While the hero of the story is important, Parker told us, it’s the antihero — the bad guy or antagonist — who makes real for the reader the goodness of the hero.

This is true, but it's not only true of dictators. Most political actors will pick "enemies" that they stand in opposition to, individuals or groups that they proclaim will be dangerous or detrimental to society if not checked in their depredations. To embody or symbolize the things the political actor is against in a way that is easier for their target audience to quickly understand and resonate with.

That's why political parties love to pick out specific individuals or groups and inveigh against them, rather than drily talking about policy all the time. They can be specific individuals that are used to symbolize their opposition: George Soros or the Koch Brothers or Nancy Pelosi or Michelle Bachman or AOC or MTG. They can be groups that are cast as the ones that threaten society: "liberal elites" or "The 1%" or "broligarchs" or "the woke."