Mystical Imbalance Between Good and Evil In Fictional Universes

[Agent Z]

Okay this is something that's kind of been on the back of my mind for a while. Has anyone noticed how the mystical forces of evil tend to be disproportionately more powerful than the forces of good in fictional universes?

Take for instance something like Mortal Kombat where the bad guys can easily claim someone's soul whether they be good or evil. This happened at the end of the MK9. I always wondered how the hell Quan Chi pulled that off before Raiden even made that deal with him. And why can't Raiden, a god, do something similar where he uses the souls of dead villains for his own ends? Maybe even purify them?

A similar thing also occured in X-Men, where Nightcrawler's father was raiding heaven for souls. Now, he had to run whenever the Archangels came, so it wasn't quite as one sided, but it made me go, "... wait, if you can do that, can't the Archangels raid hell too?".

[Michael P]

Well, you want good to have to work for it.

Plus, there's something to be said for verisimilitude.

[CSTowle]

I've also noticed good tends to win most of the time. Seems imbalanced also. Think it tests negatively with the audience when the bad guys win.

[dragonmp93]

I've also noticed good tends to win most of the time. Seems imbalanced also. Think it tests negatively with the audience when the bad guys win.

Except when the "good guys" are completely unlikeable and/or the "bad guys" arent that evil and have a really good reason to do what they do.

[CSTowle]

True enough, I guess. I remember very little of the awful "Doom" movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but I remember when they were trying to get back to Earth and the Rock said they couldn't go back because they were under quarantine, I was thinking "f##king right" and they were obviously portraying him as the villain (or at least the guy getting in the way of things for the "good guys"). I was late to the game with "Tucker & Dale vs Evil" (only watched it a month ago), but it played this pretty well. Also, laughed quite a bit and highly recommend it for horror/comedy/horror comedy fans (though you probably saw it years ago).

[t hedge coke]

We value struggle and often treat it as if it proves the worth or truth, the goodness of the thing struggled for.

That isn't true, of course, but it feels as if it should be, and stories are constructed not for accuracy or provability, but for rewarding their audience in the way the authors want.

It feels more important, more like true love, if lovers have to fight to be together. Feels like someone must be wrong, somehow, or weak, if they lose a fistfight or a gunfight. We're just kind of simple that way.

Except when the "good guys" are completely unlikeable and/or the "bad guys" arent that evil and have a really good reason to do what they do.

Someone was asking John Carpenter how Vampires could be a horror movie if the vampires were about equally bad as the guys fighting them, who fill the movie up with overly-macho posing, unnecessary violence, partying, whoremongering, and continuous lawbreaking and thuggish behavior. And, rather than go point for point, he said something brief like, "It's a movie with really scary people doing horrible things. And they get away with it." Sometimes you're watching Hondo, but sometimes you think you're watching Hondo, but really, it's The Wild Bunch or Ichi, the Killer.

[Anodyne]

One thing that bothers me is when a writer says that someone can sell someone else's soul to the devil Example: Dr. Polaris selling Neal Emerson's soul to Neron.

[Post Monster]

Except when the "good guys" are completely unlikeable

Who says good is likable? I've noticed it tends to be just a much a jerk as evil.