Back Story: Why Are We Fascinated with Empathizing with Evil?

There is a certain fascination in our country with backstories. Books, movies, and plays have historically been produced with the typical good versus evil, usually with the good triumphing for a happy resolution. Sometimes the villains were hilariously named “Maleficent” or “Cruella de Vil,” and their characters are unapologetically written to match their names. However, the modern trend is to create sequels that aim to provide the backstories of the bad guys, presumably to fill in information about how the bad guy became the bad guy but with the result that the audience is manipulated into feeling empathy for those characters. Consider the following characters: Cruella de Vil, the Joker, the Penguin, Thanos, Darth Vader, and mob boss don Vito Corleone. All have been featured as deserving to have their day in film to justify their evil actions.

This treatment isn’t limited to fictional characters. One popular modern storytelling method is to imagine an alternate timeline where circumstances aligned so that historical villains actually were the good guys. And as an example of how much this has permeated society, we’ve even seen a TV series that lamented that Hitler would have never become a murderous tyrant responsible for several million deaths had he become a popular artist like he wanted.

“The Devil Made Me Do It!”

The common thread running through all these stories is the idea that these people were made what they are by other forces, so they are perhaps not completely responsible for their evil deeds—they were only the product of their circumstances. Whole television series are built around analyzing the histories of criminals, both fictional and real, to lay the blame at the feet of someone else. Oftentimes this traces back to something political, cultish, or religious. And it is all subjective. And in many cases, there is not even an attempt to “salvage” the person’s character. We just seem to be fascinated by Billy the Kid, the James Gang, Bonnie and Clyde, and other notoriously evil people.

The “What If” Game

It is true that many people in prison today and those who have been infamous through history have their own instances of victimhood, and this may have shaped them. However, being the victim of something horrible does not entitle one to do anything they want, nor is it completely an explanation for their later atrocities. There are many abused children who grow up to be kind and empathetic people determined to help others and “break the cycle.” There are many survivors of the various twentieth century despots who went on to do wonderful work in the decades following.

Because we are created in the image of God, we are morally responsible for our actions even when we are legitimately the targets of injustice and even violence.

Because we are created in the image of God, we are morally responsible for our actions even when we are legitimately the targets of injustice and even violence. This is a good thing because it means we are not doomed to perpetuate more of any evil we happen to experience.

There is a series of historical fiction books called What If . . . that look into crucial moments in history and explore alternate outcomes. But we cannot change the past, even if we like to ruminate on it. Sure, it would be interesting to think of how the world would be different if (for example) the 1917 Russian Revolution never happened, etc. Part of this fascination with real villains and movie/book villains is born out of that concept. If only they had been raised differently, not spurned by their paramour, not physically assaulted, had more close friends, or had not decided to commit some crime that changed their life, etc. The truth of the matter is that many people undergo these same pressures and do not become villains. Rather, this aligns exactly with what Jesus said: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19).

Of course, there is a temptation to point to the influence of others when we are confronted with our own sin, and we can see this established from the very first sin. Adam told God that “the woman you gave me” caused him to disobey. He first blames Eve and then blames God (presumably for not giving him a more discerning partner). Almost like a “what if you gave me someone who didn’t listen to the serpent?” question to God.

Objective Evil

On a fundamental level, society has ceased to believe that there is such a thing as an evil person. Even a century ago, it was possible to write a villain who was unashamedly, unapologetically wicked because people believed there were actually wicked people. Today, we have psychologized away the concept of evil to the extent that when people reuse these villains, they need a sad backstory.

Sow the Wind and Reap the Whirlwind

This way of thinking even colors the way we perceive current events. Is it any wonder that when real life tragedies occur, so many people rush to rationalize abusers and murderers? We saw this (and still continue to do so) in the BLM riots, the antifa uprisings, the celebration over the murder of police officers, people trying to romanticize the killer of Charlie Kirk, and the list goes on.

On August 22, 2025, Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed by 14-time arrested criminal Decarlos Brown Jr. on a Charlotte, NC, light rail system. In her public address, the mayor of Charlotte, Vi Lyles, focused more on sympathy for the killer and his mental health problems, than on the murdered young woman. Then in a statement to CNN, Lyles said, “I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused. Also, those who are unhoused are more frequently the victim of crimes and not the perpetrators. . . . We, as a community, must do better for those members of our community who need help and have no place to go.”1 And as reported by the NY Post, one fundraiser wrote on their page, “While what happened on the Blue Line was a tragedy, what we mustn’t lose sight of is the fact that Decarlos Brown Jr. was failed categorically by the judicial system and the mental health services of North Carolina, and as such is not entirely to blame for what happened.”2

Apparently, if you can’t go so far as to call evil “good,” at least you can make evil “not responsible” for their actions. In response to the people trying to romanticize the killer of Charlie Kirk as a “victim of love” for his transgender partner, Solomon had this to say: “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). And as Paul told Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12–13).

Notice that Paul didn’t pull his punches here, he called such people evil and stated that their minds and hearts are deceived and that they will in turn deceive others and continue downward in their spiral toward even more evil.

