Where have all the bad guys gone? We always have villains galore for our stories, but I’ve seen a shift in subject matter. Once upon a time it used to be the Huns, the Romans, the Communists — hell, the Big Bad Wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood”. We’ve had serial killers, evil vampires and vicious werewolves. However, we’ve also got terrorists, vigilantes and now aliens from outer space. What else is there?
Well — I just got done watching “The Andromeda Strain” on A&E (pretty good, by the way). In it the villain was a biological killing machine and as a side villain, members of our own government. A power hungry politician always makes for a good villain. The sad thing is, they quite often think their actions are justified and that its for the greater good of the country. Yeah … right.
Its fascinating how we manage to create a bad guy out of most anything. Whether it’s a wacko with delusions of grandeur or a three eyed, reptilian creature who think humans are tasty extra-crispy with ketchup. Its up to the writer to make their villains believable. A good writer can take the most unlikely villain and make their reader believe its possible.
I was trying to think of some classic villains. You have Hannibal Lector from “Silence of the Lambs”, there’s Darth Vader from “Star Wars”, the Terminator, the Sheriff of Nottingham from Robin Hood, Voldemort from the “Harry Potter” series. The list goes on.
What are some of your most memorable villains?
I think you named all the best bad guys. In Iron Man there’s a bad guy, but I won’t say because it might be a spoiler. What about the different James Bond villains? I liked the one with the white cat.
What about villainesses? Glenn Close was great in Fatal Attraction. And all those Disney ladies. I think old Walt had a thing for sexy evil ladies. He had a lot of them in his movies.
Oooo. Good points, Edie, about the villainesses. There are a ton of them.
I was gonna list the Bond villians but there were just too many. I think you’re talking about Dr. No from “Goldfinger” (Hubby’s a huge Bond fan.)
Hey Liz, great blog! I’ll add the Misery gal, who abducted the writer from the car crash. She was very unique and fun to watch, but absolutely a screwball.
And too fun about Walt, Edie!
Ok, I’m a huge Bond fan and the villian was Ernst Stavro Blofeld. As a matter of fact, he was the model for the villian in Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, who also had the cat.
Alan Rickman was the Sheriff in Robin Hood and was terrific, but he also shined as the villian in Die Hard.
As for the Andromeda Strain, I’ll stick with the original movie. Most remakes make me cringe.
I love villians
. I immediately thought of the Batman movies. The Joker, Catwoman — the list goes on and on.
Yeah, she was a good villain, LaD. I never watched the movie, but I read the book. Creeeeepy!
Yep, you’re right, Barb. It was Blofeld. I’m mixing up my Bond villains. Hardly surprising considering there are so many of them.
Love Alan Rickman in any type of villain he plays. I especially loved him in Robin Hood. I laughed through most of his scenes. He totally overshadowed Kevin Costner (hardly surprising).
Supervillians are the best, Shari. Who can forget Lex Luthor in the Superman series. Fabulous.
I’m putting a shout out for an actor who gets little notoriety, but plays one kick ass villain when he has to. Bill Sadler. He was the Grim Reaper in “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey,” an evil senator in a Steven Segal flick, and a terrorist in the second Die Hard movie. (Wherein he had a tasty nude scene.)
I’ve also had lunch with him a few years ago when he played Julius Caesar on Broadway. Not so much a villain, and the sweetest goof ball I’ve ever met. (The connection – his mother is a close friend of mine.)
“A power hungry politician always makes for a good villain. The sad thing is, they quite often think their actions are justified and that its for the greater good of the country. Yeah … right.”
Liz those are the best villains, because they truly believe in what they are doing. It humanizes them instead of being one dimensional like so many villains out there. Like the one in No Country For Old Men. That guy was so one dimensional he was not believable. I mean he was a human shark, no reason given for why he did what he did. He was greedy? Ok, fine but why? We had no clue as to what made him tick. Boring and very unsatisfying for me.
Nope, sorry, Kathy. Don’t remember Bill Sadler. I’ll have to Google him …
Just looked, yep … I remember seeing him in a number of things, but I’m afraid none of the movies you mentioned.
I love a two dimentional villain, Karin. You’re right … there has to be a reason these people are the way they are. Whether they’re power hungry, mentally ill, had a cruel childhood … whatever. Give me a reason for their actions.
I love deep villians, Liz. All the goodies seem to be covered here, though. One of my favorite movies, Enchanted April, has the villian become one of the heroes at the end. You go from hating him to really liking him.
But I like that grey line. That’s why I love Iain M. Banks books.
I always have a crush on my villains. Yeah, I’m that girl who thinks I can “change them.” “Heal the hurt that turned them to a life of crime” or whatever. This was why I was always drawn to the bad boys. Not much changes.
Oooo, I’ll have to check that out, Michelle. I love reading a book where the villain turns out to be a good guy. Susan Grant did that with “My Favorite Earthling”. Loved it.
How are you at disappointment, Zoe? LOLOLOL. Somehow I can’t see Hannibal Lector being rehabilitated.
The bad boys can be intriguing … however, villains are in a whole category of their own, IMO.
I can kind of see where Hannibal Lector was coming from. And anyway, in the end, he and Clarice ran off together.