo III, villain from Shakespeare

Free willRicardo IIIRichard III · LiteratureRichard III and the theory of free will: the villain who blames neither his body nor his childhood, but announces to the audience that he has decided to be…Read the case file →

Poster of Satán, villain from Paradise Lost

Free willSatanParadise Lost · LiteratureParadise Lost and the theory of free will: before any criminal, an angel with all the information and no excuse chose evil — and called his damnation freedom.…Read the case file →

Differential identification 3

Poster of John Felton, villain from The Three Musketeers

Differential identificationJohn FeltonThe Three Musketeers · LiteratureJohn Felton and differential identification: in The Three Musketeers, the officer ordered to guard Milady ends up believing himself the avenger of a martyr and…Read the case file →

Poster of Long John Silver, villain from Treasure Island

Differential identificationLong John SilverTreasure Island · LiteratureLong John Silver and differential identification theory: the cook of Treasure Island organizes a mutiny, kills an honest sailor and still wins the affection of…Read the case file →

Poster of Edward Nashton, villain from Batman

Differential identificationEdward NashtonThe Batman · FilmThe Riddler and Glaser's differential identification in its most contemporary form: a loner who fabricates an identity—the Riddler—out of real killers and an…Read the case file →

Anomie / Strain 2

Poster of Fernand Mondego, villain from The Count of Monte Cristo

Anomie / StrainFernand MondegoThe Count of Monte Cristo · LiteratureFernand Mondego and Merton’s anomie: in The Count of Monte Cristo, a penniless Catalan fisherman helps imprison his rival, joins the army, betrays his lord in…Read the case file →

Poster of Arthur Fleck, villain from Batman

Anomie / StrainArthur FleckJoker · FilmJoker and strain theory: what happens when a society promises goals it never shares out, and the only exit it leaves open is deviance.Read the case file →

Institutional anomie 2

Poster of Danglars, villain from The Count of Monte Cristo

Institutional anomieDanglarsThe Count of Monte Cristo · LiteratureDanglars and institutional anomie: in The Count of Monte Cristo, the envious accountant who devised the letter against Dantès becomes one of the great bankers…Read the case file →

Poster of Sr. Potter, villain from It's a Wonderful Life

Institutional anomieSr. PotterIt's a Wonderful Life · FilmIt's a Wonderful Life and institutional anomie: when Mr. Potter wins, Bedford Falls becomes Pottersville — a town where only the market rules. The finest…Read the case file →

Low self-control 2

Poster of Gaspard Caderousse, villain from The Count of Monte Cristo

Low self-controlGaspard CaderousseThe Count of Monte Cristo · LiteratureGaspard Caderousse and low self-control: in The Count of Monte Cristo, the neighbor who watched the conspiracy against Dantès being hatched and said nothing…Read the case file →

Low self-controlFireflyBatman · ComicsFirefly (Garfield Lynns) and the theory of low self-control: pyromania as an inability to resist immediate gratification. Why the person who needs to see…Read the case file →

Social capital and collective efficacy 2

Poster of Sheriff de Nottingham, villain from Robin Hood

Social capital and collective efficacySheriff of NottinghamRobin Hood · LiteratureThe Sheriff of Nottingham and the impossibility of collective efficacy: when legitimate power is the predator, the terrorized community cannot intervene, and…Read the case file →

Poster of Harry Powell, villain from The Night of the Hunter

Social capital and collective efficacyHarry PowellThe Night of the Hunter · FilmHarry Powell and collective efficacy: the predator who reigns in a dazzled town that would rather believe him than confront the obvious. The crime that thrives…Read the case file →

Social contagion and geography of fear 2

Poster of Jack Stapleton, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Social contagion and geography of fearJack StapletonSherlock Holmes · LiteratureJack Stapleton, the killer of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and the geography of fear: a man who did not need to kill with his own hands because the moor was…Read the case file →

Poster of Espantapájaros, villain from Batman

Social contagion and geography of fearScarecrowBatman · ComicsScarecrow and the geography of fear: a psychiatrist who synthesizes terror and sprays it over an entire city. Fear as a deliberate epidemic, spreading from…Read the case file →