God also has told us that these things are the result of the human heart and the depravity of mankind. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Isaiah had much to say about this.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of his right! (Isaiah 5:20–23)

Behold, their heroes cry in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities are despised; there is no regard for man. (Isaiah 33:7–8)

Doesn’t this last passage sound like an up-to-date description of life in America and many other countries? People are routinely shot in the largest American cities. Drug dens are out in the open in many cities, yet grocery and home goods stores are moving out because of constant theft. If someone tries to protect their property (and their life or the lives of their family), they may face charges, especially if they have to kill in self-defense. Yet robbers, vandals, and cop killers are often hailed as “heroes” and “peaceful protestors.”

Do We Love Villains Because We Are Villains?

Most people inherently see themselves as good, but the Bible gives us a sobering reminder that this isn’t the case.

Most people inherently see themselves as good, but the Bible gives us a sobering reminder that this isn’t the case. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9), and people apart from Christ are slaves to sin (Romans 6:20). We are quick to excuse our own shortcomings, and seeing a fictional villain’s much worse actions explained by their history can indulge our instinct to pardon misdeeds because of what the perpetrator experienced in their formative years.

This isn’t confined to society in general. Even in the church, there is a reluctance to speak against sin, thinking that it will drive people away if we make them feel bad about themselves. But in neglecting to teach about sin, we also lose salvation and sanctification. If there is no sin, what do we need to be saved from? And if sin isn’t a problem, why do we need to fight it in our own lives?

The Biblical Call to Repentance and Sanctification

The Bible’s call to repentance is serious because sin separates us from God. It isn’t so much that one particular act is that bad but that we’re the type of creature that sins, and as long as that is true of us, we’re not fit for a relationship with God. Someone who dies in that state goes to hell because they have disqualified themselves from existing in God’s presence.

The angels who sinned have no avenue for redemption, nor do they want it, and God is perfectly just for condemning them eternally to hell. God is also perfectly just when he condemns unrepentant humans to an eternal hell. But for us, God extends a merciful call to repentance that is only possible because Jesus lived a sinless, righteous life that could be credited to us as righteousness, and he died a sacrificial death that pays the debt our sin incurs.

The moment a person trusts in Christ for salvation, God sees them not as the type of creature who sins but as a child and heir bearing Jesus’ righteousness, so we are loved for Jesus’ sake.

The fight against sin is not completed when we’re saved. At salvation, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and one of the most important things that the Holy Spirit does in us is convict us of sin and sanctify us, making us more like Jesus as we walk with him. This process takes place over the rest of our lives and is completed at death.

When Jesus returns, all believers will be raised with him in bodies that will never sin or feel the effects of sin.

A Christian Treatment of a Villain

One famous villain is Ebenezer Scrooge, a loveless, joyless moneylender who is given a glimpse of his past, present, and possible future one Christmas Eve. We are given an insight into the events that made him a stunted, wicked man, but his wickedness is not excused, and the Ghost of Christmas Future makes it clear that he is headed for a fate far worse than his late colleague, Marley, if he remains on this path.

However, being confronted with the full force of his own predicament was the catalyst for the salvation of Ebenezer, who is transformed into a generous, loving man during his remaining life. While there is no overt Christian conversion, it is suggestive that this transformative change happens on Christmas Day.

The Bible has its own transformation of a notoriously wicked man. Manasseh was described as the most ungodly king of Judah. The son of Hezekiah, he “burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers” (2 Kings 21:6). He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger, and is shown as leading the people of Judah “astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel” (2 Kings 21:9). In fact, his listing in 2 Kings only captures his evil deeds and basically sums up his life as follows: “Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:16).

If the account ended there, we’d have no reason to believe that this archvillain ever became a “good guy.” But the Chronicler gives us a bit more information. Manasseh was captured by the king of Assyria and carried away in hooks and chains (2 Chronicles 33:11), and while in captivity, Manasseh sought the Lord and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 33:12). But further reading shows that this was no “get out of jail and then forget God” ruse on Manasseh’s part. He actually did repent and followed the Lord for the rest of his life. Scripture records his acts after conversion:

And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. He also restored the altar of the Lord and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. (2 Chronicles 33:15–16)

Yes, there are other examples we could mention such as Abram/Abraham who originally was an idolater (Joshua 24:2) but became the “friend of God” (James 2:23) and was blessed for his faith (Hebrews 11:8–10). In all likelihood, the reluctant prophet Jonah later repented and penned the prophetic book bearing his name. In the NT, we have the Apostle Paul who was persecuting the church, yet God intervened and saved him. These examples in Scripture are few and far between, but they highlight that nobody is beyond redemption. That is indeed a great comfort because we could not stand before God in our sinful state (Psalm 130:3–4), nor could we enter heaven by our own righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:28–31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Titus 3:5) but must rely on the righteousness of Christ (Philippians 3:9–10; 2 Peter 1:1).

We’re All Villains, and Christ Died for Us Anyway

God doesn’t excuse our evil: he erases it—and the ability to do that cost the blood of Jesus:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6–11)

Unlike the movie villains who “started out good” and then turned evil, Scripture portrays all of us as sinners.

Unlike the movie villains who “started out good” and then turned evil, Scripture portrays all of us as sinners. Those who repent and believe in Christ’s atoning work on the cross are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:12–14). In other words, our backstory is that we all start out as villains, but in his mercy, the blood of Christ can convert us from enemies to adopted sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5; Colossians 1:21–22).