A to Z Challenge – Y

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 29 –  Y is for Yanquis

I chose the more stylized, Latin version in order to avoid any confusion with the New York Yankees (who also happen to be pure evil) and also to translate a more open version of the definition for villain archetypal definition. The Yanquis is a villain filled with the unshakable belief that what he’s doing is sanctioned by God and whatever governmental system he (or she) espouses. This person is often American (please…don’t stone me) but doesn’t have to be. He possesses an aloof confidence and stubborn attitude, as well as ill regard for cultures that are not his (or her) own. These villains loan themselves to Civil War stories, overseas conquest tales, pioneer adventures, and even war stories. It takes a lot for an American audience to embrace and appreciate a Yanquis villain, but they occupy a specific niche and thus, shall be mentioned as an Archetype.

This Bad Guy is less sympathetic, but more understandable. Most people reading this (and I apologize to my overseas fans…you can waggle your finger at me) live in Yanquis central. It’s why American tourists do not have the most sterling reputation in other countries. An ingrained belief that our way is better (Capitalism!) and yours is just cute. Yes this is a generalization, but to fully understand what makes a Yanquis a villain, you have to take these stereotypes and multiply them by a thousand. The embodiment of manifest destiny (literally and figuratively) the Yanquis pushes forward, conquering without thought for the effect he’s having. The cultures and environments he crushes beneath a (typically) iron boot don’t even cross his mind. What he’s doing is right, he (or she) knows it. Without a doubt. Its this blind faith and unshakable stubbornness that leads to a Yanquis rolling over or oppressing a people, and thus giving birth to the hero that must stop them.

What separates the Yanquis from some of the more diabolical archetypes is the lack of self-realization. Most of the time this antagonist has little to no idea what he’s doing, and how deleterious and affect he has on his surroundings. A very redeemable and relatable villain, the Yanquis is rarely an arch-villain, although there are occasions when the self-assuredness takes on a colder, darker hue. This manifests as cruelty, sadism, and genocide masquerading as a patriotic pride. This is when the Yanquis can become a truly despicable overarching antagonist, taking all the worst parts of capitalistic endeavor and twisting it into something evil and unforgivable. They typical Yanquis is employed by a much larger, greedier antagonistic force, and he/she will recognize the grievous wounds his fervor has left on his surroundings, leading to an anti-hero turn, or at the very least to undo some of the damage. A relatable villain that can sometimes make the audience painfully self-reflective, some of the most interesting baddies in fictive history are Yanquis, and deserve a place in the pantheon of villainy.

Some famous Yanquis villains:

• Doc Durant (Hell on Wheels)
• Cutler Beckett (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• Governor Ratcliffe (Pocohontas)
• Bloodbath McGrath (Wild Wild West…my apologies)
• Major Fambrough (Dances With Wolves)
• Dynamic Man (The Twelve)

A to Z Challenge – X

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 28 –  X is for Xenophile/Xenophobe

I roped these two together mostly because I wanted to show off having two choices for X (just kidding). The Xenophile and the Xenophobe are almost diametrically opposed, but they do have one thing in common: the unknown (or the barely known). The Xenophobe archetype has a distinct fear of the unknown, the different, the alien. In Sci-Fi novels, it’s quite often a literal fear of extraterrestrials that drives them to commit atrocities and evil deeds. In less outlandish fiction it manifests as a fear of less literal aliens, and is expressed through violence, repression, and in extreme examples genocide. The Xenophile is the polar opposite. This archetypal villain needs to know the unknowable, to the point where he’s willing to put everything and everyone at risk to get what he (or she) needs. Rather than irrational hate, this villain has an irrational attraction, again manifesting as literally “alien” in sci-fi, with a more grounded application in more grounded stories.

The Xenophobe can have many attributes and occupy many roles in the narrative. As a henchmen, he usually reports to an equally xenophobic master, who may or may not be using his cronies pre-disposition to garner wealth, power, or influence. As an arch-villain, the Xenophobe is a terrifying force. The brand of prejudice and unadulterated oppression they espouse germinates from a senseless fear that the audience sometimes struggles to understand. They can be powerful, or timid, smart or foolish, but they’re always influential, either inherently or through their position. They attract followers that feel the same senseless dark emotions that they do. The Xenophobic villains are always scary, even if their fears are sometimes well-founded (only in the Sci-Fi case…and rarely). The lengths they go to express their fear are horrifying to any rational mind, and that’s what makes them such terrifying villains.

