Bad Guys are fascinating, and their portrayal in media is equally so.
From Marvel to DC, passing through most media we consume, Bad Guys are
portrayed as superhuman entities, belonging to the realm of gods or the
ultra wealthy. Simply put, they are not your average person.
These Bad Guys, to a certain extent, reflect the Bad Guys of the real
world - be it through authoritarianism, fascism or many other -isms. I’m
sure certain politicians will come to mind. So do certain billionaires.
And maybe even a recently deceased CEO.
Bad Guys are only there because there are bad guys who put them there;
who gave them their platform and their power. These “lesser evils”,
unlike the superhuman entities of True Villains, are normal people like
you and I. And yet, through inaction, or complacency, weaponised
ignorance, or hypocrisy, these bad guys prop up the fascistic Villainous
Cause.
We see this time and time again in the real world. Between Germans who
were unaware of the horrors of the Holocaust, to modern day voters
ignorant of the direction a party is taking, history is littered with
the lesser bad guys whose actions (or lack thereof) brought about great
harm and suffering. While this is a doom-and-gloom take on the current
state of the world, it is overlooking the other side of the coin.
While the rise of fascism is brought on by normal people, so is its
fall.