An anti-villain is a character who is defined by their opposition to the protagonist. The main characters in most stories are usually heroes and villains, with the former being the good guys and the latter being the bad guys. But not all heroes are heroes, and not all villains are villains. In some cases, a hero might be an anti-hero, or even an anti-villain. For example, Darth Vader from Star Wars is one of the most popular villains in film history, but he was originally supposed to be a good guy who turned bad when he became obsessed with becoming emperor of the galaxy. What Is an Anti-Villain What Is an Anti-Villain? A villain is a character who has a negative impact on the plot. They can be antagonistic or antagonistic towards the protagonist, or even the protagonist themselves. An anti-villain is the opposite of this, where they have a positive impact on the plot and are generally not evil but instead are fighting for a good cause. They can have many of the same characteristics as your average villain – they may be selfish, greedy and power hungry – but their intentions are still good. The best way to think about an anti-villain is to compare them to an antihero (or ‘anti-hero’). An antihero is a character who has been given some negative traits but also some positive ones too. Usually, it’s just more obvious with an anti-villain because their positive traits are downplayed in favor of their negative ones. Other times, an anti-hero may actually be just as dangerous as his more villainous counterparts. This can be because they are so determined to do what they believe is right that they won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in their way or even themselves if necessary in order to get what they want. What Are Some Anti-Villain Examples? One of the most important things to remember when you’re writing a story is that your characters should have flaws. They may not be as bad as a villain, but they still have their own weaknesses, and if you don’t show them, then it’s going to be hard for readers to connect with your characters. One of the best ways to show these flaws is through your villains. Villains are created to do one thing: foil the hero or heroine’s plans. But because they’re bad guys, they don’t always succeed at what they set out to do—and that means they can make mistakes too. Here are some examples of anti-villain behavior: Your villain might make some bad decisions because they want something more than anything else in the world like money or power or revenge and they’ll take any chance they can get of getting it. Your villain might be self-centered and selfish and only care about themselves and nothing else matters except themselves; this is often how villains end up completely alone and alone forever (in other words, dead). Your villain might be really well-meaning but naive about the consequences of what actions The Rise Of The Anti-Villains Villains are special people. They’re the ones who want to be bad and they do bad things. They can be great or they can be awful. They can make us laugh with their antics or cringe because their crimes are so terrible. Villains have always been a part of human culture, but not all villains were created equal. Some of them are so good at being villains that they become real anti-heroes, even if they’re not quite heroes yet. The Rise Of The Anti-Villains For as long as there has been storytelling, there have been anti-heroes. In fact, many of the greatest stories in history feature some kind of villainous character who does something incredibly wrong and then tries to make amends for it later on down the line. These characters may not necessarily be heroes themselves, but they’re certainly more interesting than your average cookie-cutter protagonist with a neat power who follows the rules and never strays from them. Anti-villains are particularly common in modern fantasy literature because it’s easier than ever before for authors to create complex characters who break convention by doing things like killing children or doing horrible things for no reason at all just because they want to protect their loved ones or get revenge on someone else for what Anti-Villain Examples The Dictator The dictator is the most obvious example of an anti-villain. He has no morals, no empathy, and nothing but his own interests in mind. They are the villains that you love to hate and you really hope they don’t win out. However, this is also one of the most common forms of anti-heroes too. The reason for this is simple: we love them because we can relate to them more than most other characters in the story. We want them to succeed, even though they are doing something morally wrong. The Alien The alien can also be considered an anti-villain because they don’t have any morals or empathy either. They just want what they want and they will do anything to get it, even if it means killing people or destroying their planet completely! This example is a bit more extreme than some others because these aliens aren’t trying to take over the world or anything; they just want what’s best for themselves! The Bad Guy’s Sidekick The sidekick is another type of villain character that might not seem so bad at first glance but ends up being much worse than their partner in crime! Type 1: The Noble Anti-Villain The noble anti-villain is a classic character archetype, one that has risen in popularity for a variety of reasons. It’s a simple concept: a character who opposes the protagonist but does so in an honorable way. There are many different types of noble anti-villains, but they all share one thing in common: they’re good people who make mistakes and have to atone for their sins. The noble anti-villain can be found throughout history, from ancient myths to modern literature. The best examples of this type of character are the ones who are able to redeem themselves, whether through confession or through true repentance. They may have done something wrong, but they didn’t intend for it to happen or for it to have such a dire impact on other people’s lives. In some cases, noble anti-villains may even be sympathetic characters at first glance after all, we’ve all been wronged by someone at some point in our lives! But when you look deeper into their backgrounds and motivations, you’ll find something darker than initially