There are a lot of examples of the complete monster in the worlds of our favorite imaginary friends. Doctor Hannibal Lecter, who fed a man his own brain; Davros, who built an entire race of rage-powered mobile death-tanks; Barney Stinson, whose crimes against human dignity and entire gender are myriad… But none of them can quite compare to the horror of Trevor Phillips, who is introduced brutally murdering the protagonist of a previous Grand Theft Auto game, with stops along the way at sexual assault, implied cannibalism, and mass murder on a scale that sets him apart even as a video game protagonist. At one point, Trevor gets in the middle of an argument between an engaged couple, blacks out and awakens later covered in blood, playing it all off as a joke, leading to today’s reprehensible query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) might also make a case for asks: What’s the best portrayal of a complete monster in pop culture?
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Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. He engineered a war and played both sides, used a slave army to eliminate the Jedi, is willing to oppress any non-humans, turn families against each other and destroy worlds just to get what he wants without any sign of remorse. Even Vader and Maul showed SOME emotion for something other than themselves, some redeeming qualities, but Palpatine only played with beings because it ultimately served his will.
Anne Ramsey as Momma
An argument could be made for Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood on House of Cards.
Opening scene of the first episode has him killing someone’s dog after it is hit by a car outside his house. He goes on for the next 4 seasons to scheme, dupe, betray and even murder his way to the top without the slightest hint of remorse.
And he’s the -protagonist-