The+Villain

**//The Villain //**

[[image:Cartoon_Villain_Pic.jpg width="148" height="196" align="right"]]
In order for there to be light, there must be darkness. In order for there to be a peace, there must be war. In order for there to be a hero, there definitely must be a villain. Villains are the cause, in the situation of a cause and effect. There cannot be a hero to a story if there is no villain to act as an obstacle in the hero’s way. There is no possibility of a hero that does nothing and fights no one, otherwise he/she cannot be a hero. When a hero’s quest is written, the antagonist is just as important to the story as protagonist and in most cases the antagonist is the villain. A thug, criminal, psycho, or outlaw still contains that evil that every villain posses. For thousands of years, stories have been recited, telling a hero’s legendary conquest to destroy a villain or advocate of evil. The villain is key to a story. In order for there to be good, some must be bad, and typically this bad is held by the unimaginable and cruel villain.

What is the true meaning of a villain? Most of us perceive the villain as the antagonist, but in some cases, the villain can be the protagonist. Basically, the villain exists as the opposite and foe of the hero. The villain archetype can be divided into several categories such as the anti-villain, archenemy, dark lord, evil twin, mad scientist, super villain, tragic villain, trickster, lackey, secondary villain, and powerful/respectful villain.

The characteristics of the villain archetype differ among each subdivision. The anti-villain might pursue a heroic goal, but his or her way of achieving it is sinful. On the other hand, the archenemy presents a challenge towards the main hero. The ominous dark lord hunts for new ways to control the universe. An evil twin may look like the hero, but his or her intentions are wicked. By using the hazardous effects of science, the mad scientist commits several crimes and creates horrid creatures. Super villains possess super natural powers and weapons, causing them to provide a great threat to the hero. Because the tragic villain cannot fully control his or her emotions, he or she carries out evil deeds. While the other archetypes pose great threats, the trickster acts annoyingly and light-heartedly, rather than dangerously. The lackey takes orders from a greater villain whereas the secondary villain is distinguished as the main villain’s “right-hand man.” Lastly, the powerful/respectful villain is identified as a crooked businessman or politician who menaces the existing state or condition. Even though each subdivision is unique, all of them are connected under the fact that they are **villains**.

The archetypal villain character is important to any story because it provides the main obstacle for the hero to tackle. The villain can be anything in the story, from a natural disaster to a maniacal psychopath, but the story **must** have a villain. Think of Batman without the Joker or Dr. Jekyll without Mr. Hyde. If there is no villain in a story, then the story is not worth telling.

Real Life: Adolf Hitler



** Other: Starscream ** Starscream, the Decepticon Air Commander, can be considered a secondary villain. In the animated series, before Starscream became a Decepticon, he worked as a scientist with the Autobot Jetfire. When Jetfire disappeared on one of the missions, Starscream traveled back to Cybertron and enrolled in Megatron’s Decepticon Army. Eventually, Starscream rose to the top, achieving the position of second-in-command. Although Starscream acts like Megatron’s right-hand man, Starscream contains no loyalty. In fact, he plans to overthrow Megatron. However, his efforts are useless, and he rarely succeeds when fighting against the opposing Autobots. Starscream, over periods of time, controlled the Decepticons, but the almighty Megatron always ended up defeating him. Starscream thinks highly of himself, but Megatron does not see him as a serious threat.




 * Literature: Voldemort **

Pop Culture: The Green Goblin

The Green Goblin, also known as Norman Osborn, plays the role of a super villain in the movie //Spider-Man//. Osborn, an intelligent scientist and head of Oscorp, a company dedicated to making a “super human”, is given a short time limit for a certain experiment, causing him to test the experiment on himself. This results in him becoming the actual “Green Goblin”. With his new found powers, Osborn decides to kill all the people who had threatened Oscorp. Insanity and mental issues also come with these amazing powers. When Spider-Man sets out to stop the Green Goblin, the Goblin instantly develops a liking for Spider-Man. Most villains do not like their enemies, but in this case, the Green Goblin sees Spider-Man as the son he always desired. He asks Spider-Man to join him, but when Spider-Man refuses, war breaks out. In the end, both of them are surprised when they discover the other’s true identity. Norman Osborn dies, but the Green Goblin does not.


