How to Create LIKABLE Villains (Writing Advice)
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- Learn how to make charismatic, interesting villains that audiences will love. Examples from The Terminator, Die Hard, and The Dark Knight.
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The fact the Joker was as much a terror to the mob as he was the cops and Batman always stood out to me as a genuinely likeable villain. He was a threat to everyone
Complete beast. When I saw it in theaters, I legit thought there was no way he could be stopped. Hell, even when he got captured at the end, he still won by forcing Batman to take the blame for Harvey's murders
I don't even like the joker as a character but that heath ledger joker was undeniably cool and engaging. Anyone could find themselves suffering at his whim.
@@WriterBrandonMcNultywell said
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty That's just a small part of why the Joker is my favorite villain. The whole "agent-of-chaos, just-a-dog-chasing-cars" thing was (mostly) a head-fake. The character DEFINITELY has motivating desires & plans. As an example I give you what IMHO is one of the best character-studies of him: Harley Quinn's origin story, "MAD LOVE". Recommend reading the comic AND watching the animated Batman Adventure. You leave with a new understanding of just how evil the character is.
I think there are a lot of better villains, like Darth Vader. A good villain should not be vindictive or needlessly torture or mutilate. That puts the terminator ahead too in my opinion.
The relationship between the hero and the villain is important, too. Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, Dr. Who and the Master, Superman and Lex Luthor. In each instance, I think the hero and villain have a grudging respect for each other. And I'd say my favorite villain of all time is The Joker. He's crazy, but in an intelligent way.
Absolutely.
Doom Patrol has an interesting take on this where two villains are initially both hateable and vicious [SPOILERS:], but over time one softens toward the mission as decades pass by without being called upon to destroy the heroes. Unfortunately, his underling is a worker instead of a boss, and he identifies greatly with the mission and insists on carrying it out. We are a little shocked to confirm that the boss had genuinely softened and really cared about the heroes escaping from his insane officer.
And his reasoning is so basic and understandable. That we're all human and curruptable.
@@Why_Knott_Me I agree. The Joker tends to see us as we really are, not an idealized version of what we should be.
Hannibal Lecter. Genius with manners paired with complete disregard for human life paired with the likeable and down to earth heroine.
Yeah, and the way he remains unmatched at the end of the show, voluntarily giving himself in
He also only kills rude people, which helps
Anthony Hopkin's is the best Hannibal, yes.
While Hannibal Rising sucked, its late actor did the character justice. Even acting like Anthony at one point.
Mads is the best modern Hannibal.
@@arcanecrimenot true. The two cops he killed when he was in the makeshift cell in SotL were very pleasant to him, treated him respectfully, and even moved his drawings when he asked them to, yet he killed them extremely brutally.
@@joelmbaumgartnerall cops are bastards
One of the reasons why I really enjoyed the first Avengers was Loki. Hiddleston really gave a fun and likable villain portrayal imo
Absolutly. -I only started to watcht the "Thor-Movies" because of Loki. I don't care much for Thor (or chris Hamsworth) but Loki is cool and interesting.
@@sawanna508i understand the Interesting part, but about cool - was that cool when he invaded Earth? If you lived in the Avengers world, would you like to be one of victims of his invasion?
@@volodymyrostrovskyi533being cool and being good aren’t the same thing. You saw that portal right? You saw those aliens right? THAT WAS COOL!
Loki is one of Marvel's best shows and my personal favorite.
Right. And I felt totally guilty for liking him as he is a murderer.
Likeable villains are the most interesting to me when I can identify with them a little bit but still hope they lose. If they end up winning it is all the more surprising.
Yep, and "hoping they lose" is why you need to pair them with a well-written hero
The Joker and Anton Chigurh are good examples of villains I love who ultimately 'win'.
If we're talking likeable villains though, Anton's the least likeable out of anyone in this video. He's definitely enjoyable to watch though, in a morbid kind of way.
At the same time there is a potential pitfall here as in Infinity War where some of the time spent hyping up Thanos as impossibly sexy-evil could have been spent instead on demonstrating the real life historical chaos of Malthusianism, and so now he's thought of as a guy who might almost be right, rather than a guy whose ideas simply have a malodorous and sickening lure in brutal times.
@@rifkamiriam7721 Something makes me think that most people (potentially including some of the writers involved in that particular movie) _are_ Malthusians themselves on some level.
It's kind of like the situation in Watchmen where you can't tell for sure if Alan Moore himself thinks of Ozzy as the villain in the story (and he seems to express more personal disaffection with Rorschach compared to Ozzy).
Writers often leave open questions in situations where you can't really tell if they themselves are agreeing with some of the ideas espoused by a less than savory character they wrote.
I don't really wanna assert that stuff with any kind of certainty, since assuming things like this would be a kind of baseless character assassination of the writers that could also needlessly restrict their creative freedom.
In the case of the Malthusianism thing, though, many normal people seem to intuitively accept a lot of its premises and conclusions without knowing about it explicitly.
