The best villains, in my opinion, are the ones who are smart
and witty and not easily beaten by the good guys. They’re the ones who use
their brains, and come very close to beating the hero, and who you can have
respect for. They’re not your common or garden criminals. They’re artists,
taking villainy to the next level.
But what’s better than a villain who’s amazing at being
bad? Why, a villain that’s amazing at being good. I’ve noticed that a few of my
favourite movies and books have this aspect to them.
My most favourite movie of all time is Megamind, about a
villain with a giant blue head, who ends up fighting evil and becoming the
hero. It’s all about turning the typical superhero story on its head. Megamind
is smart, and funny, and at the same time, so clueless about being the hero of
the story.
In books, I recently read a series of books about a boy in a
villainous academy, where he was being taught how to be a villain. The name of
the academy was amazing. It was called HIVE: Higher Institute of Villainous
Education. And this boy, he might have been learning how to be a villain, but
he was leaning to be a gentlemanly villain, fighting off the real bad
characters. Again, it took the idea of a villain, and turned it on its head.
A villain’s a great character. And it’s even better when
they can be turned into the good guys. Do you have any other examples of this?
You saw I posted about V today - he was sort of a villain/good guy.
ReplyDeleteV sounded like an interesting person. And he was played by Hugo Weaving wasn't he? He does an excellent bad guy.
DeleteToo many aspiring novelists make the mistake of creating truly evil bad guys. If readers hate your character too much, they may end up hating your book in general.
ReplyDeleteVery true. I think that the villains who are still very human, and not completely evil are more relatable, and are much nicer to read about. So many books have a villain that's just too bad to be real. The books with the villains who believe that they're right, or who made some mistakes but still have nice qualities are the better villains in my mind.
DeleteWithout great villains there would be no great heroes.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. The better the villain and the more challenging they are, the better the hero has to be to beat them.
DeleteDexter comes to mind. A serial killer who kills only villains.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite villains are the ones I feel for, though they are also the roughest, because part of me doesn't want them to lose.
Shannon at The Warrior Muse
Dexer sounds like an interestingly complex villain. I think that the villains you can feel for are the best sort. They're so human, so relatable to. It hurts when they get beaten, and that's how you know they really are great.
DeleteI love great villians!
ReplyDeleteMe too. thanks for visiting Miss Celeste.
DeleteP.S
ReplyDeletehttp://misscelestewombat.blogspot.com/
I like the movie Despicable Me precisely because the "villian" turns out to be a good guy.
ReplyDeleteJust dropping in from the A to Z challenge.
Thanks for writing!
madscientistcrazymom.com
Despicable Me is a fantastic movie. I do love it when the supposed villain turns out to be the good guy. Thanks for visiting.
Delete