Article written by Ashleigh Lowry.
It is a very well-known trait with book readers that when a villain is presented within a novel, readers will argue over if you should be allowed to love or sympathise with a villain or not.
Especially in the young adult genre of books, villains and antagonists are romanticised. Young people and older adults see these killer, demented assholes and sometimes just pretentious pricks as characters worthy of love. Be it through whatever means these (for a lack of a nicer term in some cases) villains are a point of love and affection. So, let’s dive in to some of reasons why people love villains.
While talking with a friend about the topic, they mentioned that humour is a relatable human quality no matter how twisted a character is. This made me realise that this could be the reason why many people fall for the villain in the beginning. Sarcastic wit being the usual weapon of choice with these characters, people identify or come to respect this as recognition as our own form of humour. The ability to throw a quick one-line comeback or satirical comment on the state of events gives the villain a chance to show a side that still has this sense of enjoyment (no matter how twisted they actually are). Through this humour connection, we need to critically assess just how terrible could these villains be if we share their sense of humour.
Another reason we connect so well with the dark side is the idea that the villains are just a touch more realistic then the almighty heroes. Villains and antagonists have a much more grounded view on the current state of the world and current events of their novel. This realism gives us a point of reference in our own world to connect to. With that connection we began to sympathise with villains who want to change, want to create something better. Where the almighty hero is flawless and saves the day for the greater good, villains are flawed, make mistakes and pay the consequences. We as humans make mistakes so we identify with the flawed people that are the villains, we strive to achieve our goals with similar pitfalls and consequences that villains also face. We sometimes feel that the heroes we read about don’t have these problems or at least don’t have them to the same dire extent as villains do.
I always seem to notice when someone is defending a villain is by using their backstory. Villain’s reasonings into becoming what they are, are quickly justified by a quick jog down their memory lane. Childhood trauma, bullying and a variety of horrible actions and circumstances have us realise that maybe, just maybe, the reason they are doing all this is because deep down, they are wounded and crying out for help. Understanding what made them what they are we start to not fight but change villains into just misunderstood, troubled people that need a little guidance and/or love. Sure, they may have killed a few hundred people or level a couple dozen blocks, but they are hurting, and they need someone to be there for them.
Bead of truth and wisdom provided by villains gives us these almost twisted life lessons of how we should live our lives for the better or worse. Having us ponder and realise that they are smarter than we had previously given them credit for. Villains are showing street smarts, emotional and usual understanding of obscure topics, again providing to that image of just and everyday person trying to live their lives. As the villains either grow, lose or gain a skewed sense of justice, right and wrong, we also get to see them rationalise their way to that point, providing a logical and somewhat understandable path of thinking to these horrible evil plans.
Liking and understanding villains is a very recent trend. Where before we would see nothing but the eyes of evil, we now find the eyes of someone like who we are. Because we realise now that maybe villains aren’t the worst people out there. Humanity, now there is where the real monsters are. Humans and society are marketed as becoming twisted and corrupt. We identify so strongly with villains wishing to seek the destruction of said corruption, they don’t seem as horrible because we understand why they wish to take such drastic measures to ensure that there is a brighter, better day ahead.
Now I’m not saying every villain can be given a free pass on their actions because I may identify with one or two traits but with the new waves of novels and literature, the line between true villain and misunderstood victim of circumstance is starting to blur. As the world changes there may be another wave where novelist explore how villains become not the heroes we want or even heroes at all, but just maybe…
Villains become what we need to survive.
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