A villain with a good accent makes our ears twitch just right, the fiery expressions in their eyes and how they are never afraid to show true emotion inflame our hearts. If a hero shows emotion, usually he or she ends up dead due to a moment of weakness. But the villain… Ah the villain! A truly good villain can be true to his or herself and always survive.
A well known villain is Lex Luthor from the Superman stories. Clark Kent, the alter ego of Superman, met Lex Luthor when he was young. Often in literature we will find that our heroes and villains know each other and become friends long before they are destined to become adversaries.
But what makes a good villain so seductive to us? Good girls supposedly like bad guys. Why? Because we can’t help but see the good in them. We see their human quality. The reason why Superman couldn’t kill Lex Luthor, despite all of the harm Luthor caused, is because Clark Kent remembered his friend.
Villains are not black and white. They are a kaleidoscope of human qualities and weaknesses that lead them to what they become. But villains are also unafraid to reach out in strength.
In a previous post I discussed Bram Stroker’s Dracula (1897). Dracula is sensational not merely because of the fear he imposes, but because of the seductive nature of his heart. He yearns to live and fights to, he also feels strength and fear, and can love as deeply and passionately as anyone, if not more so because of his honesty involving the monster within. You can’t help but hate him for the lives he destroys, and you can’t help but love him for his oh so human heart.
What makes a good villain are the readers and the fans who fall in love with them. Another immortalized and unforgettable example is none other than Darth Vader, a.k.a Anakin Skywalker, the greatest villain of the Star Wars saga. His mother was killed, yet we felt a kinship with him for his pain even as he wiped out an entire village of innocent sandmen and women. In a rage he accidentally killed the love of his life, yet our tears mingled with his. And in that final moment where he tells his son that Luke had already saved him, even though he would be unable to save him physically, we bow our heads in a moment of silence.
A good villain is not how cruel or how evil he or she is, but rather it is the epitaph left behind. Some critics claim originality is dead, but the true villain is one that, just like a hero, arises from the ashes and burning rubble, untouched and unblemished, to reach out again with invisible hands around our hearts and blur the lines of right and wrong in the literary world.
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