Villains Should Make Sense
Villains Should Make Sense
Some of my favorite evil doers have good motives; the most threatening thing about them isn’t that they’re powerhouses, or that they’re destructive, or they’re in charge of an evil empire. The most threatening thing about them is often that they could be right, and you might be just like them.
From Darth Vader, to Ganondorf, even to Sauron some of the best villains have well-founded and reasonable (flawed, amoral, and deeply misguided) goals and plans.
All of the examples do not justify the actions and motives of these characters or groups. These evil characters are evil: and you shouldn’t be evil.
Having rational, or explainable reasons driving characters makes them compelling and interesting. Usually this means there’s more to “play in the space.”
Ganondorf
The most cartoon villain of all of those that I’ve picked, so the analysis is short.
Ganondorf is an evil guy; he’s vibe checked by the Triforce - a gods-given, mystical, ultra-powerful artifact - which fractures when he touches it because he’s evil. Ganondorf doesn’t get much screen time in most of his appearances. Usually he shows up as the final boss and Link kicks his butt.
My favorite incarnation of him is Ocarina of Time’s Ganondorf, where he’s an outsider.
- He seeks power to enact vengeance
Essentially all his actions are driven by a singular goal of “Get the Triforce: wish for ultimate power to rule Hyrule.” Which he almost succeeds in. Technically, he only gets the power piece.
What’s telling about his “rule,” is how little he does with the power.
- Sacks Castle Town
- Brainwashes Noburo to control the Gerudo
- Enacts Genocide on the Goron and Zora (yeesh)
- Unleashes a Demon in Kakariko village to terrorize the Hylian refugees
He doesn’t really do anything to get more power. He just sits in his new castle and plays the organ. For seven years. All in all, he seems pretty happy with himself, he literally won and Link and Zelda are only able to get to him after a secretive plot.
What’s so interesting about Ganondorf is that after he gains his power, he’s content to do nothing! I’m not sure if Miyamoto and the writers at Nintendo meant to make this make sense, but literally Ganondorf wants to sit in his castle to wait for Link, because he’s already done everything he wanted to. There’s no greater power than the Triforce and beyond collecting all of the pieces there’s nothing else to get more power from.
Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire
Darth Vader is the face of a fascist dictatorship which is ruled by a sadistic and wholly evil person: Palpatine. While the empire is taking heavy queues from Nazis and British Empire tropes, they’re not simply or wholly evil robots out to kill everything in their path. They want control, they want (more) power, and they are driven by fear of losing what they have now.
Darth Vader’s story is a crystallization of these things. His drive for power and control landed him where he is now. He’s, “more machine than man,” in more ways than one, but Darth Vader isn’t wholly detached from humanity and his character shines through the shadows and rebreather.
- Driven by Fear
- Bolsters the Empire as a pathway to power
- Regrets his prior decisions
Darth Vader’s actions don’t have much depth until the final 2 movies; and it’s there that we get to see the truth behind him. Not all villains need an arc, and perhaps even fewer should have a redemption arc, but Vader’s is one of my favorites.
The Empire is also grounded in actual convictions: in a near throwaway line an admiral aboard the Death Star states that systems are rebelling and threatening rebellion. In response, Tarkin states that the fear of the Death Star will keep the people in line.
Quickly and succinctly, the drive, fears, and methods of the Empire are clear
- Driven by power: both the pursuit and the protection of it
- Dominates through use of force; mirroring the despot at the top
- Fears Rebellion and sedition
The state that Palpatine builds is a reflection of his own drive. Palpatine is wholly evil: he is selfish and only wants power to serve himself. Even so, he is a person: he’s not a demon who pops out of a chest and shouts “I’m evil!” he’s a man who sits atop a throne he’s schemed, and plotted for. He is more like a child, who once he has ultimate power simply wants to keep it for himself.
His Empire shares the same flaws. We constantly see Imperial officers plotting, scheming, abusing their inferiors, and clawing for a place at the top. All while being incredibly fearful of losing their grasp on power.
It is because of these relatable qualities, that Empire and it’s cronies are great antagonists. They’re not just evil, selfish, and terrible fascists, they’re scarily human - they’re reflections of humanity’s darkest tendencies.
Sauron
THE BBEG, Sauron the titular Lord of the Rings. He “poured all of his cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life” into the ring that the rest of the series revolves around. Sauron is the lord of darkness, but even here he has a driving ethos, which makes his decisions and his servant’s actions compelling.
Tolkien is well-known for his extensive backstories and expository notes, explaining why certain kings act the way they do, or why the halls of Moria were written in elvish, or why the ancient conjugation for two words diverged in the first Age. Seriously, the man wrote so many notes.
Sauron’s backstory is explained more by the events of the Simarillion and other notes. During the main books of The Lord of the Rings he basically never shows up, and only other characters comment on his nature and motivations.
Sauron is a manifestation of industrialized warfare. Sauron seeks, above all else, efficiency and control. His obsession for control is his strength and his weakness.
- A servant of Morgoth (even badder guy) who was created discordant with the other Valar.
- Driven by a perverse craftsmanship and order: he saw “flaws” in Eru’s creation and sought to “fix” those flaws.
- Those he “fixes” suffer: the Nazgul, the orcs, and everyone who interacts with the One Ring suffer as a result of its defiant magic.
- Sauron’s drive for the Ring is mostly practical; without it he is unable to tap into his full power.
One very interesting error that Sauron makes is that he assumes that Aragorn has the ring (why would the returned King not have it?) and focuses his attention on the Black Gate while Frodo and Sam sneak the ring into Mt. Doom (Lots of Deus ex Machina but that’s the point of the story). Sauron not realizing that two halflings were taking the ring is one of the most interesting plot twists in the story. For all his power, his legions, and his divine abilities he fell for a feint.
Sauron’s obsessive qualities, his need for the ring, his need for control spirals into his actions and servants. It’s because of this ironic flaw that Sauron isn’t only a mindless BBEG - but a fallible near-deity.
Give Your Villains Sense
The latest Star Wars trilogy really kicked this one off: the order or whatever aren’t compelling or good villains, because they’re entirely detached from any kind of reality. They simply don’t make any sense.
Sometimes it’s good to have someone who is evil for evil’s sake.
Most of the time it’s better to have at least a little depth.