And in my personal writings, my more shady characters are just helplessly intriguing, and their development comes easier. Which tends to make my challenge great and my work better because I have to make sure the villain doesn't outshine the hero.
In the end though, villains are far more complex.
Now don't get me wrong I adore a good hero, and we need our heroes. But a strong villain always makes the good guy that much more compelling.
Evil is just so seductive.
Redditor sodibit wanted to compare notes on the battle of good vs evil.
They asked:
"What villain is 10x more interesting than the hero?"
I love all the villains.
Even the weekly ones on shows like Criminal Minds.
Figuring out the bad guy keeps me invested.
How could they not?
Forget Clarice
"Hannibal Lecter is onscreen for 15 minutes of a 2 hour Silence of the Lambs. But he's the character that haunts everyone for life." ~ onajurni
GiphyDeceit is Fun
"All of the Decepticons. Psychologists were deeply concerned that the kids watching the original cartoons liked the bad guys."
"Turns out they were more interesting and more realistic. They failed and tried again."
"Unlike the autobots that were always winning." ~ GunnerForeman
Bad Instructions
"HAL 9000. He was basically given conflicting instructions." ~ FinestTreesInDa7Seas
"It's important to remember that when you're fighting a machine, you're really fighting the person who designed and controls that machine."
"HAL is the cold, clinical manifestation of an anonymous committee who decided that the mission objective was more important than human life." ~ L1P0D
The God Complex
"Dr Doom." ~ OldHolly
"The thing that makes him most interesting these days is that time travelers (more than one) have visited Doom and said 'I just wanted to meet the man who saved the planet and brought peace to earth when no one else could'."
"So if he's got a big head about being in charge, at least there's fairly competent reasoning behind that. People come from the future to say thanks and ask to meet you, it's kind of hard NOT to develop a God complex."
"And he already had one BEFORE the visits." ~ LochNessMansterLives
Javier Bardem in that movie haunts people's dreams.
And Anthony Hopkins?
There are really no words for that performance. It was flawless.
It's like Clarice who?
Scream
"90% of all horror movie antagonists, seriously why would I want to know about some entitled kid who serves no purpose other than to scream."
"I wanna see how the killer came to be." ~ BaconLover500
GiphyHe has Reasons
"Pagan Min, from "Far Cry 4". Not only was he more interesting, but he gave you the option for the best ending." ~ SilverSpotter
"Seriously Pegan Min sometimes felt to me like the least worst option between the 3. Sabal wants a religious and traditional region but also a not progressive one and Amita wants a progressive place but without care for the people and she relies on drugs to progress." ~ nave1235
you're a total witch...
"Handsome Jack." ~ AstroZombie29
"City's burning, people are dying left and right, yada yada yada. This jackhole rushes me with a spoon."
"A FRICKIN' SPOON! And I'm dying laughing, right?"
"So I scoop his stupid little eyeballs out with it and his kids are all like WAAHHHH! And he's runnin' into stuff and... hahaha!"
"And, oh... I don't know, maybe you had to be there. Anyway, the moral is you're a total witch." ~ Puzzleheaded_Rate_73
Oh Lord
"Lord Shen from Kung Fu Panda 2." ~ Stitch_03
"I know that it's been done to death, but I still found his prophecy motivation compelling. He was already a jerk, but when he overheard the prophecy, he was driven to desperation to save his own life, leading a genocide that ultimately engineered his own defeat."
"And then he just knew he was going to die and accepted it in the final scene. Just way too good." ~ botbattler30
Oh Alan...
"Hans Gruber."
"John McClane was probably my favorite action movie hero when I was a kid, but honestly Gruber is actually a much more interesting character." ~ spatialflow
GiphyAlan Rickman!
How he didn't earn an Oscar for his villains alone, is a travesty and miscarriage of justice.
And as far as horror goes...
there is only one...
Michael Myers!!
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At least during prep-pandemic times, moviegoers paid to go see movies on the big screen to be entertained, not lectured.
In some cases, a baddie's real life story contradicted with what was shown on screen.
This is purely conjecture, but some scripts introduce conflict without detailed exposition of a bad guy to avoid slow pacing.
So when it comes to historical villains and their accurate level of malevolence, it's complicated.
With Hollywood being just one example where a notorious "bad guy" was misinterpreted, Redditor Elytra__Firm wanted to explore more by asking:
"Who is the bad guy in history who isn't actually a bad guy?"
Cinderella Man
"More so sports history, but the film Cinderella Man portrayed boxer Max Baer as a murderous psychopath who gladly killed two fighters in the ring. In reality, he was personally devastated by these deaths. In the one he was most directly responsible for, he ended up giving his winnings from his next few fights to the fighters family."
Musical Rivals
"Despite what was portrayed in Amadeus, and though in reality they were musical rivals, Antonio Salieri was actually friends with Wolfgang Mozart. In fact, years after Mozart's death, Salieri assisted with and helped finance his son Franz Xaver's musical education as a tribute to his late friend."
The Truth About Billy The Kid
"Billy the Kid wasn't a good guy by any means, but was a victim of negative propaganda by the press at the time. He was orphaned in his early teens and fell in with the wrong crowd."