The Xenophile tends to play a much different role. Often, this archetype can start as protagonistic force, or at least an ally for the hero. Then, as the story progresses, their curiosity and fascination with the alien and unknown gets the best of them.  They start to become reckless. What started as a healthy curiosity becomes a dark obsession, and the Xenophile is willing to do anything (and everything) for more knowledge, or to help their new-found “friends”. This example places the Xenophile they as a henchman, usually reporting to an alien antagonist intent on world domination, etc. In the rare occasion a Xenophile is employed as the arch-villain, their true machinations are disguised behind a veneer of altruism or scientific discovery. No matter what role they play, a Xenophile often meets a rather fitting end. They are often destroyed by the very alien influences that piqued their interest in the first place.

Some Famous Xenophobes and Xenophiles:

• Hans Landa (Inglorious Basterds)
• Ronan the Accuser (Marvel)
• Amon (Legend of Korra)
• Voldemort (and his Death Eaters)
• Ash (Alien)
• Dr. William Weir (Event Horizon)

A to Z Challenge – W

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 27 –  W is for Widow/Widower

This particular tragic villain archetype is a little but different from the others in so far as it can easily be applied to a hero, side-character, etc. equally as well as an antagonist. The key to understanding and employing a good Widow/Widower villain is aligning their motivations with their back story. Everyone’s favorite widow is of course the Black Widow, but she wouldn’t fit this archetype even if she were a villain (which on occasion, she is in the comic books). I’m also not using this archetype to describe the more esoteric “Black Widow” that seduces and kills men for money, thrills, etc. That’s more of a description than an archetype. A Widow or a Widower villain archetype is pushed to commit dastardly deeds and evil acts either out of grief, revenge, or in service to a lost or dying loved one, usually a wife or husband but not necessarily. Motivated by extreme loss, these bad guys are some of the most sympathetic yet the most desperate, driven to extreme examples of villainy by sadness and regret.

Even though they may be sympathetic, this archetype is rarely redeemable. Keenly aware that they’re choices are wrong, they nonetheless make them, because they feel like they have to. On some occasions they’ll be turned, or offered a more productive alternative by the protagonists, but usually they ride their dark decisions into oblivion, never really achieving the revenge, justification, or results they desired. This is problematic for the audience in some cases, as we see that the heinous acts this villain perpetrates are deplorable, yet we understand the desperation and emotional turmoil that drove them to it. When employed properly, a Widow/Widower archetype is a complicated but emotionally interesting antagonist in any story.

While compelling as an arch-villain, a Widow/Widower is also occasionally employed as a trusted henchmen or even an “indentured” contributor to an arch-villains maniacal plans. A Big Baddie might bait them with an offer of curing, returning, or offering revenge for their loss, holding sway over the unfortunate, grief-stricken man (or woman) and employing their skills or expertise to further their destructive plots. A Widow/Widower archetype can have all sorts of attributes, ranging from extreme intelligence to powerful physical skills. They’re relatable, sympathetic, and occasionally enjoyable characters that still commit unspeakable, irredeemable for what they deem as a good cause.

Famous Widow and Widower villains:

• Mr. Freeze (DC)
• Mrs. Coulter (His Dark Materials)
• Darth Vader (Star Wars)
• Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)
• Tywin Lannister (Kind of; Game of Thrones)
• Alistair Mechanus (Heart of Steel)

A to Z Challenge – T

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 23 – T is for Tyrant

The Tyrant archetype can find its way into any genre of fiction, from a space-faring Sci-Fi Lord, to the whimsically corrupt wood-King in Fantasy, to the sand-swept deserts and lush jungles of the modern day. Webster defines a Tyrant as “a sovereign or other ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly” and lord knows that calls to mind a cornucopia of fictional arch-villains. What makes a Tyrant differ from a Royal archetype, though the two are very similar, lies in the source of the power and the motivation for the abuse. Many Royals are also Tyrants, but Tyrants, more often than not, aren’t royal. They’ve usually earned their positions through blood, sweat, and tears (and typically all spilled by someone else) and are in no hurry to be removed from their lofty perches. They wield power like a cudgel, striking down any and all opposition to their rule, and typically oppressing the common men and women, creating a furtive spawning ground for protagonists to rise against them.

A Tyrant is typically powerful, ambitious, and cruel. They’re not necessarily possessing any vast intellect, but are usually cunning enough to strike down any moves made against them. While not always physically strong or imposing,  most Tyrants villains have an aura about them that exudes influence. A harem of henchmen are at their beckon call, often hell-bent on becoming Tyrants in their own right, and employing the same cruel methods to serve the arch-protagonist. While these henchmen might be redeemable at some point in the story, the Tyrant never makes an anti-hero turn. He’s too cruel, too unrepentant, and too unsympathetic for the audience to feel sorry for. He’s uncaring and callous until he meets his end, often in a messy (and all too appropriate) fashion.

