@RedFloyd469

1 year ago

just a few archetypes off the top of my head that may be interesting to tackle: 1) Force of nature/unstoppable force: A villain whose presence is felt by other characters and the audience to be almost omnipresent and nigh on unstoppable. A good example of this is, of course, Sauron. The villain isn't ACTUALLY unstoppable, but it takes something extraordinary to defeat them. In this case, it's the fellowship going through absolutely horrible trials in which the chance of success is unfathomably small. What's important about this type of villain is that they are somewhat removed from everyday human emotions, and are more of an abstract threat. We don't need to know Sauron's inner justifications for his actions, so long as we know that he's the big unstoppable bad guy. It avoids being stereotypical and cliché due to the sheer awe the villain inspires in us. 2) Love to hate them/hate to love them.: A villain that isn't so much sympathetic in terms of motives or goals as they are fun to watch or entertaining to listen to. Campy, overly arrogant, maniacal laughter type villains fall under this category. Best example I can think of is Jafar from the original Aladin. Other examples are Ramsay Bolton and Geoffrey Baratheon from game of thrones. Generally, these villains aren't overly complex, they're just somewhat goofy and self-absorbed. However, a villain like this can still surprise the audience in a rare moment of deep introspection or vulnerability. They usually fall due to their own vanity or vice (though that's not exclusive to this archetype, obviously) 3) The misguided villain: Somebody who is a villain due to some bad choices or bad lessons they received, but believe themselves to be righteous. The big question throughout the story, or perhaps in choice moments, is whether they will keep straying from the path, redeem themselves somehow, or fall ever further into darkness. Obviously you already tackled a part of this archetype in the "mirror villain", but not every mirror villain is misguided (maybe they're just straight up evil or mad) and not every misguided villain is a mirror villain. Often times this archetype isn't the only villain in the story, and they're perhaps being misguided by a bigger, more classic villain, for instance, Saruman being misguided by Sauron, or Riku by Maleficent and Ansem (in the first kingdom hearts videogame.) Thanos might fall under this category, as the audience does not need to agree with him, so long as we understand that the villain believes in his own sense of righteousness and his motives are relatively believable by the audience. The Incredibles' "Syndrome" also falls under this category. (though it's arguable that syndrome falls more under the category that I will mention next.) 4) The " tragically hopeless" villain: This is the villain that was once, perhaps in a lifetime ago, a good person, but essentially ended up as what the "misguided villain" threatens to become. They are the result of giving in to the darkness, and perhaps form a warning to the protagonist (this is similar to the mirror villain.) A good example of this is Darth Vader, obviously. Whether these characters can be "redeemed" through a single act of heroism in the finale of an epic trilogy in which they are presented as definitely, 100% evil remains up to debate. The Villain is often "saved" by a realization at the bitter end, a small moment of empathy that is foreshadowed earlier in the story but kept for the climactic finale, or some other miniscule thing that shifts their worldview in the end. Obviously, this villain and the misguided villain have a lot in common in terms of themes and audience expectations or hopes. However, it's just as likely that the hopeless villain never redeems themselves and forever remains shrouded in darkness. 5) The magnificent bastard: "Overly sarcastic productions" has an interesting video on this archetype explaining it much better than I could; but essentially, the magnificent bastard is dastardly, evil, arrogant, self-serving and almost never redeemable, but they enjoy their villainy and do their villainy in style and magnificent extravaganza. Obviously there is some correlation with "love to hate them/hate to love them". However, the magnificent bastard has a more profound impact on the characters of the story, rather than the audience. Whereas "love to hate them/hate to love them" villains are mostly just fabulous to the audience, they are still considered vile by the characters. Magnificent bastards may, however, get some semblance of respect from the characters themselves, who recognize that they are a villain, but they're damn good at what they do. Perhaps this villain is an extravagant billionaire who enjoys torturing the poor protagonist with clever traps and overly impractical and ambitious plans and puzzles, and the protagonist and antagonist have some sort of mutual respect for one another, if only for their skill and not their goals. Magneto and Xavier come to mind, or Death Note's Light Yagami and L.

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