Villain
A villain is a bad person, especially in fiction. Villains are the fictional characters, or perhaps fictionalized characters, in drama and melodrama who do evil deliberately and work against of the hero. As such, villains are an almost inevitable plot device, and more than the heroes, the villains are the crucial elements upon which plots turn.
Word origin
The etymology of the word is from Old French villein, in turn from Late Latin villanus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a villa, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a plantation in late Antiquity, in Italy or Gaul. Poverty was equated with moral turpitude. Thus usually the word villain suggests that the villain's schemes stem from their own moral indifference or perversity of character. Supervillains are found in the melodramatic environs of superhero comic books, where an evil person with super powers is needed to be a realistic foil for the mighty heroes. These supervillains usually have recurring roles; some villains in more down to earth literature have become so popular that they have been reused in later works as well.
Stereotypes
There are many villain stereotypes. A caricature of a common cliché villain can be seen at the right of this page. In the era before sound in motion pictures villains had to appear very "visually" sinister, and thus many villain stereotypes were born. The Rocky and Bullwinkle characters Boris and Natasha, Snidely Whiplash, and the Hanna-Barbera character, Dick Dastardly, are well known parodies of this kind of character archetype. These stereotypes include black clothing (often quite formal - capes, top hats, etc), facial hair, sharp features, and a perpetually "angry" facial expression. Other non-visual villainous stereotypes include a habit of "evil laughter," a snooty or smarmy voice, and a haughty overconfidence that leads to the unnecessary explanation of one's sinister plans. This exposition, of course, is a fairly transparent plot device. There is an opposing stereotype of the beautiful villain who looks like a hero, but his/her personality and attitudes betray a diabolical nature. This especially came well known after World War II when the Holocaust was exposed which led to the popular villain who reflects the Nazi blond and blue eyed aryan ideal, but that beauty hides an arrogant sense of his/her superiority and foul ambitions to make his/her "inferiors" suffer.
The necessary villain
Are villains inherently more interesting than the heroes who oppose them? They are at least as indispensable to the stories they appear in, probably more so. Those who stand on the side of righteousness and goodness seldom have much choice but to respond, and little choice in how; for villains, all paths are wide open. Many believe that Satan, for Christians perhaps the ultimate villain, is the most interesting character in John Milton's Paradise Lost, for all that he is the embodiment of evil. Perhaps in the nefarious acts of many villains there is more than a hint of wish-fulfilment fantasy, which makes some people identify with them as characters more strongly than they do the heroes. Still, the writer's task in creating a villain is not an easy or a trivial one; a convincing villain must be given a characterization that makes his motive for doing wrong somewhat more convincing than Mephisto's gleeful but seemingly pointless mischief.
Yet what makes the villain really indispensable in many works of fiction, including virtually all modern action movies, is that he provides an impeccable excuse for sadistic pleasure. The standard action story invariably begins by demonizing the villain—i.e., showing that he is so evil that he ceases to be a human being and becomes a monster; so that making him suffer is only necessary justice and most commendable. From then on, the reader or viewer can enjoy the sadistic pleasure of watching someone being beaten, burned, chopped, impaled, blown to bits, etc. etc.; and can identify himself with the hero who is doing all that — all with a clean conscience.
Quotes
"The greatest joy in doing evil is to be rewarded by the sight of those who suffer its consequence!"
- — Mephisto, in The Silver Surfer #3 (Marvel Comics, 1968)
"Much to learn, you still have."
"Your overconfidence is your weakness." "Your faith in your friends is yours."
"I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it."
"I'm going to enjoy watching you die, Mr. Anderson."
"Unwilling though I was to follow my namesake's instructions, it has all come down to this. The ultimate risk for the ultimate prize - day of reckoning with those who made us slaves."
- — Megatron, in The Agenda Part 3 of (Beast Wars}
"I was directly responsible for the deaths of all twenty-four thousand colonists when the Pfhor returned and sacked the planet. Yet I cannot think of any better way I could have served humanity: Tau Ceti's sacrifice bought time for Earth, which the Pfhor are even now planning to invade."
"Greetings, Green Ranger. Or should I just call you Tommy? How does it feel to be stripped of your powers forever? Are you green with envy? And your humiliation is far from over! You will soon pledge your allegiance to me!"
"No Way!"
"Do you even recognize yourself? The Green Ranger, always willing to sacrifice, always ready. You must have saved your friends a hundred times, and think of all of Rita's monsters you destroyed. You and your powerful DragonZord! Witness the greatness you once were, Tommy. Because it's all over now!"
- — Goldar and Tommy Oliver, in Green No More Part 2 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
"I will not fail again!"
"QUIET! Those Power Rangers are nothing but mere infants! You were defeated by children! You dare call yourself an Empress of Evil? You have made me very angry! Your days of control are over, there will be no other chances."
"Can't we talk?"
"Silence! I have spoken."
- — Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, in The Mutiny Part 1 of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
"Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you do it? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? For more that your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom? Or truth? Perhaps peace? Yes? No? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Vagaries of perception. The temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence that is without meaning or purpose. And all of them as artificial as the Matrix itself, although only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. It's pointless to keep fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?"
- "If you only knew the power of the dark side. I must obey my master."
- — Darth Vader, in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
"The Alliance... will die. As will your friends. Good, I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!"
"There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die."
- — Jabba the Hutt, in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (translated from Huttese)
"My lord, is that legal?" "I will make it legal!"
"I had rather be a canker in a hedge than a rose in his grace..."
- — Don John referring to his half-brother Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing
See also