Dun...dun...duuuun!!!!
Not every story needs a villain, but every story needs conflict. (I saw that "duh" eye-roll. Stay with me!)
Sometimes the conflict can be a destructive storm, a giant shark, or the protagonist's worst fear. Sometimes it can be as simple as a misunderstanding, which happens quite often in romance novels (like in my all-time favorite, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen). These conflicts can be just as torturous and compelling as the most complex of villains.
However, since today's post is about villains specifically, I'm going to talk about the best kind of villains--the likable ones.
Now, before you start throwing things, I know there are readers who insist they love unlikeable characters. This is a concept I've never completely understood. If a reader likes an unlikeable character, doesn't that make the character, by definition, likable?
When I'm talking about likeability, I'm talking about a character who is interesting, thought-provoking, and contains some sort of it-factor. It has nothing to do with how good or bad their actions are. (If you're with me so far, let's continue.)
Not all villains are created equal. I have found that when I don't care for a book, but can't figure out why, it's usually because the villain fell short for me. I can't think of a book that I fell in love with where I also didn't love the villain. For me, they go hand in hand.
There are several different villain archetypes: The Anti-Villain, The Beast, The Bully, The Machine, The Mastermind, Evil Incarnate, The Henchman, The Fanatic, The Dark Lord...blah, blah, blah. There's a million of them. Basically, capitalize a word, throw "The" in front of it, and you have a villain! Just kidding...but not really.
These are all great villains, don't get me wrong. These villains are tried and true. However, I'm going to talk about MY favorite villains. Some of them can fit into these categories and some can't. I'm also going to give them my own archetype names. Why, you ask?
Because. You. Can't. Stop. Me. Mwahahahaha!
Without further ado, my favorite villains tend to fall into these seven categories:
1) The Insane Villain
Insane villains are so fun to read and watch because they are unpredictable. My favorite example of the insane villain is Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. I haven't seen all of the Joker representations out there. There have been many of them, but from the ones that I have watched, Heath Ledger's Joker rises above the rest. He's intense, funny, oddly adorable at times, and ruthless. He is many things, which makes him so unpredicatable and likeable as a villain.
2) The Part-Good Villain
The part-good villain is interesting and probably the most common. I think the thing that makes these villains likable is that we, as normal people, sympathize with them. There is at least some part of them that is good. It could be that they love or loved someone deeply, even if they've made a slew of bad decisions since. A good example of this is Gerard Butler in Law Abiding Citizen. Even though this character does horrendous things, we as viewers find ourselves on his side. We root for him, at least for a while, because he is part-good and because we feel that justice needs to be served.
Law Abiding Citizen is also an interesting movie to discuss with friends. When did you turn on Gerard? When did he go too far for you? Or did you turn on him at all? It can be argued that he's the anti-hero, not the villain. However, as the movie goes on, I think Gerard turns the corner from anti-hero into full villain. (Although, I would need to watch the movie again to fully re-assess!)
3) The Villain Who Believes He/She Is The Savior
This particular villain is different from The Savior Villain. The Savior Villain is the villain who everyone hates, but who ends up being the best character of all--the savior. A perfect example of this character is from HARRY POTTER by J.K. Rowling. (SPOILER ALERT!) You know who! The guy we all hated until we didn't. Say it with me! "Professor Snape!"
Savior Villains are great! There's no doubt about it. But this is not the villain I'm referring to here. I'm talking about the villain who believes he is the savior. There's a difference.
Most villains believe themselves to be The Hero in some way. They believe themselves to be justified, otherwise they wouldn't do the things that they do. However, this villain is not the same as the Part-Good Villain either. Just because someone believes themselves to be part-good or the savior, doesn't mean that they are. This villain--the one who believes himself to be the savior--is wonderfully fascinating because these villains usually operate within some sort of grey area. Thanos, from The Avengers movies, believes he is saving the universe. He does bad things, but he does them for (in his mind) a good reason. By killing half of the population, he can save all of the planets, which in turn saves thousands of races. He believes his actions are for the betterment of all worlds and all people.