Born criminal / Atavism 2

Poster of Edward Hyde, villain from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Born criminal / AtavismEdward HydeThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde · LiteratureStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the theory of the born criminal: the fantasy—seductive and dangerous—that evil has a face, a body, features that give…Read the case file →

Poster of Oswald Cobblepot, villain from Batman

Born criminal / AtavismOswald CobblepotBatman · ComicsBatman and the theory of the born criminal seen in reverse: Oswald Cobblepot does not turn to crime because his “deformed” body carries evil written into…Read the case file →

Queer criminology 2

Poster of Señora Danvers, villain from Rebecca

Queer criminologyMrs DanversRebecca · LiteratureMrs Danvers and queer criminology: Manderley’s housekeeper, devoted to her late mistress, torments the new wife until she pushes her towards an open window.…Read the case file →

Poster of Maléfica, villain from Sleeping Beauty

Queer criminologyMaleficentSleeping Beauty · FilmMaleficent and queer coding: the androgynous, celibate, sovereign figure whose untamed power—outside the mold of wife and mother—is written as evil.Read the case file →

Critical criminology 2

Poster of Doctor Roberto Miranda, villain from Death and the Maiden

Critical criminologyDoctor Roberto MirandaDeath and the Maiden · TheatreCritical criminology asks what happens to state crimes when the state decides not to try them. Dorfman answers with a victim, a chair, a pair of stockings and…Read the case file →

Poster of Luzhin, villain from Crime and Punishment

Critical criminologyLuzhinCrime and Punishment · LiteraturePyotr Petrovich Luzhin and critical criminology: Dunya’s fiancé in Crime and Punishment accuses Sonya Marmeladova of theft in front of everyone, at a funeral,…Read the case file →

Moral disengagement 2

Poster of Lady Macbeth, villain from Shakespeare

Moral disengagementLady MacbethMacbeth · LiteratureLady Macbeth and moral disengagement: the wife who pushes Macbeth to kill King Duncan switches off her conscience with words —“a little water clears us of this…Read the case file →

Poster of Gérard de Villefort, villain from The Count of Monte Cristo

Moral disengagementGérard de VillefortThe Count of Monte Cristo · LiteratureGérard de Villefort and moral disengagement: in The Count of Monte Cristo, the deputy crown prosecutor knows that Edmond Dantès is innocent and sends him to…Read the case file →

Biochemical imbalances 2

Biochemical imbalancesMan-BatBatman · ComicsKirk Langstrom and biochemical imbalances: a scientist who injects a bat-DNA serum to cure his deafness and wakes the beast. The chemistry that hijacks the…Read the case file →

Poster of Hiedra Venenosa, villain from Batman

Biochemical imbalancesHiedra VenenosaBatman · ComicsPamela Isley was poisoned with toxins in an experiment. The chemistry that altered her turned her into Poison Ivy—and into the weapon she wields: poisons that…Read the case file →

Primary and secondary deviance 2

Poster of Mr. Freeze, villain from Batman

Primary and secondary devianceMr. FreezeBatman · ComicsMr. Freeze and secondary deviance: how a brilliant scientist, broken by a loss the world never let him work through, crystallizes his pain into the identity of…Read the case file →

Poster of Sofía Falcone, villain from Batman

Primary and secondary devianceSofia FalconeThe Penguin · SeriesSofía Falcone and Lemert's primary and secondary deviance: how labeling—the nickname, the scapegoat, the asylum—reorganizes an identity until the person takes…Read the case file →

Rational choice 2

Poster of R. Raskólnikov, villain from Crime and Punishment

Rational choiceR. RaskolnikovCrime and Punishment · LiteratureCrime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky: criminology's first great case arrived in a novel, sixty years before the discipline existed.Read the case file →

Poster of Macheath, villain from The Threepenny Opera

Rational choiceMacheathThe Threepenny Opera · MusicThe Threepenny Opera and rational choice: when crime is organized like a company—and the only difference from a bank is who signs the license.Read the case file →

