Q: Why does EVERY major Marvel villain want to rule the world?

[TheCorpulent1]

Haha, his motivation was great. A simple scientific phenomenon of positive matter spilling over into the Negative Zone prompts him to start an all-out war to destroy the whole positive-matter universe, even though nobody over there was actively doing anything to cause it.

 

[The Overlord]

Well, if all the 'lesser races' are being tortured by Nazi demons, the world would be a better place to the Skull.

I think it was pretty well everyone. During the skull's rule the "lesser races" will die horrible deaths and everyone else will live a life total slavery. Tht doesn't amke the world better for anyone.

Even if the Skull actually thought that made the world better, his version of better is so twisted, its irrelevant, his goals are vile, pure and simple. His rule would make everything worse in every way, which isn't the case doom or magneto, that is the difference. Its a madman's version of making things better, there's no objective way you can say it actually.

And if the Skull really wanted to, he would have used to the cosmic cube to make everyone Aryan or something, but didn't because he hateful and sadistic. The motive is hate, there is no reason for him to be this cruel and sadistic if the motive wasn't hate and someone motivated by hate never makes make things better.

 

[ShadowBoxing]

No, it pretty much is his real origin, just with Hank cast as a more violent bastard. I think the raging inferiority complex is reason enough for his later breakdown, myself.

Yeah, but that's the thing, I always liked his origin a lot, because it's actually one of the more interesting ones out there. They've just never done anything with it. Although I don't think it's quite Punisher, because Punisher is a more driven, this would be more an act of passion. Think the revenge plots of Last House on the Left. It's not that he is a man finds a purpose in taking revenge, just that he's pushed to the edge. The real interesting angle though, I think, is how Hank Pym would return home and be expected by his superiors to return to being Mr. Scientist Adventurer, and maybe he can't do that.

My basic plot was he goes to Hungary where his wife is sought by Hydra for her father's crimes against them. She gets captured and killed in front of him, and instead of killing him they simply expose him to his as of yet untested Pym particles. He shrinks down, and has to battle a bunch of ants, survive as a tiny human. Finally, the particles wear off and he goes to take revenge. I'd have him probably introduce Giant Man when he attacks them. However, there would be no costumes, no super-powered villains. Something very basic.

I know the idea is "out there", I've just never found him a particularly compelling character. Frankly, if it were up to me, he wouldn't have a solo film, period. Though if he did I'd want something different like this since I don't feel he can be the star of his own superhero film without some sort of hook.

 

[Vanguard07]

Some villains genuinely want to make the world a better place (Doom and Magneto) and believe only by taking over the world can they achieve that.

Some villains are deranged and filled with hate and want to punish the world for their own crappy lives (Red Skull and Apocalypse) and their trying to conquer the world in order to get revenge.

Apocalypse's goal isnt revenge or hate. He wants to make the world a better place too. He just goes about by putting his ruthless "survival of the fittest" ideals into action.

His goal is to create extreme hardships and harsh conditions in order to breed the ultimate "most fit" species as a result.

It may seem like hate but it's mostly just indifference towards those he views as "weak" and a respect and desire for strength.

Edit: Actually now that I think about it, Apocalypse's goals are pretty similar to those of the Kree Supreme Intelligence. When KSI and Apoc eventually both come back to life, it might be pretty cool to see them work together at some point.

 

[The Question]

I think it was pretty well everyone. During the skull's rule the "lesser races" will die horrible deaths and everyone else will live a life total slavery. Tht doesn't amke the world better for anyone.

Even if the Skull actually thought that made the world better, his version of better is so twisted, its irrelevant, his goals are vile, pure and simple. His rule would make everything worse in every way, which isn't the case doom or magneto, that is the difference. Its a madman's version of making things better, there's no objective way you can say it actually.

And if the Skull really wanted to, he would have used to the cosmic cube to make everyone Aryan or something, but didn't because he hateful and sadistic. The motive is hate, there is no reason for him to be this cruel and sadistic if the motive wasn't hate and someone motivated by hate never makes make things better.