We love to hate the Tyrants almost as much as Royals, yet they tend to be scarier because they’re more identifiable. Many Tyrants earn their positions (although not in any kind of good manner) and start from humble beginnings, unlike their Royal counterparts. The utterly callous way they treat the people beneath them seems colder and more frightening when we consider that the Tyrant may have once been among those people. A Tyrant also tends to have an end to his means (ha), typically lovely goals like genocide, conquest, or exploitation. The end-game for this twisted sovereign may be completely understandable, or could simply be born of childhood prejudices or racial hatred. All the audience knows is they hate the Tyrant, might be a bit creeped out by him (or her), and can’t wait for the moment when the hero finally treats them to their just deserts.

Some famous (fictional) Tyrants:

• The Lord Marshal (Chronicles of Riddick)
• Adam Susan (V for Vendetta)
• Gul Dukat (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
• The Governor (Walking Dead)
• Emperor Palpatine and Grand Moff Tarkin (Star Wars)
• Doctor Doom (Marvel)
• Richard III

A to Z Challenge – S

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 22 – S is for Serial Killer

This archetype…is kind of a slam dunk. Serial killers are one of the most oft-used arch-villains, and easily one of the most compelling. Leaving a trail of bodies for a hard-boiled (or well-endowed) detective or amateur sleuth to follow makes for some enrapturing entertainment. They’ve played the main bad guy (and sometimes the good guy) in countless TV shows, movies, comic books and prose work. The Serial Killers penchant for trying to outsmart the protagonists, or the forces trying to catch them, makes plot twists, loops, and dives very accessible to the creator. A dark imagination can run wild, and create all manner of creepy and grotesque scenarios that can’t help  but pull the curious audience in.

A very popular movement in the last few years is to feature a serial killer a anti-hero from the get-go (i.e. Dexter, to a lesser extent Frailty and Silence of the Lambs). As arch-villains they are almost never redeemable, corrupt to the core and fully devoid of any remorse. When not the main villain, however, these murderers can often have their homicidal intents turned on more deserving prey, in a killer-killing-killers scenario, which is also the basis for any anti-hero fiction with a Serial Killer as a protagonist. They differ from the Psychopath, although they could be accurately classified as one, in that they specifically have to kill people to satisfy their compulsion. It does tend to pigeon-hole this archetype into the cops and robbers (or killers) genre, but their employment is so wide-spread that they deserve their own arhcetype.

The examples of Serial Killers are as varied of the methods they use. They’re usually intelligent, cold, calculating, but occasionally can be prone to violent outbursts and fits of rage. The application of their intelligence can vary as well, some being master manipulators, others devious strategists, and some rare examples a twisted kind of savant. They can be successful, middle class, or completely destitute. They have varied ethnic backgrounds, can be either sex, any sexual orientation (often this is confused and complicated, which can lead to the killing compulsion), and as previously mentioned they employ a variety of methods in their “work”. The chilling real-life examples often influence these memorable antagonists, and help shape some of the creepiest villains in all of fiction.

Some Famous Serial Killers:

• Paul Spector (The Fall)
• Buffalo Bill (Silence of the Lambs)
• John Doe (Seven)
• Macbeth (Think about it…you know it’s true)
• Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)
• Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men)

A to Z Challenge – O

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 16 – O is for Orator

The Orator is a villain that is master of deceit, dominance, and manipulation through spoken words. Silver-tongued and black-hearted, this antagonist can seemingly talk anyone into anything, whether its aimed at large group or a single person. Similiar to the Con Man, this villain is even more insidious as his goal is often not to get something out of his targets, but to control or manipulate them. While rarely an arch-villain, the Orator is an essential henchman or flunky as he is often charged with swaying the will of the masses, or a few key people, at the behest of the arch-villain.

When playing the main antagonist role, the Orator is usually in a position of trust and power. Plenty of ecclesiarchal villains were master Orators as their occupations provide the perfect platform to convince the public of whatever he desires. They take lies and deceit to the ultimate level, applying them on a grand scale and swaying an entire populace with their twisted rhetoric.These are some of the easiest villains to hate, as the audience can usually see the depth of their betrayal to their listeners. We can’t help but feel sympathy to a mass of people misled by somebody they trust.

Orators are also gulty of that favorite of villainous tendencies: Monologuing. Nothing makes these bad guys happier than stating their entire horrendous plan to the hero’s, just in time for them foil it all in the last 20 minutes or 15 pages. These are also the types, sadly, that will fall into the unfortunate narrative trap of talking during a fight scene (which is a no-no, for any medium). These baddies love to talk, whether they should or shouldn’t, and it makes the audience love to hate them all the more.

