What Makes a Villain Feel Real?

there's this scene in YuYu Hakusho during the dark tornament saga and it has the Ark's main villain - Goro speaking with his sponsor Sachi oh and there's this really odd little exchange between the two where Saki offers to grow a drink and - Goro replies we've had a good arrangement sake o Mei the tournament finish appropriately if you don't mind I will take a glass of orange juice over ice and I love this line there's something so strange and memorable about it it just seems like such an odd inclusion for a character who up until this point has been a stone cold murder machine and the fact that - Goro would rather a glass of orange juice rather than the assumed alcohol that sakyo is offering seems nuanced in a way that is not usually afforded to villains in anime and look maybe I'm crazy maybe it doesn't matter but I really think there is something to this line and I suspect I'm not the only one as right now the clip of it on YouTube has nearly 60,000 views but considering all the dramatic and shocking things to Goro doors throughout Yu Yu Hakusho how is it that one tiny line has any bearing on his character overall can such a tiny detail really matter well let's dig into that and a lot more as we discuss what makes a villain feel real before we go on here I want to just get specific about what we mean by a villain specifically what we're going to be talking about is a typical narrative driven villain as opposed to the force of nature style villain see the fantastic extra credits video for more on that a lot of this will crossover with the fundamentals of good character writing but I just want to concentrate on villains for this video because it can feel like a lot of villains in anime tend to follow a very basic formula and it's a shame when it drags down an otherwise great series and with that in mind let's begin there isn't a single aspect of a story I enjoy more than a good villain maybe it's the way they look at society don't like what they see and try and change it maybe it's the insatiable drive so many of them show in pursuing their goals maybe it's just the simple chance to live vicariously through them with a level of abandon and disregard no hero could dream of or maybe it's just the catharsis in watching them eventually fall whatever it is I've been obsessed with the ideas of watching bad guys do that thing ever since I saw Skaar sing be prepared in his musical number and Lion King even from a story point of view antagonists have such a more interesting role than that of their heroic counterparts take even the word antagonist which loosely translated from its Greek origin means the one who initiates change in other words villains are the ones who set the events of the story in motion the ones who feel so strongly about something that they're willing to go outside the bounds of society and the law to create a change or imbalance in the world one that can only be corrected by an opposing heroic force or to put it a different way villains act heroes reacts so with this in mind what exactly defines a good villain and what doesn't I think the idea of villainy that's always appealed to me the most is the idea that the only thing separating heroes and villains is one very bad day or a couple of poor decisions the simple idea that we're all cut from the same cloth and have to enjoy these same daily hardships or as writer Ben Bova puts it in the real world there are no villains no one actually sets out to do evil there are no villains cackling and rubbing their hands in glee as they contemplate their evil deeds there are only people with problems struggling to solve them I think the moments that a narrative villain fails in this regard is the moment that they lose us as an audience and it's insane how much damage a weak villain can do to an otherwise good series one of the most recent examples being Bieber from Carbonari of the iron fortress I'm gonna be pretty harsh here but one thing I want to point out is that I really like this show Mumma is cool yukine is also cool each of the cast are given just enough attention as not to feel to trophy and has some great action and is consistently gorgeous and just because I criticize the show doesn't mean I don't like it there's a point to be made here mild spoilers for cabin re in going I think what I like so much about the early episodes of cabin re is how the cast are kind of a mishmash of different people from different classes and backgrounds who are all just thrown together and forced to survive in this dome world of samurai zombies and giant trains even though there isn't a great degree of character developments what is there I really enjoy especially in Episode seven where the series slows down to the point where there is zero zombies or combat and we're allowed just to spend some time getting to know the characters as they travel around a newly discovered village it's fun watching them pair off and see different sides of each other at this point I didn't know where the show was going and I didn't really care I was just enjoying the ride but then about 15 minutes in this guy appears the moment he stepped onto screen it was like the entire rest of the series was laid out bare before me everything about him from his imperial garb to his long flowing locks hearkened back to what felt like a thousand other anime villains I'd seen before I don't know when exactly the idea of long-haired slightly effeminate fancily dressed villains became so synonymous with anime but whenever I see one my instincts just scream oh Christ here we go again and sometimes I'm wrong and sometimes I'm not my core issue with Biba as a character is that he's not a character he's a plot device his only purpose within the story is to give Akuma a foil so that he can look more heroic and any information we get about his character or backstory only goes so far as to justify his actions within the plot as opposed to trying to build him up in someone who is anyway believable a person with their own life or nuance he's essentially the modern equivalent of a man in a top hat tying a girl to train tracks which I guess is a little appropriate and this is so disappointing because when faced with such a two-dimensional villain it drags down every other character in the show forcing Akuma to go from Shia misunderstood nuanced hero to just plain ol hero and mume to go from mume who's [ __ ] great to your standard stock template damsel in distress that's not to say he ruins the series I think all in all cabin Ari's still a good time but it is a shame because a great villain can do so much to elevate a series like let's compare him with the fantastic Yoshi cog Akira from JoJo's part for a diamond is unbreakable in a lot