Villains pt 2: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Villains: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The villain is a very important character or force and can make or break a good story. What makes a good villain and what just doesn't work for you?

1. What makes a villain villainous?
2. As a writer, how would you show your villain is villainous? (Try to think beyond the typical and easy nutbar, rapist and or child molester).
3. What do think makes an interesting and believable villain and what are the things you like best in a villain?
4. What do you think makes a lame/crummy villain, what things drive you crazy in a villain and what are some of your most hated stereotype villain characteristics?
5. Why are so many villains surrounded by stupid henchmen/women? How can a villain operate successfully with stupid Henchmen/women?
6. Who are your favorite villains? What did you like about them?
7. Who are some of your least favorite villains? Why do they not work for you?

Comments

[cinnasugg.livejournal.com]

1) When, as a reader, you find yourself agreeing with the villian's logic and psychology. No, maybe those puppy's heads didn't need to be stomped, but the puppy's death were inevitable and really it was just better to get it out of the way. Any psycopath can harm someone, but a true villian can make it seem justified, even if it isn't.
2) There is usually a disassociation with compassion. For example, reacting calmly to the news of the death of a comrade, or, talking casually about something that happened over drinks the previous week while rigging up a bomb to a governmental building. Nothing, in my opinion, says "evil" more than talking about how Person Y is sleeping with thier ex (again!) and how horrible an idea it is while rigging up C4.
3) I sort of answered this in one I guess. A truely believable villian never does anything randomly, and has taken the time to consider his opponent's psychology and motives before acting. A good villian also knows about misdirection. Blowing up the building is just a cover for the kidnapping of an ambassador's son. The best thing I like about the villan is that s/he usually has the same goals as the hero, but is going about it in a completely different way, and wants to do it first. It's perfectly possible for the hero and the villan to both want to save the world, but they go about it in opposite ways.
4) A lame villain is one that has no redeeming values at all. They are not brilliant, they do not have tech that actually could help the world, they have only the desire to sit on the throne, whatever way you want to go. That is juvenile and works for Disney, but does not work for a good villain.
5) FOrgive the step into personal philosophy on this one: because without that major handicap, the villain would easily win in most stories. The hero is often alone, or very Johnny come lately, and without the help of the inept guard would never triumph. It was a device put into a plot at one point and has been blown out of proportion. It needs to stop.
6) (in no particular order) Queen Maab from NBC's Merlin, Abe no Seme (yeah, spelled that wrong I'm sure) from otogi zoshi, Cesare Borgia from Canterella, King Hagard from the Last Unicorn, and Islington from Neverwhere. All of them were evil, and all of them had their goals set around selfishness, but they also had a cool logic to their whys and hows.
7) Pretty much anything from Disney, though they manage to get a good villain in there once in a while (Hades from Hercules comes screaming to mind, followed by Meleficant.) usually you have no idea why the villain is acting against the hero, or it's flimsy at best (Hello Jafar) and you are given no real reason to LIKE the villain.