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Anime & Manga
"I mean come on, were any of us not rooting for Cell just now?"
— Krillin, Dragon Ball Z Kai
Mikan: Wait, why are you crying? What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself? I don't think it's possible for my curse to attack your stomach or anything!
Yuko: That's not it... I'm just so touched... All of the zombies and ghosts, even though their guts were hanging out, they really tried their hardest to overcome the ridiculous strength of the heroes...
Mikan: That was the side you were sympathizing with?!
Yuko: That's not it... I'm just so touched... All of the zombies and ghosts, even though their guts were hanging out, they really tried their hardest to overcome the ridiculous strength of the heroes...
Mikan: That was the side you were sympathizing with?!
"Why is it that the bad guys get all the fans?"
"The Nega-verse would be doing us a favour attacking this bus."
— Artemis (reacting to a group of kids' and [Serena's] terrible singing), Sailor Moon
Film — Live-Action
"I'm rooting for the crocodile. I hope he swallows your friends whole."
— Mrs. Bickerman, Lake Placid note
Music
I'm not the good guy, if you couldn't tell
I may be bad, but I do it so well
I may be bad, but I do it so well
— Video Game Legends 2: Villains Rap, JT Music
I know that secretly everybody's rooting for me
— Villain
, Theory of a Deadman
, Theory of a Deadman Live-Action TV
Marshall: That sure is a big poster of The Karate Kid above your bed.
Barney: Hey, Karate Kid's a great movie. It's the story of a hopeful young karate enthusiast whose dreams and moxy take him all the way to the All-Valley Karate Championship. 'Course, sadly, he loses in the final round to that nerd kid. But he learns an important lesson about gracefully accepting defeat.
Lily: Wait, when you watch The Karate Kid, you actually root for that mean blond boy?
Barney: No, I root for the scrawny loser from New Jersey who barely even knows karate. When I watch The Karate Kid I root for the Karate Kid, Johnny Lawrence from the Cobra Kai dojo. Get your head out of your ass, Lily.
Barney: Hey, Karate Kid's a great movie. It's the story of a hopeful young karate enthusiast whose dreams and moxy take him all the way to the All-Valley Karate Championship. 'Course, sadly, he loses in the final round to that nerd kid. But he learns an important lesson about gracefully accepting defeat.
Lily: Wait, when you watch The Karate Kid, you actually root for that mean blond boy?
Barney: No, I root for the scrawny loser from New Jersey who barely even knows karate. When I watch The Karate Kid I root for the Karate Kid, Johnny Lawrence from the Cobra Kai dojo. Get your head out of your ass, Lily.
Marshall: You're really telling me that when you watch The Karate Kid, you don't root for Daniel-san?
Barney: Nope.
Ted: Who do you root for in Die Hard?
Barney: Hans Gruber, charming international bandit. At the end, he died hard. He's the title character!
Lily: Okay, The Breakfast Club.
Barney: The teacher running detention. He's the only guy in the whole movie wearing a suit.
Robin: I got one: Terminator.
Barney: What is the name of the movie, Robin? Who among us didn't shed a tear when his little red eye went out at the end, and he didn't get to kill those people?
Barney: Nope.
Ted: Who do you root for in Die Hard?
Barney: Hans Gruber, charming international bandit. At the end, he died hard. He's the title character!
Lily: Okay, The Breakfast Club.
Barney: The teacher running detention. He's the only guy in the whole movie wearing a suit.
Robin: I got one: Terminator.
Barney: What is the name of the movie, Robin? Who among us didn't shed a tear when his little red eye went out at the end, and he didn't get to kill those people?
"I'm starting to root for the shark."
— Jasmine, I Didn't Do It
"Sure, Johnny does rosin up his bow and play that fiddle hard, but he's sampling old folk songs. There's nothing original there. The Devil, however, is playing an original dissonant composition backed up by a band of demons. He's bringing way more to the musical table. Now, we don't have time for me to play both sides and fully convince you, but go listen to that song again and tell me you're not having way more fun listening to the Devil."
Web Video
"You wanna hear something funny? Right now, they're all rooting for me."
"I sort of sympathize with Leatherface here. Sure, he is a serial killer...but it is rather annoying to keep catching people breaking into your house."
"It's a combination of factors that make Vaas so likeable- the flippant madness to his every action: you're never quite sure when he's going to snap out of monologuing and kick you off a cliff. Plus voice actor Michael Mando has done a superb job delivering a brilliantly unhinged performance, and I also really like his haircut. Why would you not like Vaas? [to himself, in a Gollum voice] Because he's a murderer, you stupid, fat, villain-lover!"
— Rob Pearson, Playstation Access
"Oh Good Lord. If you are going to use a superhero show as a mouthpiece for vigilantism, could you at least try to make the bad guys be in the wrong, because as it stands, I'm rooting for the villain."
— Linkara, pointing how in the 2011 pilot, Wonder Woman is so out of character in this show, that the villains come off as reasonable by comparison.