of ways Kira is an extremely unusual villain for starters he has no grand aspirations he has no plans to change the world or races on status within society Yoshi kang Akira just wants a quiet life and to go about his days as he sees fit the only issue being that he has a certain fondness for murdering women and cutting off their hands and then actually I'm gonna stop it there it doesn't matter what he does after that so yeah he's about as it reprehensible as they come and at first at least he seems impossibly evil and inhuman but as part 4 goes on we begin to learn all these bizarre little details about Kira and his life we know his favorite kind of sandwich chicken katsu on freshly baked bread we know that he likes a glass of warm milk before bed we know that he likes to spend his lunches alone in the park and that he gets along well with cats and has a disdain for dogs and none of these details served to make him any more dangerous or more of a threat to our heroes so why do they matter well these are the little touches that make him feel alive these are the nuances that trick our brain into considering him as an actual living breathing person rather than just a cartoon villain and without these touches all you'd have is just another stand user waiting to be defeated by josuke and the guys I mean he is a violent serial killer but he's also someone who enjoys a pleasant walk I'm a sunny day someone trying to live his life the way he wants without judgments scorn or interference from others and that in itself is something I think everyone can relate to at least when you take the murder part out and it's the little details about him as a character that let us view him in this life and it all comes together to make him feel real and tangible he's not a speed bump in the plot to overcome he's an actual character with thoughts emotions and drives this makes him feel compelling in his own right but also makes him feel like a far less predictable much more tangible threat to our heroes and the town of Mario and there's also a great example of villain who is not sympathetic but is relatable so for me the main aspect separating a villain like Keira and one like Bieber is nuance Keira feels human Biba does not and working up this side of his character would have probably done a lot to make him feel like a more interesting villain like take even Griffith from berserk Biba and Griffith are arguably pretty similar in a lot of ways but one of the things that makes Griffith Slater actions so much more shocking is the writing that's been put into him up until this point yes he's a great warrior and a charismatic leader but he's also kind of a goof who gets into water fights and laughs like an idiot and moments like these make his later actions feel all the more shocking and abhorrence you could argue that both Kira and Griffith have a lot more screen time than Bieber and therefore more times be given nuance and become relatable and on that I'd also have to disagree purely by virtue is that if you're clever enough you can make a villain relatable in a very short amount of time like let's take a look at Kevin Spacey's character the John Doe serial killer from the movie se7en he doesn't appear till much later on in the film but then we get this scene where the two detectives are driving him to the supposed location of the final victim's body and during the 138 seconds it takes the scene to play out something kind of incredible happens and that is he gets you to this points where it's like you get it you understand him as a person like you don't agree with him but the sheer conviction with which he voices his disdain for society is so convincing that just for a moment it nearly seems to make sense you see his logic in why he commits the atrocities he does and understanding him like this is chilling it makes the scene equally disturbing and memorable because just for a seconds there's a connection between you and him and this to me is the most powerful thing a story can do with the villain not make them feel threatening not make them feel sympathetic but make them feel relatable I'm going to link a clip of this scene in the description but 7 is a great movie and if you haven't you should totally go check it out once you start looking at villains in this way it's crazy how cartoonishly insane you can make them and still have them believable once you root the character and enough grounding and nuance take Paper Mario and the thousand-year doors depiction of Bowser for example it actually writes the king of kubarz as a likable and believable person by highlighting that his constant kidnapping of Princess Peach stems from his own loneliness or another great example senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Solid Rising revengeance this is quite possibly the most ridiculous final boss I have ever seen in a video game but there's something so doggedly convincing about his love for American football his sheer desperate patriotism and he's very particular and genuine disdain for the conventions of modern america that you do end up just kind of believing that he's a real character even if no one this insane could ever actually rise that high in politics hey wait a minute II the point I'm quite possibly over laboring here is that when you look at villains just as an object for the hero to overcome you lose out on what a great villain can be a wonderfully nuanced and complicated piece of the story with all the depth and quite possibly more than that of their heroic counterparts and this is why I get so excited when a muscle-bound weirdo and a dumb coach asks for a glass of orange juice it's the first time in the series that Tagore expresses any sentiment that isn't directly related to punching a hole in another living being and letting this tiny seemingly insignificant fragments of humanity showing him is the point in the series when he goes from cliched villain in sunglasses to an actual believable person and foreshadows the human side of him that's going to be revealed later on in the story which results in one of my personal favorite and most compelling villain arcs in all of Shonen anime but that is a story for another video [Music] friends that's gonna do it if you want to see some shows with some great villains then check out any of the series on screen or if you'd like to recommend me any of your own please let me know down in the comments or give me a shout over on twitter at i patch wolf i will of course be back soon with another video but until then you can catch me on the let's fight a boss video game podcast where this week we'll be talking about watchdogs to the x-men anime and my hero academia friends as always take care of yourselves and I'll see you next time

