Playing Favorites: Five Of My Favorite Villains

Nearly every story needs a striking antagonist. Whether he's a truly evil villain or a circumstantial force working against the hero, his role is pivotal. It creates conflict and provides an interesting storyline - if done right. The best villains give you as many feelings as the heroes - hatred, sympathy, and sometimes the confusion of 'wait, is he bad or not?' I'm going to talk about five of my favorites, and why I appreciate them so much in spite of their villainy status.

GWI

(Lee Soo-Hyuk)

Scholar Who Walks the Night

A vampire who secretly runs the country from the shadows behind the throne, I love Gwi for many reasons (not the least of which is the fact Lee Soo-Hyuk is one of my favorite people). He's deliciously exaggerated but not to the point where he discredits himself. He's a luscious villain; beautiful, graceful, pouty, with that perfectly classic mixture of childish selfishness and ancient wrath. In some ways, his viewpoint is one of righteous indignation, which lends him a certain kind of sympathy.

SHISHIO

(Tatsuya Fujiwara)

The Rurouni Kenshin Live-Action Trilogy

Shishio is one of those villains who comes from an understandable - even heartbreaking - viewpoint. He was betrayed by the nation he fought for, brutally stabbed multiple times and left to burn alive. A miraculous survivor, his hatred and revenge for the nation who destroyed him make very painful sense, no matter how horrible his means are.

ADAM

(Burn Gorman)

Forever

Adam was my favorite character in the whole of 'Forever.' An immortal looking for a  way to die but afraid of death just the same, Adam was delightfully intriguing. Occasionally vicious and even brutal, he possessed an aloof self-confidence and a polite, classic demeanor that made him impossible to hate. He had a dry sense of humor, a clever, almost mischievous desire to find out what made Henry tick, and a somewhat twisted but strangely sensible moral code.

 

 PETER PAN

(Robbie Kay)

Once Upon a Time

 Pan is one of my all-time favorite villains - anyone who knows me at all is well aware of my love for this character. I'm a fan of twisted fairytales to begin with, and this is by far my favorite twisted childhood character. Patient, annoyingly clever, unbearably cocky, and frequently downright despicable, he was so purely enjoyable to watch that he was impossible to hate. Not to mention, he had killer eyebrows and a sassy sense of humor that was beautiful to behold.

Kang Do-Young

(Shin Sung-Rok)

 

Liar Game

 

 

Do-Young was an instant favorite and actually the reason I started 'Liar Game' in the first place. The psychopathic MC of a reality television show where contestants lie and betray in order to win money, Do-Young is incredibly intelligent and strategic. He is an elegant predator who is revealed, bit by bit, for what he really is. These revelations make it impossible to hate him. There are reasons for why he is the way he is, and as heartbreaking as Do-Young is, he's a joy to watch. Bonus: he interrupts his own speeches with evil laughter, and it isn't weird at all.

 

Who is your favorite villain, and why?