I think it's a gradual societal shift. I mean, if you think about it, a lot of protagonists are more dick-ish now, and people like that. And on the flip side, villains are getting more and more sympathetic (which is a good thing! Except when woobification occurs). See also: how narratives treat angels and vampires now. A lot of angels occurring in popular fictions are jackasses now, where they're rigid and unyielding and ruthless. And the bad boy romantic vampire things has been in for decades.

I think it's kind of interesting.