(FYI--My husband disagrees with me that Thanos is a likable villain. He thinks he's a dumb villain who could have simply used the infinity stones to wish for twice as many worlds. Solid point! I'll give him that, but I still like Thanos as a villain because he makes his own sacrfices for his cause, making him an interesting character to contemplate.)
Thanos is a much better villain (in my mind) than Killmonger from The Black Panther. Don't get me wrong, Killmonger is an excellent villain, and The Black Panther is one of my favorite Marvel movies. However, on a likability scale, Killmonger is a much less likable villain than Thanos. This is because Killmonger did everything he did out of hatred and revenge. He wanted to give weapons to one part of the population to kill the other part. He didn't act out of love, but out of hate. Hate motivated him, and hate is an easier, less complicated emotion than love (and can be pretty boring for audiences).
4) The Funny Villain
Funny villains are adorable. Sometimes they're funny because they're dumb. Dumb villains tend to have dumb luck as well, which can be very amusing to read or watch. However, sometimes villains are funny, not because they're cracking jokes in their evil lairs, but because they're surrounded by idiots. A fun example of this is Hades from the cartoon movie, Hercules. Hades would normally be a dislikable villain for me. He is not insane, he is not part-good, he doesn't believe himself to be working for the betterment of mankind...or god-kind, for that matter. He is totally and completely selfish with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, except...he is very funny. Even so, Hades is not inherently funny on his own, but his reactions to those who surround him are very funny.
5) The Unexpected Villain
The Unexpected Villain is a hard one to pull off, but if you're clever enough to come up with a villain who no one saw coming, I applaud you. I can think of several great examples, but they would involve spoilers. Most mysteries and detective novels operate with this type of villain.
However, the Unexpected Villain doesn't have to be a surprise at the end. Here is an example (that isn't a spoiler) of a great Unexpected Villain who you know is the villain throughout the entire book: Regalia from FIREFIGHT (The Reckoners, #2) by Brandon Sanderson. If you haven't read it, Regalia is a little old lady who can control water. She is calm, poised, and posh--an absolutely amazing villain. Who expects a little old lady to be the villain? Nobody. Especially not in a fantasy novel. She is refreshing and creative, and those villains are always the best.
6) The Self-Aware Villain
These are the villains who know they're bad and know they're doing bad things, but simply do not care. There's a certain amount of charisma and swagger that goes along with being the Self-Aware Villain. This villain is often a trickster and is a favorite villain of choice among heists and capers.
My favorite example of the Self-Aware Villain is Hans Gruber from Die Hard. He makes demands of the police for releasing hostages and so on, but really, he just wants to steal some money. You gotta admire the guy!
And finally,
7) The Evil Duo
A perfectly-paired evil duo can be extremely fun to read and watch. It's pretty rare that you find two equally paired villains. Usually, one is the brain, and one is the brawn, OR they're both brainy, but one is more ruthless and stabs the other in the back. Whatever their relationship, an evil duo can be very enjoyable.
Out of all of the wonderful villain duos out there, my favorite evil duo has to be Yzma and Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove. They're adorably hilarious and polar opposites. Could anyone ask for a more entertaining duo?
However, in all fairness, it could be argued that Yzma and Kronk are not an Evil Duo at all, but a mastermind and a sidekick. Therefore, for a more accurate example of the Evil Duo, I give you...(drum roll)...Harry and Marv from Home Alone. They're funny, have great chemistry together, and are both equally bad. (And who doesn't freaking love Joe Pesci?!)
A note on Movie Villains vs. Book Villains:
Movies villains have a lot more leeway than book villains. I can watch a movie villain that I don't like and still really enjoy the movie. That can't be said for books. When we read, we spend a lot of time in that world. Therefore, we are much less forgiving with an unlikable book villain. What tends to happen most of the time is that we give up on the book, toss it aside and move on. Whereas, a movie will be over soon anyway, so we might as well keep watching.
Also, there is an attract-ability factor in movies. You can have a blah villain, but if he/she is very attractive or fashionable, we forgive the writers for their lack of effort or creativity. In a book, saying a villain is attractive isn't going cut it because readers won't care that much.
So, fellow writers, spend some time on your villains and make them as interesting as possible. Your readers (like me) will thank you!
Happy Writing,
Sam
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