Q:

What is the term for enjoying seeing bad/unlikable characters die?

I just watched the Purge 3 and noticed that they include characters intentionally there for you to dislike, so they can satisfy you with their misfortunes.  In the first movie, it's a very satisfying brutal smashing of the woman's face on a desk.   In the third movie, it jumps to an uncut scene of shooting a young teenage girl in the face with a shotgun, as well as a mass shooting at a church.
I find it somewhat disturbing that I enjoy seeing this, and am also unsure if its a bad thing or not.  What is the psychological term for this?  I'd like to read about it.

A:

The term you are looking for is the german word Schadenfreude which was adopted into English. The wikipedia page that I linked here should be a good start for reading and you could continue by checking the resources from the section "Scientific studies" there.

