Why Villains Never Win

Villains usually represent the opposite of the story's theme; they are a cautionary tale of taking actions too far. So, if they win, the message sent is you can take actions too far and do the wrong things without any consequences. So... why would they win?

The only way a villain wins in stories is a “we won but at what cost” type of thing, like half the cast died just to this one person

"The thing about villains? They always lose!" - Megamind

the only reason why most villains never win is because of arrogance and egoism.

Because they're villains. Next question

villains dont win ? my homie chucky the killer doll is living definition of winning

If you want to see a winning villain, then read "The Keys to the Kingdom" by Garth Nix. I can really suggest it. The mc gets basically gaslighted to execute the villain's plan. However if you don't are a fan of books and only like comics, here the big spoiler: Imagine it similar like Endgame, with the only difference that Thanos wins and his wish becomes true. Spoiler: in the end it turns out, that all villains from the previous books were just victims of the true villain who manipulated them from the shadows and also gaslighted the mc to destroy the universe. The true villain of this book series is basically god, who just got tired of his immortality decided to commit suicide. However, sadly, she couldn't kill herself without to destroy her whole creation which is why she had to find a successor which would either recreate everything or create a universe and care about it. And she was successful. She tricked them all. The villains, the mc, everyone. :D

Here's my Advice; "Never challenge the adversaries of the world unless you are bound to win." - Me (hopefully :P) I ponder that every single day. Also, why didn't you think of Watchmen?

Because it's a story, and stories don't have to be realistic.

"Why villains never win" Reality: And I took that personally

Plot armor.

Here’s one underrated example of a villain taking a W, even for just a few arcs. Makuta Teridax from BIONICLE. Man was really cooking up many plans within his big PLAN as the story progressed. In fact, he had a whole room which has the entirety of his PLAN written out in full detail across the walls. Yet, ironically, it was so intricate and long that when one of the Piraka tried reading it, they almost went insane. Yes, he suffered a few defeats, but he always came back with a vengeance. It all culminated in him taking over the body of Mata Nui (the god of the story) and literally becoming one with the Matoran Universe. In the end, Mata Nui got a new body to beat down Teridax, but the fact that this guy got so far was nothing less than astounding

Meanwhile in real life, to quote the movie "Last Action Hero": "In this world, the bad guys CAN WIN!!!".

Yo you’re so underrated I literally don’t understand it keep up the good work bro ❤

Firstly: They petty. Most of them aren't fighting to win. They're fighting to settle a grudge or to torment their rival. They draw it out and pay for it. Secondly: They selfish. They get in eachothers way, bicker, backstab, and double cross each other. Heroes can unite long-term. Thirdly: They thirsty. They want it so bad that they'll do anything, even accepting a poison apple or obvious trick. They get buck fever and whiff their shot because they're shaking in anticipation. Fourthly: They're winning the war, so losing the skirmish is beneficial long-term. Kingpin and Lex are perfect examples. Even in prison, they rule with an iron first and live like kings, taking short-term L's for long-term W's. As long it yields net positive outcomes, their victory isn't your defeat. The fights net publicity, following, and the advancements that Lex makes translates to his business products as they become better engineered, making his fights against Superman more of a tech demo than an attempt to win in earnest. Bonus is that they're confident that they'll outpace the supers in the long run if they keep developing and stay on the offensive. Fifthly: They're too ambitious and power-hungry, which spreads them too thin. They want it all, but all they have is a GDP compared to government subsidized and military backed heroism, infrastructure and manpower. The nature of being the villain in that comical sense paints them in a losing corner by default. This makes the villain the strongest in appearance, but actually yields them as the underdog long-term. No matter their punching power, they can't get a foothold to retain any staying power.

You wanna know another villain that also succeeded even when he "failed"? Sinestro after the Sinestro Corps War. For some context, the Green Lanterns at that time were prevented from using their rings in lethal force against anyone. During the war, the Sinestro Corps was targeting and murdering GLs. This forced the Guardians to remove the "no kill" rule from the Green Rings because the corps would've been slaughtered otherwise. Even after the war they didn't put the "no kill" rule back in place because more threats were coming out of the woodwork and they all became more paranoid. So even after Sinestro was defeated, he smiled because he succeeded in forcing the Green Lantern Corps to change into a more dictatorial organization, which is what he always wanted it to be.

Darth Sidious and the Empire won.

I'm the biggest opp known to mankind, and i'm always winning! 💯

Palpatine in the prequels tho

2 words Plot. Armor.