A Villain to Remember
I love villains. Some of my most favorite characters in literature are villains. I’m using the term literature loosely here so that I may include protagonists like Dr. Doom (Marvel Comics), Darth Vader (Star Wars), and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (James Bond’s nemesis). What makes a villain memorable? Why do we love to hate certain bad guys? Why did JR Ewing make us smile in delight while at the same time we yearned to see him fail (I’m dating myself with this one).
Because we all have a bit of the villain inside of us.
Did you gasp? Of course not because you know it to be true. Search your feelings, Luke. We all have a “devil inside” (remember the INXS song of that name? - dating myself again). So what makes a good villain?
Their “Good Side” - The villains we love the most all have one thing in common. A soft side. They all portray a spark of humanity that we can identify with. While we cannot condone their actions we sympathize with the person inside that they all reluctantly reveal. Remember Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer? And Ebenezer Scrooge? Scrooge is an interesting example in that he was both the stories villain and hero. Can you think of any others? Here’s a hint…Dr Jekyll.
They have limits - Nobody sympathizes with Hitler or Governor Tarkin but we knew Vader couldn’t kill Luke.
They have a motive - Serial killers do not make sympathetic villains. The Frankenstein monster does. The poor guy. Bad Dr. Frankenstein. His monster only wanted to rest in peace (and a mate).
What would the world of literature and entertainment be without a good villain to remind us that we all have a dark side.
Photo Courtesy of Frogmiller
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Comments
Disney was a much needed escape.
It sounds like you have quite a novel inside of you if you ever have a chance to get it all out.
I would love to write my story but I think others would be hurt. I don’t want to hurt others with my perspective on things. Make sense?
I love Mickey! He is all throughout my house. I’ll never grow up! :O)
Glad you had a great time.
Yes - it makes sense. I was thinking along the lines of a fictional piece of work that you could incorporate your experiences/changes into.
Who doesn’t like the “bad boy”? In reality, my hub thinks girls are attracted to them. He may be correct but they scared me too much to think seriously about them when I was in that phase of my life.
We all have a dark side….Yes, and I was in counseling for two years figuring all that out! he he. Back from Disney? Fun?