Make Way for the Bad Guy: My Analysis on Villains

            It’s common knowledge that the bad guy is (almost) always cooler than the hero. They possess the unique personalities, the neat weapons, the cool outfits, and (more often than not) no morals to follow by. They break the law, and don’t care. They threaten humanity just to get a few laughs. They beat the hero's sidekick to death with a crowbar just so they can make a joke about it later. Compared to everyone around them, they’re monsters (sometimes literally) that care for nothing, no one, nada, zilch, zero, not even themselves sometimes. Yet despite all that they do, all the horrific scenes they cause, we still watch with pure amusement from their terrible, bloody feats. Why? It could be because that society has grown accustomed to associating violence with entertainment. That through media, we have been twisted, molded to a sadistic nature that loves seeing buildings explode, people shot to death, teenagers slaughtered with machetes, and so on. Maybe we ourselves have been influenced to accept a villainous mindset not unlike those merciless fiends  spreading chaos in television & books everywhere…or maybe it’s just because they look bad-ass and have the coolest scenes/dialogue. Seems to be the case with Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight, at least.

Villains are meant to be the inverse of the heroes; standing for everything they’re against, crossing lines they would never dare to pass. Whether it’s the Joker killing people to spite Batman, or the evil Moriarty using his genius against the heroic Sherlock Holmes, they have no problem doing what the good guy won’t. They symbolize the darkness that resides in all people, but without the resistance of a conscience and concern of the consequences for their actions. And because of that, we find them just as interesting (if not more so) as the hero, loving them in our own sick, little way. I’m no exception to this, so I’ve decided to make a list of my favorite 10 villains, along with the first five runner-ups. So I guess technically it’s a top 15, but you can just shut-up because it’s hard to make just a top ten list, especially since there’s more villains out there than fish in the sea. Screw it, it’s my Top 15 now. Hope you’re happy. Anyway, why did I decide to make this list? Well, because this is all part of a master plan to use hypnotic suggestions projected through your computer screen that will make you transfer any monetary funds you have to me after you fall asleep. Also, I need a break from writing my new script, and wanted to give this whole blog thing a try. Too keep from overwhelming any audience I might have, I’ll post one analysis a day until the list is complete. That’s 15 days, so let’s get started.