What do you like in a Villain?

[Basil]

I really like villains who don't believe they're villains. Like take Big hero 6 for example. SPOILERS but Callaghan was definitely under the impression that his daughter was worth anything and everything. He didn't give a shit about the casualties on his epic revenge tale, because guess what? They weren't his daughter. That's a good believable goddamn villain. He definitely could've been beefed up a little, story wise - but let's be honest here. Big Hero 6 was no Good VS Evil Superhero story. It's a Disney kids animation meant to teach young uns about loss and how to cope with it. So yeah, not as villainous as he could've been, but damn was Callaghan believable.

[SpavVy]

@Basil Funny that you mention Big Hero 6 because I just saw it tonight xD I did like his motive but I wish they made him a little more interesting as a character.

[Euphorie]

I like that villains don't always have to be the antagonist. I like switched up roles of protagonist-antagonist, (play with the villain until he almost becomes a main protagonist.) A villain should have an as interesting back story as the protagonist/lead character, if not a better one. A great villain, in my opinion, should be loved and hated, should have a great back story that thoroughly explains and justifies the villains actions (at least to them-self!), and most of all, have a lesser character flaw than the main, allowing the villain to in someway have an advantage. I honestly love characters that completely break my general first impression in a positive/surprising way, or make me wonder who the REAL villain is.

And that is what I like in a villain. I don't like cliche villains that have no real motives.

[WintreKitty]

I think a good villain characteristic (or flaw) is jealousy. The best one that I know of is Scar from The Lion King. He will forever be one of my absolute favourite villains. He was witty, sarcastic, extremely jealous of his brother, and definitely knew what he could and could not do in terms of getting what he wants (i.e. no fighting for the kingdom because he knew his brother was way stronger than he was). Also, a lack of remorse for what they did until they are about to die is a really awesome trait to have for a villain -makes you hate them more and you really cheer for the hero/heroine when the villain is finally defeated.

Overall, if the villain has a personality and a background/history for why they are evil, they usually work really well. Some villains may seem too evil and one-sided on paper but when you bring them to life, like The Joker from Batman, they draw you right into the story and you are biting your fingernails each time they make an appearance.

[FromFinn]

Constant puns and cheesy as all hell.

[Laeva]

I completely agree with you! My favourite is the "villain" that first appears as a reasonable and righteous person, maybe even as the hero. But when you get to know them better that first expression slowly changes. You experience the same contradictions as the "villain" and just slowly realise that there's something entirely wrong. Those are the most disturbing villains. I don't know - had I acted differently? AM I acting differently? But I think that is a thing of storytelling, too. The only comic example that comes to my mind are the "heroes" in "Franken Fran" because they obviously start as the heroes and even call themselves so but somewhere lose their ways without noticing.
My favourite - although I can't stand her - is portrayed in "Bad Monkeys" by Matt Ruff. Spoilerwarning! The protagonist is a member of a secret organisation called Bad Monkeys that wipes out criminals where the officials are impotent. She tells her story and how she ended up in an asylum. And as she tells, you slowly begin to realise that something doesn't fit and it was a long way for me to realise that the protagonist herself is a "Bad Monkey" how they call bad people. She is so convincing that she convinced herself (and the reader) to be good. That girl has some serious mental issues. I've read that novel shortly after experiencing for the first time a good friend of mine having a psychosis - that was really really creepy and I needed a lot of time to digest it and I hope to never have to experience that again. And that book was the worst I could have read at that time (I came to doubt the whole world my friend lived in, I couldn't help it. That must have been horrible for her). But I still think it's a great novel.

It's not always so easy to see the difference in right and wrong. We experience that in our lives and I like when it's portrayed in the villains just as in the protagonists. I like the opposite, too. Villains that slowly change to heroes in your eyes but I don't refer to them as villains anymore. ^^

[scythe]

Villains are far and away the most interesting characters in a story, and I love them to take any shape as long as I understand what's motivating them. I also enjoy secretly wanting them to succeed, even if I ultimately want the hero to come out on top in the end. Some of my favourite villains are Magneto, Hannibal Lector, the Joker, Dr Doom, and Darth Vader. Some poor villains in my opinion are the original Green Goblin or Sauron, who just feel like plot devices.

I also LOVE anti-heroes like Walter White and Frank Underwood.

[Ayumi]

I think best villains are who have their reason to hate the hero/heroine. Everyone has their good and ad side, so it's interesting if you can see that the "bad guy" has actually feelings too. Oh, and I love insane villains too! That's always interesting to see, why they become like that. (Like Light in Death Note. He totally became insane.)

