What do you like in a villain?

[Discordian 6,015]

and Frollo from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame

Depending on how it's done I like these kinds of villains too. The ones that believe they're doing the good thing. Usually it turns out being just some misguided guy who misunderstood something from his past. Frollo was a man who built his life around his beliefs and everything he stood for, even as a villain, was done because he thought he was truly righteous. Right to the end.

 

I hate when villains are conveniently redeemed for little to no reason. Characters like Frollo who stand by their convictions until the end are some of my favorites.

[DarkusX 69]

Being (bad-*** as they say), smarts, conquering worlds...and their backstories... especially when its sad. or you know... becoming good at the very end of a epic showdown.

[Golden Triangle 75]

1.I like villians who don't go all emotional at their defeats (looking at you Sunset Shimmer)

2.I also hate it when villians go all arrogant at the heroes like "oooh you can't kill me." instead of trying to get away from being attacked, just to get killed straight afterwards. The villian should actually just not give a frick about what the protagonist is doing and freaking attack them.

3.A backstory is also necessary, no " I'm evil cause I'm eeeeeeeviiil muauaua" you have to give the villians motivations for doing evil stuff.

4. Bad guys don't always have to look like monsters or be overpowered as heck. In fact I would be way more frightened of a normal person with a lot of power (like the villian Frollo)than a random devil man if I was those people in the movie.

Starlight Glimmer is a pretty good example of a good villian, she doesn't give a frick about Twilight's friendship speech. And she doesn't even look evil, she's just a normal unicorn but she's still powerful compared to a regular unicorn.In my opinion anyway.

Edited June 8, 2015 by Golden Triangle

[Guest]

Discord was a character I wished could have gone on as being a villian. Cunning, humourous, clever, chaotic, and powerful. Discord stood out to me as an excellent villian/character.

[ShadOBabe 18,997]

Charisma, humor, and something that makes them relatable or sympathetic.

[The Awesome One 1,315]

I want him to be different from your average generic villain and not have a cheesy backstory or do what just about every villain does (explaining master plan, letting heroes escape in silly ways)

 

Must also be a complete badass.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

After some thought, I've realized I like two kinds of villainous archetypes. The difference is not so much themselves but the nature of their relationship to the hero. These two are "the foil" and "the terror." (Sometimes they can be the same though.) Also SYMPATHY NOT REQUIRED! I don't need to relate to the villain, only understand them. Apparently I'm in a minority who WANTS to not like the bad in any way shape or form.

 

The Foil: The villain that somehow reflects the hero in some fashion. How they are similar and how they are different can vary, but there's a clear resemblance as much as a contrast.

 

Villains such as Lightning Dust and yes, even Sunset Shimmer. Hell just look at their names and compare them to their respective counterparts. Other examples include Saren to Commander Shepard, Lord Shen to Po, Paul to Ash, Captain Nemo to Ned Land, Garrosh Hellscream to Thrall, and Azula to Zuko. These villains often pose a physical threat and that's part of the fun, but it's more how they fight rather than that they do at all. They are a dual threat. Yes, they can fight their opposite on an even level, but they also fight them on a moral and philosophical level. It's these battles that I love to watch the hero and villain fight because on some level they are not just pitting their skills, but their world views against one another.

 

The Terror: As someone who actively despises the horror genre, I don't go to my fiction seeking to be afraid. When it does happen though in an otherwise non-horror based media, it is a treat.

 

These villains who, even if they won't exactly keep me up at night, are threatening enough in the moment to make me feel doubt that the hero will succeed. This feeling is compounded when the villain is less a man and more a force of nature. King Sombra remains to this day, my favorite villain in MLP thus far for this very reason. He almost won without even being there, and the Crystal Ponies recoiled in fear at just the thought of him. There's also the Windigoes, who almost drove the ponies to extinction before Equestria was even founded. Other examples are (naturally) Lord Sauron, the Reapers, the Daleks, Chernabog, Cthulhu, HAL 9000, Unicron, and the White Walkers. ( . . . . Yeah is it clear I really like this kind of villain?)

 

Of course, there are occasionally villains that count as both: Megatron, Amon, Slade (as in Teen Titans), Lord Voldemort, the Joker, Steelhooves. ( . . . . I don't care if he's one of the heroes, he's an excellent foil to both Littlepip and Applejack and scared the shit out of me! But . . . in a good way.  )

Edited June 9, 2015 by Steel Accord

[Kivil 1,721]

I like villains like the Joker, he is super crazy and he knows how to actually do things. He is not a regular villain because he keeps coming back due to Batman not killing him. Also, he will always escape Arkham Asylum! I love the Joker so much! :3

[Hashi 323]

Well.... now thats an interesting question:

[LittleMac 3,085]

Personally, I like villains who believe they're doing good. Like Frollo in Hunchback of Notre Dame. He believes he's doing the will of God rather than just being ambiguously evil, which makes his motives more interesting

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

I would be on board with a villain whose motives were more than just simple greed, power lust, or "taking over the world". The ones that really appeal to me are the ones who believe they were wronged by the hero in the past, and turned against them in belief that they were exacting justice or making a better world. It's a clear and understandable motivation that isn't simplistic or evil "just because". We can actually draw our own conclusions and have debates over that kind of character, like Syndrome from The Incredibles. I genuinely relate to that character and believe he didn't deserve the fate he got in the movie, because he came off to me as more troubled and misguided than the pure, fully-corrupted evil the narrative and the other characters cast him as.

