Jesus, I didn’t import one of the images properly. Sorry for the grey screen 😐

@wisher77

6 жыл бұрын

i loved it, felt like a meme ;)

@davidgoldman9351

5 жыл бұрын

Sauron certainly does NOT want to end the world. And by the time of the action in TLOTR he's not that powerful personally without the ring. But your first 3 premises DO apply to Ishamael :(

Smart villains are way more interesting than powerful or evil villains (ex: Hannibal Lecter, Moridin, the Joker).

@leviathan7751

6 жыл бұрын

but to be fair, Moridin would rather count as an evil/powerfull villain, because he does not behave very smart in general

@matthewsmith4647

5 жыл бұрын

Hannibal is the best of all final boss villains. Also the bad guy lord in Hunchback of Notre dame

@satanbrony9235

4 жыл бұрын

@@matthewsmith4647 in Disney's version? Or the actual one?

@matthewsmith4647

4 жыл бұрын

@@satanbrony9235 both really but the Disney version hes actually worse imo

@MrParkerman6

3 жыл бұрын

If they aren't evil- they aren't really a villain, dumbass.

In the fantasy series I'm writing I have two main villains and two main heroes. One of the villains starts out as a hero, a noble knight who meets a golden lady, a kind of arthurian, Bretonnian inspired godess. He turns into a paladin and starts a new knightly order with very good ideals of justice for all. However, the true main villain, who is inspired by Palpatine in Star Wars and Littlefinger in A Song of Ice and Fire, slowly corrupts him and turns him into a villain, with the turning point being the total construction of the Paladin order. The paladin master then comes to the conlusion that there is no hope for this savage, world war ravaged world. Now he wants his godess to invade the world with an army of angels, to bring a total theocratic dictatorship to the world. To make it perfect this time. An extra conflict to all this is that he a lover to one of the main heroes, and he still loves her deeply, despite also loving his godess. The Palpatine inspired villain meanwhile stands for total chaos. He wants to liberate all those who are worthy - people who have no moral compass - so they can do whatever they want whenever. Kill, brutalize, steal, rape, and so on and so forth. Like the Joker in Batman, thematically he wants to corrupt and/or destroy all institutions, just to show how brutal the world really is, and how we should embrace that brutality for the fun of it. He is a master of intrigue that starts a world war by manipulating all events and all nations in secret. He also counter manipulates the good guys so that when they think they are doing the right thing, they just play into his hands. His ultimate goal is that he and all those he considers worthy can have total dominion of the world. Only then do they have 100% freedom to do exactly what they want. Some of the richest and most powerful people follows him in secret, out of fear, power and personal gain. Others are just "foot solders", people who have lost everything and now wants an excuse to burn the world down. Meanwhile the two main heroes, a female knight and her daughter, will try to forge a middle path between those extremes. They must try to stop all the chaos and the world war. They are seekers, with magic powers of dreams, foresight and intuition. They must learn to hone that craft, as well as the other forms of magic, and spread the truth. To bring the world into balance. My first book is actually finished and I'm just awaiting words from different publishing houses and so on. Unfortunately though if anyone here wants to read it, it's in swedish, since that is my native language. Maybe it will be translated one day though. :)

@drakeevans8042

4 жыл бұрын

Nice

@jegangunnithan4565

3 жыл бұрын

Nice!!

Villains I love are those who believe they are right without the sake of being evil, each side of War paints the Other as the Enemy so it works well, and especially if the Villain personally knows the Protagonist. That or Functional Villains are good too, if the Story is about the Hero's journey, to me having a great Hero arc takes more priority so having somone as the Palpatine works as long as there is a Emotion Connection/Anchor Ex:Vader

@MrParkerman6

3 жыл бұрын

If they aren't evil- they aren't really a villain, dumbass.

@i0xiaY

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrParkerman6 not really. a character can be seen as a villain by the protagonist as long as they aren’t on the same side. or what can be even more interesting when the villain and the hero are in the same boat, but hero hates the villain due to some personal statements

The relationship to the protagonist is the biggest aspect of a good villain for me. Even if they don't know each other personally, how the villain effects the protagonist as well as the rest of the good guys is key.

I think Griffith/Femto is a great villain. Because he’s not. He’s a character on a heroes journey that you cheer him on for and then you instantly hate him.

@bonedrewd8241

4 жыл бұрын

thank you, i mean he´s definetly a villain, but hes one of the best villains of all time

@cloudberry7241

2 жыл бұрын

AHHH HE BROKE MY HEART AND SOUL JUST TOO MUCHH

I thinks its a good idea to have wide variety of villains. Game of thrones just ended so i'll use that as an example, there are villains like Cersei and Tywin who certainly do bad things but are still human and you can kind of see where they're coming from. Then there are characters like Joffrey, Ramsay and the Mountain who have no redeemable qualities, but are nevertheless very entertaining to watch and you can't wait to see them finally killed off. Finally there are villains who embody a non human existential threat, like the White walkers (the way they ended up kind of sucked but in their original conception I mean).

