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Avillain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; thefeminine form isvillainess) is astock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one ofliterary fiction.Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines such a character as "acruellymalicious person who is involved in or devoted towickedness orcrime; scoundrel; or a character in aplay,novel, or the like, who constitutes an importantevilagency in the plot".[1] Theantonym of a villain is ahero.
The villain's structural purpose is to serve as the opposite to the hero character, and their motives or evil actions drive a plot along.[2] In contrast to the hero, who is defined by feats of ingenuity andbravery and the pursuit ofjustice and the greater good, a villain is often defined by their acts of selfishness, evilness, arrogance, cruelty, andcunning, displayingimmoral behavior that can oppose or pervert justice.[citation needed]
The termvillain first came intoEnglish from theAnglo-French andOld Frenchvilain, which in turn derives from theLate Latin wordvillanus,.[3] This refers to those bound to the soil of thevilla, who worked on the equivalent of a modern estate inLate Antiquity, inItaly orGaul.[4][page needed]
Vilain later shifted tovillein,[5] which referred to a person of less than knightly status, implying a lack ofchivalry andcourtesy. All actions that were unchivalrous or evil (such astreachery orrape) eventually became part of the identity of a villain in the modern sense of the word. Additionally,villein came into use as a term ofabuse and eventually took on its modern meaning.[6]
The landed aristocracy of mediaeval Europe used politically and linguistically the Middle English descendant ofvillanus meaning "villager" (styled asvilain orvilein) with the meaning "a person of uncouth mind and manners". As the common equating of manners with morals gained in strength and currency, the connotations worsened, so that the modern wordvillain is no unpolished villager but is instead (among other things) a deliberate scoundrel or criminal.[7]
At the same time, the mediaeval expression "vilein" or "vilain" is closely influenced by the word "vile", referring to something wicked or worthless.As from the late 13th century,vile meant "morally repugnant; morally flawed, corrupt, wicked; of no value; of inferior quality; disgusting, foul, ugly; degrading, humiliating; of low estate, without worldly honor or esteem", from Anglo-Frenchville, Old Frenchvil, from Latinvilis "cheap, worthless, of low value".[8]
In classical literature, the villain character is not always the same as those that appear in modern and postmodern incarnations, as the lines of morality are often blurred to imply a sense ofambiguity or affected by historical context and cultural ideas. Often the delineation of heroes and villains in such literature is left unclear.[9] Nevertheless, there are some exceptions to this such asGrendel fromBeowulf who is unambiguously evil.
William Shakespeare modelled hisarchetypical villains as three-dimensional characters and acknowledged the complex nature that villains display in modern literature. For instance, he madeShylock a sympathetic character. However, Shakespeare's incarnations of historical figures were influenced by the propaganda pieces coming from Tudor sources, and his works often showed thisbias and discredited their reputation. For example, Shakespeare famously portrayedRichard III as a hideous monster who destroyed his family out ofspite.[10] Shakespeare also ensured thatIago inOthello and Antonio inThe Tempest were completely void of redeeming traits.
In an analysis of Russianfairy tales,Vladimir Propp concluded that the majority of stories had only eight "dramatis personae", one being the villain.[11]: 79 This analysis has been widely applied to non-Russian tales. The actions within a villain's sphere were:
When a character displays these traits, it is not necessarily tropes specific to the fairy tale genre, but it does imply that the one who performs certain acts to be the villain. The villain, therefore, can appear twice in a story to fulfill certain roles: once in the opening of the story, and a second time as the person sought out by the hero.[11]: 84
When a character has only performed actions or displayed traits that coincide with Vladimir Propp's analysis, that character can be identified as a pure villain. Folklore and fairy tale villains can also play a myriad of roles that can influence or propel a story forward. In fairy tales, villains can perform an influential role; for example, awitch who fought the hero and ran away, and who lets the hero follow her, is also performing the task of "guidance" and thus acting as a helper.[11]: 81
Propp also proposed another twoarchetypes of the villain's role within the narrative, in which they can portray themselves as villainous in a more general sense. The first is thefalse hero: This character is always villainous, presenting a false claim to be the hero that must be rebutted for thehappy ending.[11]: 60 Examples of characters who display this trait, and interfere with the success of a tale's hero, are the Ugly Sisters inCinderella who chopped off parts of their feet to fit in the shoe.[12]
