Popular Villains

1592 Words4 Pages

Villains, super or otherwise, fictional or real are surprisingly popular for being such bad people. In a world where you have serial killers and rapists on death row getting fan mail and getting married, it become clear that there is something intriguing about villainy. There are many possible explanations for why fictional villains are cool, but historical super villains like Hitler are found all over the media. Hitler is not loved, but definitely is popular. If villains are defined by being evil, does that make evil popular?

Villain comes from the word from the Latin word for farmhand (Villain). Villain became known how it is today because of people using the word to imply that they were lowly people. Farmhands were of a less noble status and there for perceived to be more likely to do things that were un-chivalrous like murder theft or rape. For the purpose of this essay we will define them as people who intentionally cause immense suffering or death by direct action such as murder, or indirectly such as freeing murderers from prison. The character of Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs is an example of a regular villain, he is criminal, murderous and enjoys to torture people. To distinguish villains from super villains, villains work on a small scale and do not need a hero to stop them.

What separates villains from super villains? “Oh, you're a villain alright. Just not a super one.” Megamind says to Titan to which Titan’s response was “Oh yeah? What's the difference?”Megamind replies “Presentation”(Megamind).Super villains have a larger scope of the hell that they are going to break loose and are more capable of breaking said hell. Super villains do not necessarily have to cause suffering or death, as lon...

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...al boss in the face, taking his wallet, and buying a big lavish new bed in which you can sleep in until noon. Many people have things that they wish to do but lack the guts or ambition to actually act on it. Villains know the consequences but that does not stop them, they are an inspiration to us all. Luke Skywalker asks Yoda if the dark side was stronger “No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.” Was his reply. (Star Wars)

Works Cited

Megamind. Dir. Tom McGrath. Perf. Will Ferrel. DreamWorks Animation, 2010. DVD.

Spider-Man, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. 2009, Activision

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Dir. Irvin Kershner. By Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan. Perf. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Billy Dee Williams. 20th Century-Fox, 1997.

"Villain." Home : Oxford English Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011. .

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