Sometimes, the best villains are the hero's dark mirror image. They represent a path the hero could have went down if they had made different choices. One of the best of these types of villains is Sabretooth. Wolverine's arch-nemesis, Sabretooth has no ideological stake in his villainy. He doesn't care about the money or the power- he enjoys the killing. The terror of his victims. He loves the hunt, the violence, the kill. Sabretooth is a monster.

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Of course, being a popular X-Men villain, he's also had his time on the X-Men (X-Men villains have this weird tendency to join the team for all kinds of different reasons). Sometimes, he's betrayed the team and other times, he hasn't. This list is going to look at whether Sabretooth should stay a villain or if he would be a better hero.

10 Stay A Villain: The Brutality

If there's one thing that can be said about Sabretooth's fighting style, it's that it's brutal. He's spent years fighting and has mastered a style of combat that takes advantage of his innate abilities and sensitivities and it's just pure brutality. On top of that, he fights that way because he enjoys it.

He likes to hurt people and he likes to hurt them in the most brutal and painful ways he can think of. This doesn't gel very well with being a hero.

9 Better As A Hero: He Never Gives Up

Sabretooth Ravencroft feature

One thing about Sabretooth is that he never gives up. It doesn't matter what the odds are- Sabretooth keeps going. He doesn't get daunted if the odds are against him and will keep fighting regardless of the circumstances.

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A lot of this comes from his healing factor- there's really no reason for him to give up because he's a damage sponge. His enemies can't hurt him enough to stop him and it's become second nature to keep going no matter how much things are against him. This is an excellent trait for a hero to have.

8 Stay A Villain: He's A Savage

DANGER ROOM - Psylocke vs Sabretooth

Sabretooth's years of brutality have had a huge effect on him. He looks at society and just sees a veneer. To him reality is terrible and savage, so he has to be the same way. Sabretooth has lived a very long time and this way of living has not only helped survive but thrive in the world.

He's not about to change his viewpoint willingly, partly because he enjoys the world as he sees it. He likes the savagery. He's chosen it.

7 Better As A Hero: His Powers

Wolverine and Sabretooth have just about the exact same powers- the only difference is that Sabretooth has a higher level of super strength than Wolverine. Wolverine has proven over the years just how useful super senses, a healing factor and claws can be as a hero.

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Sabretooth's senses and tracking abilities are just as good, if not better, than Wolverine and while his claws don't have the same range as Wolverine's, he's mastered a close-range fighting style that allows him to make up for that. All of his abilities combined would make Sabretooth an efficient fighter of evil.

6 Stay A Villain: He's A Hedonist

Sabretooth Growling Looking Fierce

Sabretooth loves his life of violence and brutality. He takes joy in causing pain and suffering in others. For Sabretooth, a day is wasted if he hasn't done some terrible things to someone. His whole life is about the pursuit of these violent pleasures.

This hedonistic attitude about violence is highly incompatible with being a superhero. While it would still give him an outlet for his violence, heroes just don't commit the kind of acts that give him the pleasure he craves.

5 Better As A Hero: He Can Turn His Love Of Violence To A Good Cause

That said, now a days heroes aren't held to the same standards that they once were. Look at someone like Deadpool- Deadpool does terrible, brutal things to his enemies all the time and jokes about it. Other heroes don't exactly like to work with him but they don't really stop him anymore.

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In the world of the violent anti-hero, Sabretooth would be able to thrive. He would get to indulge of love of violence all while doing the right thing.

4 Stay A Villain: The Only Time He Didn't Betray The X-Men, He Wasn't In His Right Mind

Sabretooth with his adamantium skeleton and claws

During the story Axis, the morality of Marvel's heroes and villains were inverted- the good guys became bad and the bad guys became good. After the story ended, some of the characters stayed inverted and Sabretooth was one of them. He would join both the Uncanny Avengers and Magneto's team of X-Men during this time.

This wouldn't be the time he joined the heroes, but it would be the only time he was actually serious about it. Every time he worked with heroes, it was all a ploy to get something he wanted before he violently ended the arrangement. Being a good person just isn't a natural state for Sabretooth.

3 Better As A Hero: All Those Years Of Experience

Sabretooth has lived an extremely varied life. He's been a soldier, a mercenary, a secret agent, a crime lord on Madripoor, a supervillain, and a hero. He's had years and years of experience that he can bring to being a hero.

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Sabretooth knows how people think. He knows what makes all kinds of people tick and knows how to take advantage of that. He's been in the thick of all kinds of conflicts for his entire life. He could put all of this experience to great use as a hero.

2 Stay A Villain: He Loves His Life

Sabretooth attacks Ravencroft staff

When it comes right down to it, Sabretooth loves being evil. He likes the violence. He likes how it makes it feel. For him, the world is better when there are no rules to follow. It's not that he's averse to doing the right thing- it's just that to him, it's not very fun.

Sabretooth has had multiple chances over the years to change his ways and become a better person, but he doesn't. He loves his life of blood and brutality.

1 Better As A Hero: The Age Of Apocalypse

During The Age Of Apocalypse, fans got one of their first glimpses of a Sabretooth who chose not to be a terrible monster. This wasn't a mind-controlled Sabretooth or anything like that- he had seen firsthand the atrocities that Apocalypse committed and turned back from them.

This Sabretooth was just as good as Wolverine at being a hero. He cared about his teammates and protected the innocent. Fans got to see the kind of hero Sabretooth could be and he was great at it.

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