Guest Who - The Dish on Villains

My friend Molli has been extra busy building relationships with her fellow bloggers and this month, I was her "target." She featured me in an extensive interview and today we are guest posting about one of our favorite topics.


VILLAINS!


Molli put up my post and I am putting up hers.

"I love to love book characters.  The good, the bad, the ambiguous, the romantic, the bad boys, the boy next door.  I love them all but oddly enough, my favorite type of character is a well-developed villain.  And sure, the good ol’ in-your-face evil Big Bad is interesting enough, but MY type is the sort of baddie that you find yourself…wondering about, sympathizing with…asking yourself if he/she is REALLY all THAT bad.  And while it’s scary to get inside the mind of a villain, it’s also…fun!  They make the story more interesting. 

My love for those amazingly evil yet polite and charismatic villains is by far the most consuming love I have for fictional characters.  I fangirled over The Mayor on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then the Yellow Eyed Demon on the TV show Supernatural.  I loved to hate President Snow in the Hunger Games series.  Currently, I want to choke the living daylights out of Regina on Once Upon a Time.  I’m dangerously drawn to the villains who, rather than coming out and proclaiming how evil and vicious they are, lure you in with a sob story, a genial attitude and façade, then once you’re ensnared, you’re a goner. 

Probably my favorite villain of the last few years is Warner from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.  Warner is a singular character in that, although he fits into the type I’m talking about, the reader isn’t really given that much insight into him.  He comes off as pained when things don’t go his way, yet there’s also enough evidence given to make one think he’s largely heartless.  Yet just when you’ve written him off, he almost leaps off the pages with his civility and gentility, but always with the underlying air of peril. 

I’m not sure I would ever get tired of loving this type of character.  From a writer’s stand-point, there is just so much you can do with the baddie with a heart.  There are so many directions to go in.  I’ve written this sort of character once or twice myself, and it’s a LOT of fun.  And from a reader’s stand-point…they are a real treat to read about, and try to decide if you love or hate them, or if it’s a love/hate relationship.

So know you know MY literary villain “types.”  What’s yours?"  - Molli @ Once Upon a Prologue

I just love the fact that you brought up the Mayor in Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I loved that show and hadn't thought about it in forever! That Mayor! Did you hate/love Spike - you know before he turned into a softy? What about "bad" Angel?? 

Thanks Molli! To see what type of villain I love, check out Molli's site here.