Villains

[cathschaffstump]

Am I wrong? Do you notice a definite lack of villains in most books? Modern writing uses multi-faceted characters who are morally ambiguous. I don't want a return to the melodramatic days of mustache twirling, but I find myself looking for villains, and finding my examples are more classic than not.

What makes a good villain? Here's an examination of six villains that have crossed my path, and why I think they're good villains.

1. Steerpike from Gormenghast. Steerpike is an abused boy from the kitchens who shamelessly manipulates his way into a variety of powerful positions, and then starts abusing that power. Hungry for more power and prestige, eventually he begins to kill for it. He also has a ferocious temper that makes him avenge what he perceives as slights.

Why does Steerpike work? He has humble origins, he has moments of humanities, the escalation of his deeds are so gradual we see him slip little by little, and by the time he goes completely mad, a small part of us wants him to succeed in contrast to his enemies. Make no mistake. He's got to go down, and he's evil. He's fascinating.

Peake takes 12 pages to kill Steerpike in my version of the book. A worthy villain gets a worthy death.

2. Dr. Doom.

Dr. Doom comes from the hokey period of Marvel Comics. In general, I've been pleased with his portrayal in modern times. He is crazy and selfish, but when it comes to running his country, you can always count on him to do what he thinks is right for Latveria, in a really stern father kind of way. Doom is deeply flawed in so many ways, including in his irrational hatred of his rival Reed Richards. However, you can count on Doom to do what he says he will do, especially if you have the word of Doom.

There is no moral grayness about Doom. What you see is what you get.

3. Cardinal Richelieu

Of the characters on this list, the Cardinal comes the closest to that modern interpretation of villain as multi-faceted character. There's a reversal in The Three Musketeers that makes Richelieu almost seem a better man than the King (I believe he is), but his motivations make him the villain of the piece. Make no mistake. Richelieu is in this for France, but mostly he's in it for himself.

Most of the adaptations of the Musketeer films make Richelieu into a caricature of himself. I'm still trying to block out the Tim Curry portrayal from the last Disney effort! Brrr! Still, you've got to admire Richelieu's abilities to scheme and manipulate, and you've got to admire D'Artagnan's ability to save the day in the face of it.

4. The Operative from Serenity.

Ah, Firefly! I could count the ways I despise your flimsy writing and your unsympathetic characters, but I would digress. Instead, I will praise the main villain of Serenity, the Operative. I admit that I like the Operative mostly because he wants to kill the crew of the Serenity, but there's more than that.

The Operative see the evil he does as a necessary evil in an imperfect world. He doesn't get off on killing little assassin girls, but he knows he must sacrifice himself to keep civilization safe, and he'll do it. He has embraced his role as monster, and will do whatever it takes to keep the world safe and sound from the threat of government experiments gone aglay (a little Scottish for ya).

That's cool. He's one scary guy.

5. Narnia Witches. The White Witch, of course, has a ruthless agenda and an unfeeling heart. She symbolically sacrifices the good in the world when she does Aslan in. I love her beauty juxtaposed with her temper. Also, I truly enjoy her sister the Green Witch, and the way she enchants Rillian to her own purpose. Yeah, they're some heartless, manipulative women who take charge of their own desire for power.

Those are my top five. I'd love to hear where you've read your villains, and who works for you.

Here are some villains I think don't work from fairly popular fantasy.

Voldemort: The threat is coming! It's so bad you can't speak his name! He's really bad! And...then he gets here, and he doesn't do much beyond that really scary scene at the end of book 4. And then he gets played by Ralph Fiennes with a squished nose and a bald cap. Meh. Somehow, I want a partial refund...

Sauron: Sure. The war is bad. The ring is bad. The orcs are bad. But all he does is glare, ya know?

At any rate, I would love to hear from you. What makes a good villain? An effective one? Who are your favorites?

Catherine

Originally published at Writer Tamago. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[latteya.livejournal.com]

I think the "unknown" or "shady" villains are scarier than the loud, in your face ones. And I love your new pic!

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I thought that it was time to spring things up, so I went for a new photo and a lighter lay out on lj. My blog site is still all autumn.

I like a more subtle villain too overall, but mostly I like villains who have an identity and are not tokens.

Come to think of it, the father in The Compound is a fine villain. You did a great job with that!