So it wouldn't be a stretch for some of the writers of Infinity War to fall into that bucket.
In fact, I haven't even seen many people aside from some academics like Julian Simon actually make good counterpoints against these ideas, instead of (in most cases rightly) dismissing them.
Hell...
Some of the big names from 20th century 'Green' movements (including a certain deranged painter from Vienna) had some seriously messed up ideas about 'overpopulation' and how to 'deal' with it.
Even before that, the Malthus-inspired attitudes of other big figures from history created self-fulfilling prophecies.
Yeah it's a huge problem @@DefinitelyNotAMachineCultist
I love the green goblin in the original Spider-Man trilogy, as well as Doc Ock. They’re phenomenal characters played by extraordinary actors.
Yep, love those two as well. And Goblin's return in No Way Home was top-notch
Tywin Lannister
Cunning, charismatic and confident. Orchestrates The Red Wedding and is even able to reasonably justify it as making peace by killing a dozen at dinner rather than thousands on a battlefield. He calls out Joffrey as not being a true King, and who can forget "We could arrange to have you carried"
The most competent monarch in Westeros by far. Even his motives were understandable, a man in his position doesn't get to relinquish power without someone coming for his and most of his family's heads.
The Red Wedding cut so deep. I loathed Tywin for that, and for how he treated his sons. But the Boltons were something else.
The man is in charge of one of the most prominent houses in the realm, you heard his name a few times, and yet his opening scene he is seen skinning an animal himself while barely looking at Jaime as he talks to him. For all his despicable traits, I like a villain who has some actual aura, authority and skills in what they do, many times you understand just why the man was given responsibilities beyond his own house. Maybe that's because of how both positive and negative traits are different from me :P
Which is why it's so fucking satisfying when Tyrion, his Achilles heel, kills him after catching him in hypocrisy. George RR Martin should have stopped writing books after the end of that book as he was never going to top that moment and it's been a straight plunge downhill ever since.
@@glentz716 I somewhat agree as A Storm of Swords is by far my favourite, and A Feast for Crows by far my least favourite, however I’m hoping IF we ever get Winds it’ll answer so many questions! It’s still leagues above the show aha
Hans *was* in control until near the end of Die Hard, when John McClane "altered the plan" so much that at the end Hans was panicking and making reckless decisions, even snapping at Holly when he was so calm and cool at the beginning.
I'm surprised to not see Negan from The Walking Dead not in the likeable or unlikable villain videos. Even though he is now considered a protagonist, no one can deny that his debut to the world in the TV version was met with so much hatred that I'd argue he even rivaled Joffery. He also represented one of the greatest character redemption arcs I've ever seen.
YES. For all of TWD's flaws, Negan was goddamn perfect. Absolutely phenomenal character.
The Wolf in Puss in Boots 2 should have his own episode for excellent villains.
For a villain to really work, they must pose a lethal threat to the hero. Not just being bad for bad's sake, not a pushover who is easily defeated, but a real and existential threat as in they could actually win at the end if the hero doesn't use every ounce of their skills to defeat him.
That wolf had great style too! And his threat level was physical AND psychological at the same time. A great animated villain.
@@modestfirerpu indeed, since he is literal death and ultimately cannot be defeated, only delayed.
The movie is good to study of villains. All of them are of them are examples of different types of them.
Vincent from Collateral is my favorite villain ever. He's super charismatic and checks all of the points you mentioned. Tom Cruise played him so well, I wish he'd do more villain roles.
Underrated Cruise role for sure.
Underrated movie for sure. With the way UA-cam is reviving lesser appreciated movies by turning attention towards them, I’m surprised that Collateral hasn’t received this attention
@@squeekydog8468 yeah, really disappointing... the movie is one of the best I've ever seen, it deserves more attention
He's like the lovechild of Hans Gruber and the T-800.
@@Pleurotus haha omg yes
Most loved villain? Always has to be The Joker from The Dark Knight, stunning performance
Magneto is the villain that I really love. I would love to see a video about writing good Anti-heroes! Punisher and Tyrion Lannister to name a few!
Edit: Been watching some old videos and discovered the antihero one lol
Yes I love Magneto too!
@@noodlegod2797 Agreed. Magneto is so good because his motivations are SO relatable. He's been through horrors brought about by the hatred of humanity aimed at his people, and he sees it happening again and is willing to go to any means to stop it. It's hard not to agree with his goals, even if one disagrees with his methods
You mean Tywin?
Magneto is my all time fav. To the point where I actually consider him a hero because I’ve been reading him for so long!
Magneto is up there for me. Because his story is so believable and how much he cares about Charles despite everything
Askeladd is such a great villain that many see him as an antihero. The setting being 11th century viking raids works in favour of his moral ambiguity.
What movie is that? The one from 2017 and 2019?
@@BadassRandomness Vinland Saga. First season aired in 2019 and the second just ended.