Frustration–aggression 2

Poster of Capitán Ahab, villain from Moby Dick

Frustration–aggressionCaptain AhabMoby Dick · LiteratureCaptain Ahab and the frustration-aggression hypothesis: the whaler of Moby-Dick lost a leg to a white whale and turned the animal into the face of all the evil…Read the case file →

Poster of Davy Jones, villain from Pirates of the Caribbean

Frustration–aggressionDavy JonesPiratas del Caribe: El cofre del hombre muerto · FilmThe frustration-aggression hypothesis explains Davy Jones better than his octopus face: one meeting Calypso never kept, and a whole ocean paying for her…Read the case file →

Intelligence (IQ) and crime 2

Poster of Profesor Moriarty, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Intelligence (IQ) and crimeProfessor MoriartySherlock Holmes · LiteratureMoriarty and IQ: the mathematics professor who ran half of London's crime without dirtying his hands. The definitive proof that crime isn't a business for…Read the case file →

Poster of Charles Augustus Magnussen, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Intelligence (IQ) and crimeCharles Augustus MagnussenSherlock · SeriesCharles Augustus Magnussen neither shoots nor strikes: he memorizes. His only weapon is an intellect that files away the secrets of half the world. Proof that…Read the case file →

Economic model of crime 2

Poster of Ebenezer Scrooge, villain from A Christmas Carol

Economic model of crimeEbenezer ScroogeA Christmas Carol · LiteratureEbenezer Scrooge and the economic model of crime: the perfect homo economicus, the man who optimized his existence until it became a spreadsheet, and the only…Read the case file →

Poster of Grimesby Roylott, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Economic model of crimeGrimesby RoylottSherlock Holmes · LiteratureDr. Grimesby Roylott, the villain of “The Speckled Band,” and Becker’s economic model of crime: each stepdaughter’s wedding would cost him £250 a year, and he…Read the case file →

Psychopathy 2

Poster of Victor Zsasz, villain from Batman

PsychopathyVictor ZsaszBatman · ComicsVictor Zsasz and psychopathy (Cleckley; Hare): emotional coldness, absence of remorse and instrumental cruelty. Every notch on his body is a killing without…Read the case file →

Poster of Tom Ripley, villain from The Talented Mr. Ripley

PsychopathyTom RipleyThe Talented Mr. Ripley · LiteratureThe Talented Mr. Ripley and real psychopathy: not the fanged monster, but the charming impostor who steals an identity, kills for logistics, and gets away with…Read the case file →

Criminal heredity 2

Poster of Monks, villain from Oliver Twist

Criminal heredityMonksOliver Twist · LiteratureMonks and hereditary criminality: the half-brother who needs to manufacture a delinquent. The file on the novel that denounces the workhouse and simultaneously…Read the case file →

Poster of Mordaunt, villain from The Three Musketeers

Criminal heredityMordauntThe Three Musketeers · LiteratureMordaunt and criminal heredity: in Twenty Years After, Milady de Winter’s son hunts the men who executed his mother, kills his uncle, puts on the mask of…Read the case file →

Containment 2

Poster of Juez Wargrave, villain from And Then There Were None

ContainmentJudge WargraveAnd Then There Were None · LiteratureJudge Wargrave and containment theory: in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, a retired judge gathers on an island nine people who killed without the…Read the case file →

Poster of Bruno Antony, villain from Strangers on a Train

ContainmentBruno AntonyStrangers on a Train · FilmBruno Antony and containment theory: total charm and not a single brake. With no inner wall—no internalization of the norm—and no outer wall—no bond or role to…Read the case file →

Culture conflict 2

Poster of Príncipe Juan, villain from Robin Hood

Culture conflictPrince JohnRobin Hood · LiteraturePrince John and culture conflict theory: the regent who codifies one group's norms and criminalizes the other's customs. The file on how a whole people becomes…Read the case file →

Poster of Jefferson Hope, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Culture conflictJefferson HopeSherlock Holmes · LiteratureJefferson Hope, the murderer of A Study in Scarlet, and culture conflict theory: a hunter from the American West who kills two men in London by frontier law…Read the case file →