 

As for their personality, I like the kinds of villains that are unusually calm, collected, and respectful in contrast to the normally angry and desperate villains, because they can show the different faces and packages evil can come in. One example is Ryder/Mr. Blue from 1974's The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He had the demeanor and ease of an English gentleman and adressed his adversaries with a surprising amount of respect, but clearly demonstrated multiple times that he is not above ruthlessly killing people for money. Similar is Hans Landa from Inglourious Basterds. The man was a cultured figure, but he had attained his status and prestige hunting Jews for the Nazis, and when he revealed in the end he had no loyalty to any country, only serving himself, he got what was coming to him.

 

The most entertaining villains to watch are the intelligent ones who keep the heroes on their toes, planning ahead and knowing things they aren't expected to. It really shows what the hero is worth when the battle is psychological as well as or rather than physical. If you've got all three of those elements down, you've got a very compelling villain and the conflict becomes that much more interesting.

 

The stories I tend to prefer the most are the ones where the villains think they're the ones enacting justice or getting revenge, only to get what's coming to them right back.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Wind Chaser

[Rasydan 43]

Their style(most villains look stylish),the dark outfit

[221BTardisSt 101]

First of all, he has to be either good-looking, charismatic, or both. If he doesn't have followers, or at least sympathizers, he isn't a good villain. A reasonable motive is nice, but if somebody just wants to "watch the world burn," as it were, that is even better to me. I despise a villain who reforms, especially when it's convenient. 

 

For me, it's really about the charisma. If he doesn't have that wicked charm, he's not a villain. 

[Justin_Case001 4,894]

The best villains are the ones that believe they're doing good.  Even better are the ones that have a valid point of view, and you sometimes feel like you agree with them.  The best example is always Magneto.  I like a villain where at some point, I might actually like them or feel sympathetic towards them.  I felt that Zod in MOS made a good villain for this reason.  Monstrous though he was, I felt sympathetic towards him at times, like during his "I have no people" speech.  Kal clearly felt sympathetic for a moment as well.  But once Zod said he was going to make every human suffer, then Kal was like, "You know, I kinda felt bad for you for a minute there, but I'm over it."

 

To take it a step further, the most interesting characters in general are the ones where you legitimately can't decide whether they're good or bad.  You see different sides to them, and flip flop on how you feel about them.  Stories where the villains become heroes and the heroes become villains are the most engaging.  The grayer the scale gets, the closer you get to real life.

 

But there's always exceptions.  I find the most interesting villains to be the ones like Magneto that believe they're good and just have a different pov, but then you have Ledger's Joker.  No good or valid pov there.  Just a maniac, but one of the best villains of all time.  Another of most interesting villains ever created is The Following's Joe Carroll.

[Pinkieandsuch 38]

A villain needs to be extremely clever, and needs to hard(er) to defeat. The villain must strike at upredictable times. they also need a clever name.

[Scootaloo9074090 501]

On 2014-02-09 at 9:40 PM, Frostgage said:

All villains should have some kind of backstory. It's no fun if we don't know anything about them. They should also have motives that you can at least understand. I hate villains that are just like "I'm going to destroy the world because I'm evil and for no other reason." Most importantly, a villain needs to actually feel like a legitimate threat.

 an Soulless and Cold Hearted Machine and cruel Tyrant that is also a sadist that was originally creates by the heroes to be a Peace keeping Protocol before turning against humanity. Ultron fit the Role of  a Pure Evils Villain

On 2014-02-09 at 10:13 PM, ♞RedLotus♞ said:

I like big, strong, bad ass villains who can kick major butt. Not your typical Villain who sits on a throne and commands and army to attack. I'm talking about a super powerful villain who can literally crack anyone skull in nearly seconds.  

 

Also, smart and devious. Just because he/she is strong, doesn't mean they have to be a meat head. Manipulative and intelligent villains are awesome! 

 

A villain that looks like this

 

 

Or.. like these

 

 

 

 or A Nihilistic Villain that See Life is Meaningless and want to Destroy all of existence like Owlman fit the role of an Cataclysmic Nihilist

[Evil Pink One 13,507]

Their reason... Their purpose... Their birth.. their existence....