@@xanthippus9079 Oh ok, I haven't seen that. I'm Norwegian so I know Askeladden from all the old fairy tales haha
i loved him. He was a horrible person but my fav character besides Thorfin that first season. They made him likeable while also reminding us he’s not a good person but has a set of ideals that aren’t bad. idk how else to describe he’s a 10/10 character
100% agree. One of my favorite villains of all time
Another thing I like about these villains is they make the future look bleak even when they're gone. Joker is killing the mob because he wants to pave the way for more villains like him, Harvey Dent is just the start. Without the Joker Bane wouldn't of been able to take over the city. The Terminator inadvertently help create Skynet as we learn in the sequel paving the way for the apocalypse
Don't forget the original Khan played by Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II. One of the *coolest* villains ever. Second vote would be for (even though he was never on screen as far as I know) the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn from Timothy Zahn's post-Return of the Jedi novels, starting with Heir to the Empire. He was *so* cold and calculating, always seeming to know the Rebels' next move no matter how secret they kept it. Scary thing when a villain knows what you think he/she could never possibly know.
I loved Khan, he was such a perfect foil to Kirk. He was smarter, stronger, more charismatic.
But Kirk, unlike Khan, realized he fucked up by not listening to Savik. From that point on it wasn't Khan vs Kirk, it was Khan vs the Enterprise. And Khan's intelligence was no match for the skill and experience of the Enterprise bridge crew working as a team.
"He took the planet with it's defenses intact? That's impossible!"
"Grand Admirals have a reputation for accomplishing the impossible"
Two Rebels discussing Thrawn's capture of a new republic world.
A tip I have thought of for making a likeable villain even if they are truly pure evil is when you introduce them don’t make them seem evil. Make them seem like they are a regular person. That's why I love Hannibal Lecter, when he's introduced he seems just like a totally regular charming guy who you could sit and have dinner with. However slowly you see something is off about him, how he acts, how he talks and even how he moves. Then it all builds up to when he breaks out and you truly see what he is capable of. As well another thing I love about Hannibal is how they build him up to be this hulking psychotic monster, when they talk about him you think he will look like a wrestler turned serial killer but then you see he's just like a regular guy
Askeladd from Vinland Saga has got to be my favorite. On the one hand, you can see just how cruel and brutal he's capable of being. Yet he's intelligent, crafty, and strong in his own right even should his plans fail. Additionally, you can see the seed of something deeper woth him as you come to find of his Welsh-Roman background, the relation to Arturius, and his clear desire to find a king worth serving under. Even as he uses Thorfinn and pretends not to care, it's clear he sees him as something of a son.
Great, well-developed villain that doesn't shy away from being the bad-guy with a "just misinderstood" trope, but you love him all the same.
You are a great, I have never written a story or read a lot of books but your channel is by far my favorite, the amount of preparation and research you do for each video is stunning!
Thank you so much.
I like Silco from Arcane. He’s less a villain and more just the leader of two sides in a conflict. And even though he is the antagonist to many in the story, audiences empathize with his motivations.
I was genuinely rooting for him after the halfway point(like episode 5 or 6)
Fantastic example, Despite never acting like a victim, Silcos actions are clearly the result of how Piltover has treated his people.
Also how he essentially comforts Jinx as he is dying after she kills him absolutely breaks my heart. He truly loves her as a daughter.
My favorite villian of all time is the Gaius Baltar character from the Ronald Moore/David Eick reboot of Battlestar Galactica as he was the polar opposite of the villians that typically get written. So many of them are absolutely certain that they are doing the right thing, and absolutely confident that what they are doing is going to work. Baltar is the exact opposite of that. What I liked the most about him is that the audience can never seem to figure out whether he's actually the villian, or just a tragic figure who's been taken advantage of by the other (actual) villians in the story. There was a lot of depth to how the character was written, and it made the series much more enjoyable to watch.
On the same note as having clear goal/motivation, I love it when the villain displays a strict adherence to their own moral code.
One of my top fav villain is Shishio Makoto from the manga Rurouni Kenshin.
Great point. Personal moral codes are always a plus.
I agree with you. Sticking to their own moral code and following it consequentally is the very perfection.
Negan from TWD was my favorite villain ever. He's very charismatic and I love the juxtaposition between him and Rick's group. Because it's easy to see that if we had been following him from the beginning of the story instead of Rick we could easily see him as our protagonist and look at Rick and his group as we look at Negan now.
Tywin Lannister -> Immensely ruthless, cunning, and ambitious. The TV show portrayed him really well and the more you learn of him (reading the series) the more you realize how he shaped past and current events. From being the hand of the king with Targaryens to switching sides and having his daughter be queen for next king. Knows he might not win in direct warfare with Robb stark so uses what others want causing the Frey's Red Wedding and the Boltons rebellion. The entire song of "the rains of castamere" is because of this character. If he was hand of the king during Roberts rebellion he would have crushed it because it was said he would have razed the city Robert B was hiding in to the ground. He was just this unstoppable force so maybe not likable but he is the backbone of House Lannister contending for Westeros.
