These Adorable Illustrations of Geeky Villains Will Totally Change Your Perception About Them

It's easy to paint villains from comic books and movies as soulless people who care about nothing. But one artist wanted to look past this perception, so he created adorable illustrations of villains getting hugs from the heroes that try to destroy them.

Created by Spain-based designer Nacho Diaz [1], the "Villains Need Love" project is about showcasing these characters in a different light — and in a book. Diaz's Kickstarter campaign [2] to put his illustrations in a book and on stickers, prints, and even phone cases was successfully funded.

Diaz chose villains because of how much he enjoyed drawing them and changing the message of who they are. "Most of the time [the villains] are the way they are because they had a hard time in the past, so I thought . . . Would they be different with some love in their lives?" Diaz wrote on the Kickstarter description.

You can check out some of our favorite illustrations ahead.