Hypoarousal 2

Poster of Svidrigáilov, villain from Crime and Punishment

HypoarousalSvidrigailovCrime and Punishment · LiteratureArkady Svidrigailov and hypoarousal theory: Dostoevsky’s landowner who pursues Dunya, carries rumors of deaths that were never tried, and confesses that…Read the case file →

Poster of Brandon Shaw, villain from Rope

HypoarousalBrandon ShawRope · FilmBrandon Shaw and the hypoarousal theory: killing for the thrill of killing. A young man who strangles a friend just to feel the vertigo of the perfect…Read the case file →

Patriarchy and crime 2

Poster of Barba Azul, villain from Bluebeard

Patriarchy and crimeBarba AzulBluebeard · LiteratureBluebeard and the theory of patriarchy: the founding tale. A man who collects wives, gives them every key but one, and murders them when they disobey—the…Read the case file →

Poster of Bill Sikes, villain from Oliver Twist

Patriarchy and crimeBill SikesOliver Twist · LiteratureBill Sikes and the theory of patriarchy: the abuser who murders the woman who loves him. A violence so ordinary in Dickens’s England that it was almost part of…Read the case file →

Utilitarianism 2

Poster of Ra's al Ghul, villain from Batman

UtilitarianismRa's al GhulBatman · ComicsBatman and utilitarianism: Ra’s al Ghul does not destroy out of malice, but out of arithmetic—razing a corrupt city to save the balance of the world.Read the case file →

UtilitarianismO'Brien1984 · Literature1984 and the dark face of utilitarianism: when only the happiness of the whole counts, the individual becomes infinitely sacrificable. O'Brien tortures Winston…Read the case file →

Attachment 1

Poster of Estella, villain from Great Expectations

AttachmentEstellaGreat Expectations · LiteratureGreat Expectations and attachment theory: Estella is cold and incapable of loving because she was raised that way on purpose — a bitter woman brought her up to…Read the case file →

Social learning 1

Poster of Talia al Ghul, villain from Batman

Social learningTalia al GhulBatman · ComicsTalia al Ghul and social learning theory: how an assassin is manufactured from childhood. No one is born wielding the League's blade; Talia was raised to it,…Read the case file →

Differential association 1

Poster of Doctor Armstrong, villain from And Then There Were None

Differential associationDr. ArmstrongAnd Then There Were None · LiteratureDr. Armstrong and differential association: in And Then There Were None, a prestigious surgeon carries the death of a woman he operated on while drunk, and the…Read the case file →

Radical criminology / New criminology 1

Poster of Robin Hood, villain from Robin Hood

Radical criminology / New criminologyRobin HoodRobin Hood · LiteratureRobin Hood and radical criminology: the eternal archetype of the righteous bandit. His "crime"—robbing the rich to give to the poor—denounces a greater…Read the case file →

Peacemaking criminology 1

Poster of Inspector Javert, villain from Les Misérables

Peacemaking criminologyInspector JavertLes Misérables · LiteratureInspector Javert and peacemaking criminology: punitive justice taken to the absolute. A man of integrity who spends his whole life hunting another for stealing…Read the case file →

Feminist criminology 1

Poster of Héloïse de Villefort, villain from The Count of Monte Cristo

Feminist criminologyHéloïse de VillefortThe Count of Monte Cristo · LiteratureHéloïse de Villefort and feminist criminology: in The Count of Monte Cristo, the crown prosecutor’s second wife kills three people with poison and tries to…Read the case file →

XYY chromosome 1

Poster of Waylon Jones, villain from Batman

XYY chromosomeWaylon JonesBatman · ComicsBatman and the XYY chromosome: Waylon Jones was born with a real genetic difference—reptilian skin, monstrous strength. He is the villain closest to the…Read the case file →

Code of the street 1

Poster of Bigger Thomas, villain from Native Son

Code of the streetBigger ThomasNative Son · LiteratureNative Son and the code of the street: Bigger Thomas kills almost by accident, driven by the terror a racist society taught him to feel long before any…Read the case file →

Delito de cuello blanco 1

Poster of Doctor Sheppard, villain from The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Delito de cuello blancoDr. SheppardThe Murder of Roger Ackroyd · LiteratureDr. Sheppard, of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and white-collar crime: the doctor of King’s Abbot knows the secrets of every house, and Sutherland explained why…Read the case file →