Of course it's relevant. The things that drive a character's actions are always relevant. He thinks a world under total martial law where all of the lesser races are exterminated a select few pure blooded aryan Germans call the shots with him as fuhrer would be a better world. When you understand that, you work backwards from there to figure out how he got to that way of thinking, and through doing so you come to fully understand the character. Yes, he is motivated by hate. He's also motivated by fear of being powerless. And by a sense of nationalistic pride. And by the belief that fascism and racial elitism are the best way to go for the world over all. He's motivated by a lot of things, and there are a lot of different, although strongly intertwined in some places, causes for why he is motivated by those things. He's not a simple, one dimensional character. Yes, pretty much all of those dimensions are evil, but there are still layers there. Layers of reasons and experience and motivation. You can't just say "well, he's just motivated by this," because his actions and words have proved that he's motivated by other things too.

 

[The Overlord]

Of course it's relevant. The things that drive a character's actions are always relevant. He thinks a world under total martial law where all of the lesser races are exterminated a select few pure blooded aryan Germans call the shots with him as fuhrer would be a better world. When you understand that, you work backwards from there to figure out how he got to that way of thinking, and through doing so you come to fully understand the character. Yes, he is motivated by hate. He's also motivated by fear of being powerless. And by a sense of nationalistic pride. And by the belief that fascism and racial elitism are the best way to go for the world over all. He's motivated by a lot of things, and there are a lot of different, although strongly intertwined in some places, causes for why he is motivated by those things. He's not a simple, one dimensional character. Yes, pretty much all of those dimensions are evil, but there are still layers there. Layers of reasons and experience and motivation. You can't just say "well, he's just motivated by this," because his actions and words have proved that he's motivated by other things too.

But again he only wants to make the world better for himself, not for anyone else, not even his daughter. Doom actually wants to make the world better for people, besides himself, yes there is ego and pettiness involved, but least he would try to make the world better for people besides himself.

I mean if red Skull really believed he was the world better for other people, he would have used the cosmic cube to turn everyone into an Aryan, instead of using it to starve people and have them kill each other over apples. There is way too much pointless cruelty and sadism in the Skull's actions to say he believes he is improving the world.

 

[Vanguard07]

But again he only wants to make the world better for himself, not for anyone else, not even his daughter. Doom actually wants to make the world better for people, besides himself, yes there is ego and pettiness involved, but least he would try to make the world better for people besides himself.

I mean if red Skull really believed he was the world better for other people, he would have used the cosmic cube to turn everyone into an Aryan, instead of using it to starve people and have them kill each other over apples. There is way too much pointless cruelty and sadism in the Skull's actions to say he believes he is improving the world.

The problem with your argument is you've got the biased belief that suffering is wrong. Skull believes that some people (the "lesser" races) SHOULD suffer. He genuinely does believe that it would be an improvement if he turned the whole world into a nazi wunderland where jews and blacks were being burned and tortured.

With something like the cosmic cube he could turn everyone Aryan but to him that would be rewarding them and they dont deserve that kind of reward. He thinks that they deserve to be punished for being the disgusting filthy creatures they are or some such.

It's not pointless cruelty and sadism. It's very pointed cruelty and sadism guided by his own specific views and values.

 

[The Question]

And, also, I will admit that he's not motivated by pure altruism. But my point is that he doesn't have one clear motivation. He's not a straight out sociopath or a crazy person. He's an evil human being, which actually means that his motivations and the causes for those motivations are much more complex and layered than simply being crazy. It's just that the end result is something truly morally reprehensible. I mean, it's not easy for a sane person to be truly, truly, pro-actively evil and feel as little remorse as The Red Skull does. It takes a lot of messed up things to bring someone to that point. The reason we see so much of it in the world, I think, is not because human beings are inherently evil, but someone's descent, in the process, generates more of the things that helped facilitate their decent in the first place, and thus more monsters are created.