Great example of a likeable villain. Especially his scenes with Arya when he becomes a bit more sensitive compared to the scenes with his actual children where he is as ruthless as can be.
I love to learn from this videos and applying this knowledge to my DnD campaign!
Preferred Villain are: Darth Vader (likable), Voldemort (simply terrifying), Magneto (understandable), Orochimaru (creepy), Itachi ("Good all along" trope), Hans Landa from 'Inglourious Basterds' (intelligent).
After watching this, I have a tough time placing Emperor Palpatine. He has qualities of both a hateable and likable villain. I think I like him so dang much because he’s just so rotten, and he enjoys it.
Thanks for your posting these videos.
Possibly because the characters are displayed and explored in a very different way in the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. I'd say in the original trilogy, he is a hateable pure evil villain to contrast Vader, who is the likeable villain with the interesting dynamic with the hero and the smart badass lines. Palpatine is just that menacing tyrant in the background who is responsible for everything, until the throne room scene, in which he mostly gloats about the good guys suffering and dying and tortures Luke with force lightning. In the prequel trilogy we see a more nuanced version of him, showing him as a ruthless but genius politician who masterfully plays and manipulates both sides of the conflict.
Exactly! I love all of the character building in the Clone Wars they did with him as well. Showing instances where he was manipulating behind the scenes and even beating down Maul, which is one of the principlesfrom the video: harass unlikable characters
I would like to see a video exploring what characteristics make a hero vs an anti-hero vs a villain
I'll add it to my list. Thanks!
A bullet point under motivation can be that the villain does not believe they are a villain or they feel they have been given no other choice. Thanos believes that he is right and that everyone else is a fool who is not willing to do what must be done. Richard III (especially as portrayed by Sir Ian McKellan) says in his opening soliloquy that he will be a villain because people refuse to let him be a lover or hero thanks to his deformities. Both are twisted and delusional, and I love them as villains thanks to their dedication to their motivation.
Darth Vader, best villain of all time.
He has it all, strength, motivation, smarts, dispenses with Empire twerps, and style. Oh does Vader have style!
Absolutely. Only reason I left him out is because I've talked about him in a bunch of other videos
Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor in Smallville is a very likable villain.
He carried that show, absolutely awesome perfomance. John Glover too.
I have been struggling with writing my first book. Your knowledge and advice has me fleshing out my outline and I can't express how much I appreciate it. I wish I found this channel earlier, but things seem to be moving along now.
One of my favorite villains was Negan from The Walking Dead before he got captured.
Negan was outstanding. He was so charasmatic and smart but he did something He had to die for. But even I want to blame the writers for letting Him live, I have to admit, He is the only real interesting person left
I considered covering Negan in this video, but I primarily read the comics, so it would've been hard for me to find the right footage from the TV show.
But, yes, Negan is amazing.
For some reason, in the scene from Die Hard where Ellis tries to negotiate, he says "Hans. . . Bubby." I've never heard this before or since, and it always cracks me up. That and "Mr Takagi won't be joining us, for the rest if his life."
You mentioning the Joker in TDK made me think of a video idea I would love for you to do sometime, if it sounds interesting. "How to pull off one dimensional characters". To me the Joker in that specific movie (and many other portrayals, but not all) is about only one thing and we get no backstory about trauma or indoctrination or anything like that (in fact we get two conflicting stories about the scars, which means they're most probably both fabricated). Another example that comes to mind is Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother, specifically the early seasons, until they ruined him by revealing too much backstory in an attempt to give him more depth.
How is the joker one dimensional? I feel like he is the character in TDK who defies the black/white logic and shows it's about the grey tones
Thanks a lot . I recently encountered your channel and it's very helpful.
Thrilled to hear you're enjoying these videos!
I think Ursula from the original Little Mermaid is an amazing example of a villain who is definitely bad, but I still root for her. She has so much passion that it’s infectious.
Cardinal Richelieu from the first season of the BBC series Musketeers, brilliantly played by Peter Capaldi. Milady de Winter from the same series, as well as the Comte de Rochefort from the second season, though he is harder to like. Those writers did an amazing job creating antagonists for their heroes, and selecting the perfect actors to portray them.
My favorite likable villain- by far- Dr. Zachary Smith. "Oh, the pain, dear boy... the pain." "Bubble-headed booby!"
Haven't watched Lost in Space, but I'll take your word for it
Great choice! He is not a strong person, but out of his weakness and selfishness he does present as a villain. Never thought of it like that. Thanks.
The BBC Sherlock version of Moriarty is one of my all time favorites. He tickles the same parts of my brain as Ledger's Joker, and Andrew Scott played him to utter perfection. The pool scene where he reveals "Jim from IT" was really him was one of the best scenes in the series. Sublime.
