By K.M. Humphreys
I’m currently reading a book called
Bullies, Bastards and Bitches by
Jessica Paige Morrell and I’m reading a chapter on Monsters. This inspired a blog post on Monsters and Bad
Guys.
Throughout literature and film,
there have been monsters and villains lurking.
Every type of monster from Hannibal Lecter to the Abominable Snowman are
found in the pages we read. There’s Frankenstein, The White Witch, Captain
Hook, and Count Dracula. These are the
characters who keep us at the edge of our seats. We hold our breath as we turn the pages
wondering what terror they are going to cause next. We see Cruella DeVille and
the wicked step-mother from Cinderella in our children’s stories. We also hear about the Loch Ness Monster and
Bigfoot and Godzilla. Whether it’s myth,
folklore, movies or books, we cannot escape these monsters, villains and bad
guys.
Bad Guys, Villains and Monsters
hold appeal. They make us want to
continue the story until it’s end to see what all they do to reach their
goal. Without the conflict and danger
they bring to a story, we wouldn’t have the excitement that keeps us begging
for more. For us ordinary folks, it’s a
departure from our normal worlds. We
pray we never run into these monsters, but yet we can’t stop reading about
them.
I know I’ve missed some above, and
I would love to hear from our readers as to who your favorite Monster, Villain
or Bad Guy is and why. What draws you to
these characters?
Happy Reading!
21 comments:
No particular villain comes to mind as a "favorite" but sociopaths scare me the most. They seem so normal on the outside--at least at first. I think they make compelling characters because their thought processes are so different than the rest of us.
At the risk of sounding like a one-note piano, I have to confess that my present favorite villain is Don, from the Hindi film Don and it's sequel, Don 2. He is like a human shark - no qualms, no conscience, willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants, a skilled manipulator who loves to play with people and to kill them. The perfect villain.
My favorite villain? Gee, I'm having trouble thinking of one. How is this possible? Okay, okaky, give me a minute.
Captain Jack Randall from Outlander. That dastardly black-hearted bastard.
Great post, you've got me thinking!
The first thing that comes to my mind when you ask about favorite villains isn't a character from a book, but from a movie. I loved Capt. Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean. When he returned from the undead-dead at the end of the second one, I cheered. Of course, the fact that Geoffrey Rush played him so deliciously over-the-top doesn't hurt.
C.L, funny we both went with "Captains!"
All the cartoon character villians are great, how would the sweet little hero be anything without thworting them. But in adult fiction, I like the vampires. The lates bunch of stories trying to make some of them good guys only makes the bad one better. Not so much werewolves.
Patg
Annette,
Captains! Something about a man in uniform? Barbarosa, now there's a villain you can love.
Another favorite villain, Captain Von Trapp. :) Okay, maybe not a villain, but certainly emotionally unavailable at first, and someone that didn't soften until he played Edleweiss. :)
I don't think Captain VonTrapp was a villain, just a tortured hero! "A widower with seven children." That would make a tortured hero out of anyone.
Now I want to go watch The Sound of Music. Or go to the Hofbrauhaus. We sing Edelweiss there, too.
Joyce,
Hofbrau House?? Muchen?? I want to go to Europe, drink beer at the Hoffbrau House, take the train to Salzburg, and play my guitar in the garden behind the Music Conservatory....and the song?
Edelweiss - of course.
:))
Annette, I practically cried when he died in the first movie. "I feel ... cold." Hell of a performance!
I like my monsters tortured and redeemable. Like Joyce, I find sociopaths chilling. Bundy? And there's always Jack the Ripper...
I'm in Norway, children. I may not be checking in again for a while. Be good without me!
I realized as I hit send that the most chilling villain ever was Adolph Hitler. No contest.
No need to go to Germany, Cindy! We have a Hofbrauhaus right here in Pittsburgh.
You'll never believe it but my word verification is "liter." How appropriate!
Bente, have a great time!
Joyce,
Okay, I need to come to Pittsburgh. Any good conferences? I need an excuse!
I'm off work today, and I blame this post for making me re-watch Don instead of writing, cleaning, etc. Here's the url of a nice clip that really captures this narcissistic villain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnpSEbKHuFg. How do you imbed links in these comments?
The Pennwriters Conference will be in Pittsburgh next May (2013).
How about the annual Festival of Mystery hosted by Mystery Lovers Bookshop on Monday April 30th?
Bouchercon is in Cleveland in October, which is only a 2 hour drive from da 'burgh.
Lots of options!
Gina, I always have to go to a site that has shows you basic HTML tags and follow the instructions for links because I can never remember how to do it! You'd think by now Blogger would make something like that available instead of having to figure out code.
Joyce,
BOUCHERON!!! That's the one I want to attend. Anyone else planning to go??
Roadtrip!!!! (I will fly of course)
I already have my reservations, C.L.!
Some good comments here. Thanks for posting everybody!
He's not exactly a villain, but I think Severus Snape was the best, most interesting, character in the entire Harry Potter saga. Considering the amount of time Rowling spent on him, I think he was her favorite too. And I think Alan Rickman played him brilliantly in the movies (love him!).
You may cheer for the hero, but the villains make the story (IMO).
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