 * Pop Culture:The Joker **



 **Other : Assef **  In the novel, //The Kite Runner,// a character that causes much distress and shows his cruelty and wickedness falls to the name Assef. Assef’s actions throughout his life label him as an extreme villain. As a child, the reader can see that Assef has the potential to be an insane man in the future. Almost all of his actions exemplify his psychosis. One example includes his childhood. He commits the act of rape on another child. Despite even Assef’s companions telling him not to do this unforgivable act, Assef goes on and rapes the child anyway. The victim of rape falls under the category of a Hazara, who are considered the worst class of society. Assef hates the Hazaras and wishes to exterminate them from Afghanistan. Another example from Assef’s childhood shows him giving a book about Hitler to the protagonist. He worships the Hitler book and wants Afghanistan to eventually be ruled just as Nazi Germany was ruled. This just shows how much of a lunatic Assef is even as a child. In his adult life, Assef leads a group that murders thousands of Hazaras. He also molests hundred of children that he buys from an orphanage. The acts of Assef are so outrageous and unbelievable that he earns the title of villain without competition. Throughout the novel, Assef shows absolutely no emotion or feelings of love for anyone, and this may be the reason he ages to be such a disturbed human being. Assef’s tyranny and despotism makes him the ultimate villain in //The Kite Runner//.



= Norse Mythology: The Trickster God Loki = Loki is often identified as the main villain in Norse mythology. Even though Loki, the son of Odin, started out as a friend of Thor, his practical jokes made him a major hindrance. As time progressed, Loki’s jokes became more wicked. He eventually murders the god Baldr. Classified as a tragic villain, Loki is not completely evil because he killed Baldr not for evil purposes but for amusement. He is still a villain because after he killed Baldr, he opposed various other gods, including Thor, and acted as their main adversary.

** Real Life: Idi Amin Dada ** In history, not many people have acted as cruel as Idi Amin Dada. Idi Amin is definitely one of the greatest examples of a villain because he was a bloodthirsty dictator. During his reign as President of Uganda, Idi Amin was held responsible for the torturing and killing of about one million of his own people. Although he was not as "successful" as Hitler in his plans, many of Amin's torture techniques were simply barbaric, such as burying people in hot coals so that only their heads painfully protruded. The cruelty and inhumanity in his actions makes Idi Amin one of the most horrendous real-life villains.

** Literature Villain: Mr. Hyde **

Villains do not get much more classic than Mr. Hyde. When the famous scientist Dr. Jekyll drinks a potion of his own creation, he is transformed into a shorter, younger, and uglier version of himself. Mr. Hyde is one of the most interesting villains because he lives inside the hero and represents all of the bad in Dr. Jekyll magnified. While Dr. Jekyll is intoxicated with the potion and transformed into Mr. Hyde, he commits a series of heinous crimes, including assault and many accounts of murder. Existing inside one of the nicest men, Mr. Hyde simply oozes evil and makes a fantastic villain.


 * Google Doc Research Link: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AaMm0Eiirx5GZGRxNzdqOWtfMGR6dmNnaGZk&hl=en **

Works Cited   1.Boddy-Evans, Alistair. "African History." //African History //. The New York Times, 5 Jan. 2009. Web. 19 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

2. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Times,sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Cotton, Darese. "Villains We Love to Hate." //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Gabrielle Luthy //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">. Gabrielle Luth, 22 Apr. 2007. Web. 14 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">2.

3. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"Encylopedia of Greek Mythology: Sisyphus." <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',sans-serif; line-height: normal;">//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">www.mythweb.com // <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: normal;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2009.<http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/gallery/sisyphus_c.html>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">4."The Myth of Sisyphus." <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',sans-serif; line-height: normal;">//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">SparkNotes // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Sept. 2009. <http://www.sparknotes.com/ philosophy/sisyphus/section11.rhtml>

5. <span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 22px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Short, William R. "Loki." //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Hurstwic //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">. William R. Short, 14 Sept. 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2009. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: small; line-height: 18px;"><http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/mythology/myths/text/loki.htm>. article_print.php?articleName=villains>.

6. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: normal;">"Villain." <span style="font-family: 'Courier New',sans-serif; line-height: normal;">//<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">www.Reference.com // <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; line-height: normal;">. www.ask.com, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2009. <http://www.reference.com/ browse/wiki/Villain> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">


 * PICTURES (in order of appearance on screen):

Cartoon Villain: http://www.liquidmatrix.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/villain.jpg

Hitler: ** http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2158911/2159086/2159087/070221_CL_HitlerEX.jpg

Starscream: http://graysmatter.codivation.com/content/binary/starscream.jpg

Voldemort: http://thetorchonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/voldemort2.jpg

The Green Goblin: http://thecarter.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/the-green-goblin.jpg

The Joker: http://comixtalk.com/files/images/The%20Joker.jpg

Assef: http://www.cinemotions.net/data/artistes/05/0506/606/1/h200/abdul_salamyusoufzai_1.jpg

Loki: http://en.wikivisual.com/images/4/46/Manuscript_loki.jpg

Idi Amin Dada: http://top-10-list.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Idi-Amin-Dada.jpg

Mr. Hyde: http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/Hyde%20Cam%20Kennedy.jpg