Katrina’s Sunday Six – Villains We Love to Hate

This week’s picks took a little work. Do I always say that? I tend to focus on the heroes and heroines, but great villains sure contribute to a strong story, don’t they? They create obstacles, increase the conflict for the hero and heroine, and give them something to unite against. They also give the reader someone to root against and to rejoice over when they get their comeuppance.

In no particular order, my “favorite” villains are:

Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling – Who doesn’t hate Voldemort, yet he’s a perfect evil lord for Harry and his friends to fight against. I love how Rowling introduces more details about his past as the story goes on, so that we learn how he came to be so evil. His determination to conquer all and destroy Harry unnerves me. I don’t know how Harry will defeat him, but I know that he must, and I’ll continue to fly through those pages until the end.

Prince Humperdinck, The Princess Bride, by William Goldman – He’s snivelly, conniving and weak. He arranges a marriage to Buttercup so that he can stage her kidnapping and death in order to justify a war with another kingdom. He has Westley killed so he can’t stop his marriage to Buttercup and more importantly her murder that night, again so he can start that war. He’s a rat of the gutter variety, and I absolutely love it when Westley, weak from dying, intimidates him into submission in the end. His cowardice is delightful to watch.

Adam Black, Beyond the Highland Mist, by Karen Marie Moning – Adam is absolutely gorgeous, but with an evil streak. We’re not sure that it would be so bad to be seduced by him, but we know Adrienne belongs with Hawk, and Adam makes that so difficult for them both. He interferes, he manipulates and drives the struggling couple apart before they find their way back to each other. Of course, as most villains do, he loses in the end in a most satisfying manner. Later on, he’s the hero of one of my favorite Moning books, and it’s a delight to see him fall in love and go through all those wonderful struggles himself.

Daniel Cleaver, Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding – I’m thinking more of the movie version here, as I haven’t read the entire novel, but either way, what a great character. He’s not your ordinary evil villain, but he’s the guy that continuously, intentionally gets in the way of the love developing between Bridget and Mark Darcy. Oh, and let us not forget that he slept with Mark’s former bride-to-be shortly before the wedding if I recall. What a cad. But he’s fun and delicious and we see how Bridget gets drawn in time after time. Not that we aren’t delighted when he’s finally defeated, and Bridget and Mark finally share that lovely, albeit chilly, kiss in the snow.

I think that’s it for me on villains. I could probably come up with two more if I spent more time at it, but I’m letting Voldemort count for two since he’s in all of those Potter books and, with that logic, our charming Mr. Cleaver should count for two as well.

I especially like a fleshed out villain with some kind of redeeming trait – those characters whom we sense could have been good if it wasn’t for circumstance or a twist of fate that turned them along the way. I also like a glimpse of my own tendencies manifest in them, however difficult it may be to admit it, which helps me to understand them better, and possibly fear them more.

Katrina