CREATING A VILLAIN WE LOVE TO HATE

How do you create a villain we all "love to hate"?
Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter that's how!
His performance still haunts us to this day.

  By: Russell Cera

  Undoubtedly, we've all heard the phrase over and over. "Now that is a villain I love to hate!"

  It truly is a strange anomaly isn't it?  - How in experiencing film and literature, the human psyche often surrenders it's natural convictions about causing chaos, mental or physical harm, and ultimately death and destruction, when carried out by an engaging or charismatic villain or villainess. This is usually due to a ponderous quality we all possess - an instinctual morbid interest in "doing the wrong thing" or the desire to acquire power and influence over others to evoke an emotional response. Thankfully, these  inert traits are usually benign in most of us and often aided by the natural disconnect from reality that entertainment is intended to provide.

 Then what would make us "love to hate" a villain or even maybe "love to love" one? Some antagonists in film and literature are so terribly loathsome and bereft of empathy that our only desire is to see them suffer the most awful end by the hands of our hero, where others are charismatic, convincing, or just plain look so cool in their bad guy attire, we can't help but wonder what it's like to be them or see things from their perspective. Still others possess motives that are caused by personal tragedy, neglect or abandonment - likely reasoning for having a chip on one's shoulder, and so these things become instantly identified as a means of justifiable vengeance. Then there are those that travel the route to transcendence, proving that anyone, no matter how bad they may be, can become good and whole again.

  Anyway you slice it, the truly wise storyteller develops an antagonist that is equally important to their tale as the hero is, albeit through ulterior design. To put it plainly, creating a villain we "love to hate" is just good business. The Bad Guys (or Girls) will often sell books, movie tickets and merchandise from t-shirts, to toys, to collector memorabilia and costumes all on their own without the aid of their goodie two shoe adversaries. From Darth Vader to Hannibal Lecter to Dracula, the examples go on and on how villains can go beyond their otherwise disdainful trappings to become iconic figures that remain with us for all time.

  So let's delve a little further, dissecting several types of wrongdoers one might encounter to see which of them, above all the rest, qualify for a villain we "love to hate".

Who can forget the Exorcist?
One of our greatest supernatural fears - possession.
Pure evil is in no way "lovable"!

 The first type we will discuss is the malevolent villain, or an embodiment or disembodiment of omnipotent evil.  Some examples of these would be the Devil, a demon, superior alien invaders or another form of paranormal intelligent terror that we have very little to no ability to alter it's purpose. There are of course plenty of books and films who's villains are denizens from other dimensions or planets. For many, the fear that these beings evoke is real and can be incomprehensible, especially to those of us who are heavily rooted in faith, legend or superstition.  Rarely does a villain of this type become one we "love to hate" because it is nearly impossible to connect with them on any basic human level.  They are beyond our scope of comprehension and fall so far outside the "rules" of morality that their motivation simply paralyzes us.  True, that some villains of this category can be "caricatured" to the point of iconic adoration. One for example - Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare On Elm Street series, is an evil entity from another dimension with complete enmity for humanity.  Yet what makes him different over other examples of his sort, is that he was in fact human prior to his present state, thereby making the natural connection we need to formulate to identify with him on a personal level.

Jaws - A prime example of a creature doing what it does
naturally, being demonized by humans that get in the way.

  Another villain type coincides with the first, but deserves a category all to themselves.  These are animals or creatures either earthbound or possibly not, possessing non human intelligence nor malevolence to our species as a whole.  For the sake of this article I will call this a benevolent villain, not friendly by our standards, but at the same time having no concentrated malcontent for humans. In other words, they do what they do because it is in their nature to do so.  Often however for dramatic purpose, fiction creates the villain from what is natural, exaggerating the ferocity and will of the animal to coincide with our human motives or capabilities.  A great example of this is of course Jaws, or the shark and those that followed it in sequel after sequel.  A shark is not an evil creature nor does it have the capacity for human intellect or emotion.  Therefore it doesn't attack people because it has the desire to do so.  Yet it invokes a primal fear in us... after all, who wants to go out by being eaten? So in essence, from our standpoint it becomes a likely villain in both literature and film.  Possibly the worst effect a successful movie like Jaws can create is for the animal itself in reality, as the real bad guy - the human, makes it their mandate to hunt them for pleasure or convenience.  Unlike Jaws, one such villain that bucks the benevolent trend is King Kong. Although he isn't truly a villain at all to the audience, he becomes an adversary to the human characters he encounters in the film.  Since Kong is in fact an over sized gorilla who's real world counterparts are primates, their ability to emote and feel much the same as people do delivers the endearing quality that makes a creature identifiable.

