Villains who are the opposite of what many expect from an antagonistic "boss"; they genuinely care for another being. Whether it be paternal/maternal, romantic, or simply a "matter of principle", these villains will not only treat their minions well, but often go into a rage when their minions are threatened or harmed and they are willing to go out of their way to save them at their own risks.

Sometimes, this can be because the minions are relations to the villain, the villain's lovers, friends, or (as mentioned above) the villain genuinely values those who aid them.

IMPORTANT: Pure Evil villains can NEVER be added to this category, because they do not care about the well-being or safety of anyone (except for themselves). Even if in some cases, they seemingly show care to someone, it is only because they have interests behind or for convenience; furthermore, they are not willing to save others lives by altruism because they lack empathy. (e.g. Lord Voldemort cared about Nagini only because she was one of his horcruxes; otherwise he would have killed her, Blackbeard cared about Angelica only because she was helping him reach the Fountain of Youth to save his own skin, Ego cared about Quill only because he had the Celestial genes so he can help him to realize the Expansion unlike all others kids of the Celestial who ended up killed, Judge Claude Frollo cared about Quasimodo only because of his fear of God's wrath and he could still be useful to him; otherwise he would have dropped him down the well, Mysterio saved Peter and his friends only because it would boost his own ego and fame; plus his actions led getting Peter and his friends endangered in the first place, Koba cared for the Ape coloney only because they would be loyal servants to him in his war against the humans, the Saxon Master only cared for his Missy incarnation because she was his future self and still killed her when he didn't like the person he would become, and Boris the Animal only spared his past self because he cared for his own safety).

However, despite the fact a genuinely protective villain is never purely evil, some of them can still be psychopaths if their protectiveness towards certain people doesn't contradict their lack of empathy toward everyone else (e.g. Jack Welker, Rumpelstiltskin, Randall, Tommy DeVito, Alexia Ashford, William Birkin, Professor Ratigan, Castor Troy, Agamemnon, Aaron the Moor and Lyustifer Safin). On the other hand, it can be a redeeming quality to some villains if they are willling to change for the person they're protective of (e.g. Ken, Beast, Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Loki Laufeyson , Nebula and Yondu Udanta).

Also, do not add these villains to this category if they genuinely care about someone else but without doing more, even if they are not Pure Evil (Thanos genuinely loved Gamora but still sacrificed her to obtain the Soul Stone; Lord Shen had a genuine relationship with the Soothsayer but severed ties with her when she tried to reason him about his parents and his project of conquering China; Isabel Aretas truly cared about her son Armando, but did not hesitate to lie to him about his father Mike, and did not care when he interposed himself between her and Mike trying to stop her to kill Mike simply out of revenge, accidentally wounding him.) as well as certain villains that just show true care, compassion and love and nothing else that is protective and caring (i.e. Cackletta who just simply cares for Fawful but is minimal and doesn't extend to the criteria of the category; Eric Cartman who genuinely loved Heidi Turner but doesn't respect her body health, type, etc.; Hopper who respects his mother's promise to not kill his younger brother Molt before she passed away on her deathbed; All For One who loves his younger brother Yoichi but still imprisoned him in a safe when he refused to join his side; Kai Chisaki who genuinely respects and cares about his boss as a father figure but still put him in a coma when his boss opposed his plans; Ernesto de la Cruz who saves Miguel from drowning in his pool but is not hesitant in killing him after his secret was revealed.) or villains who use or fake protectiveness as an excuse to commit atrocities (.i.e. Dawn Bellwether claims to have care for prey animals but uses it as a scheme to secure her position of power; Madame Medusa claims to have love and care for Penny but sees her as nothing but a tool to retrieve the Devil's eye; Clay Varris claims to love Junior but showed no remorse for having lied to him about his origin and raised him as a killer, showing that he only sees him as a weapon).

This category is ONLY for villains who still have genuine care for the well-being of people, animals, etc. For villains who protect things or places (including those labeled as Pure Evil), see the Guardians category instead.