What’s a superhero movie without a psychotic, screwed-up villain to balance it out? A good guy just wandering around rescuing cats who got themselves in trouble. Without someone who has a dark vendetta against the good guy, there’s nothing to fight for. There are no innocent people to save nor moral standards to uphold. At the end of the day, villains give us good reason to stand up for what we believe in. However, as villainous and psychotic as the bad guys are, they have some redeemable traits we can admire.
As with all characters, super villains have many negative and positive attributes. Human or not, most villains have some sense of right and wrong. These moral standards compel them to act on their individual moral compass. All characters, more or less, experience this. Most superheroes are influenced by their sense of excellence, while most villains are led by their sense of malevolence. Their motivation is often questionable, but what about their personality traits? Do they have some admirable characteristics that we can pinpoint?
Let’s discuss the common themes in today’s superhero movies (such as "The Avengers" or "Captain America"). One of the most common problems is a villain (Loki Laufeyson) attempting to take over the world and decimate the human population or use them as personal slaves. The good guys (Steve Rogers, Tony Stark) try their absolute hardest to defeat the villain and prevent the destruction of the human population. However, this proves to be a huge feat. Why? Don’t the protagonists always prevail? The answer is yes, but not without some major work and physical and emotional strain. The bad guys are difficult to beat, especially when they have a brain to match their strength and drive. Cleverness often almost overcomes the protagonists, regardless of the matching intelligence. At the end of the day, almost everyone wants to the superheroes to prevail. This support can be a matter of life or death, but it often comes at a price, due to the utter charm and cunning of the villain.
Intelligence is an underrated skill. Physical strength is one thing, mental strength is a completely different story. Many villains have incredible minds, allowing them to be creative and clever in their execution of plans. This intelligence is to be coveted. It gets them to the top and allows them to face the biggest of challenges without failing.
Villains are not to be emulated, but despite their less-than-redeeming characteristics, they still have a few personality traits that are to be admired.