Awesome rant! You raise some excellent points about creating (or trying to create) great villains.

One of the most interesting villians I've ever encountered was Hrathen from Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. He believes what he is doing is right, and his goal is to save people, even if he has to destroy others along the way, and in the end he is redeemed.

Very interesting video Daniel! I really liked King Joffrey as a villain, definitely one of the best. Looking forward to the next video.

Agree with Mangneto and Xavier. I think it's even more appropriate when Magneto becomes a "good person", he makes a better character and he's always more interesting. It also helps that Charles Xavier is a dick XD

excellent!!! Great insight

thank you for the advice. I'll have to use it in my book. 😁

I’m surprised you didn’t mention Joffrey 😅

@Gnomleif

3 жыл бұрын

A year late to the proverbial party and all that, but yes. I fucking _hated_ that sniveling, manipulative, cowardly bastard! He got on my nerves in a way few other villains have managed to do, and he's one of the first that pops into my mind whenever someone is talking about well written villains.

Actually, at the moment the strongest and worst trope is not a Superbad Lord of the Darkness. When I started WoT some time ago and saw there's "The Dark One" it even felt... Refreshing. Everybody's actually trying to jump on the "relatable villain" train, but man, the execution... One by one, a parade of villains who, as it suddenly turns out, were screwed up as kids/betrayed by friends/hurt by some big-bad-but-not-quite organization and now they're smashing everything because "justice!"...I just feel like the authors try so hard to persuade us that we should pity the villains and understand them, that it makes me want to do exactly the opposite. The trope is so beaten to death and so unsubtly used, that it ruins most superheroes movies for me. I usually enjoy these a lot until the final showdown, when all that "you're fighting one the wrong side" crap happens. Why does it always have to be the "villain of the episode" scheme anyway...?

What if the villain is the one trying to save the world, but everyone thinks he's this bad person because of how he's trying to save it (something similar to Ozymandias in Watchmen)?

@spsawyer22

5 жыл бұрын

What if the villain is known as the Devil, but it turns out he was also Jesus? The Hunter is best damn villain ever short of Heath Ledger Joker.

@SH-qs7ee

5 жыл бұрын

The Zealot and the Savior villain tropes tend to be my favorite, the ones that honestly believe they have a higher purpose than thier own pettiness and greed. Ozymandius is a great example of this.

@MrParkerman6

3 жыл бұрын

If they aren't evil- they aren't really a villain, dumbass.

@millerjames908

3 жыл бұрын

The Lord Ruler

As a Brazilian it took me some seconds to get that "little Z from the City of God" was Zé Pequeno from Cidade de Deus, we're so used to think of foreign media that I was trying to remember any Hollywood movie called City of God. Excellent reference, thanks from seeing it here.

May I use the elements that you mentioned here about how to make a great villain in my own novel? I am thinking of ways to deepen the characters that I am writing about

excellent video! I totally agree with you. Have you ever considered writing your own stories? I think you could be great

Gerald Tarrant is the best villain I've ever read. Haven't checked out some of the series you've reviewed though.

Whilst complexe and relatable villains are good and compelling, pure evil villains when done right can also be compelling and fun to watch. I do agree with many of your points but it does annoy me when people deny the value a good written pure evil villains can have and claim the concept is "uninteresting"

Great video. I'm team = unrelatable villain. Give me Frieza, Skeletor, The Night King (minus season 8), Scar, Frank Underwood (minus Kevin Spacey), Hans Landa, and the Joker over everything.

@drakeevans8042

4 жыл бұрын

I'm with you all the way I find dark Lord's a pure evil sorcerer or a sniviling manipulative advisor far more injoyable than a misunderstood were not so different im the real hero grey villain. There so overrated.

@MovieEnforcer

3 жыл бұрын

Judge Frollo is WAY WAY WAY worse than Scar.

Daniel would absolutely roast this guy's bookshelf.

Villains are the worst characters to be in a work of fiction cuz as a villain, it doesn't matter if you're the most powerful, smartest or most interesting character in the setting, chances are that you're gonna lose. Heck it doesn't even matter if the story is told from your perspective, the heroes are gonna win one way or another. So the best villains for me are the ones who are smart and by smart, I don't mean being a living dictionary or solving a rubrics cube blindfolded, no. By smart I mean that the villain's actions consistently make sense within the narrative. I've seen too many cases where "smart" villains get defeated bcuz they made incredibly stupid decisions just for the sake of the plot.

