>>97342779First off, "terrible compared to what?" Those aliens who invade Earth weekly (or who visited eons ago to perform weird genetic experiments on humans) aren't really very nice either.
Secondly, reading about _only_ nice people is usually boring. Where would Sherlock Holmes be if everyone in London was refined, temperate, and honest?
Of course, fiction in which _everyone_ is a treacherous, sadistic, bastard isn't very appealing either. Even when there's only a single rotten character who causes the conflict, a good author will try to give him _some_ redeeming qualities. Yes, he burns down orphanages with the orphans upstairs in bed, but he's kind to his mother and donates to the SPCA. If he wants to kill the hero so he can rule the world it ought to be because he's convinced he can do a better job than the imbeciles currently running the show.