Another role for the villain would be the dispatcher, who sends the hero on theirquest. At the beginning of the story, their request may appear benevolent or innocent, but the dispatcher's real intentions might be to send the hero on a journey in the hopes of being rid of them.[11]: 77
The roles and influence that villains can have over a narrative can also be transferred to other characters – to continue their role in the narrative through another character. The legacy of the villain is often transferred through that ofbloodlines (family) or a devoted follower. For example, if adragon played the role of a villain but was killed by the hero, another character (such as the dragon's sister) might take on the legacy of the previous villain and pursue the hero out of revenge.[11]: 81
The fairy tale genre utilises villains as key components to push the narrative forward and influence the hero's journey. These, while not as rounded as those that appear in other forms of literature, are what is known asarchetypes. The archetypal villain is a common occurrence within the genre and come under different categories that have different influences on the protagonist and the narrative.[citation needed]
Thefalse donor is a villain who utilisestrickery to achieve their ends. Often the false donor will pose as a benevolent figure or influence on the protagonist (or those associated with them) to present them with a deal. The deal will present a short-term solution or benefit for whoever accepts it and, in return, benefit the villain in the long term. During the story's climax, the hero often has to find a way to rectify the agreement in order to defeat the villain or achieve the happy ending.[citation needed]
Similarly, thedevil archetype is one that also makes an offer to the protagonist (or someone associated with them) and appeals to their needs and desires. However, the devil archetype does not hide their intentions from the protagonist. The subsequent story often follows the protagonist's journey to try andannul the agreement before any damage can be done.[citation needed]
Thebeast is a character who relies on theirinstincts and ability to cause destruction to achieve their ends. The evil intentions of their actions are often easily identified, as they act without concern for others (or theirwellbeing) orsubtlety. The rampaging villain can take the form of a very powerful individual or a rampaging beast but is still one of the more dangerous villain archetypes due to their affinity for destruction.[citation needed]
Theauthority figure is one that has already attained a level of command and power but always craves more. They are often driven by their desire formaterial wealth, distinguished stature or great power and appear as amonarch,corporate climber or other powerful individual. Their end goal is often the total domination of their corporation, nation, or world through mystical means or political manipulation. Often this villain is defeated by their own greed, pride, or arrogance.[citation needed]
Thetraitor is a villain who emphasizes the traits of trickery, manipulation and deception to achieve their goals, which is often to offer or supply information to the protagonist's opposition to halt them on their journey, often in exchange for their own freedom or safety. The traitor's goals are not always evil but the actions they commit to reach their goal can be considered inherently evil.[citation needed]
Animation is home to several different villains.Winsor McCay inHow a Mosquito Operates had a cartoonmosquito torment a human being and in 1925,Walt Disney createdPete as an antagonist for theAlice Comedies with Pete later becoming an antagonist ofMickey Mouse and his friends and the first Disney villain.Fleischer Studios later hadBluto as the antagonist of thePopeye cartoons.Hanna-Barbera createdTom as an antagonist ofJerry. Likewise, theLooney Tunes had villains likeElmer Fudd,Yosemite Sam,Marvin the Martian andBlacque Jacque Shellacque.
In 1937, Disney made the movieSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs and it had theEvil Queen as its antagonist. Since then, Disney made a lot of animated movies with villains based on fairy tale villains.Disney Villains became a major part of that franchise.
Saturday-morning cartoons also had villains likeDick Dastardly,Muttley andSnidely Whiplash. Since then, cartoon villains have had a reputation for being one-dimensional.[citation needed]
In modern animation, animated villains that are more significant and fleshed out have become increasingly common as cartoons have begun to be favored by adults. Shows such asAdventure Time,Gravity Falls, andRick and Morty range from child to adult cartoons but are all watched by a largely older audience.[citation needed]
It is sometimes alleged that villains in animated works, such as Disney movies, often embody stereotypes in a more direct way than live-action villains. That their character design is based on caricatures of racist, antisemitic, and/or homophobic stereotypes with exaggerated features. That female animated villains are portrayed in ways that feed into misogynistic ideas and traditional gender roles.[13]
Sattar Sharmin and Sanyat Tania have argued that animated villains frequently fall into two categories: women who exhibit societally undesirable traits, or men displaying feminine traits.[14] In the case of men with feminine traits, this may stem from both ahomophobic andmisogynistic point of view which is further discussed below.