"Can our heroes stop her? I hope not."
Heavy: What is it with you and Enclave, Soldier? Why do you want to join a faction that is objectively evil?
Soldier: First of all, Comrade. I hate evil factions just as much as the next guy! That's why you won't see me supporting the Legion or NCR. Second, NOTHING AMERICAN CAN EVER BE EVIL! It goes against the basic laws of reality! And third, no matter how badly I may want to I CAN NEVER TRULY JOIN THE ENCLAVE! The best I can do is scrounge up a bunch of PTSD-ridden hobos! I don't care who makes the next game between Obsidian or Bethesda! All I know is that we need a proper Enclave faction that we can side with!
Soldier: First of all, Comrade. I hate evil factions just as much as the next guy! That's why you won't see me supporting the Legion or NCR. Second, NOTHING AMERICAN CAN EVER BE EVIL! It goes against the basic laws of reality! And third, no matter how badly I may want to I CAN NEVER TRULY JOIN THE ENCLAVE! The best I can do is scrounge up a bunch of PTSD-ridden hobos! I don't care who makes the next game between Obsidian or Bethesda! All I know is that we need a proper Enclave faction that we can side with!
Bush: Being problematic is more fun, Legion all the way.
Obama: You can't possibly think the Legion is the best option for the Mojave.
Bush: Better than Yes-Man, that's for sure. All the courier does is create more chaos and anarchy; just what the Wasteland needs. At least Caesar's legion has a strong economy and army to protect trade routes and keep order.
Biden: Only at the cost of enslaving people and treating women like dogs.
Bush: Dogs deserve more respect, Hail Caesar.
Obama: You can't possibly think the Legion is the best option for the Mojave.
Bush: Better than Yes-Man, that's for sure. All the courier does is create more chaos and anarchy; just what the Wasteland needs. At least Caesar's legion has a strong economy and army to protect trade routes and keep order.
Biden: Only at the cost of enslaving people and treating women like dogs.
Bush: Dogs deserve more respect, Hail Caesar.
"And since every character is unlikable in some way, you really don't care what happens to them. By far the most interesting character is Kevin, one of the troglodyte-things that live below Buckingham Palace, who watches all of his family get burned to death in front of him, and then plays the long game rising through the ranks of the palace staff to claim his revenge. Now there's a character arc! In the final scene, he is shown carrying a tray of poisoned tarts to the royal dinner. Yep, they end it on a cliffhanger. Bold of them to assume anyone would want to watch another season of this crap. (...) My canon ending is that he kills them all and burns down the palace. It helps me sleep at night."
— Cynical Reviews on The Prince
Webcomics
"Are zombies the protagonists of The Walking Dead? Because they're the ones I'm rooting for. They're the only ones who have a clear motivation, i.e. brains, and behave in such a way as to bring those desires to fruition. They're clearly the best written."
— Tycho, Penny Arcade, "Pro-Antagonism"
Sandra: Rough day at the office?
Richard: I’ve started to root for the supervillains in action movies.
Richard: I’ve started to root for the supervillains in action movies.
— Sandra and Woo, "Rough Day"
" Western Animation
"Can't believe I have to root for Afghanistan now."
— Peter Griffin, Family Guy
Ebenezer McGrew: Spirit! Surely there is some time to reform my selfish ways?!
Homer Simpson: Come on, Death; leave McGrew alone! Take Tiny Tim!
Homer Simpson: Come on, Death; leave McGrew alone! Take Tiny Tim!
"I have a confession, Hank. I only like the Batman because he has the greatest villains!"
— Jean-Claude Le Tueur, The Venture Brothers
"They got applause! THE BAD GUYS! People clapped FOR THE BAD GUYS!"
— Hiro Hamada, Big Hero 6: The Series
I got a big foam finger
I got a new routine
I'm gonna turn the tables rooting for the enemy
I got a T-shirt and pom-poms
You know this stuff ain't free
I spent seventeen dollars rooting for the enemy
I got a new routine
I'm gonna turn the tables rooting for the enemy
I got a T-shirt and pom-poms
You know this stuff ain't free
I spent seventeen dollars rooting for the enemy
— Rooting for the Enemy, Milo Murphy's Lawnote
Real Life
"Everybody loves Autobots, but you gotta give a little love to the Decepticons. They're just trying to find a home, and sometimes you have to kill people for that."
—Dan Reynolds at the premiere of Transformers: Age of Extinction
"The Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, a body-count extravaganza even by the HBO series’ carnivorous standards, has boosted an unusual form of protest: sympathy for the ice zombies. Angry fans have taken to Twitter to declare that they are now rooting for #TeamWhiteWalkers, the undead army threatening to overrun the land and destroy humanity. The show's world, Westeros, they say, is so horrible that it doesn't deserve to survive, and besides, the White Walkers couldn’t be any worse than its current masters."
