Yet another villain question! I don't really get the "Draco in Leather Pants" mentality that exists in fandom (wherein fans downplay a villain's...villainy because they find him or her attractive). If you find a villain attractive, that's fine, but why do some feel the need to try to go out of their way to excuse their evil behavior because of that? Yeah, I admit to finding Rourke from
Atlantis attractive, but at least I'm honest about just liking him for his body (and that commanding voice
)! Is it just that people feel shallow if they admit to just liking a character for his or her appearance? If so, they're not real, so I don't think that matters...
I asked this question a while back (as in a year ago
), but since then, I've noticed something else about this phenomenon in particular. For example, let's look at the villains in Atlantis. Now, to be sure, Rourke doesn't get this treatment from the fandom generally (while he is a particularly heinous bad guy, it's odd, because villains worse than Rourke, like Frollo, do get it), but you know who does? His henchwoman, Helga. Oh yes, not only is she a fan favorite (nothing wrong with that), but a good number of fans praise her for helping save Atlantis (revealing the reasons they argue would be spoiler-rific, so I won't), to the point that I actually saw her listed on a page entitled "Animated Heroines"....despite the fact that she stuck with Rourke to the very end, as long as she was getting a share of the money.
Similarly, TV Tropes' YMMV page for The Great Mouse Detective lists the villain's bat henchman, Fidget, as getting this treatment, despite him staying bad till the very end (oddly enough, he and Helga had almost the exact same fate...again, won't spoil anything).
So my question is...are villain sidekicks more likely to get "Draco In Leather Pants" treatment than their bosses? You know, provided that they're named characters and not just generic goons? I think, just like villains, who gets the treatment varies, but it makes me wonder if there are any factors (aside from "hotness," or competence, or treatment) that enter into it...