a deep dive into villain characters

today we are having a chat about villains, the best ones, the worst ones, and my favourite villainous tropes!

00:00 intro
2:44 what makes a great villain?
13:16 how much backstory does a villain need?
20:26 my favourite villain tropes
24:12 great villain tropes you may not know about

🌼 s o c i a l m e d i a
• twitter: @thebookleo
• instagram: @thebookleo

🌺 a b o u t m e
Hi! My name is Leonie and I am a 25 year old girl who loves talking about books! From YA to non-fiction to classics, I read it all (although fantasy will always be my fave). I live in the Netherlands and go to university, but make booktube videos in my spare time :)

🌹 m u s i c
Music, art, and video by Jokabi

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[elanorly]

Catchier name for trope: Menacing Mentorship.

[charlesbackstrom]

oh! a villain trope i love so much is when the hero and villain have to spontaneously team up in the middle of a fight because something worse happened

[beeeater]

The third female villain trope is where her whole personality is being in love with the male lead lol

[retitauts]

Homelander from The Boys is probably among the top 3 scariest villains of all time and he should be permanently included in every villain discourse

[clemoswin]

Explanation is not an excuse : I completely agree ! I love having a backstory for the villain that explains why they turned out to be what they are, but I hate it when it is considered as an excuse.

[anniekr]

I think the 'complex backstory: yes or no?'-question depends on the genre quite a bit. We all love the iconic villains of renaissance era Disney (Scar, Ursula, Gaston) not because of their tragic past, but because they have such a menacing presence and are just having a lot of fun being evil. In those cases, adding a tragic backstory will do the story more harm than good. A good example is the Cruella live action movie, in which it's explained that Cruella's mom (or someone else, i don't remember) was killed by dalmatians. We don't really need a tragic backstory for the puppy skinning villain. Of course there are exceptions, Frollo being one of my favourite Disney villains because of his complexity, but it's fair to say that different genres will lead to different answers to the question.

[sanaoswal]

I also love characters who are technically nemeses but also have like a chill best friend/ah my old friend vibe like perry the platypus and dr. doofenshmirtz or jake peralta and doug judy or professor x and magneto. (p.s. loved the video!!! also i continue to be in love with your earring collection! obsessed with the howl earrings)

[Arawn]

I like the magical stone in Leonie's fireplace, shining bright with the trapped souls of her subscribers. Such cozy vibes 🥰

[sophiaisabelle]

Villain characters have far more interesting dynamics. We appreciate your analysis. Keep up the good work.

[yetanotherniallgirl]

An amazing "antagonist" is Jinx in the Arcane series !!!! The dynamics between her and her sister are just perfect and you understand both of their points of view
I would even say you can't really root for either of them since it's just too sad to see how their relationship collapsed

[Klaital]

My favourite villain trope which isn't done nearly enough is where at the end the hero realizes that the villain was right all along, and/or even if he they are defeated in the traditional sense, the villain ends up winning in the end. Ozymandias from Watchmen is perfect example of this.

[dianamocanu]

I feel like in Vicious Eli is a villain who thinks they’re a hero and Victor is a villain who knows they’re a villain.

[indigo]

The trope of the villain being the only one who is willing to assist the main character in reaching their full potential is reminding me a lot of Hannibal and Will, or of Erik of Phantom of the Opera. Love the trope, too!

[a.t.]

Maybe not so much of a trope, but I love it when the villain thinks "they're the hero of their own story". It changes the perspective, I feel like.

[Cephalgia-ukiw]

Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men is a great villain who is "evil for no reason". We don't know his backstory and his motivations aren't clear, but this is a big part of why he's so scary - it's the fear of the unknown because we just can't fathom why he does what he does, and makes him inhuman to the point where you almost feel like he's not even a human but some kind of a personification of evil

[lainainennui]

one of my favorite tropes is : "Villian x Hero used to be in a relationship -until x happened to ruin it for them- " and we all know they'd be an insane power couple if things worked out. Also the steamy spice scenes that come from this trope 🔥🔥 One funny example I can think of is Barnabas Collins and Angelique from Dark Shadows.

[kikihyde]

Magneto is one of my favorite villains because it's so hard to get a villain who actually has good points and proves how easy it would be for the main characters to have defected to a more "antagonistic" side. He challenges the status quo and pokes holes in the X-Men's reasons for fighting and is often able to persuade members to convert to the brotherhood. He has the right ideas but the wrong execution and you often end up rooting for him when the "good guys" methods just don't get things done.

[juliii_g]

My favourite movie is "catch me if you can" and I'm not even sure how to describe the dynamic between Frank Abagnale Jr. and Carl Hanratty.. Frank is a criminal but you're kinda rooting for him anyway and Carl's just doing his job so you can't fault him for that 🤔 yet they both respect each other..
This movie just makes me feel so many things 😍

[kinrateia]

I hope gender gets discussed here. You very rarely see charismatic female villains/antagonists. Makima was such a breath of fresh air for me and first time I ever understood why people liked villains at all.

[priscillacosta]

I just rewatched an anime called Monster and it's a masterclass in storytelling and the whole dynamics between heroes and villains, highly recommend!