Reader Preferences About Villains

[Eldoria]

Reader Preferences About Villains:

1. What type of villains do you like/respect (though that doesn't necessarily mean you agree)?
2. And what type of villains do you hate?

 

[Mystic_Grasshopper]

1. I like villains that are cool, and respect villains that are cool.(I don't always agree, but if they're really cool I might.)
2. I hate villains that aren't cool.

 

[unlaumy]

1. competent villains with understandable motives
2. brainless villains (this goes for every kind of character though, not just villains)

 

[MasterY001]

1. Villains who are created to fit into a narrative. A common misconception is that all villains need to be multi-layered and fleshed-out for a story to work. Take the LEGO Movie for instance, a great story that didn't need an overly complex villain to work.

2. Villains who are written and/or used poorly. This is a very broad answer, but I don't know how else to put it. And while a villain is a vital part of a story, a good one doesn't guarantee a good story.

 

[Arkus86]

1. Same as the above
2. Villains who are evil just for the sake of being evil. Incompetent villains, unless it's a comedy and they're the fun kind of incompetent.

 

[Placeholder]

2. Villains who are evil just for the sake of being evil. Incompetent villains

Yup. Real villains are heroes in their own personal narratives. Look at contemporary politics.

 

[Arkus86]

Yup. Real villains are heroes in their own personal narratives. Look at contemporary politics.

Yep. Since I recently watched Batman & Robin, Mr. Freeze comes to mind. He's evil, but his ultimate goal is to cure his wife.

 

[L1aei]

1. Villains you can and will root for; especially when they're about to "explain" karmic consequences to someone universally hated.
2. "Stupid Evil" types. The kind of nonsense you'd get from maxing out dark side choices in KOTOR just because it’s the cruelest option.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The main villain should be evil for evil's sake - yet have at least one redeeming trait.
Those under him or her should be believable, realistic, people corrupted by the lead villain's nature and resources

 

[MasterY001]

Yep. Since I recently watched Batman & Robin, Mr. Freeze comes to mind. He's evil, but his ultimate goal is to cure his wife.

Oh, God... I nearly went blind from all the blue LEDs when I watched that. I'm surprised you didn't Poison Ivy's ultimate goal to KILL EVERYTHING to protect nature.

 

[Little-Moon]

1 - Villains who make sense that have a reason to be evil.
2 - Those that are evil just for evil sake.

 

[Arkus86]

Oh, God... I nearly went blind from all the blue LEDs when I watched that. I'm surprised you didn't Poison Ivy's ultimate goal to KILL EVERYTHING to protect nature.

Remembered her after I already posted. And yeah, it was very... cartoonish, but certaily entertaining in its own right.

 

[MasterY001]

Remembered her after I already posted. And yeah, it was very... cartoonish, but certaily entertaining in its own right.

It's one of those "so bad, it's good"-type movies. Another bad villain you can add to this list is Jim Carrey's Riddler from the movie right before it, Batman Forever. However, the Riddler in general was never the best villain even in the comics.

 

[Hoshino]

- Villains who have a reason to do something and actually have a working brain. For instance: The Charismatic Mastermind, The Morally Gray Villain, The Fallen Hero / Tragic Villain, Pretending to be a Villain(If that counts) etc.

- Those who just mindless, dont know the fisrt thing about being evil and will do the dumbest thing they can possibly do like explaining thier whole abilties to their opponent regardless whether its weakness or strengths, enough information to make a counterattack the villain's plan.

 

[Naravelt]

1, Fit the story theme and the protagonist's counterpart ideology.

2. A villain written as a genius reveals their plan to the protagonist and gets defeated because of it. I always wonder if the guy just kept quiet, would he have won?

 

[Worthy39]

1. I don't think a good villain necessarily needs to be complex, sometimes it's fun to find a villain who just wants to watch the world burn. Maybe give them a reason, but I literally wrote one of my villains as a psychopath with no major driving force other than just enjoying what he does. He's not my main antagonist, but he's a major early story villain.

2. I hate villains that just underestimate the protagonist, and because of that, say something like "there's no point in finishing you off, you're not a threat." And then regret it later when the protagonist shows up with some insane powers that crush the antagonist.

 

[Jerynboe]

I want villains that are cool or competent. Either one of these is enough to get me onboard. Most Disney villains that people remember the names of are cool, some are competent, few are relatable

Gaston is cool. He’s an unmitigated ass, but you can buy into the hype and enjoy his antics.

Jafar is pretty competent. Most of his plans work more or less exactly as he intends right up until Aladdin one ups him on genie lore.

Complexity can elevate a character, but if they aren’t cool (and now that I think about it competence is just another way of being cool), you need a real master class of writing to make them strong enough to carry a story.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I don't know what types of vllains I like the most or prefer over others, but the ones I hate with passion are sympathetic villain.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Reader Preferences About Villains:

1. What type of villains do you like/respect (though that doesn't necessarily mean you agree)?
2. And what type of villains do you hate?

1. Badass villains that aren't afraid to say and do what they want.
2. Villains that are smug and get away with doing evil secretly.

3. This post gave me deja vu.

 

[Rezcore]

I like mirror villains, ones that reflect on the hero because their objectives are ultimately the same.