Both General Zaroff, in the Richard Connell short story "The Most Dangerous Game," and The Misfit, in Flannery O'Connor's tale "A Good Man is Hard to Find," are serial killers who seem to enjoy their chosen livelihood, though Zaroff takes more pleasure in the actual hunt. Zaroff captures and hunts humans because they provide him a more elusive prey than the wild animals that no longer interest him. To Zaroff, the kill is a game, and the victims are his trophies.
Although The Misfit's motives are less obvious, he also seems to be adept at killing, a fact the grandmother has not overlooked.
"...you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it."
Like Zaroff, The Misfit is also polite and hospitable at first, but they are a different pair: Zaroff is a Cossack, known for their particularly violent ways, while The Misfit is "a different breed of dog." Unlike Zaroff, who was born to a wealthy family and enjoyed a life of privilege, The Misfit has always been dirt poor and has seen very little good in his lifetime. The question that The Misfit proposes to the grandmother just before he kills her seems to sum up the main difference between Zaroff and himself.
"Does it seem right to you, lady, that one is punished a heap and another ain't punished at all?"
Zaroff has used his military background and wealth to kill without consequence, while The Misfit kills because "I can't make out what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment." Zaroff kills because he enjoys what leads up to the kill, while The Misfit can't help his urges to kill.
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