Joe Goldberg has stalked, manipulated and murdered his way through five seasons of the television show “You,” but on social media, he’s just misunderstood. Or worse: desirable. Scroll through TikTok and you’ll find slo-mo edits of him set to romantic music, with fans calling him “just a guy who needs love.”
It’s not just Joe. From Patrick Bateman to Evan Peters as ‘Tate’ in “American Horror Story,” fictional male villains have a tendency to be rebranded from dangerous to dreamy. It’s part of a larger trend: hot villains, mostly men, being glamorized by audiences — even when their crimes are unforgivable.
Some believe that if the characters weren’t conventionally attractive, their fanbase wouldn’t be loyal. Maisie Tate, a third-year film and television major at DePaul, sees this pattern reflected in the media industry. Tate believes the double standard stems from the way attractiveness influences audience perception.
“It is more believable to an audience that an attractive person can get away with a crime because of the politics of being pretty,” Tate said. “If you are attractive, you receive more benefit of the doubt.”
Tate also points to casting decisions as a reflection of what media executives believe viewers want. “Executives may believe that casting men that are conventionally attractive will objectively hold more viewership,” Tate said. “But there are not really a lot of examples of the latter” — meaning male leads who aren’t attractive, especially when they’re morally questionable.
Ultimately, Tate believes this cycle reinforces dangerous ideas.
“I think it empowers audiences to defend men who do bad things to women but are conventionally attractive,” Tate said.
This isn’t just about who’s cast. It’s about how attraction works — and how it can be weaponized. Kate Fosco, a second-year psychology student at DePaul, said that our responses to these characters stem from basic human behavior.
“People, specifically women, are attracted to villains primarily for their forward display of confidence,” Fosco said. “Humans are innately attracted to a confident counterpart, which villainous characters possess.”
But Fosco warns that this attraction can have troubling implications.
“There are often aspects of villains that should not be looked at as attractive,” Fosco said. “So creating a space that allows for attraction to unfavorable qualities is concerning.”
Fosco also noted that the gender gap in villain portrayals skews how we interpret “evil.”
“Male villains are often sexualized, where female villains often are accentuated in unflattering features to qualify them as ‘bad,’” Fosco said. “This is subconsciously teaching viewers that being evil is convergent with accentuated characteristics, such as a large nose or facial moles.”
Linda Camras, a retired psychology professor at DePaul University who specializes in social and emotional development, offers a deeper psychological input for the hot villain trope.
“Villains might appeal to some people because they represent unfettered, unbalanced autonomy — for example, gratification of their own goals,” Camras said. She notes that this fascination, especially when it turns romantic or sexual, is tied to a documented phenomenon known as hybristophilia; the attraction to individuals who commit violent or outrageous acts.
Camras’ insight reinforces what’s been seen across both screens and social media: attraction not just to confidence, but to power without consequence. When paired with physical attractiveness and cinematic glamor, that autonomy becomes even more seductive. Naming it shows that this isn’t a one-off trend, but a recurring dynamic that stretches beyond fiction and potentially into the real world.
While sleek suits and smirks are reserved for male antagonists, female villains are often dehumanized. Think Ursula’s exaggerated makeup or the Wicked Witch’s green skin.
AnaMarie Bianchi, a fourth-year psychology major at DePaul, sees social media as a driving force behind the hot villain phenomenon. She said platforms like TikTok and Instagram allow audiences to reinterpret — and sanitize — villainous characters.
“I am guilty of saying that I found myself attracted to Evan Peters’ character in American Horror Story,” says Bianchi. “(The show) often portrayed his physique often, making him eye candy before and after showing him in the most heinous, violent scenes.”
“Social media plays a role in its ability to edit and recapture fictional characters in a more romanticized light,” Bianchi said. “For example, edits with ‘sexy’ music behind it make these characters look more attractive than their depiction actually is.”
According to Bianchi, these depictions go beyond surface-level attraction.
“I would attribute this kind of attraction to a form of identification that turns into empathy,” Bianchi said. “Viewers almost place themselves in a position with the villain, sometimes romantically, that makes them appear more acceptable.”
But that empathy is often conditional. “Some villains, those specifically who do not meet conventional attractiveness, receive more backlash than those who do,” Bianchi said.
So why are we so obsessed with hot villains? Maybe it’s because the media tells us to be. Maybe it’s because casting directors know what sells. Or maybe it’s because we, as viewers, are willing to overlook nearly anything — for the right face.
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