Moral development 1

Poster of Emily Brent, villain from And Then There Were None

Moral developmentEmily BrentAnd Then There Were None · LiteratureEmily Brent and moral development: in And Then There Were None, a devout spinster dismisses her maid on learning that she is pregnant, and the girl drowns…Read the case file →

Desistance 1

Poster of Jean Valjean, villain from Les Misérables

DesistanceJean ValjeanLes Misérables · LiteratureLes Misérables and the theory of desistance: an act of mercy splits an ex-convict's life in two, and the rest of the novel is the chronicle of how a man stops…Read the case file →

Social disorganization 1

Poster of Fagin, villain from Oliver Twist

Social disorganizationFaginOliver Twist · LiteratureOliver Twist and social disorganization theory: crime is not carried in the blood, it is carried by the neighborhood. Fagin is not born evil, nor does he…Read the case file →

Crime as a trade 1

Poster of Charles Augustus Milverton, villain from Sherlock Holmes

Crime as a tradeCharles Augustus MilvertonSherlock Holmes · LiteratureCharles Augustus Milverton and crime as a trade: a dealer in compromising letters who bought secrets from servants and sold them back to their owners. Arthur…Read the case file →

Criminal endocrinology 1

Poster of Shere Khan, villain from The Jungle Book

Criminal endocrinologyShere KhanThe Jungle Book · LiteratureShere Khan and testosterone: dominance in its elegant form. Not a thug who shouts, but a king who takes his rank for granted. Status turned into identity—the…Read the case file →

Labeling 1

Poster of Harvey Dent, villain from Batman

LabelingHarvey DentBatman · ComicsThe Dark Knight and labeling theory: how a city manufactures its hero… and how, when that label shatters, it manufactures its monster.Read the case file →

Evolutionary criminology 1

Poster of Philip Lombard, villain from And Then There Were None

Evolutionary criminologyPhilip LombardAnd Then There Were None · LiteraturePhilip Lombard and evolutionary criminology: in And Then There Were None, the soldier of fortune who abandoned twenty-one men of an African tribe in the bush,…Read the case file →

Criminological phrenology 1

Poster of Quasimodo, villain from The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Criminological phrenologyQuasimodoThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame · LiteratureQuasimodo and phrenology: the face that pseudoscience would have condemned, and the soul that disproves it. The abyssal distance between appearance and…Read the case file →

Behavioral genetics 1

Poster of Rhoda Penmark, villain from The Bad Seed

Behavioral geneticsRhoda PenmarkThe Bad Seed · FilmThe Bad Seed and behavioral genetics: Rhoda is the myth of inherited evil in its purest form—an angelic child with a murderer in the family tree. Real science…Read the case file →

Heavy metal poisoning 1

Poster of El Sombrerero Loco, villain from Alice in Wonderland

Heavy metal poisoningThe Mad HatterAlice in Wonderland · LiteratureLewis Carroll's Mad Hatter did not invent his delirium: he inherited it from a real trade. Behind the most eccentric character in Alice lies an occupational…Read the case file →

Neurocriminology 1

Poster of La Criatura, villain from Frankenstein

NeurocriminologyFrankenstein's CreatureFrankenstein · LiteratureFrankenstein and neurocriminology: does violence lie in a defective brain, or in a world that manufactures monsters through rejection? Mary Shelley's Creature…Read the case file →

Neutralization 1

Poster of Cardenal Richelieu, villain from The Three Musketeers

NeutralizationCardinal RichelieuThe Three Musketeers · LiteratureDumas’s Cardinal Richelieu and the techniques of neutralization: in The Three Musketeers, Louis XIII’s first minister hands his spy a paper that makes…Read the case file →

Situational crime prevention 1

Poster of Selina Kyle, villain from Batman

Situational crime preventionSelina KyleBatman · ComicsBatman and the emotional limit of situational prevention: Catwoman doesn't go after the easy target, she goes after the impossible one. For the thief who…Read the case file →