Catherine

[latteya.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree that Steerpike was a truly well-envisioned villian. The reader could ccompletely understand him, even if he made them shudder. (And he was well played in the movie, too)

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Steerpike's motivations were so well-laid out. The point where he crosses the line for me into villainhood is when he puts Clarisse and Cora into the dungeons through trickery. That scene where he makes them crawl under the carpet! Just...brrrr!!!

Catherine

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

The scary thing about it is....you could actually imagine this happening to someone's maiden aunts in Detroit, slowly being eased into that kind of situation.....his actions work outside the setting of Gormenghast.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

*nods*

It's only when he can't get what he wants through manipulation that he resorts to violence.

Catherine

[wldhrsjen3.livejournal.com]

*g* Your take on Voldemort and Sauron made me laugh, because I completely agree.

I think writing villains is difficult... like you said, a villain should be distinct without being a caricature. But if he's too sympathetic, can he still be a true villain?

I liked Wyatt Earp in the role of villain in Emma Bull's Territory. He's cold, calculating, powerful - and also elegant and polite. And I like Coraline's "other mother" in Neil Gaiman's Coraline. I know it's a children's book and characters always tend to be less ambiguous for that audience, but I thought she was terrifying.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Other Mother is pretty scary. The opening scene to the Coraline movie was just...disturbing.

I have yet to read Territory, but I have been meaning to. Would you recommend it overall?

Catherine

[wldhrsjen3.livejournal.com]

I would! The characters were fantastic, with very clear individual voices. And I loved the seamless blend of history and magic. My only quibble would be that I wanted *more* - in some places the story felt a little rushed and I really wanted more detail about how the magic works. But I'd have to say it's now one of my all-time favorite books.

[blpurdom.livejournal.com]

In many ways, there are numerous minions of Voldemort who end up being a lot more badass than he is. Bellatrix comes to mind, as well as Greyback. The twin profs who torture the kids at Hogwarts, too. And yet they all pee their pants at the thought of Voldemort. Somehow I think that in the process of explaining him, he got de-fanged.

And I've never quite gotten how the Killing Curse, which doesn't hurt or leave a mark on the body, is a worse way to die, say, than experiencing exsanguination due to Sectumsempra, or being mauled by Greyback or attacked by Inferi or kissed by a Dementor (which is still a kind of death). As far as I'm concerned, what was scarier than Voldemort in DH was the way people who adhered to the pureblood ideology almost immediately turned on their neighbors and former schoolmates; it reminded me of stories I've heard from people who grew up in the former Yugoslavia. One of the most chilling things about the "ethnic cleansing" (genocide) during the war in Bosnia was that many of the people on opposite sides knew each other, and very well. That's why I think the most eerie single villain I've experienced lately was the Joker in the last Batman movie; his character was violent and homicidal all by himself, but what really gave him evil glee was getting otherwise peaceful and law-abiding people to turn on each other and become murderers, or complicit in murder, to save themselves.

Voldemort was interested in saving himself, yes, but that was merely pathetic and misguided. The activities of the "new" Ministry were much scarier, IMO, and it really seemed like a lot of what allowed that to happen was already simmering below the surface, waiting for an excuse to be let out; Voldemort was the catalyst for that but that never did seem like the focus of his work, to get wizards to turn on each other like that. It seemed more of a fringe benefit to him than anything else, yet it was much more important (to me) than his silly grab for everlasting life.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. What you said, entirely.

Nothing is scarier than a charismatic villain bringing out the worst in people.

Catherine

How about...

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

Malkar Gennadion in The Doctrine of Labyrinths, Sarah Monette's outstanding series of books, which comprises Melusine, The Virtu, The Mirador, and Corambis? Malkar only appears in the first three, but he haunts all of the books.

Re: How about...

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

You know, I've wanted to get a look at Monette's books, so I'll make a point of picking up Melusine, thanks to your recommendation.

Catherine

[komainu.livejournal.com]

Where would you rank The Master? He's not exactly nuanced, but neither are the Narnia Witches.

[cathschaffstump.livejournal.com]

Actually, I think the Master is rather nuanced. His goals are his own, and he's a good foil for a stylish hero. However, he's not one of my favorite's; he's one of Bryon's. :)

The Roger Delgado incarnation of the Master would make my top 10, but none of the rest, as they didn't have his style.

Cath