Famous Orators Villains:

• Frollo (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
• Adrian Veidt (Watchmen)
• President Snow (Hunger Games)
• Cardinal Richelieu (Three Musketeers)
• Syndrome (The Incredibles)
• Horus (Horus Heresy)

A to Z Challenge – N

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 16 – N is for Nefarious

Nefarious is one of my favorite descriptions for a villain. When you say the word, the combination of fricatives and sounds positively breathes dastardly deeds and pure acrhetypal antagonism. For the Nefarious archetype, I’ve chosen to pay homage to the pulpy, old-school villains of yesteryear, like Snidley Whiplash or Wu Fang. Most prominently featured in children’s stories, classic black and white comic strips, pulp magazines, or even silent movies, these are the bad guys that spawned the complex, compelling villains we know and love today. Watching or reading the golden age stories featuring such Nefarious characters is a stroll through simpler times, where the good guys wore white hats, the bad guys had mustaches, and everything in the world made sense.

The most enjoyable thing about these villains is the relative simplicity of their motivations. A Nefarious archetype would not have to worry why he did things, and neither did the reader. It was enough to see their evil machinations on the page, and then see how the equally-pulpy hero would thwart them. Often a reflection of prejudices or topical subjects of the time, a Nefarious often served as an embodiment of a fear or compulsion that reflected their respective era. I don’t have a time-frame for pulp villains in mind, as a popular trope now, particularly in graphic novels, is to re-imagine them or integrate them into modern times (See The Twelve by J. Michael Straczynski or Watchmen by Alan Moore), but most of the Nefarious villains appear pre-1940s.

Primarily in serialized print or shorter films, when stories had to be told in a truncated amount of time, the Nefarious villain was the ideal solution for compelling narrative. With little time for explanation or back-story, these antagonists were often visually striking, donning devil costumes, long black capes and top hats, or sporting impressive handlebar facial hair. They spoke, moved, acted, and even laughed in a despicably evil fashion. The iconic Nyah-ha-ha! of Snidley Whiplash still echoes in my brain to this day. A Nefarious villain is not complex by definition, and its this simplicity that makes them so appealing. Sometimes, you just want to read (or watch) something where you don’t have to figure out the bad guy. He laughs, swishes his cape, and ties helpless maidens to railroad tracks. Doesn’t get much more Nefarious than that.

Some of my favorite Nefarious villains:

• Snidley Whiplash (Obviously)
• Graf Orlok (Nosferatu)
• The Octopus
• The Scorpion
• Dr. Satan
• Dr. Yen Sin

A to Z Challenge – G

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 8 – G is for God-Complex

Remaking the world in your image is (not surprisingly) often a villainous endeavor. Actually, it kind of always is. An antagonist with a god-complex is a recipe for epic disaster, as these baddies often have the grandest designs, and the means to execute them (pun intended). They may be super-rich, powerful, ambitious, or possess supernatural or super-human gifts that makes their iconoclastic notions a possibility. No matter where the motivations come from, and they can be varied and numerous, the God-Complex archetype vehemently believes that they can make the world better. This makes them some of the most dangerous, and occasionally most misunderstood evil-doers in fiction. They lend themselves naturally to comic books and movies (and even video games), as their big personalities translate well to visual medium, and are less common in literature than other archetypes.

A villain with a God-Complex can run the gamut from wholly, irredeemably evil to misunderstood or misguided. An evil example may believe they should re-shape the world just because they can, to fuel their own selfish desires to control everything around them. Many great God-Complex villains, however, simply wanted to help, but go to unforgivable extremes to do so. The variation in the roots of the God-Complex can set the tone for an entire narrative, depending on what kind of villain you want to portray. By definition, a God-Complex villain rarely finds redemption in a story, even if their intentions were good. Many are left with the cold realization that they went too far, or that the changes they made had consequences they did not foresee. Even the somewhat sympathetic examples took their desire to re-create the world to unforgivable extremes, and even if they sacrifice themselves once they realize they’ve made a grave mistake, no one ever really forgives them.

What separates a God-Complex villain from other similar archetypes is their belief that they alone know what the world needs to be better. This belief is what makes them relatable (when they’re not despicably evil), since believing in yourself is often couched as a positive attribute. A God-Complex villain takes that belief a little too far. Some of the most sympathetic of arch-villains, and at the same time some of the most detestable, these baddies have a habit of meeting dark but not necessarily messy ends. Often this antagonist will still be alive at the end of the narrative, or finds himself the victim of his own machinations. Whether the intention was good, evil, or somewhere in the middle, a villainous God-Complex is one of the most entertaining, and occasionally thought-provoking, antagonistic forces in any kind of fiction.

