Light vs Dark

Now when I bring this up I'm not referring to the good vs evil aspect that we all may think. Nothing like Star Wars or anything like that. I'm talking about the light vs dark characters. For example, if I ask someone who their favorite DC characters is. You'll get a mix of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and so on. If you're like a buddy of mine, he'll say something obscure like Tally Man or something like that. However, by the end of it all you'll get lot of people pulling toward the darker characters like Batman or Spectre, Deadman and stuff like that. Why is that?

My guess is that it's more realistic. I know it's funny for me to say that because I'm talking about comics, but is true. We usually pull toward those with darker backgrounds or upbringings. We may even root for certain villains, not because they're evil, but because we understand. We can relate to them more than other characters. Let's bring in some examples. 

Black Adam

Now the superhero guy like myself I know evil. Well, at least I thought I knew evil. When I encountered Black Adam in video game and cartoon form I was like, "This dude is straight up evil!" Then I actually read his back story. How he lost his wife and his determination to rectify that loss. I mean, I had to admit, I felt for the dude. I don't know what I would be like if I lost my wife. Now I'm not saying his actions are justified, this man does commit murder. However, I kind of understand his pain.....he is a tortured soul whose lived many years with this on his heart. Gotta feel for the man. That's why I look at him differently. 

Magneto

Now we all know about this man's struggle. Being in the concentration camps. He was mistreated for being differently, on two fronts. So his determination to not only protect all mutants, but to make them the dominant specie is kind of understandable. And we all like and feel for Magneto. His experience was real for a lot people in real life. Now yes, his actions like Black Adam are not justified. Nevertheless, we definitely understand his pain, his fear and his struggle.

I think the more we relate to characters, the more we are drawn to them. Sometimes squeaky clean is pretty unrealistic, that's why people like Superman throw us. Not that we don't like him, I think he's cool. And Man of Steel is one of my favorite movies. It's just that pure-heart kind of a person I hate to say don't 100% exist. We all have a dark side to us. A lot of the time it's due to bad experiences we had. It doesn't make us evil, it just mean we were dealt a raw deal sometimes. And I think that's why we get these characters.