Amanda Waller: Villain or Hero or lawful neutral?

[sifighter]

Alright so in my spare time I’ve been reading some comics, thanks in part to dc digital apps, and it got me thinking about Amanda Waller. Now while on her best days she is harsh and forcing villains to do missions for I guess the greater good or the American govt but in stories like Justice League vs Suicide Squad or No Justice she is basically the cause of a lot of damage and she near threatens to nuke cities on earth. Not to mention her interpretation in the Justice League/Unlimited the animated series where she was pretty much a villain in attacking the League at times. But clearly she’s not a maniacal costumed fiend bent on killing a specific villain.

So I wanted to ask a majority the main question, do we consider her a hero(anti-hero maybe), a villain, or some third thing?

Personally I’d argue for villainous. There have been a number of times where I question her character, her interactions with heroes, and what some of her actions have led to. Maybe not a supervillain but in my opinion not a good person.

[Elmo]

She works for the government, so in my eyes she will always be a villain

[armlessphelan]

She's an anti-villain. Definitely not one of the good guys, but she's there to keep to make sure the heroes don't go rogue and to have a plan in place if they do.

[Dred]

She's an anti-villain. Definitely not one of the good guys, but she's there to keep to make sure the heroes don't go rogue and to have a plan in place if they do.

Yep, classic case of an Anti-villain. Someone who does bad things for what they perceive as something they have to do for good.

[Tzigone]

Well, I think she's been different things at different time - which is not unique among comic book characters. Rather unfortunately, I'm not aware of any stories that show her change, rather than just different writers writing her completely different ways. Not sure if that's a plot demand (I really don't like character changing characterization depending on plot needs), general differences in perception of the character, or just attempts to make her edgier that resulting in her going too far and her crossing some line in the minds of fans/writers.

I haven't read a lot of of Waller, as Suicide Squad simply is not my type of title (I like heroes). But she's indisputably been a villain at times, IMO. But then there were things like Invasion!, you know?

I am interested in the responses you get - not so much for what she is today, but as for what fans want her to be. Feel similar about Max Lord, though I didn't like him in the little I read and he seemed villainous in the early stuff I read of him (but I think I read something about him being mind-controlled or replaced or something, but am unsure if that was retcon or what time period it was in)? Either way, they are two characters that I understand that some fans think were really done dirty. I'm not a fan of the "gray" characters (usually finding them to be bad guys with excuses), and think it reasonable that they can't really remain so too incredibly long (after enough bad actions, the good can't keep balance since a bad action carries more weight to me), but to what degree their was organic change v. lightswitch and "shocking revelations" can make a big difference there.

[phantom1592]

The stories I've seen her in... i call her straight up government sponsored Villain. She uses evil methods... to control evil people.... to often do evil things. Adding in the 'for the greater good' tagline doesn't erase all the evil she's backing.

Add to that I've seen less 'for the greater good' as a motivation and more 'solidifying her power base' and i'm really not a fan. She may technically work for the American government.... but would her character really change that much if she was working for the russians or other traditionally 'bad guy' nation? I think she'd be doing the same things with the same methods.

[Gaius]

Don't read much of the stuff she's in but what little I have from modern comics makes me think she'd fit right in on teams like the Legion of Doom.

[married guy]

I chose neutral, as she's really neither hero or villain.
Her actions are determined by whatever achieves her goals.
Sometimes villainous, sometimes heroic. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

[Frontier]

Lawful neutral at best, villain with semi-understandable intentions at worst.

[king81992]

Waller is lawful evil.

[Chubistian]

I don't recall thinking of her as a villain in Ostrander's Suicide Squad, at least in the first two tradepaperbacks, but it has been a while since I read them and she certainly wasn't a hero. I think her Machiavellian acts have become more and more radical with time. Nowadays, I consider her a villain

[JackDaw]

I don't recall thinking of her as a villain in Ostrander's Suicide Squad, at least in the first two tradepaperbacks, but it has been a while since I read them and she certainly wasn't a hero. I think her Machiavellian acts have become more and more radical with time. Nowadays, I consider her a villain

I’ve read the whole Ostrander run several times. Not read any Suicide Squad since.

In my eyes, she is definitely an hero, albeit a flawed one. Throughout the run she was brave and resourceful, had bags of integrity, and always tried to serve justice. Yes..she was willing to use guile.

No doubt she has been written differently since.

That’s what often happens in DC...bit by bit characters are written differently until they become something else. I remember when Batman treated his friends in a kind and affable way.....

[qwertyuiop1998]

A villain but has understandable intentions. She still using people to do evil things and sometimes endangering some good people. So in my eyes, No matter how noble your intentions are, You still did the wrong things and certainly put yourself into a villain role

[Frontier]

I don't recall thinking of her as a villain in Ostrander's Suicide Squad, at least in the first two tradepaperbacks, but it has been a while since I read them and she certainly wasn't a hero. I think her Machiavellian acts have become more and more radical with time. Nowadays, I consider her a villain

She's definitely gone off the rails since Ostrander's run.

I wouldn't say she was a "hero," but she was ultimately trying to do good and, while extremely pragmatic or bitter, she wasn't as petty and manipulative as she comes off now.

[HandofPrometheus]

I don't see her as a villain. She also isn't a hero like Wonder Woman or Superman. Neutral it is.