No prizes for guessing this week's ultimate loser. We almost didn't put him first, because it's just too obvious, but really, how could we not? TV's most hated villain got his well-deserved and entirely appropriate end to the resounding cheers of fans across the realm. There's a few memes circling around that argue the case that many iconic villains have at least one redeemable quality that is the motivation behind their quest to do evil: Some villains are doing it for the ones that they love; some villains were corrupted during a moment of extreme vulnerability; others are doing it because they pine for acceptance. Generally, these villains end up being more popular or iconic characters fanwise than the heroes of their respective stories (Darth Vader, Loki, Lord Voldemort etc.). Then you get baddies like Joffrey who have no motivation to be villains other than that they are just plain evil for sake of their own sick pleasure. It's this kind of inexplicable nastiness that garners the most hate for a villainous character. When Darth Vader dies at the end of Jedi, you feel sympathy for the way in which the man was corrupted into the machine, and twisted into a tool for the dark side. When Loki died in the Thor sequel (or at least pretended to), you felt grief for his last-minute act of redemption. When Joffrey died, we're betting you felt a flood of joy and relief, and probably jumped up from your seat and celebrated like it was 5:30 on a Friday afternoon. Well don't feel bad, the kid was a loser.