Famous God-Complex Villains:
• Adrian Veidt (Watchmen)
• Dr. Moreau (The Island of Doctor Moreau)
• Horus (Horus Heresy)
• Magneto (ish. Marvel comics)
• Lex Luthor (DC)
• Handsome Jack (Borderlands)

A to Z Challenge – F

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 7 – F is for Fascist

To avoid splitting this category up into like 8 different letter (i.e. cheating), the letter F will represent all the genocidal, tyrannical, ultra-evil villains affiliated(ish) with fascism, like Nazis, Al Qaida, North Korea, and all sorts of dictatorships and ultra-national establishments, both fictional, and spawned of real-life villains.

Fascists are the ideal arch-villain. Defined as “radical authoritarian nationalism” usually vested primarily in one key dictator, their fascists beliefs bestow righteousness in their evil deeds, making them much more terrifying. Whether it’s a religious doctrine (real or fake) or national zeal, these villains are absolutely sure what they’re doing is right, or at the very least condoned by a higher power. And while the tyrants at the head of the fascism hierarchy are usually the most intimidating, it’s the henchmen that are often the truly scary villains.

Lower-level leaders (Captains, Lieutenants, Cell Leaders, etc.) tend to be the ones portrayed as supremely irredeemable in most fascist fiction. These are the ones that will torture, murder, and order atrocities to be committed by their subordinates with smiles on their faces. Occasionally the lowest level of fascist villain may be portrayed as slightly sympathetic, I’m-just-following-orders light, but they almost never get a chance at true redemption in the storyline. Between the inherent social stigma and their remorseless portrayal in all types of fiction, we see most fascist villains meet rather messy and often appropriate ends (Think end of Lost Ark).

Motivations for the fascist villain are fairly simple, which leaves a creator open to explore the depths of their evil without worrying too much about backstory. The interesting, and often terrifying, details of these baddies lie in what they do, not why they do it. These aren’t villains you root for, they’re the ones you despise. Convenient but complex, any writer that takes on one of these as a protagonist at any level is also accepting the predetermined notions that come with them. While this limits some creativity, it grants a built-in feeling towards the fascist character, and gives the audience a character they’ll inherently love to hate, and feel satisfied when they get what they deserve.

Some Famous Fascist villains (omitting any real-life examples):
• Red Skull (Captain America)
• Dr. Doom (Marvel)
• Hans Landa (Inglorious Basterds)
• Voldemort and the Death Eaters (Harry Potter)
• Grand Moff Tarkin (Star Wars)
• Horus (Horus Heresy)

A to Z Challenge – D

My theme for the A to Z challenge is Villain Archetypes.

Yes, 26 descriptions of some of your favorite villains of literature, TV, and movies.

April 4th – D is for Diabolist

I could have done “Devil” here, because lord knows Old Scratch is the villain in plenty of fiction (and occasionally the hero…you should read Lucifer before they make it a TV show) but I feel like that would be cheating. Instead, I present the Diabolist, essentially a villain that serves or is aided by devils or deviltry (thanks Webster). These are the folks who make Faustian deals, or believe foolishly doing the devils bidding will somehow get them favor from a dark master. Usually, they’re wrong.

Occasionally the main antagonist in a storyline, the Diabolist is most often a henchman or  flunky, tasked with serving a devilish master to bring about an evil grand scheme. Not possessed of any great skill on their own, these baddies get most of their abilities, powers, and ability to combat the protagonists straight from their hellish overlords. Many times magicians or wizards have these pacts with the darkness to grant them the ability to manipulate reality. Other Diabolists are simply too weak or foolish to succeed on thier own, and look to demons for a shortcut to power, success, and wealth.

The Diabolist is usually involved in dark, grim storylines and tends to be employed as a character in horror stories riddled with suspense. This is not a hard and fast rule, however, as Diabolists sometimes play a key role in children’s stories, comedies, and even romance stories. A warning story that taking the short path to success is self-destructive, we’re sometimes made to feel sympathy for the Diabolist as they meet their messy end, and they rarely redeem themselves, instead reaping the morbid benefits that they’ve sown by consorting with devils.

Some Famous Diabolists:

• Benny (from The Mummy)
• Boris Balkan (from The Ninth Gate)
• Pain and Panic (from Hercules)
• Dr. Facilier (from Princess and the Frog)
• Faust/Dr. Faustus (multiple representations in books, TV, and Graphic novels)
• Brother Blood (DC Comics).