round table discussion: villains!

[sageness]

Several people seconded an off-handed mention of doing a post on writing villains -- and LOTS of us are doing either Due South Seekrit Santa and/or Yuletide this holiday season, so this is hopefully a very timely and relevant post. Feel free to pimp this far and wide because I'd love to get a good range of discussion going in the comments

Comments

[janey_27]

I think the some of best villains are the ones that you actually quite like, no matter how dispicable what they are doing is. You know, those smooth ones that could charm their way out of anything. Iago from Othello (particularly Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of him), for example, Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, Spike in the earlier series of Buffy, or John Simm as the Master in new Dr Who, or the villains in American Gods (dont want to post spoilers). They are always fun to watch, and often there's an added degree of uncomfortableness for an audience or reader then as well, since you find yourself willing their evil plans to succeed. Also, I tend to like it when a former good guy becomes a villain for one reason or other - like Methos in Highlander the Series, or Angel and Willow in Buffy. It makes things much harder for the hero, and it can be both horrible and exciting to watch characters you love and care about being so mean. You can do things with that format in fanfic to great effect, I think.
I think the most interesting villains are those that are motivated by something, be it something as basic as greed or jelousy. It makes them more 3D, and I think if a villain is well written then you do start to care about them as a character. Venom is my favorite comic book villain of all time, and he just wants to kill Spider Man. Nothing else. He also has that twisted morality thing going on - like he'd happily tear through an occupied building in order to save a drowning puppy.

However, that doesn't mean that the faceless villain can't be used to great effect. Particularly if the evil thing they are doing hurts the hero in a personal way - like the death of a family member.

What villain do I remember years later? Well, the devil from that episode of Quantum leap freaked me out (silly as it was)...

This hasn't been very Due South related at all, has it? Veronica was my most memorable 'villain'. She almost falls into that 'good guy gone bad' category, but not really. You just hate her because you can see how much Fraser cares for her. I also agree that Frank Zuko was a good one. And Warfield in Good For the Soul. He was just a hateful man and the scene where Fraser gets beaten up on his order is heartbreaking.