Why ANTI-VILLAINS Make the Best Villains

[Music] hey guys Fifi mangaka here today we're going to be exploring a character archetype that often leaves us questioning our own moral compass the anti-villain an anti-villain is a character who walks the tight RPP between villainy and heroism often blurring the lines of morality they're not your typical bad guy nor are they traditional Heroes instead anti villains occupy that very interesting gray area of character development making them some of the most complex and captivating characters that you'll see in novels Manga comics and film in this video we're going to dissect the anatomy of an anti-villain exploring their motivations backgrounds and the delicate balance between their Sinister actions and the sympathetic qualities that make us empathize with them so whether you're a Storyteller looking to create a compelling anti-villain for your next project or just a fan of captivating characters let's jump in anti villains aren't the cookie cutter villains that we're used to and they're more than just your typical Floyd hero they're a complex blend of quality ities that challenge our conventional Notions of Good and Evil leaving us with more questions than answers their actions are not driven solely by malevolence not like villains instead they're motivated by a deeper and more intricate web of intentions these characters possess qualities that make them sympathetic or relatable which is a key piece to their complexity and this is something that really differentiates them from your typical run-of-the-mill villain and it's also a key reason why we find ourselves liking them so much they may have experienced hardships faced some sort of personal demons or grappled with other moral dilemmas as an audience we find ourselves empathizing with them even if we disagree with their choices but what truly defines an anti-villain is their conflicted motivations they're driven by a desire to achieve something that they genuinely believe is for the greater good even if their methods are ethically questionable it's this internal struggle that often sets the stage for a very compelling character Arc and that's why anti villains tend to be some of the most memorable character characters in stories now you may be hearing all of this and you might say anti villains are so cool they're basically the villain that gets redeemed at the end of the story well not quite not all anti villains are destined for Redemption while some may undergo a transformation others remain firmly in their morally ambiguous roles now that we have a solid understanding of what defines an anti villain we're going to pick a character that perfectly embodies the essence of an anti villain and through their example we're going to look at why this character falls into the morally ambiguous C category so to better understand this archetype let's look at a very important character from The Epic RPG Final Fantasy 10 unesa morning there are spoilers ahead so if you haven't yet gotten to the remaster I urge you to go do that and then come back to this video in the world of Final Fantasy 10 Our Heroes tetus Yuna and Company are on a quest to defeat sin a monstrous whale entity thing that ravages the land of Spira in a continuous cycle of death and rebirth sin is a force of Destruction that brings chaos and suffering to the world the ultimate goal of our protagonists is to Journey with Yuna on her pilgrimage to perform a task called the final summoning that will defeat sin and bring about the calm a period where that whale thing isn't roaming the skies and destroying people now let's talk about unesa she serves as a key figure in the game's narrative but what makes her an anti villain is not just her actions but the beliefs that drive those actions unesa is a powerful Summoner and the first person to actually successfully defeat sin a thousand years before the event of the game on the surface her actions seem incredibly heroic she offers spir a glimmer of hope and a way to end the devastation caused by sin's Relentless attacks her solution however is what places her firmly in the category of anti-villains to defeat sin yunasa established a practice that I mentioned earlier called the final summoning which becomes the standard method for doing away with sin each time it rears its head without getting into the intricacies of the final summoning let's just say it involves a lot of people sacrificing themselves what makes unesa an anti villain is that she knew the dire consequences of the final summoning she knew that it would not permanently destroy sin only temporarily until he reemerged and thus she understood that the cycle would perpetuate suffering and death yet she believed that it was the only way to maintain some semblance of Peace in spir unesa as an anti-villain genuinely believed that the sacrifice and suffering were necessary evil to keep at Bay her love for her husband Lord zon who is one of the first Summoners to undergo the final summoning deepened her conviction in her eyes she was serving a greater good even though her actions had severe moral consequences for everyone else the tragedy lies in the fact that yunalesca like all subsequent Summoners who followed her path was ultimately unable to bring a permanent end to sin's reign of Destruction her actions while motivated by her belief in their necessity continued to propagate the cycle of suffering and death and spir some might view yunalesca as having come up with a solution to an impossible problem and that the time of calm and peace and the hope that it brought people of spirit was worth the deceit others view the establishment of religious factions to convince the citizens that sin was born of their bad behavior in an attempt to obscure the truth truly evil one thing's for certain at the heart of the debate is unesa and that deep moral ambiguity and ultimately her demise at the hand of the heroes is what makes her a truly captivating anti-villain so with all this being said and how interesting of a character unesa is should you create an anti-villain character for your story absolutely so this leaves us with an important question should you create an anti-villain for your story unlike traditional villains who embody pure evil or Heroes who uphold unwavering righteousness the anti villain exists in the gray area between these two extremes and that's all the more reason why every good story needs one they give your story a chance to challenge the Norms of Good and Evil and they force your audience to question their own moral compass and justify why or why not this character makes the decisions that they do and despite their questionable actions anti villains often possess relatable qualities or have experienced hardships that make us empathize with them we become incredibly interested and eager to uncover the anti villain's true intention by creating an anti-villain character you give yourself the opportunity to tell the story of a character that walks a different path than your protagonists but with the same conviction and often the same desire for a good result despite the fact that their methods may be anything but

Channel: FifiMangaka

Views: 3,313

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Id: pbIN_jKLA4M

Length: 6min 40sec (400 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 25 2023