  The prior are two examples of villain types that, although memorable and effective, rarely become an example of why we "love to hate" the bad guys.  Now let us look at some formulas that actually do fit the bill. We will note once again, that the human factor is the overwhelming determination in creating a memorable and "lovable" villain.

The late Heath Ledger's Joker made us
all consider his reasoning by way of  an
unforgettable performance.

  Let us discuss what I like to call the valid cause villain. This is the bad guy who, that regardless of how maniacal or deranged, has a practical opinion about a situation, society or a system as a whole, along with a plan to change it to his or her liking.  Heath Ledger's interpretation of The Joker in The Dark Knight is a perfect example of the valid cause villain - terribly disturbed, and yet his philosophy for chaos over order is not only conceivable but also reasonable in a way.  In other words, there are several moments where, through the character's dialogue we sit back and say, "yeah I get where he is coming from!"  This is an incredibly powerful tool in connecting an audience with a villain.  If you can make an entirely sane person contemplate that there is a believable motive for evil, regardless of how wrong it is, suddenly you've made an indelible human connection.  Often with these villain types however, their motive is so resolute that there is absolutely no chance for rehabilitation or redemption, so the only way to deal with them is to terminate them or lock them up for good... hopefully!

Tim Curry's Lord of Darkness - yes a malevolant
villain but tragic as well.  After all he was in love.

   A related type of antagonist to the prior is the emotionally compromised or tragic villain.  In very much the same way, the tragic villain has a justifiable vendetta, but his or her anger is fueled by a loss of love.  Of all the categories we could use to identify a character, both bad or good, love is the strongest human emotion and therefore can be the cause for our greatest and worst achievements.  We've all suffered loss, and some of us have had the misfortune of that loss coming by way of suicide or murder.  It is an unbearable pain that brings out the most primal urges.  Audiences will, regardless of whether they agree with a villain's methods, always connect with a character who has turned to a dark side due to the loss of a loved one by way of unnatural death.  Bram Stoker's Dracula became one of the most notorious fictional villains; due to the mistaken suicide of his bride, he relinquished his natural life to become our most adored vampire.  Yes people, Dracula did it for love.  In this way, we can naturally relate to him, seeing that his his actions are purely inspired by loss and a resolute desire to reclaim the love that was once his.

Darth Vader - unanimously everyone's favorite film villain.
You have to admit though, he is sort of a big softie!

  Finally we come to our last and most popular villain category - the redeemable villain.  This is one that audiences unanimously "love to hate", or possibly even "love to love" by performance's end!  That is because no matter how terrible this character is throughout the breadth of the story, a turning point makes them see things from a different side, finally relinquishing their evil ways to reformation.  Why is this so identifiable?  All of us inertly want to believe that we all get a second chance in life; an opportunity to right the wrongs and find inner peace.  Most come nowhere close to committing evil deeds in our lives and so our misguidance is microcosmic in scope compared to say, a fictional villain.  However in film and literature, knowledge that forgiveness and acceptance can come to those who have paid a great price for their deeds makes a redeemable villain identifiable.  Darth Vader of course, one of film's greatest villains is a transcendent character.  By the finale of Return Of the Jedi, we have totally forgiven him for his downfall to evil as he makes a conscious decision to relinquish his position and destroy the Emperor himself.  Why does he do this?  Love of course!  Love for his son Luke, who he witnesses being tortured to near death.  Hence we come to realize that a redeemable villain can be entirely complex and enjoyable, with motives and reasoning that are affected by rational emotion over unbridled evil.

  Okay, so we've covered several types of villains in film and literature and attempted to understand what makes one worthy to "love to hate".  We can all agree that no matter what formula an antagonist might naturally fall into, the greatest of them may possess several traits or motives all in one.  A tragic villain will often become a redeemable one, and more than likely the same character may have a valid cause for it's treachery!  We have identified however, that the villains we unanimously connect with are the ones that emote to us on a human level or make an audience understand what it may be like to see things from their side.  

  Forget not, that regardless of formulas or types that articles like this discuss, the actor or writer creates the villain character with dialogue, vision or interpretation, making the performance the factor above all other things that makes us "love to hate" them!  You also have to admit, regardless of their deeds, a lot of them just look damn cool or come wrapped up in pretty awesome costumes!

  Which villain do you "love to hate" above all the rest?