Why Villains Make the Best Characters

Everybody has come across at least one book/movie/TV show where the villain, despite the hero’s best efforts, walks away as the most enigmatic character of the book. (Don’t even get me started on antiheroes). Here are my top ten reasons why villains make the best baddies ever.

 

1. Villains have the best dialogue. “Good evening, Mr. Bond”. “No, I am your father.” “Why so serious?” With memorable, spine-chilling quotes like that, it’s hard to look at our good guy the same way again.

 

2. The villains sometimes have the most tragic backstories. Maybe their entire family was wiped out and now they want revenge. Maybe someone stole their home world and now they seek a new one. It’s up to you to judge them and say “eh, I’d feel the same way.”

 

3. Sometimes they’re just so charming. Maybe they have a British accent. Maybe they frequent the Opera. Maybe they reference great literature as their muse. Sometimes the villain has that “je ne sais quoi” that makes them fantastic.

 

4. Evil villain laughs.

 

5. Sometimes the villain has a family. (Spider-Man Homecoming and The Godfather come to mind here)

 

6. Speaking of The Godfather, sometimes they make you an offer you can’t refuse.

 

7. In literature, there’s Dracula. Moriarty. Satan of Paradise Lost. The White Witch. Sauron. These villains mock their opponents, twisting you around so much that you’re left guessing who’s right and wrong.

 

8. Sometimes, yes, you can feel worse for the villain than you can for the hero. The villain just wants to live their life and make a buck. That hero has a five car garage and a superhero lair.

 

9. You remember Agatha Trunchbull from Matilda? Did anything terrify you more about school as a child than Agatha? No? Memorable character.

 

10. I’m just going to throw that out there: monsters are cool. Whether they’re the gothic Frankenstein or Dracula. Or maybe they’re the anarchist Joker and scheming Lex Luthor. OR maybe they’re out to win an endless mind game like Moriarty without thought to human life. Sometimes, the monsters in the dark are, unfortunately, the ones you remember when you’re walking home at night.

 

 

And. Last but not least. Remember this. Sometimes, it’s just so good to be bad.