Hero or Villain?

[I-Need-a-life]

This is going to sound strange, but I find villains to be more likeable than the character's themselves. It's like their background gives them more depth and a deeper understanding compared to the heroine themselves. For example, the show "Once Upon a Time", I totally get why Regina is so obsessed in ruining Snow White's happy ending because Snow White was the one who ruined hers.I could totally relate to her because it sounds more realistic to hate someone who ruined your own shot of happiness then forgive them and be friends with them after. To me it sounds unrealistic and very insincere. For instance, a person can not just forgive someone after the other person murder their loved one just because it's the right thing to do. It's stupid and so fake.
Another thing why I favor villains over heroes is because heroes are often programmed to be self-righteous and be completely special. A person can't always be winning, they need loose some too.

[moderntimes]

I understand your comments about "Once etc" but it's a TV show and is generally pitched for the YA audience, not for "real" adults, same as most other commercial TV shows. That's why the outcome seemed stupid for you -- you're not a child and you expect adult themes and adult resolutions.

What about novels, and most essentially, novels meant for adults? (not Harry Potter stuff -- nice as it is, it's for young readers). It's hard to identify with "real" adult novel villains because they are nasty. I'm thinking the only real identification or attraction we can have for them is perhaps awe or resultant fear. Perhaps the best example of this is Hannibal Lecter -- and I mean from the Thomas Harris books, not the movies, wonderful as Anthony Hopkins might be.

[SarahLuvBooks32]

Hero all the way! They make you swoon and wish for someone like that in your life!

[Miss_Jane2014]

I have a love of villains. I love when an author takes a bit of time to help you understand why the villain turned out that way. I get really annoyed with the classic hero type. I want there to be a flaw to the character, something that you could potentially relate to, or something that makes them seem more human.

[moderntimes]

Anyone who "likes" villains == per Hannibal Lecter or others, you will absolutely be overwhelmed and totally frightened of "The Judge" in Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" -- The Judge is easily the most horrific yet fascinating bad guy ever. None of the bad sorcerers in stuff like the Potter books or Middle Earth or whatever comes close. I guarantee you.

[Cinna1003]

I often sympathize with the villain of a book. one such book is the phantom of the opera. I was on the phantoms side from the start. and I am still on the phantoms side. I think that christine should have put her man pants on and just accepted his love... or obsession lol.

[LivreAmour217]

I typically root for the hero, but sometimes the villain fascinates me. I often want to know why he/she has turned out to be so bad. Sometimes authors give you great backstory, sometimes the person is just plain evil (like Voldemort in the Harry Potter novels), and sometimes the reader is left to his/her own conclusions.

[moderntimes]

Good post, Voldemort unknown to me since I don't read YA fiction, but as I understand, he's a sorcerer or part supernatural being?

This is good, a nasty supernatural but often it's more exciting if the villain is totally human.

[aaa123]

Villains are much more interesting than heroes to be honest.

[LivreAmour217]

Good post, Voldemort unknown to me since I don't read YA fiction, but as I understand, he's a sorcerer or part supernatural being?

This is good, a nasty supernatural but often it's more exciting if the villain is totally human.

Thank you, moderntimes! Yes, Voldemort is a wizard, and is supposed to be human, but he's so corrupted by evil magic that he could definitely be classified as a supernatural being. I agree about completely human villains being more interesting. They are usually much more complex, plus it often seems like they have a better shot at beating the hero than their supernatural counterparts!

[moderntimes]

Most here in this thread have stuck to YA fiction (Potter, etc) but I find that the environment of an adult-oriented novel (not porno stuff, but actually written for adult readers, I mean) is more difficult in which to envision the hero or villain both, because the character development must be on a grown-up level. Adult characters written for adult readers need to be more fully developed, not comic book one-dimensional.

Which NON-YA villains do you readers see as significant?