huimaa wrote:
I think these kind of characters have charisma and often sophistication which combined with no moral compass and ability to do horrible things is intriguing. I love Hannibal too (TV and movie version), probably my favorite fictional character besides Loki, heh... Well, I've always rooted for the bad guys, as a child I've identified with Disney baddies like Hades, Scar and Jafar. Those all have comedic personalities too. And love(d) Darth Maul and Vader.
Same here! When I was a kid I used to root for the villains all the time. Some of my favorites were Ursula in The Little Mermaid and the three witches in Hocus Pocus (I guess I have a thing for witchy female villains).
But I learned a while back that the term "sociopath" gets thrown around a lot without an actual understanding of the word (same goes for terms like "narcissist"). Just because you have a villain who does evil things that doesn't automatically make him or her a sociopath.
Some of the things that define a sociopath are a lack of empathy, total disregard for rules, and having no feelings of guilt for committing crimes or hurting others. But even people who aren't true sociopaths are capable of this too. It's a very complex thing that even most trained professionals are unable to make a clear diagnosis for. I actually learned this from my Mom who went to college to become a social worker.