Right realism 1

Poster of Hank Quinlan, villain from Touch of Evil

Right realismHank QuinlanTouch of Evil · FilmHank Quinlan and right realism: the shortcut of the man who trusts his instinct so much that he believes himself authorized to invent justice. When certainty…Read the case file →

Left realism 1

Poster of Thénardier, villain from Les Misérables

Left realismThénardierLes Misérables · LiteratureThénardier and left realism: the innkeeper who exploits an orphan, extorts her dying mother and robs corpses at the barricade. The file on the critical…Read the case file →

Human ecological systems 1

Poster of Macbeth, villain from Shakespeare

Human ecological systemsMacbethMacbeth · LiteratureMacbeth and ecological systems: not a born tyrant, but a man pushed by a prophecy, a wife and a political order where the throne is seized with a dagger. The…Read the case file →

Delinquent subculture 1

Poster of Héctor Barbossa, villain from Pirates of the Caribbean

Delinquent subcultureHector BarbossaPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl · FilmAlbert Cohen described subcultures that invert society’s rules and write stricter ones. Barbossa runs the Black Pearl by a pirate code that, when it gets in…Read the case file →

Developmental dual taxonomy 1

Poster of Jim Stark, villain from Rebel Without a Cause

Developmental dual taxonomyJim StarkRebel Without a Cause · FilmJim Stark and Moffitt's taxonomy: the adolescence-limited offender in his purest form. Not a monster, but a kid trapped in the gap between an adult body and…Read the case file →

Deterrence 1

Poster of Fantômas, villain from Fantômas

DeterrenceFantômasFantômas · LiteratureFantômas and deterrence: the literally uncatchable criminal. When the certainty of capture is zero, punishment deters nothing and terror becomes absolute.Read the case file →

Subculture of violence 1

Poster of Black Mask, villain from Batman

Subculture of violenceBlack MaskBatman · ComicsBlack Mask and the subculture of violence theory: in Gotham's underworld, brutality is not an excess but the norm that confers status. How torture becomes the…Read the case file →

Positive deviance 1

Poster of Guy Montag, villain from Fahrenheit 451

Positive devianceGuy MontagFahrenheit 451 · LiteratureGuy Montag and positive deviance: the guardian of order who wakes up and switches sides. He burned books by law; his crime will be preserving them—disobeying…Read the case file →

Subterranean values 1

Poster of Conde de Rochefort, villain from The Three Musketeers

Subterranean valuesCount of RochefortThe Three Musketeers · LiteratureThe Count of Rochefort and subterranean values: in The Three Musketeers, the cardinal’s agent who humiliates d’Artagnan at Meung, steals his letter and helps…Read the case file →

Defiance 1

Poster of Edmond Dantès, villain from The Count of Monte Cristo

DefianceEdmond DantèsThe Count of Monte Cristo · LiteratureEdmond Dantès and defiance theory: when punishment creates the very criminal it claimed to fight. An innocent man imprisoned for fourteen years who emerges…Read the case file →

Broken windows 1

Broken windowsBaneBatman · ComicsBatman and the broken windows theory: if a single unrepaired broken window invites chaos, what happens when someone smashes them all at once? Bane doesn't just…Read the case file →

Frequently asked questions

How many villains from before 1960 are analysed on KRIMINIS?

105 case files of villains from before 1960, each tied to the criminological theory that best explains their behaviour.

Which criminological theories show up in the villains from before 1960?

Among others: Stigma, CPTED, Psychoanalytic criminology, Deficient socialization, Moral cost-benefit, Postcolonial criminology and more. Each case file links to the full theory.

Which villains from before 1960 are in the archive?

Robin Hood, Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John, Yago, Ricardo III, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Claudius, Satan, Barba Azul, Frankenstein's Creature, Quasimodo, Doctor Roberto Miranda, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Monks, Ebenezer Scrooge, Edmond Dantès, Fernand Mondego, Danglars, Gérard de Villefort, Gaspard Caderousse, Héloïse de Villefort, Milady de Winter, Cardinal Richelieu, Count of Rochefort, Mordaunt, John Felton, Heathcliff, Captain Ahab and 75 more.