Before modification by aerocontrols at 13/02/2024 08:02:45 PM
I also found a list online that was 7ish books. One was for Grendel, who, while a monster, is male. Another was for Captain Hook. The others were for female characters.
I'm not sure Paradise Lost rescues Satan in the way Wicked, Frozen, and 'Till We Have Faces do, though, by making Lucifer into a 'good guy' rather than a tragic protagonist antihero, but that's true of Maleficent, also, I guess. It's been decades since I read any of Paradise Lost, and the two Maleficent movies are blurring in my head, only the first of which I consider 'of the genre' we're discussing.
If Paradise Lost counts, it's definitely the ur-example, though. But I remember thinking that Satan's proclamation that it's better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven pretty straightforwardly reveals him to still be a villain - after all, only one of the uncountable fallen angels can 'rule' there and all the others are getting to serve in Hell, which seems to be the worst possible outcome.
Just last year, Emma Stone starred as Cruella, of 101 Dalmatians fame, for starters. But also for instance Jesus Christ Superstar, the musical/movie from the 70s that depicts Judas Iscariot as the sensible, level-headed guy who wants to protect Jesus more than he wants to hurt him. Or all sorts of books or shows with vampires or other monsters as main characters instead of baddies, including kid's movies like Shrek or Monsters Inc.
Or even, though I may be taking it a bit far, Milton's Paradise Lost, which has often been described as depicting Satan as more sympathetic than Jesus/God. Certainly he's more interesting to readers today, however Milton intended it at the time. Though your man CS Lewis strongly argued against that view, as I just learned from Wikipedia...
Sounds interesting!
I recommend reading Lewis - not so much his Narnia stuff unless you're reading it to kids, but Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, That Hideous Strength*, and Till We Have Faces.
*This is third in a trilogy, but can be read as a stand alone novel, which is how I read it.