Writing: On Villains and Characterization
An email dialogue I have going with a friend reminded me of something I keep meaning to post in LJ...
A friend mentioned about a week ago that a certain famous author is rather perturbed that a large portion of her fans are in love with the characters she considers "bad boys". This reminded me of some thoughts I'd had on character development... I'll lj-cut for those uninterested.
I like my characters grey when I read or write. The White Knight doesn't interest me anymore than the Black Villain. I can't associate with either. Personally, I think I empathize more with the character who has faced obstacles - and made mistakes - than with those who stick unerringly to one path (whether good or bad). Then again, I'm rather fond of the anti-hero as a lead character anyway.
It seems too often in fiction that I see the Black Villain, who has no redeeming qualities, little or no conscience, and often ends up being defeated by some utter stupidity. That's great - for a cheesy movie or a kid's book - but what about something with more meat to it? Sara Douglass' Wayfarer books come to mind immediately as does the treatment of Slytherin House in the Harry Potter books
Horror certainly shows a lot more grey than a lot of other genres. It can't really avoid it when it deals with characters that are often by nature dark beings: vampires, werewolves, ghouls, zombies, etc. But it often seems to me that many authors even in those genres still focus their main character as someone human and fairly pure or failing that, human and perfect with powers beyond compare.
My favorite "grey villain" is from Melanie Rawn's Sunrunner series. Andry is portrayed heavily in the second trilogy as a bad guy, and yes, a lot of his choices definately fall into the villain field rather than the hero. But I just felt far more empathy for the choices he faced than I did for Pol, whom I felt to be rather spoiled and arrogant.
As far as series that really do complex characters, where the lines between black and white don't even really exist, I'm all for diving into Anne Bishop's Dark Jewels series or Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. No easy definitions in either of their fictional worlds - all the better for a complex tale.
And if I have to pick a favorite "black villain", well, I'd have to give my nod to Darkness from the movie Legend. Then again, maybe it was Tim Curry's voice?
So folks, opinions wanted! What sort of villain floats your boat? Which ones don't? Which villain portrayals make you run screaming from the room - and which ones make you hope the villain wins and the hero dies? Give me examples!
A friend mentioned about a week ago that a certain famous author is rather perturbed that a large portion of her fans are in love with the characters she considers "bad boys". This reminded me of some thoughts I'd had on character development... I'll lj-cut for those uninterested.
I like my characters grey when I read or write. The White Knight doesn't interest me anymore than the Black Villain. I can't associate with either. Personally, I think I empathize more with the character who has faced obstacles - and made mistakes - than with those who stick unerringly to one path (whether good or bad). Then again, I'm rather fond of the anti-hero as a lead character anyway.
It seems too often in fiction that I see the Black Villain, who has no redeeming qualities, little or no conscience, and often ends up being defeated by some utter stupidity. That's great - for a cheesy movie or a kid's book - but what about something with more meat to it? Sara Douglass' Wayfarer books come to mind immediately as does the treatment of Slytherin House in the Harry Potter books
Horror certainly shows a lot more grey than a lot of other genres. It can't really avoid it when it deals with characters that are often by nature dark beings: vampires, werewolves, ghouls, zombies, etc. But it often seems to me that many authors even in those genres still focus their main character as someone human and fairly pure or failing that, human and perfect with powers beyond compare.
My favorite "grey villain" is from Melanie Rawn's Sunrunner series. Andry is portrayed heavily in the second trilogy as a bad guy, and yes, a lot of his choices definately fall into the villain field rather than the hero. But I just felt far more empathy for the choices he faced than I did for Pol, whom I felt to be rather spoiled and arrogant.
As far as series that really do complex characters, where the lines between black and white don't even really exist, I'm all for diving into Anne Bishop's Dark Jewels series or Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. No easy definitions in either of their fictional worlds - all the better for a complex tale.
And if I have to pick a favorite "black villain", well, I'd have to give my nod to Darkness from the movie Legend. Then again, maybe it was Tim Curry's voice?
So folks, opinions wanted! What sort of villain floats your boat? Which ones don't? Which villain portrayals make you run screaming from the room - and which ones make you hope the villain wins and the hero dies? Give me examples!