As for female villains who are portrayed with "displeasing" characteristics, not only are they crafted to look unattractive, but their motivations for becoming evil are rooted in very trivial matters. Debra Bradley's survey on Disney films discovered that 28% of female villains, such as theevil queen andLady Tremaine, are influenced by jealousy/vanity whereas only 4% of male villains are driven by these same factors. Rather the men, such asHades andCaptain Hook, have motives grounded in wealth and power, giving in to masculine stereotypes and signifying an attachment to thepatriarchy.[14]
Additionally, in animation there is a history of mothers and grandmothers being posed as the villains of many stories.Neil Gaiman'sCoraline presents this phenomenon through the idea of the Other Mother. InCoraline, the Other Mother is a loving, caring parent who welcomes Coraline to a new life, helping in the face of troubles back home.[15] By glorifying this other mother, the story paints Coraline's real mother as negligent, in turn causing her to be the villain of the story. Disney films also take on the motherly stereotypes in their villains.[16]
Other female villains are portrayed as hyper-sexual and powerful beings that are used to juxtapose the beauty or physical characteristics of theheroine; for example, theLady Tremaine andstepsisters inCinderella.[13] Male villains also hold several traits that are characteristically feminine. Characters likeJafar (Aladdin) andHades (Hercules) have features such as shaded eyelids and accentuated facial features, similar to those typically associated with femininity.[13]
Zachary Doiron has argued that animated villains are based on homophobic stereotypes. As an example, he brings up is effeminate men, sometimes referred to by subject experts as "sissy villains," where their mannerisms represent stereotypes relating to gay men.[17] Another example is the depiction of masculine women, which emulates drag queens or butch lesbians. Adelia Brown makes a similar allegation aboutUrsula fromThe Little Mermaid. Ursula is closely modelled after the famous drag queen "Divine" with her heavy makeup, hair styled in a mohawk, and her nails painted bright red. Her goal throughout the film is to become queen and disrupt the coupling ofAriel andPrince Eric, both of which connect villainy todrag queens, suggesting that there is inherent evil in those who do drag.[18]
Villains infiction commonly function in the dual role of adversary andfoil to a story's heroes. In their role as an adversary, the villain serves as an obstacle the hero must struggle to overcome. In their role as a foil, they exemplify characteristics that are diametrically opposed to those of the hero, creating a contrast distinguishing heroic traits from villainous ones.[citation needed]
Other have pointed out that many acts of villains have a hint of wish-fulfillment,[19] which makes some readers or viewers identify with them as characters more strongly than with the heroes. Because of this, a convincing villain must be given acharacterization that provides amotive for doing wrong, as well as being a worthy adversary to the hero. As put byfilm criticRoger 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."[20]
TheactorTod Slaughter typically portrayed villainous characters on both stage and screen in amelodramatic manner, with mustache-twirling,eye-rolling,leering,cackling, andhand-rubbing.[21][22]
In 1895,Thomas Edison andAlfred Clark madeThe Execution of Mary Stuart depictingMary, Queen of Scots being decapitated. It describes neither Mary nor her executioner as villains (though at the time, it was deemed so realistic that audience members believed an actual woman had been beheaded in the making of that film.) In 1896,Georges Méliès made a horror film titledThe House of the Devil which hadThe Devil as an antagonist. Edison'sThe Great Train Robbery, released in 1903 had the bandits who rob the train as its villains. In 1909, there was a feature length adaptation ofLes Misérables withJavert as a villain and in 1910,Otis Turner had a Wicked Witch as the villain of a short film adaptation ofThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In 1914,Lois Weber made a film ofThe Merchant of Venice withPhillips Smalley as a villainousShylock.
The 1915 filmThe Birth of a Nation has "Northern carpetbaggers" inciting black violence as its villains.[23] The 1916 film20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has a man named Charles Denver as its villain. In the same year,Snow White had Queen Brongomar as a villain. The 1923 filmThe Ten Commandments has the main character's brother be a villain due to his commitment to breaking all of theTen Commandments. In 1937,Walt Disney'sSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs had theEvil Queen as a villain. In 1939,The Wizard of Oz hadWicked Witch of the West as its villain. In the 1940s, serial films aboutsuperheroes introduced supervillains as characters like Dr. Dana inBatman. The 1949 filmSamson and Delilah hasHedy Lamarr as the villainousDelilah andGeorge Sanders as the villainous Prince ofGaza.
In 1953,Byron Haskin made a film ofThe War of the Worlds. Like the book, it hasMartians as villains.
Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 remake ofThe Ten Commandments had two main villains.Ramesses II, played byYul Brynner andDathan played byEdward G. Robinson. (It also hadNefertari be aLady Macbeth figure egging Ramesses on.)
In 1960, the filmSpartacus hadMarcus Licinius Crassus as its villain. In the same year, the filmPsycho hadNorman Bates as a villainous protagonist. The 1962 filmTo Kill a Mockingbird, like the book, hadBob Ewell as its villain. Other 1960s films likeThe Guns of Navarone andThe Great Escape hadNazis as their villains.
Beginning withDr. No in 1962, everyJames Bond film has had a villain.