Hey, Daniel, I am having the first villain in my book series be what amounts to the living embodiment of evil, at least as far as a mortal individual can be, but I was thinking that certain traits that she has would pick up the slack for the lack of interest, such as how the evil that is this character (Whose forces would amount to a moderately-sized group of bandits) affects the world around her, not just through these people, but as she affects these very people. What's more, she's meant to be a figure that has gone through a rags-to-riches story, and with these riches, she aims for more based on an insatiable desire for more. Further in the story, it's to be revealed that her desires were manipulated through a more relatable villain later on. My question is this: Should I make her a great villain, or should I make her someone who is merely deplorable and is, in the end, a distraction from the main antagonist, who will not be pure evil, who will be fleshed out, and who will have redeemable qualities that make him, as he is, a person who will in fact tempt the hero into joining his own side, and not through a temptation of power or gain, but through an argument that will in the end make his goal seem to be not just honorable, but objectively better than the goal of the main antagonist's enemies?

Artemis Entreri is a good example (if I spelled that right (from legend of drizzt)) he has a complete arc, which was very interesting

@zachbreth9696

4 жыл бұрын

Artemis is also very much a dark mirror held to Drizzt. He ends up being a far more interesting character as he develops. Some of Salvatore's best writing imo

Taravangian is another example of a good villain.

@edgardtheknowledgekeeper3119

6 жыл бұрын

Luis Zomarriba Absolutely! I think I'd enjoy a video on his character.

@asmasedai3377

6 жыл бұрын

Yesss! 100% agreed!!!

@danielburow8538

5 жыл бұрын

I personally believe he is still a hero.

What if the villain is a sort of cosmic type villain like in Stranger Things season 2, or like something from Lovecraft? I also haven't read King's IT yet, but I have seen the movie and the villain in that seemed to be pretty great. Would you say there are certain things that make a villain like that great too?

@DanielGreeneReviews

6 жыл бұрын

Absolutely yes, but lumping then in with standard villains is wrong in my opinion. Cosmic villains play on our instinctual fears. They fall into a whole other video.

@jedscratchard1204

6 жыл бұрын

Hm word up buttercup

@edgardtheknowledgekeeper3119

6 жыл бұрын

Jed Scratchard That was a good question. Also hello. It's rare for me to find another person named Jed.

@jedscratchard1204

6 жыл бұрын

Jedidiah Wingard Holy shit bro. You’re only the second other person I’ve ever met in all my 18 years named Jed. (Well I guess not necessarily “met”)

@edgardtheknowledgekeeper3119

6 жыл бұрын

Jed Scratchard Same man. It's a rare name. It's really cool. I saw your name in the Q&A of this guy's channel and freaked out. Never met anyone by the name in my seventeen years.

I recently read You by Caroline Kepnes, this book is told in the form of a stalkers perspective. throughout the book i found myself feeling bad for "the villain" I didnt like how it made me feel. i know he is evil but i sympathize with him. its a blurred line. I would like to know your thoughts on this. I kinda relate it to crime such as a rape or simple violation. If his background is relatable and you feel sorry for him its a lesser punishment or less time in jail.

I agree and disagree. I´d say that there are many ways to write a villain. I love most of my favorite villains all for different reasons. DIO and Darth Vader for their precence, Yoshikage Kira and Hannibal Lecter for their psychology and how they play in society, Meruem for his character arc, Grandadmiral Thrawn and Garou for their Ideology, Pain and Johann Liebert for their Philosophy. A great Villain can have many different shapes, the one thing they have in commen, is that they suit there story and have lots of work put into them. I think this is the most importaint thing. But maybe thats just me

@amogus1415

3 жыл бұрын

Ah i see a fellow man of culture

I found the emperor a better villain than Killmonger. Like the joker you never know Palpatine's origin story, other than he is sith, in charge and infiltrated the republic. What's great about the emperor is he lets others' weakness be their own demise. Whether it's overconfidence, ideology, hatred, etc. he lets those he's entrapping be the author of their own defeat. Plus he doesn't resort to violence until the killing stroke is at hand. Killmonger, on the other hand is more relatable in his origin but that doesn't make his story that interesting. It's predictable, refers to clichés of fight the power, and frankly has an anticlimactic ending after the movie build-up.

Awesome

@digitsdigitsdigits808

6 жыл бұрын

Griffith did nothing wrong

@berserker8884

6 жыл бұрын

Hahaha. One of the best villains!

Raistlin Majere is one of my favorite villains from fantasy series.

What camera are you using??

@DanielGreeneReviews

6 жыл бұрын

Just the camera on my 2013 macbook air cause I cant get anything better right now.