The way the show had set him up was fantastic with how they set him up to be a plot twist villain! He even got past Sherlock because he knew how to work around him without getting suspected!
One of the foreshadowing clues to Jim's reveal is he used "Jim" is makes sense b/c Jim is a nickname for James, hence James Moriarty.
I think Handsome Jack is the most perfect example of a likable villain. His goals are clear, he's extremely charasmatic, constantly 1-ups the vault hunters, and he constantly interacts, and taunts us in the game. He's funny, handsome, smart (I mean, the dude is a certified genius. Creating technology to restrain sirens, weapons, A.I, you name it, he can make it.), and to top it off. He WAS a hero at one point, and is a tragedy. A large portion of the Borderlands community even considers him the actual hero of the Borderlands universe. First time we see him is tricking us and nearly killing us, or if you watched the trailers first you get to see a funny, charasmatic man flexing his empire whiel narrating the people you'll play as to kill you while taunting you. We see Jack kill unlikable characters, we see him kill likable characters too, and make things personal with the player.
This was fantastic. Your entire channel is so good.
Great video. As always.
I'm not a writer, I never read contemporary narrative, but I'm watching all these videos because I really like the way Brandon explains things and addresses his audience. I'll have to give a try to his books!
Great video as always brother 💪😎
I appreciate that you used multiple examples. Quite often people only use one, and it becomes easy to understand why something works in that one, specific case, but it's hard to work out how to apply it to others. Multiple examples like you have used helps to get a better understanding of why it works.
Taking from a video game, and an MMORPG at that, from Final Fantasy XIV, Emet-Selch is a great villain, in part because of his character and the storytelling surrounding him. You can resonate with his motives and understand him and agree with him completely... But you have your own motives that create the actual conflict with him.
I've heard many great things about FF14's story, but the time-commitment and monthly fees always scare me away. It's a shame because I love FF and haven't played a great one in about 20 years.
I reconciled the monthly cost for myself by canceling Netflix- same price. And I get so much enjoyment out of FFXIV when I do play, that even sometimes when I don't touch it for 3 weeks, I hardly mind. Cus then I can have an entire day off where I just sit in my Pj's to play and make up for it.
Ahem- shilling for the awesome game aside, I was scrolling the comments specifically wondering if anyone would mention Emet!
I genuinely think he's my favorite villain of all time. He's put up against impossible circumstances, and I find that.. if you were in his shoes you might do the same thing. However, he's still irredeemable because he wants to kill entire worlds of people in the process and will not budge on his conviction. So you have to oppose him. He has a moral code and sticks to it. He's charismatic, and maybe in a different life you could have been friends. So he's a villain that the player can just fully appreciate.
Hans was pretty hard to beat as a good villian. The character was written and acted so well that it became the standard.
Could you do a primer on writing anti hero's. The movie Hell or High Water for example. There is no clear villian, just a group of characters dealing with an unfortunate situation. The villian is an institution. To add a cherry on top the ending is written tremendously well.
Thanks for the great insight will definitely help with further creating my villain character. 😀👍
Brandon I love these videos! I was wondering if you could do one on how to approach publishing a book and what does that process entail! Thanks for all the top tier work you've been doing
Londo Mollari from Babylon 5 for villain with one of the best long character arcs. The relationship arcs between him and G'Kar could be the subject of a master class. No spoilers if you haven't seen it
Alonzo Harris from Training Day. Corruption made cool.
2 Questions: 1) Is Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood a villain in the traditional sense? He is not a good person, but is he a villain in that story?
2) Is Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men a human villain or a force of nature in that story. He presents as both.
Londo is such a complex character it feels like pidgeonholing him to call him a villain, even though at the end he would admit he deserves that title.
Londo had a great character arc. He was self-serving, and used underhanded means to achieve his goals, but I wouldn't call him a villain. He was what Christopher Lee would have called a "malignant hero."
Londo made a lot of bad, selfish choices, but he did have a conscience, and he earned redemption in the end. But Daniel Plainview? No way. That guy embraced the sin of Greed. I like to think of him as an American Scrooge -- but while Scrooge regained his humanity, Daniel didn't. The Three Ghosts of Christmas came to visit Daniel one night, but he just told them to go fuck off. Imagine the chains hanging from him, after he becomes a ghost himself!
The Kurgan in 1986's "Highlander." A Richard III kind of character that cracks hilarious jokes while being totally evil.
"Hi mom!" 🤣🤣
Better to burn out, than fade away
“HAPPY HALLOWEEN, LADIES!”
Good freakin’ choice, man.
Your list of likeable villain traits perfectly describes Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Would love to see you cover this character in a future video!
I really appreciate this follow-up, and answering the question I posed on your last video. Thank you, Brandon!
No problem! Thanks for watching
perfect video for what I'm currently working on. another great one! thank you brandon
Thrilled to hear it! Best of luck with your story
I'm looking forward to adding some of these tips into my writing! Thanks!
Best of luck!
Great video man!
Glad you liked it!
