3) Captain Hammer (Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog)
Doctor Horrible offers a twist on this trope — it's the hero who is obsessed with the villain. Although technically, Captain Hammer is still the antagonist of this story, so it still fits. Captain Hammer seems especially gleeful about foiling Dr. Horrible's schemes and inflicting pain and humiliation on the mad scientist. He seduces Penny because he knows that Dr. Horrible is in love with her. He tells Dr. Horrible: "I'm gonna give Penny the night of her life, just because you want her. And I get what you want." Captain Hammer might be a superhero in the eyes of the world, but his fixation on Dr. Horrible is super creepy.
4) Bowser (The Mario Games)
Why does Bowser
keep kidnapping Peach? For love? For power? For cake? Or possibly, he does it for Mario. After the third or fourth time, he's got to know that Mario will be coming after Peach, and yet he kidnaps her anyway. He never learns from his past mistakes, he just keeps blindly going down the same path. There are all kinds of fan theories out there to explain why Bowser keeps kidnapping Peach, but it seems as though Bowser wants Mario's attention, or wants to annoy him. Again and again he acts out, hoping that Mario will show up.
5) Captain Hook (Peter Pan)
There are countless versions of Captain Hook out there, each of them slightly different. No matter their differences, each and every one of them is obsessed with Peter Pan. Hook goes way beyond a "normal" thirst for revenge, spending all of his time thinking about, hunting, and preparing to fight Peter. In Hook
he tells Peter: "Peter. I swear to you wherever you go, wherever you are, I vow there will always be daggers buried in notes signed James Hook. They will be flung into doors of your children's children's children, do you hear me?" When Peter asks what Hook wants from him he replies, "Just you."
6) Voldemort (Harry Potter)
If Voldemort hadn't been so obsessed with Harry Potter and thwarting the prophecy that foretold his downfall, he might actually have been able to succeed. Instead of focusing all of his energy and army on taking over the magical world, Voldemort spends his time chasing a teenager around England. And in the process, Voldemort shapes Harry into the hero who can defeat him, thus making the prophecy a self-fulfilling one. And Voldemort and Harry are so closely tied together, they literally feel each others' emotions.
7) Vatatu (Avatar: The Legend of Korra)
The yin and yang spirits of Vaatu and Raava in Legend of Korra are mortal enemies and completely dependent on one another. Vaatu is the spirit of chaos and darkness, while Raava is his complete opposite. They spend their existence battling one another, each trying to gain dominance. Even as they do this, they recognize that they need one another. They could never completely destroy each other.
8) The Monarch (The Venture Brothers)
The
Monarch wants to do is kill Dr. Venture. He first attempted to murder him when they were in college together, and has continued making attempts on his life ever since. He devotes his entire life to arching Dr. Venture. The Monarch is willing to put his career, his marriage, and hundreds of henchmen's lives at risk in order to stalk the Venture family. Despite having opportunities to kill Dr. Venture and his sons, they always seem to slip through his fingers, allowing him to continue his lifelong obsession. He is so obsessed with Venture that after he finds a robot with Venture's face, he has sex with it.
9) Ralph (Wreck it Ralph)
Ralph was designed as a video game villain, and his only reason for existing is to wreck the homes and business of his neighbors. The hero of the game, Fix It Felix Jr., has a magic hammer that can fix anything. Over the course of the movie, they learn that they really do need each other. Ralph and Felix depend on one another completely both for their livelihoods, and to save the day.
10) Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Spike and Buffy's relationship is weird, complicated, and constantly changing throughout the show. Are the enemies? Are they allies? Are they lovers? For much of their relationship they have a weird sexy/murdery thing going on, and you're never quite sure which way it's going to go. Spike enjoys taunting Buffy and trying to kill her, although he can never quite manage to do it. He eventually becomes part of the Scooby Squad, but there's definitely a period in the middle where he's kind of a pathetic stalker.
11) Ares (Xena: Warrior Princess)
Much like Buffy and Spike,
Ares and Xena have a complex relationship. Sometimes antagonistic, sometimes sexual, their interactions don't quite fit in the typical mold of hero and villain. Ares is constantly trying to lure Xena back to the side of darkness and war, claiming he wants to make her his Warrior Queen. In his pursuit of her, he frames her for murder, switches her body, and commits all manner of crimes. Despite having opportunities, he never kills her, instead preferring to keep her alive to battle another day.
12) The Joker (Batman)
Killing Batman is never what the Joker wants to do.
As he says in The Dark Knight: "I don't, I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me." He recognizes that without Batman he would just be another petty criminal with nothing to do, and he accepts it. And in the Legends of the Dark Knight comic "Going Sane," the Joker believes he's actually killed Batman — and immediately becomes a normal guy again, able to hold down a relationship and a job. The Joker isn't the only villain in Gotham to be dependent on Batman. The documentary A Mirror for the Bat explores his relationship to the villains of Gotham, including the Joker, the Riddler, and others. onlinecollegedegreee.blogspot.com 12 Most Codependent Supervillains of All Time