1. Klaus

If you have been an avid viewer of the Vampire Diaries, you are probably aware of how Klaus, the original vampire, is portrayed as a ruthless, demanding and controlling hybrid. He doesn’t take threats really well and doesn’t mind killing here and there. However as viewers we learn that the reason why he is so defensive and coldhearted is because he is lonely, misunderstood and empty. He builds a wall to hide those feelings and forms the façade of a dangerous and immortal villain. However no other evil villains are loved as much as Klaus. He gained such a big fan base that now he has his own show ‘The Originals’.

2. Mystique

If you have been keeping up with your X-Men movies, you probably know why Mystique joined the dark side and went against her friend Xavier. She didn’t feel accepted by others and felt judged, and secluded because of her appearance. She never felt like she belonged, so she believed that she was desperate enough to join Magneto. Looking at things from her perspective explains her position and makes it understandable.

3. Loki

Loki may have tried to kill his brother Thor to seize the control of Asgard, but in his own weird way he believed it was right for him. If you think about it he was always the not good enough brother, who didn’t feel loved and was always outshone by Thor. Although his ways may not have been appropriate, he just wanted to feel important for once.

4. Joker

Joker is a lunatic, a murderer and a psychopath, but as a character he has a lot of depth. Nobody can really understand him and that’s what makes his character intriguing. He plays such a big role in the plot that the Dark Knight would not be successful as it was without him. Although he did give me the creeps every time he was on screen, he engaged me in the plot and that’s what really matters.

5. Magneto

We all know the story of Magneto and Professor Xavier. They used to be best friends and wanted the same thing but their different point of views tore them apart. Both of them believe they are right in their intent and both of them want to help mutants like them. It’s hard to say that Magneto is a villain because he wanted the same thing as Professor X, but he went about it from a different perspective. We can even see that there is some good in him when he said, “Charles Xavier has done more for mutants than you will ever know. My single greatest regret is that he had to die for our dream to live.”

6. Tom

Who remembers watching Tom and Jerry? This show basically portrays Tom as an evil cat, when he was just doing everything that a cat is supposed to do. The poor guy was trying to keep the mice out of the house so he could be fed and loved by his owner, but he just wasn’t good at it. Jerry would even purposely provoke Tom when he was just minding his own business!

7. Medusa

Medusa is portrayed as an evil monster with snakes for hair and a curse that turns everything she looks at into stone. However are you really aware of her background? In the original story, Medusa was a gorgeous woman who simply provoked the love of Neptune, then the wrath of the goddess Minerva with her gorgeous hair - so Minerva turned her hair to snakes. Yeah, I'd be bitter, too.

Every evil villain has a reason for their actions, some of them may be selfish but most are driven by misunderstandings, hurt and loneliness. Which ‘evil’ character can you relate to the most? Share in the comments!