Let’s talk bookish – What makes a good villain?

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Let’s talk bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books, here different topics will be discussed.

This week’s topic is ‘What makes a good villain’, which I think is such a good topic! I love me a good villain!

Some of my favourite villains:

  • Bellatrix Lestrange, I just love her!
  • Draco Malfoy, especially from the books!
  • Konstatin from the Bear and the nightingale
  • Piper Greenmantle from The raven cycle!
  • Victor and Eli from Vicious!
  • The villain in The Mistborn trilogy (can’t come up with the name..)

Of course there are many many more!

One of the examples Rukky gives to discuss is ‘Do you prefer ones with a tragic backstory or ones who are just plain evil?’. Plain evil all the way! I don’t care for sad backstories about people being mistreated, I just want the evilness! Although there are of course some books in which a sad backstory is done very well! But generally speaking, plain evil!

Another examples she gives is ‘Villains who have realistic goals and motivations or who want to take over the world?’. As I just said I want plain evil villains, but they should have realistic goals. Just evil people wanting to take over the world is not that much fun in my opinion! I feel like with realistic goals it is sometimes also easier to ‘agree’ with the villain, or at least understand why he/she is doing what he/she is doing! To me that makes the story way more enjoyable!

The last suggestion she give ‘do you like seeing them redeemed or should the story end with them dead?’. This really depends on the book, I like seeing villains being redeemed but it should feel ‘realistic’. In some case villains are redeemed even though I feel like they can’t be forgiven, or not as easily as is being done, for what they did. Or the good that they did does not even out the bad. Idk if I’m explaining it well. But I like seeing redemption if it is possible/realistic!  But for some stories killing of the bad guy just works way better!

What is a favourite villain of yours? Do you like a tragic backstory or a plain evil villain?

17 thoughts on “Let’s talk bookish – What makes a good villain?”

  1. I love villains! They’re always so fascinating and can be so, so unpredictable at times!! I generally like ones who are evil too although in a way that feels realistic. Sad backstories can be good as well though, as long as they’re not simply used as an excuse to justify what they’ve done. And Harry Potter has some absolutely fantastic villains in it. I love the ones that you’ve mentioned and find so many others fascinating too like Umbridge (how on earth can one person be so unlikeable?) and Tom Riddle as he seems so chilling in the flashbacks to his younger years.

    1. I love their unpredictability!
      Maybe it also depends on the backstory, I feel like sometimes they don’t feel legit enough (to me)
      I really should have put Umbridge on their, I kinda love her, in her stupid pink suit!

      1. That’s true.
        Well she definitely reunited everyone (or almost everyone) within their hatred of her. And her cough; the actress got that spot on :L

  2. Great topic! Think for me what makes a good villain is 1) do they present a challenge for the protagonist and 2) do they have a good motivation for why they’re the villain? 🙂

  3. I love love love Draco Malfoy. I’ve been rereading the books recently and he’s so much more nasty in the first few books than he is in the movies, I know J.K. doesn’t think she wrote him a redemption arc in the end but I definitely feel like he gets redeemed. I love antagonists eventually seeing the light.

  4. Great post! It’s really interesting to see that we had different thoughts on this! I agree that Bellatrix Lestrange is a great villain though!

  6. Ooooh this is a fun topic! I didn’t know this was a meme! I’m off to follow Rukky! I hate to say it, but I think my all time favorite villain is Umbridge. She is absolutely horrible and it’s so easy to hate her so much. She is just one of those characters that I love to hate. I personally like just a plain evil villain. Knowing the backstory about a villain makes me more angry than anything because half the time I’m thinking “BUT YOU DIDN’T NEED TO BECOME EVIL BECAUSE IT!!!”. XD

    Amber @ Escape Life in the Pages

    1. Yeah go do that! It is a great meme, and Rukky has a great blog!
      Umbridge is a great villain! I should have put her on my list as well!
      Exactly, most of the time they could have solved it without becoming evil haha!

  7. Pingback: Let’s Talk Bookish – What Makes a Good Villain? – Eternity Books

  8. Great post! I agree – I’d much rather have villains who just enjoy being cruel over villains with a tragic backstory (it’s the main reason I didn’t like the Maleficent movie, because apparently the ‘mistress of all evil’ is the way she is because of a boy), but I do LOVE those villains who can almost convince you to see their side of things.

    1. Thanks 🙂
      I feel like that always makes the book darker!
      I haven’t watched the movie, but I can imagine! Being cruel because of a boy.. It happens too often..
      That’s the best! Like I know it is wrong, but I can see why you would do it!

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