What do you look for in a villain?

[Saucycarpdog]

What qualities do you like a villain to have? Is he a cold, heartless bastard? Does he need an evil laugh? Is he all powerful?

Is there a villain you know that has any of these qualities?

BTW, the villain can be from anything to movies to TV to books.

 

[Palademon]

What I look for in a villain is common interest, intelligence, a sense of humour, and similar moral values.

 

[SwimmingRock]

Gorgeous, flowing locks, dreamy eyes, a love of poetry and a desire to burn everything to the ground. *sigh*

Wait, what were we talking about? Oh... I'll stop drooling now.

Actually, I prefer "villains" who aren't necessarily bad, but have unclear/unusual ambitions and problems. Albedo from Xenosaga, Kain from Legacy of Kain (yes, I know he's not exactly a villain, but that's my point), Shadowlord from Nier etc.

Also, I like creatures considered villains incorrectly.

Spoiler

Raincoat Killer from Deadly Premonition is awesome.

 

[Artemicion]

Them just being a dick, disregarding a sense of purpose or a goal.

 

[Draken Steel]

Genius - I love the creative/plotting villains more then the axe murderers.

Polite - Adore villains who act courteous, and generally have good manners. The kind who invite the hero to sit for tea while he explains exactly what hes going to do to their loved ones if the hero refuses his offer.

Cool-headed - no raging, screaming and crying every time something goes wrong, just sit back, think it over, and try something else.

Loved one - Also enjoy if the villain isnt just a complete loner, I think its more interesting if he has at least 1 person he cares about deeply.

And finally, while I dont mind them being just amoral/evil, I do prefer if they are of the ends justifies the means mindset.

 

[Shadowstar38]

I like my villains insanely over the top and camp. Whoever that guy is who played The Riddler in the 60's, exactly like that.

 

[Fooz]

i like them to be really clever, ruthless, have a reason for being evil

 

[AngelArms]

I like my villains either completely fucking insane, or genuinely complex and sympathetic, middle ground just doesnt work and often ends up seriously fucking jarring

Take Elfen Lied, they attempt to make Lucy this sympathetic character who's had a terrible life due to her deformity and tries to justify her actions, get what they're going for, but they fuck up ROYAL because her actions are just too evil to justify, it's hard to sympathise with a character who tortures young girls.

 

[runswithcats]

For me the most important trait has got to be a dark/twisted sense of humor. When I look at all my favorite villains: GLaDOS, the Joker....hmmm that's all I can think of, well anyway they all seem to have that much in common. I find nothing more boring than a villain who takes himself too seriously.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Simple, the villain got to have a bad ass theme song! (Juri from SSF4, Dr Doom from MVC3 etc.)
Yes I know now all villains got one but it's hard to describe a few qualities since I feel it's the overall presentation (apperances, ability, attitude, determination and personility etc) that make that villain a hit or a miss.

 

[nukethetuna]

Hmmm. I like a villain that doesn't underestimate the heroes at every turn. One that doesn't leave it to the henchmen to finish them off. One that gets down and dirty and pursues his goal til the end.

Spoiler: Anyone who has read One Piece can attest that this guy is all sorts of competent.

Alternatively, a sympathetic villain can be alright. A lot of good villains tug on the heartstrings a bit when you have to fight them, especially if their back story is sad.

Spoiler: MY HEART.

Then again, a full, no holds barred BADASS who is just pure evil without any tragic inciting incident can be fantastic, even if he underestimates the heroes or overestimates himself. It's all about how he carries himself.

Spoiler: Because it's not a fair duel with the hero unless hes taken on an army and been riddled full of arrows, first!

 

[Mystify]

I prefer the evil genius. And I don't mean the character that pulls giant robots and death machines out of nowhere. I mean a character who is deviously cunning, able to think their way out of situations, and have elaborate, multi-faceted plans. Like Light from Death note. The typeof villian that enacts their scheme, and you must marvel at its genius.Every time you think you have them, you realize you have just been playing into their hand.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Sephiroth's a damn uber classic example of a great villain/antagonist: intelligent, more knowledgeable than the hero (up to a point), kick-ass, not actually evil, and entirely crazy...

Failing that, I like my antagonists to just not be villainous. Loghain in DA:Origins is (essentially) the bad guy, but he has a consistent motivation to his actions. He's believable, even empathetic and sympathetic. All of this makes deciding his fate near the end of the game a tricky matter to resolve.

BlazBlue:CS's Hazama is a complete fuck, though... He's easy to hate. Nuts, powerful, knowledgable, and with a proclivity to cackling maniacally which just makes you want to erase him from existence.
And then he destroys you repeatedly in combat...

 

[Shockolate]

Entertaining.

When I see what the villain is doing, I want to think both "Dude, what the fuck!" and "Shit, that was cool!"

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Well, there's two kinds of villains that I like. There's the villains with really good back-stories and motivations. The kind who actually believe that what they're doing is right, because of their experiences in life. Magneto and Ra's al Ghul (sp?) are good examples of this. Having a relationship of mutual respect with the hero helps too.
And the other kind?

Spoiler: Spoilers for Season 3 of Dr. Who...

The other kind is The Master.

God I love posting that.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Escapist, give me the post back. Drop it. DROP IT. That's a BAD Escapist. BAD.

Nothing to see here folks, just a double post. Move it along.

 

[Hawk of Battle]

I'm all about the schemers. The guys who have a plan for everything and have the protagonists right where they want them. The kind of villain that never seems to lose, especially if it's in a long running series, as otherwise I can't take them seriously if they aren't posing such a permanent, unbeatable threat. This is why David Xanatos and Tzeentch are my favourite villains, though I'm also partial to Angelus whenever he turns up on Buffy and Angel. He's not so much of a schemer but he still has that magnificent bastard angle where nothing ever really seems to faze him.

 

[babinro]

Brigadier General Francis X Hummel from the movie The Rock is probably my favorite villain in all media. He has a cause that you can sympathize with and has tried to correct it by normal measures. Only after the system fails him does he resort to extreme measures.