meets the eye… Type 2: The Well-Intentioned Extremist As Anti-Villain In the world of fiction, it’s easy to fall into the trap of having your villain be the antagonist. The villains are the bad guys. The “villains” are the ones who want to cause harm to others. In real life, however, there are different types of villains. Type 1: The Well-Intentioned Extremist These are people who have a genuine good intention but they’re just not very good at accomplishing their goals. They might have started out with good intentions and then gotten carried away by their own zealotry or arrogance and now they’re causing more harm than good. They might also be people who truly believe in what they’re doing but aren’t very smart about it and/or don’t have enough information about what they’re doing or how it will affect other people in their communities. Type 2: The Well-Intentioned Extremist As Anti-Villain Type 3: The Pitiable Anti-Villain Type 3: The Pitiable Anti-Villain is the most common type of anti-villain. They are the most human type of anti-hero, and they are often portrayed as being victims of circumstances beyond their control. They may have wanted to be a hero, but they were bitten by the wrong kind of spider or mutant or alien/monster or something else that caused them to become an antagonist instead. Type 3s can also be villains who are trying to fight for good, but are still villains in their eyes. For example, Magneto was a hero who became a villain because he believed that people had a right to live free from oppression, but he was still very much an anti-villain because he did not believe in any form of equal rights for mutants either. Type 3s tend to be more sympathetic than other types since they see themselves as helpless victims rather than villains who deserve what they get. This makes them easier to root for than Type 1s since you can always see your own flaws reflected in someone else’s story arc as well while still wanting them to win in the end (even if it means going through some serious hardship yourself Type 4: The Villain In Name Only Anti-Villain This is a type of villain who has no real motivation for doing what he does. He’s just being mean and nasty, but he doesn’t actually care about anything. He doesn’t want to hurt people, or steal from them, or make them feel bad — he just wants to look tough and intimidate people with his bad attitude. That means that he will go after anyone who stands up to him or challenges him in any way. If you say something mean to him (even if you’re right), he’ll go after you too. If you kick the soccer ball into his yard without asking first (even if it’s on your own property), he’ll call the cops on you and tell them that you’re trespassing on his property. If someone else says something mean to him (even if they’re right), he’ll tell everyone else that they’re mean too and that they should stop hanging out with them. Type 4 villains don’t really have any reason for being bad other than the fact that they like being feared and hated by everyone else around them. They don’t care about anything except looking tough in front of their friends Characteristics Of An Anti-Villain The most common characteristic of an anti-villain is that they’re not necessarily evil. They might be good people who are just doing what they think is best for the world, or they might be misguided and misguided but fundamentally good. The second most common characteristic of an anti-villain is that they’re not necessarily a villain. The anti-hero (or anti-villain) is often thought of as someone who has a morally gray area in their actions, but the term has also been used to describe characters who are not villains at all but still do bad things. The third most common characteristic of an anti-villain is that they’re not always going to be sympathetic. Most people aren’t sympathetic to every evil character that shows up on screen some people want them dead or locked up forever, while others just want them to get over it and move on with their lives. But there’s usually something about the way that these characters act and think that makes them seem more human than other bad guys do. How To Write An Anti-Villain The anti-villain is a character who opposes the protagonist and his allies in order to stop them from achieving their goals. He may be a rival, an enemy, or a member of an opposing faction. The anti-hero is not necessarily evil, and may have some redeeming qualities, but he will always be opposed by the hero. How to Write an Anti-Villain An anti-villain is usually motivated by one of two things: revenge or greed. While both are understandable reactions to being wronged, they tend to be more destructive than helpful for everyone involved. Here are some ways you can make your anti-villain more sympathetic and less villainous: Make him sympathetic as well as anti-heroic. In any story there must be some element that makes your character sympathetic enough that readers care what happens to him/her. Even if the reader doesn’t like your character, they’ll still root for him/her because they know that if he’s in trouble it must be because of something he did wrong (or did right!) Give your villain someone else to blame for his problems instead of just blaming himself alone. Villains often have personal demons which drive them towards increasingly bad acts until they become entirely self-destructive characters with What Is An Anti-Villain – Wrapping Up An anti-villain is not a villain. The word “villain” is often used as a synonym for bad person, but that’s not what it means here. An anti-villain is someone who does things that are morally questionable or evil, but not completely wrong. For example, an anti-villain could be someone who harms animals but not humans. This can be tricky to define because there are no clear boundaries between good and evil. Anti-villains are also often tragic heroes. Tragedy in literature and art has always been a powerful way to explore human nature and morality, but it can be difficult to tell whether a story is about a tragic hero, such as Oedipus Rex by Sophocles or Hamlet by Shakespeare, or an anti-hero, such as Macbeth by William Shakespeare or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The post What Is An Anti-Villain? Definition, History & Examples appeared first on Filmmaking Lifestyle.
