Why do the villains always have to (mostly) lose?

I watched Wreck-it Ralph last night which was a pretty good film for a gamer geek like myself...cool gamer geek of course. Ralph is fed up of being a villain and wants to be recognised as the heroes are. However he always has to lose.
Which got me to thinking...how often do they actually win?


You don't see many tv series or films that end with all the heroes being killed off and the villain reigning supreme. The only one i've seen SPOILER ALERT is Mortal Kombat Conquest where Shao Kahn manages to kill his foes in the finale. Although apparently all the heroes were supposed to come back to life in the second series but the show was cancelled END OF SPOILER

Not that I want the villains to win, i'll always be on the heroes side. That being said I imagine some villains believe themselves to be the good guys. Just look at the ones who want to destroy the Earth. Most want to rebuild it in their image. Sometimes who can differentiate between the two?

However the villains don't help themselves. How many times has Batman been unconscious and at the mercy of his enemies? A lot. Do they unmask or shoot him there and then? Nope, they place him in an elaborate death trap which he always escapes from. Although it would be pretty boring if that didn't happen.

The majority of the time whether it be in games, cartoons or films this is the sequence of events- hero & villain are introduced-they fight- villain gets upper hand- hero makes a come back and wins.

I can't think of any examples from the top of my head where the villain wins indefinitely.

If anyone knows any examples from games, cartoons, tv etc please comment below.