"After a brief run in with the law (I think he was lookout for a small robbery, wasn't even part of the main crew) he didn't want to wait around 6 months or a year for a judge to make their way to the tiny little town, so he escaped jail and ran. What teenager would act differently? He ran to Arizona looking for work."
"In Arizona he found work, but was still one of the youngest there. A bully in a bar picked on him for weeks until Billy got fed up and shot him. On the run again he goes back to New Mexico."
"In New Mexico he resorts to stealing to be able to survive. He steals some horses from a prominent rancher. Instead of prosecuting him, the rancher hires him. Billy is thrilled, and works hard. He is happy because he has a legit job again."
"The rancher had a corrupt as sh*t rival who had the local law in his pocket (he was related to the sheriff). The rival rancher killed Billy's boss in the street. Billy and his fellow cowboys that loved their boss decided this was not OK, and the Lincoln County War started. Billy is the only one of the men on his side of the war to have been in every battle."
"Eventually, Billy felt he had accomplished his revenge mission, so he settled down with his best gal. Problem was, she was Mexican, and he was white. His girlfriend's brother didn't like Billy being with his sister, so he tipped off the law as to where Billy was hiding."
"The Lincoln county sheriff showed up in the middle of the night and shot Billy in the back."
"There is a lot more to it. For example, when Billy was in Lincoln County jail, he talked to the New Mexico Territory Governor. The Governor promised him a complete pardon if he'd be a witness in the trials of the people from the corrupt rancher. Billy agreed and testified. The governor then went back on his promise and left Billy to rot. So Billy killed the jailers and fled again. (That governor was too busy getting an ambassadorship and writing the book Ben Hur to keep his promises)"
Machiavelli Was No Saint, But...
"Machiavelli would be shocked and saddened to know his name is synonymous with tyranny and pure evil. Guy was a staunch supporter of Republics and a savvy politician."
– itssuprs
"There are people surprised that his statue is up in Florence and shocked to see they actually admire him. When you learn more about him he's far more interesting then his historical reputation would have you believe."
– itssuprs
Darius III and Xerxes
"Darius III and Xerxes. They're portrayed badly because of Alexander the Great and also the movie 300."
"Yeah, in reality their Kingdom was actually fairly progressive, when taking over lands, local leaders and religions were allowed to remain however advisory members were sent in to help update settlements with better economic and civic organizations and so on. Really they weren't that bad of a Kingdom (for that time periods standards) and the reason they fought the Greeks was because classically Greek cities had tried to rebel with the support of Greek mainland city states, which prompted war."
"History isn't so black and white as Hollywood wants it to be."
– JayTrim
The Concerned Roman
"That Roman that gave Jesus vinegar to drink. Turns out that the roman military gave their soldiers a water/vinegar mix to drink as it was good for refilling salt levels after sweating. That means all the roman did was give jesus a sip of his own drink, not force him to drink vinegar as punishment/insult."
Pontius Pilate
"While we're on the topic, Pontius Pilate. The dude actually thought Jesus was innocent, and tried everything in his power to punish him without outright killing him, to satisfy the high priests and the crowds they turned against Jesus. His only real sin was that he sold out Jesus to save his own skin, but only after nothing else worked."
A Case For Prince John
"Prince John."
"The bad guy from Robin Hood was basically the steward of a kingdom his beloved brother haddn't even set foot on. While Richard the Lionheart was faffing about in the Crusades, John was running the kingdom and turning it into something that could sustain itself. While he was doing that, his useless brother gets his a** kidnapped so John has to raise taxes (cue Robin Hood) to bring back the 'rightful' king the people loved so much."
"So basically, Prince John runs England for his brother and people love his brother for it. Then said brother gets kidnapped so John Raises taxes to get him 'back' and becomes the bad guy in the eyes of the lords (and by extension the people) who want their rightful king back."
"The man eventually does become the rightful king, only to have all the lords hate him for the crime of investing money into the kingdom, as a result he signs the Magna Carta, limiting royal power."
"that said he wasnt a saint. The man did have a hand in the collapse of Norman France and wasted a lot of money and men trying reclaim the region. I'm not trying to say he was a 'good guy' per se, just not the bad guy for what people hate him for."
The Woman And Her Scalding Coffee
"A more modern example is the lady that famously sued McDonalds for their coffee being too hot in 1994. That lawsuit gets treated as an example of how oversaturated America is with litigation over small things. As it turns out, however, her situation was extremely justified. She suffered third degree burns that required skin grafting and had permanent disfigurement. Her labia fused together. Needless to say, McDonalds was serving their coffee far too hot and the case very well may have prevented future similar incidents."
"Edit: To the people saying it's her fault for spilling her coffee, here's a picture of her injuries (NSFW and NSFL). Does anybody really deserve those injuries for the simple mistake of spilling their coffee? Would you really expect third degree burns if you spilled coffee on yourself?"
– xGray3
Bad Press
"The Roman emperor Gaius Caesar, better known as Caligula."
"Hell of a smear campaign his enemies did. Most likely brought upon himself because of his intolerance to the Senates' corruption and/or lack of effectiveness. The crazy stories? Most likely made up or were wilful misrepresentation of something Caligula said. The story about him making his horse consul because he was 'crazy?' Misrepresentation of him mocking the senate by telling them his horse could do a better job."
– Oddgit