My favorite writing channel! Thank you for another excellent video.
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed this one
Great video as always Brandon. I am always excited to see you have released another piece. I have to say Bowie's Jareth from Labyrinth was an amazing, likable, and charismatic villain.
That was a weird frikkin movie dude.
What was the whole thing about them dancing together and her being infatuated with him? Or vice versa
Love this! I would love a video on ways to let the audience in on little secrets that the hero doesnt know...and hiding Easter eggs
Concise, straight to the point and loaded with lots of great info. You really deserve more subscribers!
Thank you!
Thanks for another awesome video! I think that, used appropriately, the Vampire is perhaps the very embodiment of what I would consider my favorite likeable villian. It's got a certain nature that governs its motives; it's got superhuman speed and strength, among other qualities; and it's got that overwhelming attractiveness and style.
Excellent videos! You've really made me think about my villain(s) and honestly, I'm not sure what category they fit in anymore. One may be the unlikeable kind, but the other is an enigma. I'll think hard on this. Thank you for your guidance.
My favourite villain must be Felix from the web-series Red vs. Blue. He starts off as an ally mercenary who, when they joined him and a group of Rebels, wants to prevent them from trying to rescue their friends, who are captured by the opposing faction. He’s kind of a Gary Stu at the start and basically succeeds at everything he wants. When the heroes do manage to rescue their friends however, Felix’s “nemesis”, Locus almost kills them, and Felix almost does a fake rescue until he reveals the truth: He was working with Locus the whole time. He wasn’t really a charismatic leader with a gruff exterior but a heart of gold. He was a psychopath that would do anything, including killing thousands of people and get himself shot, for money. Although he was an extremely capable warrior and a very charismatic person, he had 2 flaws: Ego and the fear of Locus betraying him and at the end that’s what got him killed and Locus leaving him.
W comment
My favorite villains would have to be Prince Zuko, even though he doesn’t stay the villain, and Claude Frollo. It would be so cool to see a video comparing villains, antiheroes, and antagonists. What are their similarities and differences between these types of characters?? So glad I discovered this channel!
Two my absolute favorite villains come from comics.
The first is Magneto from X-Men, and part of why he’s such a great villain is that from his perspective, he’s a hero fighting for his people (the mutants.) We understand why his mentality is so focused on “us vs them” because of his backstory as a victim of the Nazis, and why he does things that seem villainous to us but he sees as heroic and necessary.
But my all time favorite villain is Heath Ledger’s Joker. Joker is a great villain in general, forcing Batman into compromising his ideals and generally being an agent of pure chaos rather than evil. This is never more evident than Heath’s portrayal, and I think the aspect that really cements that for me is how he changes the backstory of his scars to suit the person he’s telling it to. It’s all about how can he manipulate that person and create more of the chaos he thrives in, and that every one else in Gotham, from Batman and Commissioner Gordon, to Harvey Dent and Rachel, to the mafia figures and Lau, all seek to avoid or control. That he manages to break (or kill, sorry Rachel) every single one of them in some way is a masterpiece is telling the story of a successful villain. I’ve thought for a long time that trilogies (and series’s more generally) only work when the villain wins somewhere along the way, and ultimately it is hard to argue that Joker didn’t win the Dark Knight even if he is killed at the end of movie (which I assume was a choice made after Heath’s death, as my understanding was he was originally supposed to be a part of the third movie, I assume in some sort of plot where he organizes other villains Batman puts away) because ultimately every character he significantly opposes lost. Batman has to go into hiding and take the blame for Harvey’s crimes as Two-Face, and has to break his rule about killing his enemies. Gordon has to go along with Batman taking the fall for Harvey. Harvey obviously loses everything, first becoming Two-Face and eventually being killed for it. Rachel maybe couldn’t be corrupted so she is killed instead (side note- while I don’t know why, I’m thoroughly convinced Joker knew which place Batman would go to and deliberately placed Harvey there, knowing Rachel would not be saved by the police in time because he knew she needed to die to corrupt Harvey.) Obviously, Lau gets his when Batman drags him back from Hong Kong, and the mafia loses when the Joker burns all their money after recovering it. Just brilliant writing and performance coming together for a brilliant villain, all around.
Another great video, thank you. And Gustavo Fring of course!
My favorite character from Breaking Bad.
Thanks for that. Brandon. Harry Lime is still top of my list. Excellent video.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it
This was great.
I'm trying to write a story where society is the actual villain. The "enemies" are the reason for the way society is the way it is, but they aren't really the focus of the story.
A video highlighting how someone might make these kinds of stories better would be cool.
I'll add this to my list. Just to clarify... Do you mean something like 1984 or Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where the hero feels trapped within a hostile society?
