forum The better villain.........

Started March 12, 2018 by @Paperok

tune

The relatable villain vs the tragic villain?

Relatable all the way. It's a quadrillion times more intense when you have a bond to the villain, especially when the connection is something as simple as loyalty, friend/family ties, or emotions/thoughts. Tragic villains sometimes get a bit predictable, you know?

It depends for me. They can't be TOO relatable, otherwise I'll feel like the story gets really cheesy and the author is trying too hard. But the tragic villain is almost just as bad.

One of my favorite villains ever was Meruem from HxH. He was so INTERESTING.

I like to have villains that are extremely relatable. So relatable that it can split readers as to whether or not they are actually a villain at all. Then, if they don't die in the book they are the main 'villain' of, I bring them back later as the awkward family friend who might have tried to kill the main character once or twice. One of the reasons I like Red Hood so much.

@Masterkey Mereum was such a good villain I agree!!! The Chimera Ant arc was kinda a train wreck til the end when we really started to know Mereum. He was amazing!

I prefer the relatable villain, tbh. Makes them more formidable and interesting to read about/ watch.

@writelikeyourerunningoutoftime YAY ANOTHER HXH FAN (i presume). I recently finished that series for the SECOND time and I have now decided it's my favorite anime so far. Brotherhood, Death Note, and Mob Psycho 100 are close to the top, though.

HXH is definitely my favorite anime!! It's just so solid and amazing. Brotherhood and death note are A+ too. Haven't seen Mob Psycho 100 yet but yeah. Also love AOT and my hero academia

I think relatable. It all depends on the story and what you're going for. But I've found that the more relatable the villain, it makes them more rounded and full and readers tend to like them a lot more. Like Loki from Thor, I've found he's incredibly relatable to me and I like that better than having a "tragic" Loki. I don't know, that's just my personal opinion, but it really depends on your story and where you want it to go.

Yeah I liked AOT and my hero academia too. I'm really surprised to find someone else who has HXH as their fave, it makes me happy. :D You should really watch MP100! The story and characters are so unique, and so is the (amazing) art style. It looks simplistic at first glance, but that allows for so much movement. It also switches between several different mediums, sometimes paint on glass!

HEY PEEPS!!! I AM RANDOMLY REVIVING THIS, OKAY??!!

HI LOL

I prefer an even balance of relatable and tragic. I mean, maybe the villain is relatable to the author and reader partly because of the tragic bit. I think it depends on what you want the reader's reaction to the villain to be. Though, if I had to choose, I'd go with the relatable villain instead of a purely tragic one.

@Lord_Dunconius do you mean Loki? :p

I like to make a mixture of both most of the time, along with just sticking to one or the other. It depends on what I'm writing, there's generally a time and place. You just have to examine your general plot and decide what you want to do from there, and also decide what would work best from your character's point of view if that makes any sense.