Hey, writers.  I’ve done a lot of research on writing villains.  Some of it I agree with and some of I don’t.  They were all valid points though.

Hit the jump and let’s talk about the “evil” side of stories.

Okay, I’m going to try to keep this short.  There’s a lot to cover so let’s just get to it.

Right there, in the feels

Some authors maintain that we need to feel for the villain.  For instance, think of a villain that we really cared about.  For instance, Killmonger from Black Panther (Click here for my review of the movie).  We learn about his background and we care about his plight.

Many people believe that Killmonger is the best villain that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (also known as the MCU) has ever created.  I liked him and I really enjoyed Black Panther, though one could argue that The Vulture in Spider-Man Homecoming was better.  If you feel strongly one way or the other, sound off in the comments.

I enjoyed The Vulture’s character more than Killmonger.  For the record though, I enjoyed Black Panther movie more than Spider-Man Homecoming.  For what it’s worth.

But anyway.  Back to caring about villains.

A common thought is that if the audience doesn’t care about the villains then the story is lacking.  Essentially, they’re saying that if no one cares about the villain then we can or should add scenes that would make us care.

A perfect example of this would be the YouTube videos I’ve seen asking for more information/background on Supreme Leader Snoke from the movie Star Wars the Last Jedi.

Before I comment on that, I have to say that I am the last person that knows “a lot” about the Star Wars universe.  However, I did see Star Wars the Last Jedi.  So anyway, in some people’s eyes Snoke was an “inferior” villain while Joker from The Dark Knight was a superior villain.

For instance, I can tell you Joker’s world view.  As so perfectly summed up from Alfred Pennyworth:  “[S]ome men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

There’s a scene where Joker is literally setting fire to a pile of money.  Even his own henchmen don’t understand what’s going on.

Now I don’t remember Snoke’s worldview too well but I imagine it’s pretty generic.  He wants more power and he wants to kill his enemies.  Someone who believes in “better” villains would dump on Snoke.  For instance, Snoke could reasonably interchanged with Red Skull from Captain America for instance.  Now, there isn’t any kind of glowing blue cube in The Last Jedi, but I think you know what I mean, writers.  And by virtue of being interchangeable, he is instantly a terrible villain.

So on one level, I agree with the writers’ POV of Joker being better than Snoke, but I don’t think it’s that simple.  For instance, Joker better than Snoke?  Definitely.  Heath Ledger’s Joker will go down in history as one of the best villains of all time (for some people he already is).  So:

1 +1 = ?

Joker > Snoke?  Yes.

Joker > say…Xenomorphs?  Not sure.

Now, according to the point of view that villains need to have more back story to be better villains and be more memorable, then the xenomorphs would fail miserably.  (Xenomorphs are the “Alien” aliens from the movies.  They’re all black and have acidic blood.)

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the various Alien movies.  I’m referring to Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997). Not so much the later movies Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017).  But if I remember correctly, the later movies were the only ones that actually talked about the background of the “villains” in the films.  Also, Joker talks about his background and even changes his background.  So even in that case, he doesn’t make a good example.

But still, Joker > Snoke?  Yes.

I remember long ago talking to my friend.  He’s a big Star Wars fan (4,5,6, not the rest).  And I remember telling him, “Yo, I’m sorry, man.  For me, all I know is:  Star Wars 1 means Darth Maul = cool.”

(Essentially, I was saying that chunks of the Star Wars universe was lost on me and “that dude with the double lightsaber” stood out.)

So my friend told me about this one theme park.  There were two sections.  One was something in the Star Wars universe and the other thing was some kind of Darth Maul thing.  He was saying that the Darth Maul side had a much, much longer line.  I’m blurring the details, but I think my point stands:  Darth Maul stood out amongst a cast of Jedi and Sith.

Here’s the thing though, we don’t know anything about Darth Maul (officially, that is, from the movie).  I think there were other kinds of coverage of Maul in books or comics or something, but from the movie we don’t know much.

Now, a much deeper question:

Joker > Darth Maul?  [crickets chirping]

For me, I’m a huge Batman fan and I don’t really follow Star Wars, so I know the answer to this one.  But I imagine if you posed this question to other fans/people/writers, the answer might not be so easy.  Despite what some other authors might say, I cannot agree wholeheartedly that more backstory instantly makes for a better villain.

So writers, remember the things about Joker.  He’s the villain with the in-depth worldview, the one with the dark and effective actions, and the one with the sharp dialogue.

Regarding Darth Maul.  Keep in mind he spoke less than fifty words in that entire movie.  He also never gave any of his own background nor was there anyone stating his background for him.

Writers, let’s make it simple:  Joker > Darth Maul?

Sound off in the comments!

Aloha,
Alvin

P.S.  Your quote of the day:  “They say the first ten years of writing are lonely” — Anonymous
P.P.S.  That’s why we’re going to do this together, writers.  It’s a long trek, but we can do this!