Hard to get the audience to connect with the society as a villaim, but there are plenty of stories focusing on how their world is cruel and messed up. Either they play it up to moral ambiguity where, if the shoe was on the other foot, they would've done the same things for the ones they loved/ the bad guys weren't as bad as they thought, just people trying to protect something. Examples of that side can be seen in the manga for Attack on Titan or Tokyo Ghoul, though there are some war movied with similar themes as both sides are filled with men just trying to protect their country, while being pushed to kill others by politicians unwilling to do the work thenselves.
On the other hand, shows like One Piece and Psycho Pass do a good job setting up through an episodic structure. The protagonists do their part to help people but by bit, but it's clear there's a larger underlying issue that needs to be taken care of, and there's someone behind that issue that wants to keep the power dynamic as it is.
In the end, it works well to have smaller antagonists work to oppress the protagonist as representatives of the structure of the messed up world. These antagonists can work well as a duo: First, the staunch loyalist that believes in the rightness of their cause, but slowly sees the issues with the current state of affairs. This makes the character more compelling as you want to see them put the pieces together and come to understand the protagonist.
The second of the duo is typically a mentor that has already been through the troubles of the system and i) has learned from it and become wiser, and tries to steer the loyalist in the right direction. Or ii) has become too damaged by the systems injustice and simply wants to retaliate - a cautionary tale. These 2 follow after the protagonist and, as they encounter the good the protagonist does, it challenges their own worldview (specifically the loyalist.)
Again, this helps to make the antagonist more compelling (practically making them the dueteragonist) and allows the reader a different perspective on the world and why it functions the way it does/ a different side to the people working against the protagonist as people, not just obstacles.
Again, some great examples of this structure, or a variant of it, can be found in:
One Piece with Luffy and Smoker in the Grand Line beginning;
Psycho Pass with Inspector Ginoza and Enforcer Masaoka (as well as Kogami and Akane to an extent);
Attack on Titan (season 4 specifically delves into this structure of fleshing out the opposing force and showing how the world is messed up);
Tokyo Ghoul with a great Dueteragonist in Amon Koutarou in pt 1, and Kuki Urie in TG:re.
Hell, even Avatar the Last Airbender does this with Zuko and his Uncle Iroh acting as the duo.
Hopefully some of those examples are helpful to ya!
Psycho-Pass?
I think what makes the Ledger Joker so terrifying is that humans have a desire to hurt people who do bad things. It’s cathartic when we see someone horrible get a ‘taste of their own medicine,’ it’s how our justice system is kind of designed. The joker defies that by taking pleasure in the pain, you can’t punish him in any way that gives you the catharsis of knowing it hurts him emotionally.
All 3 villians you chose are fantastic examples. Hands-down Joker is my favorite though. Man, Heath did an amazing job with that role!
Loki ? I thought to myself: "How can Marvel have a whole series based on a villain?!" But surprisingly, Loki is likable!
I understood 100% when every girl in the world got a crush him
@@johnbearjunkyard 🤭
Loki is likeable because of Tom Hiddleston. And sadly it seems that Tom hiddleston is typecast as specifically and only Loki coz he’s since disappeared
Handsome Jack in Borderlands is one of the best written villains ever. Definitely a great example of how to write a likable villain.
Thank you. interesting and educational. My favourite type of video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is really helpful. I'm in the middle of revision and have the problem of making one of my villains and his (tragic) character change believable. I already knew that not stating his motivation clear enough was a problem, but you gave me some more hints to work with, which even effect my main character, too. Problem is, I only have about two month to complete the edit *lol*
QoD: I love Dino Golzine from Banana Fish a lot. He shouldn't be a likeable character at all. He's a mob boss (an underboss to be precise), extremly selfish and a child abuser who tries to keep the main character close to himelf, somewhat inbetween of a pet and an heir. But he is also very consistent with his behaviour and world view, he accepts people pursuing the same goals as he does - but he despises certain methods of doing so. And he is real in his (extremly twisted) love for the main character. He hangs his life and even a part of his personality on his chase for him. When his boss wants him to stop and focus on the organization, he shoots him without a thought. When the mercenary he hired turned on him and tried to win over the main character for himself (or kill him), he is the one who helps the main character escape - even at the cost of his own life. Golzine is outright EVIL, but in a similarly fascinating way like the Joker is.
Other favourite villains would be both Vamdeemon and Yukio Oikawa from Digimon (02), the smart leader and the tortured soul. Elsa and Donovan from Indy 3, Solozzo from The Godfather, Haggard from The Last Unicorn (the book, he's pretty flat in the film), Gaston from Beauty and the Beast and of course the greatest antagonist (not necessarily villain) of all time, Inspector Javert from Les Miserables.
A very helpful video that I'll try to integrate into my writing. I'd say my favorite villains would be Agent Smith from The Matrix and Colonel Quaritch from Avatar. Their dynamic with the hero is also amazing.
I agree with agent smith. The guy from avatar is way too dull and generic for me. Also for me not a likable villain.
