3 comic book villains you can't help but relate to

Most would agree that every great comic book villain needs a relatable backstory. Without a justifiable motive behind what a villain does, the story nor the comic book characters make much sense.

Sure, it may be easy for your stereotypical run-of-the-mill do-gooder to say that you should never let what someone else does define who you are or what actions you take in life, but c'mon? Be honest.

This type of lecture simply isn't suited for every case.

In the real world, nice guys do finish last at times. Sometimes, your strength makes you right. Sometimes, a comic book villain can be a bit more relatable than a superhero.

Here are 3 examples.

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3 relatable comic book supervillians

3) Joaquin Phoenix - Joker (2019)

Arthur Fleck wasn't rich before his turn to the dark side. In fact, he still lived with Penny, the woman whom he thought was his mother in a rough part of town.

His ultimate dream was to become a stand-up comic, as he had a passion for making people laugh. Unfortunately, it was his own uncontrollable laughter that caused him to make a life altering mistake in an act of self defense.

Fleck was confronted by three men whilst laughing profusely on the subway. This leads to them attacking him, which in turn, leads to Fleck killing them.

After being informed that Penny wasn't his biological mother, he'd soon get invited to meet his biggest inspiration, Murray Franklin.

Fleck confesses to killing the three men on the subway in the form of a joke that no one else found funny. He was then ridiculed for his actions by his idol, Franklin.

With nothing left to lose and no real sense of identity, Arthur kills the man he once looked up to and officially becomes the man known today as The Joker.

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2) Michael Fassbender - Magneto (X-Men: First Class)

There was a time when Magneto and Charles X stood side by side, fighting for the same cause. They were two peas in a pod, friends to the end, and just about every other cheesy cliche you could think of.

But their backstories could not have been more different. Magneto's mother was murdered as a result of him not being able to use his powers to manipulate a coin.

He saw first hand just how cold-hearted and merciless non-mutants could be at a very young age, yet he still chose to stand beside Charles and the rest of the X-Men for a while.

Eventually, he grew tired of X's teachings. He felt that The Professor's method of teaching mutants that they should use their powers to protect humans simply wasn't going to work amongst the mass of people who didn't care for his kind.

After the trauma he suffered as a young boy, it would be pretty hard not to relate.

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1) Thomas Haden Church - Sandman (Spider-Man 3)

Looking back on Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, it's safe to say the third movie just didn't hit the same way the first two did.

One positive thing that can be said about this movie is the awesome performance of Thomas Haden Church as Sandman.

It was revealed that he was the man behind the murder of Uncle Ben, although it was said to have been an accident.

Unlike its predecessor, Spider-Man 3 featured three of Spidey's most iconic enemies. Eddie Brock played Venom, Harry wanted to avenge the death of his father, and Sandman.

Well, he was a bad guy for the sake of buying a cure for his sick daughter.

While his evil ways weren't condonable, there's still a lot of relatabilty in this comic book character.