[Lord Chin Chin 1,209]

I like them to have some sort of story that makes them some what relatable or makes you able to sympathise with them

For example my favourite villain Homelander -

Sureeee hes kind of a lunatic but you feel kind of sorry for him since he was raised without a family in a lab and has a constant need for attention / approval.

[Dreambiscuit 9,874]

One word: “Presentation!”

 

[heavens-champion 1,905]

Cunning, ambition, intelligence, good taste in villainous fashion.

[Monsoon 1,662]

As long as they're well written I don't mind. A pet peeve of mine is also when a villain is a pushover and doesn't Impact the story or protagonists, mainly because it feels like wasted time why write a villain into a story If they don't influence the characters in someway.

 

 

 

 

[Shadowmoth2011 150]

I like Complete Monsters - villains who are just unrepentantly evil, cruel and vindictive. They feel like true, genuine threats that other villains would recoil in horror at (mmph I LOVE Even Evil Has Standards), and something that everyone in that media's universe would fear. Frollo and Scar for example. It's why I chose to have Shadowmoth be one.

I also like outright sociopaths. Characters with no empathy, a penchant for telling sweet little lies , overall high intelligence, and just overall feel like someone you wouldn't wanna encounter in real life. Even if they aren't as all-encompassingly-evil as Complete Monsters are, their social manipulations and overall realistic feel can be just as scary. Lila Rossi, from Miraculous Ladybug, is my favorite villain ever for this reason.

[dead account 2,711]

I like villains who aren't just evil for the sake of being evil.

[Stone Cold Steve Jobs 22,440]

I like a villain who isn’t evil for the sake of being evil. I don’t like one dimensional mustache twirlers. I want to see what their reasoning is, and it doesn’t always have to be huge deep reasons. Humans kill for 3 main reasons: Money, Sex, Revenge, or some combination. Sometimes the simplest reasons in a villain’s behavior  are the most effective.

Edited April 29, 2022 by Stone Cold Steve Jobs
Cage Claim

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

One of my favorite traits is relatability. First, the villain is introduced as such, but then the cause of the antogonist becomes increasingly more relatable as we are given insight into the character, so much so that it ceases to be a villain in relation to the hero. And we end up with two opposed characters forced into a difficult situation over a conflict that is outside their control. Everyone likes to see the stereotypical villain get its due. But, when you have two understandable characters that you have grown to like, and know one of them may die in the end. That is more interesting for me.
Meanwhile, the hero is given some contrast to balance the sterotype with some interesting flaws that can sometimes border on the "villain" side of traits, I mean questionable traits, not without reason, but still questionable.
Now, this is not always the case, everyone has their own reason in my stories, but there also some amoral pieces of **** with no hope of redemption as well. It is all about making the conflict of interests interesting.

Sometimes, the conflict will not turn out as expected, and third or fourth element will be introduced into the narrative. To turn the expected resolution into a symbolism that manages to convey a message outside the expectatives of most readers, that is fulfilling to both the story and the readers. Something valuable to learn from beyond the boundaries of the story.
Meaning that I like plot twists, upon plot twists, upon plot twist. But I am fair. So, I will often foreshadow or leave a tiny clue for the smart readers out there. So, they can feel "smart" in case they resolve the puzzle before I unveil the narrative.
But, yeah. My stories are like a giant mutidimensional puzzle that is translated like a complicated equation in my head. An equation I don't even know how to solve, sometimes. Because of the so many pieces I've added, simultaneously interacting with one another and putting at risk everything I've built. I love it.
Bulding a multidimensional story like a massive mosaic, with so many plot points floating in the air. The challenge when the whole thing seems unresolvable, and you can begin to smell the smoking gun in your hand and feel the pretty sizeable hole in your feet. And then inspiration hits and every piece of the puzzle falls into place to bring the story full circle, as if it was by design. And you experience some sort of literary orgasm. But I digress.

Another thing I appreciate in my "villains" is intellect and cunning. Most of the main antagonists I've conceived are brilliant, so brilliant in fact that they become blinded by their own intellect. Especially, character who commit wrongs for the right reason, these fall within the category of cunning tricksters. So, are they villains or are they not? The only thing I know is that they know all good story needs a point of conflict, and they offer themselves to "help" events into motion. I love these type of characters. But their interaction in the story is minor and they are often secondary because of their vast foresight and wisdom pertaining events that are yet to unfold. Lots of charisma for these type of characters, too.

Speaking of charisma. My characters feel pretty human, so they have the full spectrum of emotion. They are changing through the story, and they change each other. They are not characters on itself. But they are living creation for me. So, their development depends on the resolution of the narrative. They can progress the same way they can devolve. And they challenge me to become a better creator, because their makeup is challenge in and of itself.

I love them. But yeah, these are some of my favorite traits in villains.