Villain

All you want to know about Villain

"Bad guy" redirects here. For the 2002 South Korean film, see Bad Guy (film).
For other uses of the term, see Villain (disambiguation).
One popular concept of the "villain", meant to mimic the purposely distinctive visage of villains, initially from the stage plays of the 1880s.
One popular concept of the "villain", meant to mimic the purposely distinctive visage of villains, initially from the stage plays of the 1880s.

A villain (sometimes, the "heavy") is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters. A female villain is sometimes called a villainess (often to differentiate her from a male villain). Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines villain as "a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot."[1] In an interview seen on the DVD release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Ricardo Montalban says that he realized early in his career that the best type of villain does not see himself as villainous. He may do villainous things, but the character feels that he is doing them for righteous reasons. Likewise, with heroes, Montalban said he always tried to find a flaw in the character because no one is completely good or completely evil. He then compared Khan to this, saying that while Khan had a rather distorted view of reality and therefore comes the villainous acts, he still feels that his acts of vengeance against Captain Kirk is a noble cause because of the death of his wife whom he loved dearly.

Contents

Word origin

Look up villain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
French villains in the 15th century.
French villains in the 15th century.

The etymology of the word is probably Middle English villein from Old French villain, in turn from Late Latin villanus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a villa, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a plantation in late Antiquity, in Italy or Gaul.[2] It meant a person of less than knightly status, and so came to mean a person who was not chivalrous; because many unchivalrous acts, such as treachery or rape, are villainous in the modern sense, and because the word was used as a term of abuse, it took on its modern meaning.[3]

Folk and fairy tales

Baba Yaga often acts as a villain in Russian fairy tales
Baba Yaga often acts as a villain in Russian fairy tales

Vladimir Propp, in his analysis of the Russian fairy tales, concluded that a fairy tale had only eight dramatis personae, of which one was the villain,[4] and his analysis has been widely applied to non-Russian tales. The actions that fell into a villain's sphere were:

  • a story-initiating villainy, where the villain caused harm to the hero or his family,
  • a conflict between the hero and the villain, either a fight or other competition
  • pursuing the hero after he has succeeded in winning the fight or obtaining something from the villain.

None of these acts must necessarily occur in a fairy tale, but when they occurred, the character that performed them was the villain. The villain therefore could appear twice: once in the opening of the story, and a second time as the person sought out by the hero.[5]

When a character performed only these acts, the character was a pure villain. Various villains also perform other functions in a fairy tale; a witch who fought the hero and ran away, which let the hero follow her, was also performing the task of "guidance" and thus acting as a helper.[6]

The functions could also be spread out among several characters. If a dragon acted as the villain but was killed by the hero, another character -- such as the dragon's sisters -- might take on the role of the villain and pursue the hero.[7]

Two other characters could appear in roles that are villainous in the more general sense. One is the false hero; this character is always villainous, presenting a false claim to be the hero that must be rebutted for the happy ending.[8] Among these characters are Cinderella's stepsisters, chopping off parts of their feet to fit on the shoe.[9] Another character, the dispatcher, sends a hero on his quest. This may be an innocent request, to fulfill a legitimate need, but the dispatcher may also, villainously, lie to send a character on a quest in hopes of being rid of him.[10]

The villainous foil

Darth Vader, one of the most iconic villains in film history, makes his entrance in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Darth Vader, one of the most iconic villains in film history, makes his entrance in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

In fiction, villains commonly function in the dual role of adversary and foil to the story's heroes. In their role as adversary, the villain serves as an obstacle the hero must struggle to overcome. In their role as foil, the villain exemplifies characteristics that are diametrically opposed to those of the hero, creating a contrast distinguishing heroic traits from villainous ones.

Others point out[citation needed] that many acts of villains have a hint of wish-fulfillment fantasy, which makes some people identify with them as characters more strongly than with the heroes. Because of this, a convincing villain must be given a characterization that makes his or her motive for doing wrong convincing, as well as being a worthy adversary to the hero. As put by film critic Roger Ebert: "Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph."[11]

The Evil Genius

The Evil Genius is an archetype or even a caricature that is a recurring staple in certain genres of fiction, particularly comic books, spy fiction, video games, action films and cartoons. The evil genius serves as a common adversary and foil of the hero.

Villain Archetypes

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Not all villains are intentionally evil, but do evil in the deluded belief of its morality. These are tragic villains, a notable tragic villain was Travis Bickle played by Robert De Niro in the movie Taxi Driver.
Not all villains are intentionally evil, but do evil in the deluded belief of its morality. These are tragic villains, a notable tragic villain was Travis Bickle played by Robert De Niro in the movie Taxi Driver.

Note that, as mentioned above, a villain's disposition towards evil distinguishes them from an antagonist. For example, Javert in Les Miserables is an antagonist: he opposes the hero, but does so by such means and under such pretexts as not to become entirely odious to the reader. Note also that a villain may repent, be redeemed, or become in league with the hero. Sometimes, a villain may even appear as the protagonist of a story, while the hero who opposes them may be the antagonist.

  • Trickster – often more of an annoying nuisance than a fearsome or dangerous enemy, a trickster may take many forms, from a con man to a mischievous imp. Adventures with trickster type villains tend to be light and comedic and the hero typically finds a way to defeat them non-violently. Sometimes there may be a lesson learned from the trickster, even if unintentional. Examples include:

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

References

  1. ^ Random House Unabridged Dictionary Web Result
  2. ^ (1984) in David B. Guralnik: Webster's New World Dictionary. New York: Simon and Schuster. 
  3. ^ C. S. Lewis (1960). Studies in Words. Cambridge University Press. 
  4. ^ Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folk Tale, p 79 ISBN 0-292-78376-0
  5. ^ Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folk Tale, p 84 ISBN 0-292-78376-0
  6. ^ Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folk Tale, p 81 ISBN 0-292-78376-0
  7. ^ Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folk Tale, p 81 ISBN 0-292-78376-0
  8. ^ Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale, p60, ISBN 0-292-78376-0
  9. ^ Maria Tatar, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, p 136 ISBN 0-393-05848-4
  10. ^ Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale, p77, ISBN 0-292-78376-0
  11. ^ Review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan by Roger Ebert.
  12. ^ a b John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Dark Lord", p 250 ISBN 0-312-19869-8

Further reading

  • Zawacki's humorous look at the concept of a villain:
    • Neil Zawacki (2001). "So You've Decided to be Evil". Dark Sites.
    • Neil Zawacki (2003). How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!!. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811846660. 
    • Neil Zawacki (2004). The Villain's Guide to Better Living. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811856666. 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villain"

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