What makes a good villain?

[Ardent]

Heroes always get the attention... but I love a good villain. I like reading about them, watching them, and also writing them!

The batshit insane ones are especially fun, but I also love a villain with layers. That is, someone that isn't simply evil for the sake of being evil, but rather one with real, human motivations that people can relate to and understand.

I'd say Silco from Arcane has got to be one of my faves, along with Jinx.

What about you guys? What makes a good villain, in your opinion? And do you have any favorites?

 

[MiharuAya]

I really like the anti-hero and bad guy who has a heart tropes. I think it's interesting when they aren't just evil for the sake of being evil or to just be the antithesis to the hero and have some sort of substance.

That said, for an actual bad villain, I enjoy the ones who have a deep backstory, and have their "joker moment". I like when they snap or actively turn their backs on society, for very understandable reasons.

 

[foodforpigs]

I agree with @MiharuAya and say that the villains I like are tragic/sympathetic ones (tragic characters in general I like) who have some fatal flaw that causes their life to spiral out of control, and whose actions almost seem justified. examples: Darth Vader (Star Wars), and Mr. Freeze (Batman) ((interestingly, both of these are linked by having their love for another abused and what remains is nothing but a cold-hearted killer.)

Although sometimes you also need to balance it out with villains that know what they're doing and the leave the knife in the back after the trust was earned in the audience. (The ones that want you to yell "bastard" at the top of your lungs.) This includes (spoilers for Watchmen and Berserk, respectively)

Spoiler

Ozymandias and Griffith.

 

[MaryGold]

Tough question! There are so many different types of villains and I know everyone looks for something different when it comes to a "good villain". I think it goes without saying that multi-faceted villains are the it people. We all like layers, right? I love seeing why they became who they are and how they may or may not always recognize how terribly they've become and are, but I also think villains that just are bad are among the greatest too.

I notice a common theme in recent years' movies is that so many iconic villains are starting to get redemption arcs to say "see? they aren't really that bad a guy". But I think what added to those villains being so great in the first place is that they are unapologetically bad. No, they do not care, and in most cases, they recognize their actions. All villains don't need to be forgivable or relatable to be good villains. I think writing those types of villains is difficult in terms of still making them interesting, not one-dimensional, and layered. But I believe they're amongst the best-written ones.

 

[Jaqueline]

I'm with @MaryGold on this one. The unabashedly, almost proud-to-be-diabolical style of villain has been out of fashion since about 2011.

Here's hoping Disney will remember it's Villainous roots with the likes of Ursula, Jafar, Hades or Cruella and reignite a trend for bombastic baddies.

 

[Ghostly Boo]

I like a relatable villain. When getting from point A to B is too outlandish the villain seems almost too cartoonish/ alien. Also the twists; I love when my trusts gets blown out the window and a character I adore turns out to be a baddy, totally dig that.

 

[Jaqueline]

Also to directly answer the question Megamind gave us an excellent answer.

 

[Slaynoir]

Knowing they cannot return kindness or something that has been done to them without destroying everything they care for