The Characteristics Of Villains Characters

How can you tell if a “bad guy”--the villain, the monster, the thief--is necessarily a bad guy? Is it by the images they choose to ink on their skin? Their crooked smile, or maybe perhaps the way they like to crack their knuckles? Maybe it’s just their attire: it’s too dark, too scary. And what of their eyes? There’s something there...something about the way they’re placed, something about how they flicker and gleam with every mention of what they desire. But what of their feelings? The ever-circling wheels of emotions from deep inside that manage to control the raging tides of life? Do they not care like we do?

Most stories, movies, and myths have the simple archetype of Good vs. Evil. This particular archetype can often be confusing, because in stories the reader is often lead to believe that something or someone represents good or evil, but it does not. More often than not the evil character is either crazy or was raised wrongly. Evil characters in Good vs. Evil stories are often not truly evil but either mental unstable or not taught right from wrong.

A villain is someone who performs evil actions that negatively affect another person. Carl Harmon in the novel Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark is indeed a villain. Carl Harmon is portrayed at first as an innocent but mysterious husband to his wife Nancy Harmon. As the book continues it is revealed that he is a manipulative and dangerous man. Carl Harmon is a villain and he has the greatest impact on the story because he creates conflict through his actions, and he provides suspense.

The definition of evil is profoundly immoral and malevolent and is harmful or tending to harm. The most evil character between General Zaroff and Montresor according to the definition of evil is Montresor. Montresor is the most evil character because he plays a cruel joke, he has a moral compass and chooses to ignore it, and kills one of his friends.

Now being arrogant can never be a good thing either to others, or in the end for yourself. The bible says that it is not a good thing either, in1 Samuel 15:23 it says: For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

The antagonists of a story are usually not the ones critically acclaimed. Due to our human inclination it’s fairly relevant that, as readers, more of an emotional attachment is built with the protagonists. However, in spite of that, villains still deserve our attention. From taking a close look at a few villains and the methods in which they manipulate, parallels in strategy are prevalent. A few examples of antagonists that particularly stand out are: Iago from the tragedy Othello written by William Shakespeare, Roger Chillingworth from the novel The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Abigail Williams from Arthur Miller’s novel The Crucible, these characters all use isolation to manipulate others throughout the stories.

The definition of arrogance is overbearing pride. I see arrogance almost everywhere I go: the store, church, school, and on the street. Arrogance could be disguised as self reliance, but you need to be able to know when you need help, and be able to accept it. Those who do not accept help and are too arrogant, which is a sin. Many of the Greek myths, some of my family members, and myself sometimes have arrogance.

Then, in To Build A Fire the unnamed character does not listen to the men in the Yukon that he should not go outside because it is too cold for him. This is not a real example of evil because the only problem he causes was endangering his life and his dog. Compared to other stories where someone is much more evil and does much worse things, he merely thought that he was smarter than the other men so he did not have to listen to them, which was wrong but it didn't

Why are people villains? Is it because of past mistakes, how they were raised or maybe it's in there blood to be a villain? The dictionary defines a villain as a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot, but others may define a villain as evil and monstrous simply by examples of the actions of the villain. Two characters are Odysseus, the most villainous in The Odyssey retold by Robin Lister, and Ursula from the film: The Little mermaid directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. When comparing these two villains, it is clear that Ursula is a much greater villain than Odysseus because of her trickery, she’s a liar, and a thief.

Villains seem to be the most intriguing characters of fairy tales, whether it’s their scary charm or their suspenseful motives. Villains inject many memorable events in tales and they have an interesting way of doing it. “Villains also have more fun than their angsty, conflict-ridden counterpart” Aja Romano writes in an article for The Daily Dot. It surely seems that way, doesn’t it? Villains are usually having fun in their evil ploys all the way until their evil plans are foiled and they get their consequences. Villains have admirable qualities; they awaken the inner wild child in the readers or viewers. They evoke a sense of almost rooting for them at times. Villains always have power as opposed to their counterpart’s kindness and lack of assertiveness and sense of power. Especially in princess fairy tales, the villain usually is the more powerful and assertive character while the heroine is a more sweet and nurturing character and usually lacks the power characteristic. Some may argue against this, what about

Although we like to think otherwise, there are evil people out there. Evil people do not have magical powers, or anything similar. It is their twisted minds that define them as evil. Montresor, a cold blooded murderer in “Cask Of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe leads a good friend to his own death. General Zaroff was a cossack war general in the Russian army in “Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. Zaroff lures innocent sailors to his island where he then hunts them like animals. Both characters have evil minds, and can be described by the traits sinister, sly, and insane.

Anti-heroes do not solely exist in the fictional world. There are people in the real world, everyday who fit the anti-hero description. They are… the Mob. In ancient times loyalty was purest form of respect. It was a way of life. One was loyal to his or her family, govern, king, and God. Hand in hand with loyalty, comes the right to revenge. The Mob is one of the few “societies” that has reserved that tradition. For example: when a family member is assassinated, it is not only the right, but also the duty of the surviving family to avenge that death. This loyalty to one’s own, coupled with the fierce determination to protect them, are incredibly heroic qualities. Organized crime families are oohed and ahhed by the press and pop culture, and have their own fans. While these people are not ideal role models, they possess heroic qualities worthy of aspiration.

The villain who attracts and repels over the change of character is Macbeth. Macbeth does this through his appearance of being a wise and noble towards the king and always supporting him. He goes on to deceive his inner self from being a noble man to being a man who is deceiving to become king. This is shown in the theme appearance vs reality as due to the development of the character of Macbeth. This is due to him pretending as someone he isn’t and not represent what he is in reality. An example of a quote is, “I dare do all that may become a man: who dares do more, is none”. This quote means that he is appearing to forward or convey a message peacefully, but in reality his intentions are not good towards his

The Introduction will define evil and villainy as well as the purpose of both villains

An anti hero is said to have flaws, he is gritty, and he often looks for redemption or for his own revenge satisfaction and sometimes for the greater good of society. One more significant point is that unlike tragic hero who thinks of what is a right or a moral thing to do at times, an anti hero does what appears to be right to him. He is often misunderstood by the society; he could perhaps be called as a noble criminal or a vigilante and their mostly motives are fulfilled by breaking the law a.k.a “the ends justify the means”. The last characteristic of an anti hero is his increased moral complexities and rejection of traditional