There were also villains in 1960s children's film. For instance,101 Dalmatians and the 1966Batman both had villains. The former havingCruella de Vil and the latter being the first time comic book supervillains were adapted to film.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, theStar Wars films introducedDarth Vader andEmperorPalpatine.
1980s films had villains likeKhan inStar Trek,John Kreese inThe Karate Kid and its sequels,Skynet in theTerminator films,Biff Tannen in theBack to the Future films,The Joker inBatman andDark Helmet inSpaceballs.
1990s films had villains like General Mandible inAntz,Dennis Nedry inJurassic Park, Edgar inMen in Black,Van Pelt inJumanji, Rameses inThe Prince of Egypt, Carrigan inCasper and Shan-Yu inMulan. TheStar Wars prequels also introduced several villains in addition to those the franchise already had.
Early 2000s films like theSpider-Man trilogy,The Dark Knight Trilogy, theHarry Potter films,The Lord of the Rings films andAvatar all had villains like,Green Goblin,Two-Face,Lord Voldemort,Saruman andMiles Quaritch.
In the 2010s, theMarvel Cinematic Universe and theDC Extended Universe have had several notable supervillains such asThanos andGeneral Zod.
The termvillain is the universal term for characters who pose ascatalysts for certain ideals that readers or observers find immoral, but the term "villainess" is often used to highlight specific traits that come with their female identity—separating them, in some aspects, from their male counterparts. The use of the female villain (or villainess) is often to highlight the traits that come specifically with the character and the abilities they possess that are exclusive to them. For example, one of the female villain's greatest weapons is her alluring beauty, sexuality or emotional intelligence. The perversion of inherently female traits instorytelling also alludes to thedemonic display of thesuccubus and their affinity for utilizing their beauty as a weapon—a trait utilized by many female villains throughout modern fiction and mythology. However, this is not always the case. As seen often in animated films, female villains are portrayed with "ugly" appearances to contrast the beauty of the protagonist, in turn associating unattractiveness with evil. This paints female villains in a negative light compared to their heroine counterparts and showcases the duality of the female villain character.[24]
The ethical dimension of history poses the problem of judging those who acted in the past, and at times, tempts scholars and historians to construct a world of black and white in which the terms "hero" and "villain" are used arbitrary and with the pass of time become interchangeable. These binaries of course are reflected to varying degrees in endless movies, novels, and other fictional and non-fictional narratives.[25]
As processes ofglobalization connect the world, cultures with different historical trajectories and political traditions will need to find ways to work together not only economically, but also politically. In this evolving framework of globalization, tradition, according to political theorists likeEdmund Burke, historical figures perceived and evaluated as either positive or negative become the embodiment of national political cultures that may collude or collide against one another.[26]
The usage of villain to describe a historical figure dates back to Tudor propaganda, pieces of which ended up influencingWilliam Shakespeare's portrayal ofRichard III as a spiteful and hunchbacktyrant.[10]
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Thesympathetic villain oranti-villain is one with the typical traits of a villainous character but differs in theirmotivations. Their intention to cause chaos or commit evil actions is driven by an ambiguous motivation or is not driven by an intent to cause evil. Their intentions may coincide with theideals of a greater good, or even a desire to make the world a better place, but their actions are inherently evil in nature. An anti-villain is the opposite of an antihero. While the antihero often fights on the side of good, but with questionable or selfish motives, the anti-villain plays a villain's game, but for a noble cause in a way that the audience or other characters can sympathize with. They may be more noble or heroic than an antihero, but the means to achieve their ends are often considered exploitative, immoral, unjust, or simply evil. Characters who fall into this category are often created with the intention of humanizing them, making them more relatable to the reader/viewer by posing the "how" and "why" behind their motivations rather than simply creating a one-dimensional character. Because of their motives, many of these types of villains are commonly nicknamed "anti-villains".
American writerBrad Warner has argued that "only cartoon villains cackle with glee while rubbing their hands together and dream of ruling the world in the name of all that is wicked and bad".[27] American writerBen Bova recommends to writers that their works not contain villains. He states, in hisTips for writers:
In the real world there are no villains. No one actually sets out to do evil . . . Fiction mirrors life. Or, more accurately, fiction serves as a lens to focus on what they know in life and bring its realities into sharper, clearer understanding for us. There are no villains cackling and rubbing their hands in glee as they contemplate their evil deeds. There are only people with problems, struggling to solve them.[28]
Following up on Bova's point, American writerDavid Lubar adds that the villain "may be driven by greed, neuroses, or the conviction that his cause is just, but he's driven by something, not unlike the things that drive a hero."[29]
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