2:30 I believe this worked quite well with Katherine Pierce(Villain) and Elaina(Hero) in the vampire diaries

El Sueno, he believes that crimes against humanity are reasonable to achieve your goals. But he also believes you shouldn't lie because then your committing atrocities against yourself. He knows he's terrible, But he won't lie to himself or others. This mindset has always interested me.

I prefer the villains with a backstory that explains why they did those actions than the "I'm just evil" ones. The Ni No Link games do just that. For example, if no one has the will to fight, how are wars made? And ban the weapons used in the war, this being magic? Then, giving into dispare and darkness seeing no good in the world.

I'd add king Joffrey and Lucius Malfoy to the hatable villains, as well as the witchers Leo Bonhart; you sort of understand why they are the way they are, but the way they are you'd love to punch their noses in

I think Joffrey is one of the best S.O.B. characters ever done

Sometimes Smart Villains they are more based on weapons That are powerful, not That The Villain is powerful. That's a Weakness when it comes about battle face to face. So, powerful Villains are a great Idea. But...The Story is very Important.

I know some people cried when Loki died. I always wanted to write the villian being write. What do you think of Syndrone in the Incredibles? He wasn't even wrong in his idea. If everyone had super powers, nobody would be super. If you watched "The Watchmen", you would have to agree super powers make a person bad. The Nazis had the cult of the heros. The german soldier was blond, good looking, brave, and totally evil. When World War two started, many Americans wanted to fight, and the American military could except the very best men. These golden boys joined in the thousands, but Golden boys have never really face true hardship, and they cracked. When the American Golden boys started coming home in sacks, the Golden boys stop joining up, and they had to draft people. Now with people not wanting to be in the war, the American military had to take what they could get. Those men that were drafted after the Golden boys refused to join, and were homosexual, the mental ill, and criminals. History doesn't like to remember who won the second world war, but it was our societies rejects. Check out the book, "A First Rate Madness" .

@Kikilang60

5 жыл бұрын

Want to know how to write a villian. Watch Stephen King's "Christine" There are parts where Christine kills people, and I want to cheer. When Chistine dies, it's horrible.

I still have to say that most villains are pretty simple on surface and I dont think that this is necessarily bad. Sauron, Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, Voldemort etc. are not that interesting but the story surely is

Interesting: you said unless you are Tolkien, the villain just wanting to destroy the world will not work. BUT: Sauron didn't want to destroy the world, but rather enslave everyone. And since you are a big fan of the WoT series (as am I), you praised Moridin as a character, yet he simply wants things to end. aka destruction of the world (what the dark one would do in case of victory is a bit unclear)

@DanielGreeneReviews

6 жыл бұрын

Yes Moridin wanted the world to end but his motivation for wanting that, level of character and history to him made up for it. These are soft not hard lines. Execution matters.

City of God is one of my favorite movies, and you’re right, Lil Ze was one of the best villains ever.

Tell that to DC!!

Sasuke is the best naruto character beside madara for me they were best flash out

Mentioning Little Z and City of God deserves a like on its own :P

My villain is a sympathetic villain. Should I make her appear more evil?

@jakehopkins6989

3 жыл бұрын

It depends on what you're trying to achieve.

@danterobles4819

3 жыл бұрын

@@jakehopkins6989 I want the audience to be compell by her where they have mixed feelings towards her.

Fleshed out, not flushed out. Otherwise love your stuff . . .

Gul Dukat

MLK and Malcom X were not the inspirations for Magneto and Professor Xavier. Stan Lee himself said so.

Umbridge is the worst villian I have ever read. And theactress who played he did it so well I can not watch anything with her in it because of the anger I get thinking of that character

@animationgirl7120

3 жыл бұрын

I when I first read the fifth book I knew that I was going to hate Dolores Umbridge. She is so disgusting 🤮.

Kind of disagree with Umbridge vs Voldemort. Harry Potter exploded before Umbridge was introduced. She is the more interesting character but Voldemort is the character that makes the series work.

@leviathan7751

6 жыл бұрын

still, when it comes face to face between the two, she is the better villain. Sure Voldemort SAYS he wants to rule the world and be super mean....but in the end, umbrage is a much more believable manifestation of that concept.

@kevineiford2153

6 жыл бұрын

Sure on an individual level Umbridge is more interesting, but I don't think that a series with Umbridge as the main villain would be as engaging. The antagonist's main role is to drive the conflict. Not to be relatable or even believable. That's why so many successful stories have pure evil villains. They make stories work. I think that just looking at how interesting a villain is as an individual character undersells their importance to a narrative.

on the subject of harry potter im gonna point out that tom riddle is a much more interesting character than voldemort

Jesus is the only way to God, repent of your sins and acept him as your lord and savior and you will be saved from hell.