This is a post I originally did at the Romance Writer's Revenge last fall. It was on my mind after recently watching Season 9 of MI-5, starring the delicious Richard Armitage. He makes a great hero, but an even greater villain. . .well, just go ahead and see what I mean:
I'm a contrarian. This is so deeply embedded in my DNA, for the longest time I didn't even suspect its existence. I spent the first *mumble, mumble* years of my life going along with everybody. I'd say, "Of course", or "That sounds great!", or "Whatever you want". Not only did I mean it, I'd expend a lot of time and energy to make it happen, even if it made me unhappy (which it often did).
But that contrarian gene was like a sleeper cell, waiting for the precise moment before it was called into action. Now if I utter, "Of course", or "That sounds great!", or "Whatever you want", it's more likely said in an ironic tone of voice, or with a sardonic lift of my eyebrows.
There were moments in my youth when I should have realized I was a budding contrarian. I remember watching Mighty Mouse cartoons, hoping that flying rodent with the cape and oversized pecs wouldn't make it to the rescue in time. I wanted the villain and the girl to get together. Obviously I knew the villain wasn't truly evil. But I figured out pretty quickly he was way more interesting to me than the hero was.
Now that I'm an adult, my taste in villains has expanded. As I've mentioned recently, I'm watching the BBC TV series, "Robin Hood". And yes, I confess the reason I am watching it is because of Richard Armitage, who plays a villain. But he's not THE villain, who we all know is the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff is smarmy and sleazy and cowardly and evil to his core. Yecch. Boo, hiss. Not the kind of villain I'm advocating here.
The handsome Richard Armitage plays Guy de Gisbourne, the Sheriff's henchman. He really rocks that whole villainous sartorial thing—black leather pants, long black leather coat with shiny metal doodads, black boots with clinking spurs that make my heart dance with anticipation for his arrival—so yeah, I'd be lusting after him just for that aspect.
But the thing that makes him, and other villains of his ilk, so genuinely fascinating? The possibility he MIGHT do something heroic.
One of Guy's most humanizing traits is when he gets disgusted by his boss, the Sheriff. Haven't all of us rolled our eyes at the crazy stuff our bosses ask us to do? Still, he grits his teeth and follows orders anyway, hoping it will help him get ahead in the world, so he can have what he really wants: The Girl.
Even though Maid Marian makes me want to take archery lessons so I can learn how to shoot flaming arrows at her skull with 100% accuracy. . .I do love how Guy keeps trying to win her over. He is dazzled by her (God knows why – oh yeah, because he hasn't seen me yet), and he can't seem to figure out why she isn't dazzled by him (me either – I mean, I love Robin and all, but he's cute and good rather than sexy and bad).
The bottom line is Guy could just take Marian by force, and do all kinds of dastardly deeds to achieve his goals. . .but he doesn't. And that's what intrigues me. It signals there is a seed of something heroic inside him. He struggles to keep in touch with it, and when he ultimately fails, then he wrestles with his failure. If he truly were a villain, he'd be whistling a Disney tune as he wiped the blood off his sword, mentally crossing off another item on his never-ending "Evil To Do" list.
With the hero, it's a pretty safe bet that he will be heroic, because, well, it's in his job description. Since he gets paid to be heroic, there's not a lot of suspense involved, because there are expectations of heroism. Don't get me wrong. I love heroes, and I want them to be that way. And it's no doubt a heavy burden to carry, being heroic 24/7, yet they do it without hesitation, making them even more admirable.
But if the villain does something heroic? Get out the smelling salts because women everywhere are going to swoon.
And if he does something heroic because of the heroine? Plug your ears because the heartfelt "ahhhhs" are going to deafen you.
It takes a lot to sway a villain from his nefarious goals, so it's naturally very sexy when the heroine inspires him to change his mind, and his course of action. Talk about a character arc!
So now I'm not feeling so bad about my contrary attachment to these luscious villains. They are merely heroes in disguise, battling their defiant DNA, trying to keep their laudable qualities from being extinguished. All I ask is that they don't let their latent goodness become a dominant feature. If they do, they're going to lose me as a fan.
I am a dyed-in-the-wool contrarian after all.
So anyone else love to love a villain? Tell us about the villains you're writing, and what makes them so delicious. Or confess which fictional villain makes your heart flutter. And if you're not a fan of villains, that's okay too. Just tell us why you aren't.
The villians you love sound like real people. THAT's what I would be attracted to, because really no one but a cartoon character is Mr. Baddie all the time. Actually, the more human the villian, the more dastardly their deeds in my book.
Posted by: Kari Marie | April 08, 2011 at 09:03 AM
Kari Marie, you're right -- they ARE scarier when they're more human. They could respond to something differently and be heroic, but they don't and they're not. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | April 08, 2011 at 10:12 AM
Since I write mysteries/suspense/thriller stuff, villains usually aren't revealed until the end. There's really no window to love or hate the villain in advance. I do have a continuing character who engages in some pretty seedy behavior. I happen to love him, readers not so much. Thing is, he is earmarked as the protag in my third book. Could be a problem. :)
Posted by: VR Barkowski | April 08, 2011 at 02:15 PM
VR, I think you've got an intriguing character there! Romance readers LOVE to see a character like that get rehabilitated and reformed. :) I can't wait to see what you do with him.
Posted by: Donna Cummings | April 08, 2011 at 02:30 PM
A villian with redeeming qualities is nirvana in a story, IMO. That requires that he/she be written three-dimensionally and that does not always happen in a lot of books. The predictable hero? Villian? Boring. Give them a different side, though? Heaven.
I think the series LOST was perfect in showing characters who were initially villians. But as the story wore on, you saw different sides--often softer sides--to even the villians. In fact, as a viewer, you'd even start to feel sorry for the villians!
Great post!
Posted by: Liz Fichera | April 10, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Liz, I like the villains who have the possibility of being redeemed. Talk about suspenseful! I don't like characters to be too predictable either. I want them to act "in character", of course, but with built-in surprises.
And great point about LOST. It truly did change your viewpoint on who was a villain and who wasn't. Maybe because they weren't necessarily BAD, they just had an agenda that conflicted with who we perceived as the "hero".
Posted by: Donna Cummings | April 10, 2011 at 11:23 AM