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Quick! Name your favorite villain/psychopath!
Having trouble naming just one? You aren't alone. Many of us fall in love with fictional villains.
But why? That's what this post seeks to answer.
First of all, let's be clear about who we're talking about. According to the (World English) dictionary, a psychopath is "a person afflicted with a personality disorder characterized by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts"*. And a villain is "a wicked or malevolent person" or "(in a novel, play, film, etc.) the main evil character and antagonist to the hero". So these people are not nice. And they don't care. In some cases, they even enjoy being evil.
So why do we like them? Some people might say we just like the actors, but not all villains look attractive, and the whole "it's just the actors" theory doesn't account for characters in books, comics, etc.
Therefore, we must be attracted to the characters themselves. What makes these characters attractive? Well, let's take a look at a few example villains.
Moriarty (Sherlock)
Who's the archenemy of the world's only consulting detective? Jim Moriarty, the world's only consulting criminal. Obviously. He's totally crazy, but has enough sense to pull off huge crimes and not get caught. He's very good with technology and has all sorts of good uses for it. He even pulls off fake identities, such as Jim from IT and (I won't spoil it for the rest of you, but people who've seen season 3 know what I mean). He pulls off a huge crime in broad daylight and gets off scott-free! (Or is it Andrew-free? Pun intended.) And we even discover he did something pretty amazing (again, I'm trying to keep this spoiler-free, and some of you will know what the amazing thing is). He's powerful, smart, malicious, and crazy in a sexy sort of way that few can pull off. All in all, he's an awesome villain, and it's no wonder people are obsessing over him and shipping him.
The Master (Doctor Who)
For those of you who've seen both Classic Who and New Who (if you don't know what Classic Who is, you probably haven't seen it), you know that the Master is a recurring villain, and he's regenerated a few times. For the rest of you, you've probably seen the Master at least once. Like the Doctor, he's a Time Lord who survived the great Time War. The two used to be friends, but then the Master became crazy and evil. He hears the constant sound of drums in his head, which apparently call him to rule the universe. He's every bit as clever as the Doctor, but unlike the Doctor, he has no kindness or forgiveness, and he thinks killing people is fun. Depending on which regeneration of the Master you look at, you might find the actor attractive, but even more would argue that the character himself is evil in a seductive way. He certainly managed to deceive poor Lucy.
The Daleks (Doctor Who)
I know there should probably be only one Doctor Who villain, but I just couldn't leave out the Daleks. And besides, "good men don't need rules" and "the Doctor lies". Daleks are the quintessential villain: machines of pure, unadulterated hatred. Hate is the only emotion they can feel, and they feel it quite strongly. Their goal is to exterminate every living thing that is not a Dalek, especially the Doctor.
Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)
I've only read the book, so that's what I'm talking about here. Hyde is Jekyll's own invention, and is essentially Jekyll's evil nature. All he has to do is drink a potion and he is transformed to a huge, grotesque villain. Mr. Hyde is not very bright (unlike Dr. Jekyll), but he is very evil. All he knows is how to be pure evil. Jekyll learns throughout the book that the more he uses Hyde, the more evil he becomes. I don't think anyone could argue Hyde is attractive, but he is extraordinarily evil and certainly a villain.
Voldemort (Harry Potter)
Whether you're talking about the movies or the books, there's no doubt that Voldemort is a villain. I mean, for most of the series, the characters won't even say his name! He's either "the Dark Lord" (for the people on his side) or "He Who Must Not Be Named". Full of selfish greed, he kills witches, wizards, and muggles left and right, then has no qualms about murdering both parents of the boy who will supposedly kill him. Only he can't kill the boy. Voldemort may be an evil guy, but in the scope of the story, his success rate is pretty low. As with Mr. Hyde, I have a hard time considering Voldemort attractive, but hey, you never know.
Cruella de vil (101 Dalmatians)
Arguably one of the best movie villains of all time (she has a bit more competition in literature), this woman has a great sense of fashion and a horrible sense of animal rights. This dog-killer is bad to the bone (pun intended).
Khan (Star Trek)
Like the Master, Khan has appeared many times and has been played by multiple actors. Most recently, Benedict Cumberbatch (Moriarty's enemy, Sherlock in BBC's Sherlock) has played this nemesis. Whatever the specific plot is, Khan's goal is always the same: mess things up Captain Kirk and his crew. There's nothing quite like a dangerous, focused villain.
No list of villains would be complete without this guy. He's a stranger all in black, breathing loudly in a way that somehow freaks everyone out, a man with powers (that he won't hesitate to use) to choke someone to death. A guy who can whip out a glowing red weapon and kill a super-important good guy in less than a minute, a guy who looks the protagonist in the eye and says with his haunting voice, "Luke, I am your father." And then we find out that this guy used to be a jedi, just like Luke. He's scary, make no doubt about it!
So, what did we find out? Most, but not all evil characters are attractive. They're all scary, though. Are we just attracted to scary characters? Maybe, but that answer doesn't satisfy me. Here's a few more theories:
1. A good villain is much less scary than the real enemy- ourselves.
Some psychologists would argue that we are our own enemies. I mean, after all, think about all the times you've wanted to do something evil. It's much easier to blame all the evil stuff on a villain than acknowledge that we are in fact responsible for evil.
2. Liking a villain is safer than acting out our own evil desires.
A corollary to #2, we like to do evil things. But most of us know that doing so is a bad idea. So, we just think about all the stuff villains do and admire them, all the while secretly envying them. Sometimes we even think about what we would do if we were villains.
3. Villains get what they want.
Let's face it, we all want lots of things. Villains get whatever they want. Sometimes we are jealous and therefore like the evil people who do whatever they feel like.
4. Villains can give revenge.
Ever gotten so angry about something someone did that you plotted revenge? Most of us have. But have you gotten so angry that you imagined getting a villain to do your revenge work for you? Some of us have done that, and then of course we like the villains for doing what we ask them to (at least in our minds).
5. Villains are powerful.
You can't deny it, power is attractive. Yes, it may not be all it seems, yes, it corrupts, but it's still attractive. We like people who have power, and that includes villains.
And that's about it! Comment and let me know who your favorite villain is?
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