AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Villains Who Are Truly Great and Villains Who Could’ve Been Great

DonQuigleone · 2011-12-23, 15:09

I'd prefer to avoid making this a list thread. Though it may be interesting to discuss what makes a villain "great", and what makes them dissapointing.

For example, I find most Final Fantasy villains to be on the whole dissapointing. Take Sephiroth, despite how emblematic and famous he is, ingame he's really quite dull. He doesn't say much, doesn't really have much reason for what he's doing, and he just kills a lot of people. How can I even try to understand him? Hojo, in the same game, is actually a lot better because he's a mad scientist who did genuinely creepy and grotesque experiments.

If we go one entry earlier, to FF6, we actually have a much better villain in Kefka. For one thing he's bonkers, talks a lot and has no morality whatsoever. Heck he's gleeful as he kills people left right and center. That's a villain you can get behind. Not only that but he's present from the very start, and is just a somewhat psychotic low level functionary. You think he's just some kind of low level boss, while the real boss is the emperor or something. That you build up a relationship throughout the game was a very good way to build him up as a villain. And to top it off, it's completely unexpected when kills off the emperor, and becomes the main villain. He's not quite as good after that (mostly because he's sitting on his tower waiting for you), but his actions as de-facto god are totally in line to his previously established vain and arbitrary character. A good villain.

Generally, the really good villains manage to get a little admiration from the audience, and maybe even occupy enough of a morally grey position that some may see him as in the right (Light Yagami of Death Note is a good example of that). That or they just seem so cool that you admire them (a good example is Darth Vader). Either way, the villain really needs to be present they have to drive the story forward. Distant villains who are orchestrating things unseen far away just don't cut it. They have to be in your face cackling with abandon. Otherwise, they're really just a bit dull.

The only exception might be a force of nature, with some sense of innevitability. Like Lavos in Chrono Trigger. However Chrono Trigger also had a lot of minor villains to fill in the gaps.

So a villain has to have a decent amount of face time, of course the hero has to dominate, but there isn't really an upper limit. You can even have the villain take up the majority of the screen time (a la Death Note) and things will still work out. Though you have to make sure that you don't shaft the hero completely. A bad Hero is just as bad as a bad Villain.

2011-12-23, 15:09	Link #5
DonQuigleone Knight Errant Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Age: 35	I'd prefer to avoid making this a list thread. Though it may be interesting to discuss what makes a villain "great", and what makes them dissapointing. For example, I find most Final Fantasy villains to be on the whole dissapointing. Take Sephiroth, despite how emblematic and famous he is, ingame he's really quite dull. He doesn't say much, doesn't really have much reason for what he's doing, and he just kills a lot of people. How can I even try to understand him? Hojo, in the same game, is actually a lot better because he's a mad scientist who did genuinely creepy and grotesque experiments. If we go one entry earlier, to FF6, we actually have a much better villain in Kefka. For one thing he's bonkers, talks a lot and has no morality whatsoever. Heck he's gleeful as he kills people left right and center. That's a villain you can get behind. Not only that but he's present from the very start, and is just a somewhat psychotic low level functionary. You think he's just some kind of low level boss, while the real boss is the emperor or something. That you build up a relationship throughout the game was a very good way to build him up as a villain. And to top it off, it's completely unexpected when kills off the emperor, and becomes the main villain. He's not quite as good after that (mostly because he's sitting on his tower waiting for you), but his actions as de-facto god are totally in line to his previously established vain and arbitrary character. A good villain. Generally, the really good villains manage to get a little admiration from the audience, and maybe even occupy enough of a morally grey position that some may see him as in the right (Light Yagami of Death Note is a good example of that). That or they just seem so cool that you admire them (a good example is Darth Vader). Either way, the villain really needs to be present they have to drive the story forward. Distant villains who are orchestrating things unseen far away just don't cut it. They have to be in your face cackling with abandon. Otherwise, they're really just a bit dull. The only exception might be a force of nature, with some sense of innevitability. Like Lavos in Chrono Trigger. However Chrono Trigger also had a lot of minor villains to fill in the gaps. So a villain has to have a decent amount of face time, of course the hero has to dominate, but there isn't really an upper limit. You can even have the villain take up the majority of the screen time (a la Death Note) and things will still work out. Though you have to make sure that you don't shaft the hero completely. A bad Hero is just as bad as a bad Villain.