Love all of your examples - Especially Hans Gruber... For me, a recent example that hits all five of your points (in spades) would be the character Silco from the Netflix series, Arcane. No spoilers if you haven't seen - but I'm a jaded, middle-age man and the resolution of his story arc at the end of the series almost had me in tears... There's always a certain (and very compelling) tragedy to a villain who shares 99% of the same motivations as the protagonists.
Which villain do you love most? Let us know!
Gustavo Fring is the choice for me
Perhaps this is cheating a bit on my part because they are also the main character/"hero" of the film, but Lou Bloom from Nightcrawler.
Freddy Krueger! When he stopped being scary he became hilarious
Jon Irenicus from Baldur's Gate 2.
Gustavo Fring ofc
One other thing on the Joker: he actually outsmarts Batman when he reversed the addresses where Harvey and Rachel are being held.
It's brilliant because it doesn't matter which one Batman wanted to save.
Not gonna lie, this video is awesome. I wish Brandon created this topic as a series! Complex and somewhat-relatable villain's make stories so interesting.
The villains are the co protagonists in my story basically so I’m so excited to see this
Awesome, best of luck with making them as charismatic as possible!
Wesley Snipes character in Demolition Man. Knew he was a pawn in the politician’s game. Got rid of the politician and drove the plot himself from that point on. He is also quite jovial despite his villainy.
John Doe from Seven. He pushes characters to extremes and has everything planned.
Nice work.
Thanks!
I always found Arvin Sloane from Alias an interesting villain. Constantly working with and against the hero (Sidney) while keeping his ultimate goal hidden.
I wonder how well these videos generate sales for your books, because this seems absolutely brilliant to me. I'm 100% getting Entry Wounds once Im done studying storytelling. That haunted gun idea so my jam
There are so many to pick from this category. One from recent memory that fits into all this is Julian Slowick from The Menu. He has a lot of charisma and knowledge and talent in cooking. He also punishes a really hateable character in Tyler, a pretentious foodie who can name ingredients, but doesn’t know how to cook and who brought Margot, an unknowing innocent to her possible death.
This has been an interesting discussion, and one i much need because even though zi write shorter stories and fan fiction at this time, I still need something for good villains regardless of how minimal they are, or infrequent (depending).
I want to ask about one villain, and this may lead to a follow up; and that is Norman Bates. When we meet him he is childlike and innocent, but after Marion is killed we see his darker side. But the clean up scene is so well done that you find yourself hoping he gets away with hiding her successfully. Or even later when he is talking to his mother and being dutiful to someone we (suspect) is the killer. Being a peeping Tom not withstanding, he is a likeable character. Yet he really doesn’t tick many boxes here (other than outsmarting).
So a follow-up that is on my mind is how to write or portray scenes that invoke such tones, or how to get the audience on side with someone doing the wrong thing?
I love a villain who doesn’t use violence to coerce people into doing his bidding. He can talk them down, bribe them with deep desire, offer something no one else can. Never having to use physicality to change people’s minds is a great villain ability.
I love when it comes to physicality though, the villain can and will kick some butt. Or (the joker in the interrogation with Batman) can take a beating which makes the hero more angry.
If the hero can manipulate emotions with a smooth combination of honesty and deception. The Joke uses honesty and deception on Batman to choose Harvey or Rachel. Joker also uses honesty and deception to heel-turn two face in the hospital.
Favorite villain is either Gus Fring from the Breaking Bad/BCS universe, or Michael Gambon’s character in Layer Cake.
The judge from blood meridian. The perfect blend of believable and unbelievable. So plain and so mysterious. It's perfect.
It’s been a bit since I read it, but the Russian mob leader who is a secondary antagonist in the Stephenson novel, Reamde, is my favorite villain. The amount of tension and visceral threat that was manifested on the page was palpable.
Okokok you’ve convinced me. I’ll subscribe😂😂😂
Gul Dukat is good example too.
I need to get Star Trek a try one of these days. Only seen the 2009 movie
@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Gah! Those films don't count!
This is amazing! Could I please request how to do a write a good story that features classic characters? (Characters like Dracula, Cinderella, etc.)
Love your videos!!!
I have a couple that don't quite match up perfectly with your points, but I find very likeable:
1) Magneto (1st X-men movie)
2) Adrian Veidt (Watchman)
The most interesting and in a way likeable villain I know is Sand dan Glokta from the First Law books by Joe Abercrombie. Nine Fingers in the same books is also a great villain, even if he's kind of the hero of the story.
I have to add Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds. His introduction scene is incredible.
Thanos would be also a good example
Yep, he was the star of Infinity War
I really like Viren from The Dragon Prince. He uses dark magic as a shortcut for most things, and he actually has a point throughout most of it (in season 2 there’s a flash back where he and king Harrow have a philosophical argument over killing one magical creature to cast a spell that will save a hundred thousand from starvation.)
He’s not truly evil until Aaravos (the over all villain) starts whispering in his ear, pulling not just him but Claudia, his more likable daughter, down a darker path. And Viren is hopefully given a chance for redemption in the upcoming season.