“All villains think they are the hero of their own story,” is a statement we hear again and again. And mostly, it’s a solid tip to keep in mind when creating your bad guy.
Most villains think they are the hero of their own story. If they thought they were the scum of the earth, it’d be hard for them to get out of the bed and chase our hero all over town.
But there is a line between thinking you are justified in (at least some of your) actions versus being completely delusional. A villain who constantly thinks he is in the right while actively harming people makes the villain look delusional.
Let me give you an example.
Suppose the villain and his girlfriend are both criminals. During a shootout with the police where they were looking to escape without killing anyone, a cop kills the girlfriend. Now, our villain is on a mission to avenge his loved one and thinks the police are the villains, even though he and his girlfriend caused this.
Still, we don’t hate him 100%. But he isn’t exactly a saint, right? And if he tries to kill the cop who killed his girlfriend, we might understand (though not condone) up to a point. But if he goes after said cop’s family and/or unrelated cops, the villain loses all sympathy and empathy from our end.
Now let’s go deeper with better examples from movies and TV series. I’ll give you two self-aware (and therefore memorable) villains, and two delusional ones.
John Wick starring Keanu Reeves, Alfie Allen, and Michael Nyqvist
Self-Aware Villain: Viggo
I love all four John Wick movies but I have the softest spot for the first one as it started the franchise. And I like the father of the villain.
In the film, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a retired assassin whose only joys in life are his car and the puppy his beloved late wife left him. But when Iosef (Alfie Allen), the son of his former boss Viggo (the late Michael Nyqvist, as seen in the photo above) steals his car, beats him up and kills his puppy, John is out for blood.
What gives John Wick a delightful edge over other revenge movies, in addition to what he’s avenging, is how his former boss initially reacts.
When Iosef brings the stolen car to Aurelio’s (John Leguizamo) shop, he recognizes the shop and strikes Iosef. Viggo calls him to find out why he hit his son. When Aurelio explains, Viggo hits his son too, and explains who John Wick is. Then he calls Wick and asks if bygones could be bygones.
Viggo is an unwilling villain. He is only involved because John (rightly) wants to kill his son. I mean who breaks into someone’s house, kills their puppy, beats the man severely, and steals his car? But Viggo’s son is still his son, so he sends all his men after John which leads to the death of many, many men since John’s just that lethal.
If you love action/revenge thrillers and still haven’t seen this one, don’t wait anymore.
Delusional Villain: Iosef
As I covered above, Iosef is an entitled brat. He wants John’s car and when John- who is a stranger, he decides to go full-on psycho. After all, John is just one guy and Iosef is young and he has men. Insert me laughing my butt off.
While there are stupid decisions made by Viggo, there would be no deaths and no trying to off Wick had his son not started all this.
Seven starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman
Self-aware Villain: John Doe
I know that calling a serial killer self-aware is a bit weird, but if you watched Seven (aff.link), you know where I am going with this. And if you haven’t, go watch now because I’m going to spoil the whole movie.
Veteran detective Somerset (Freeman) and newbie Mills (Pitt) are after serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) who chooses and kills his victims according to the seven deadly sins. As we see one gruesome crime scene after another, we can’t help but think how delusional the killer is. After all, who is a psychotic killer to judge other people’s sins?
But as one of the movies with the most brilliant endings and twists, we realize Doe is a bit more self-aware than we thought. He kills Mills’ young pregnant wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) and delivers her head in a box to Mills. Mills, unable to control his grief-stricken rage, executes Doe. And at the end of the movie, Mills is the one handcuffed sitting at the back of a police car.
Doe knew he was going to be murdered. He wanted it. His sin was envy. He was envious of Mills’ happiness. Mills’ sin? Wrath.
I saw this movie only once when I was a teen, and I still remember it like yesterday. Great movie, but it is also scary and disgusting.
Marked Heart starring Michel Brown, Sebastián Martínez, and Ana Lucía Domínguez
The Marked Heart is a two-season Spanish-language Netflix original series. In this soapy but highly engaging romantic thriller, we meet two couples: Zacarías (Sebastián Martínez) and Camila (Ana Lucía Domínguez); and Simon (Michel Brown) and Valeria (Margarita Muñoz). Their paths would have never crossed paths had it not been Camila’s heart condition.
When it becomes obvious Camila will die without a heart transplant, successful and rich political advisor Zacarías does the unthinkable: He enlists the services of the organ mafia. They even let him choose “the heart” personally: Valeria Duque: a healthy sax player and mother of two.
Zacarías keeps this secret from everyone. After all, he knowingly signed the death warrant of a healthy woman (and the fates of her family) who didn’t consent to any of this.
But when a grieving Simon and a recovering Camila meet by chance and a friendship blossoms, Zacarías grows increasingly paranoid and controlling. Just how much further will he go to protect his secret and keep his relationship? And what will Simon do when he finds out what exactly happened to his wife?
I find the premise quite addictive. The acting is good and the actors are attractive, but the creators/writers have done a fine job of keeping the stakes high and conflicts complicated. While we can frown a bit at how quickly Simon and Camila fall for each other – especially considering Simon was/is also very much in love with his wife. But then again, the show does question whether getting a heart transplant changes us, and if we do inherit personality and emotional characteristics from the organ donor.
Delusional Villain: Zacarías
At first, he has our sympathy. Madly in love with his wife, he is desperate for her to be cured. But the road he chooses is unforgivable. He has an innocent healthy and decent woman killed. (Not that he had the right to kill anyone, but Valeria being a good person/mother/wife makes things so much worse.) Then when his marriage starts going awry, he turns into a control freak and cheats on Camila AND has fits of rage when she starts falling for someone else. Now, for the audience, we enjoy his pain. We enjoy that his career and life are at risk. But…his constant claiming that he is the victim and the hero and the ultimate husband…. You roll your eyes so hard. It’s not “I made my bed now I have to lie in it.” “Never I deserve this on some level.” “Maybe I suck as a husband/romantic partner even without the murder part.”
Nope. He actively tries to destroy Simon and control/destroy Camila. He even goes further.
In the end, he partially redeems himself by fixing another deadly problem he creates, but we are happy he finally has the common sense to grant us that favor at least.
All I can say is Zacharias being a little greyer….with a little more remorse would have made his character less detestable.
Still, it’s a fun show.
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What are some of your favorite/least favorite villains? Why? Do you prefer self-aware ones or delusional ones? Let me know in the comments.