[Icelug]

You know when you see that guy (or girl) and you think (s)he's the most nice person in the whole world. (S)He's nice, kind, good...but it happens he is the villain. (S)He was pretending the whole time, and you fell into it... That's my favourite kind of villain.
The pretender =o

[ippotsk]

Redeemability. Even if just a little bit. I don't know, I guess I just like it when both the hero and villain put aside their differences in the end and go for a mutual goal, or, even cooler, if the villain seems to forego his evil ways before his dying breath. Call me lame, but for me, I can't have a story without both sides feeling accomplished. _(:D

[allenthomas]

I actually like villians that have a just reason or purpose for their actions. To me they make some of the most interesting characters. With that said, I can't lie that I am a sucker for absolutely ruthless villians that are evil for the sake of being evil as long as for the entirety of the story they stick with being dastardly at every opportunity. To a certain extent I think its important to maintain that some villians are supposed to be hated and rooted against and not for.

[Doubtcent]

I don't mind in the evil villains that are evil just because they are evil, but only if they know they have been type-casted as such, and then choose to relish in it.

Think Megamind or Bowser from the "Mario and Luigi" RPG series.

I like a villain that enjoys their evilness. They know they're no going back, might as well dance whilst the slaughter.

[jayorten]

I like villains who have a certain air of mystery about them. It really keeps the audience guessing about the true nature of their identity and motives, which makes them the more interesting characters. I also like a villain who just loves to mess around with his enemies and is somewhat unpredictable. unlike the villains who come up with a terribly cliched plan thinking that it will actually work against the hero.

I like a villain that enjoys their evilness. They know they're no going back, might as well dance whilst the slaughter.

I also like this in a villain. This is partly why I am a big fan of The Joker from the Batman franchise; he just does it cuz he loves to do it, and from my experience, those who love what they do are ussually the most successful.

[justjezz]

I like stories where you can't even tell who's the villain in the first place. Like you can't blame a single person when something bad happens, because all the characters contributed to that bad thing. Everyone has a reason for doing what they're doing, and they truly believe that it's for the better. This kind of thing forces me to think complexly about the characters, and it kinda makes me empathetic towards the "villain" because he could be seen as the bad guy, when in fact, he's just trying to do what he thinks is best.

Same thing could be said about heroes. Like, they keep trying to do something good, but in the end, it hurts something/someone else.

[TAMAnnoying]

I feel like you have to be carful with this one. Theres plenty of times I read a villain who's got everything every other villain has, a curl person who would kick a three legged puppy, but sometimes I hate them, but don't ENJOY hating them. I just don't like them on screen or enjoy listening to them rant. To me you have to make the villain someone who's enjoyable to hate. Someone you can say "They are horribly awful people but gosh I love watching do whatever it is they're doing." But if you sit there just saying "Man I hate them." Then I feel like your not ENJOYING the villain as a villain. They're just annoying people at that point. :/

[crabman21]

One thing only comes to mind.....MOJO JOJO!!! I luuuuv that guy. Best villain EVER!!

[sarahrebecca58]

I'm a big believer in instead of villains, two protagonists with conflicting goals. Thus I find a complex personality extremely important, as well as changing over the course of the story--personality wise, I don't give a crap about power level.:P

The old example I used to use, is siblings racing to a tree to grab the apple. The two might race to the tree, but the brother/sister will still catch them if they fall. But they'll just as easily eat the apple that falls from the tree that slipped from their siblings hands.

In other words I think some work suffers from the bad guy being to evil.

[minzinger]

I like stories where you can't even tell who's the villain in the first place.

Oooo...I like this! Yes! I wanted to say something similar. I like villains that is on the border of good and evil, so it makes them "likable."

Examples:
- Kira from Death Note (is he a villain?)
- Kinda random but Ed Harris character in the movie The Rock. He a bad guy with good intentions but bluffed)

I also like villains who are just pure evil but ridiculously "smart" at the same time AND has no physical strength advantage. I hate when villains are just strong physically. So stupid.

Examples:
- Joker!!!
- Johan Liebert if you read/watched Monster Manga (so good)
- In real life - Hilter. We all love to hate Hilter.

[goenn]

oh my god, Monster is such a good manga and naoki urasawa is such a good writer AND artist.

[kazukitakamura126]

I like a villain do what they want or need to do no matter what the cost. I like them to have some substance where they behave because of what happened to them or someone they cared about. I know alto of people are going to disagree but, I think Sasuke from Naruto was a good villain. He didn't care what stood in his way he would do anything to get what he needed to get done. He wasn't extremely powerful so it was what he did that truly made him a villain.