Villains

I’ve been reading and occasionally struggling through ‘Les Miserables’ in French. It’s quite good so far. It’s thought provoking and emotional. I’m enjoying it immensely.

Recent time with the novel has made me ponder what makes a good villain. The hero and villain in this book are Jean Valjean and Lieutenant Javert. As usual, they have a complex relationship and it made me wonder if that is needed for a good book. Obviously one of the basic tenets of a novel should be that there is some tension or an unresolved issue; something that hooks us into reading and, most importantly, completing a book.

But further to that it made me wonder what makes a good villain. When we think of the protagonist, many times we need to feel a connection to them so that we can root for them along the course of the story. And even if you don’t empathize with the main character, we have to be concerned with their plight to some degree. Perhaps it is because we have been in a similar situation and want to see how they will handle it. Or it could just be that we want to step into their ‘footprints’ and live vicariously through them. As long as we have some combination of these items, then we are all set emotionally to follow the hero. But what do we do or feel when it comes to a villain.

I thought to some of the greatest villains that I could think of in recent history and in popular culture - the two that I could think of were Darth Vader of the Star Wars saga and Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series. There is an element of fear to both of them. I remember as a kid that I was insanely scared of Darth Vader – not just because he was dressed in black (because that seems common with many villains) but because he seemed so strong and invincible. This is the case as well with Voldemort when I read the Harry Potter books. Yet as the stories developed for both of these arts, the background of each was identified and I was more curious to know how they became evil. I, perhaps naively, believed that they were not born that way. I wanted to know their psychological make-up and to have them sit on a couch with me as I asked them questions to get to the root of their identity and their unresolved issues.

It is this confrontation between the good guy and the bad guy that intrigues us. As we learn about Luke Skywalker and he develops into his full character, we become curious as to why Darth Vader is who he is. This is the same for Harry Potter and Voldemort. In many ways their character development mirrors each other in opposite ways. And they often balance each other out. So we become invested in not only the growth of the hero but in the demise or softening of the bad guy. Can the bad guy be made good? etc.

This same premise has been occurring in one of my favorite shows of the season ‘Once Upon a Time’ as well. As we learn more about Snow White, we wonder why the Evil Queen hates her so much. As their stories are told side-by-side, we become connected to their histories. It also helps a lot that the actress (Lana Parrilla) who plays the Evil Queen is a complete bitch (she’s one of those characters that I love to hate and I think that might be the case with the other examples I’ve provided too). It’s the dichotomy between these characters and the tension that they create that keep us glued to the screen or entranced between the pages. Or perhaps it is something else altogether. It’s definitely up for discussion.