Channel: Super Eyepatch Wolf

Views: 2,065,490

Rating: 4.9451804 out of 5

Keywords: What Makes a Villain Feel Real?, Kira, Grifith, Toguro, Villain, Super Eyepatch Wolf, Bad Guy, antagonist, yu yu hakusho, Berserk, Jojos Bizzare Adventure

Id: XqMxH0atn18

Length: 13min 47sec (827 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 03 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/Gento70]

That's a strong thumb nail.

[u/Narlaw]

Everyone in here. Sub to this guy's channel. All his videos are at least this good.

[u/mega345]

This guys voice, writing, writing and editing are all phenomenal to a level I have never even seen before. He gives off of an amazing sense of intensity and you can really feel his passion for what he's talking about. Totally subscribing

[u/NoPenNameGirl]

Araki has his own, magical way to write villains. And I not even talking ONLY about Jojo main villains, but some Villains of the Week too.

While Araki obviously put his whole energy and imagination on the Antagonist of the Parts, I believe he can write really good villains in general.

Some more memorable than others, but there is ALWAYS something about then that draw our attention. Even killing machines with no dialog like Pet Shop is something that really grabs our attention on the spot.

I really think many people can criticize Araki in several aspects, but I find really hard to criticize his job writting Antagonists.

[u/xXHercfanXDXx]

I was expecting a shitty 'We Are Number One' meme. Still satisfied.

[u/WalrusGriper]

Are you a real villain?

[u/Lemon_Girl]

Araki is just too good at making villains. Even Dio who is just evil for the sake of it is such a HUGE asshole that you can't help but to like him. But Kira is my favorite, he acts like you'd expect a real serial killer to do; he's just a normal guy who still comes as very intimidating every time he shows up. I literally shouted/yelled something every time he deus-ex machina'd himself to safety, specially when he developed Bites the Dust (another great thing about Araki: his ability to come up with the most broken and epic powers I have ever seen).

[u/Lunagray]

Only thing that bothers me about this video is that he used Kira as one of his examples but didn't recommend JoJo at the end.

Other than that he made some really great points that I will keep in mind.