Or worse, they weren't meant to be portrayed as edgy and misunderstood to lure lonely people into cults of hate.
NB: from what I understand, some cult members joined because they felt part of a community; so, to them, it has a high cost of leaving it because they feel like the other members are friends (kind of like FB/Meta).
Cartoon villains are that way for absurdist comedy purposes, they weren't supposed to reflect reality.