How to be human AND evil, with Rumpel and Regina

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to write a strong female character, with Emma Swan.”

The last post in this series was also about the TV show Once Upon a Time. Most of the time I don’t like repeating topics or shows back to back like this, but I felt like it was necessary with this one. As you may or may not know, the series premiere of season 2 of OUAT aired last night. AND I’M SUPER PUMPED! (Sorry.) I knew it would be a great time to explore something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now: villains.

Villains are an important part of any story, and they’re often as complex and interesting as the heroes. Some bad guys are just evil – like Voldemort. I’m a Harry Potter super-nerd, so I have nothing bad to say about any of the characters in that book. BUT it’s important to note that Voldemort is evil, plain and simple. His soul is in pieces and he displays no emotions other than insane glee when things go his way and an all-consuming rage when they don’t. And hey, that’s okay.

But if you’re looking for something a little bit different in your villains, check out Rumpelstiltskin and Regina from Once Upon a Time.

First, Rumpel/Mr. Gold.

Rumpel’s fatal flaw is that he chooses power over everything – over doing what’s right, over love, and even over family. But he does have two weak spots, even if they’re very tiny. The first one is his son, Bae. Through a series of unfortunate events (that have nothing to do with that series), Rumpel chose his power over his own son and his son was sent away to another land. Where exactly he was sent, we’re not totally sure. But Rumpel still feels guilty about it and he wants to see his son again – more than anything.

The other person Rumpel cares about is Belle. (Yeah, that Belle.) He loves her. And she loves him. So what’s the problem? Well, true love’s kiss will take away Rumpel’s power and he can’t have that. He’d rather live as a monster than live without magic. When he gets to the real world, he also feels extremely guilty about this. He loved Belle, and he let her be ripped from his grasp. He’s got a lot to feel ashamed of, but he’s also got a lot of rage running through his veins. The second season sets us up with the question – will Rumpel finally do what’s right? The guilt and the anger are running in opposition of each other and I honestly don’t know which one will conquer and rule his actions.

Cut to the Evil Queen/Regina.

She was living the high life until Snow White ruined everything. I don’t want to give anything away about her back story, but let’s just say that she’s got good reason to blame Snow (although everything Snow did was unintentional). When Snow and Charming kicked Regina out of the castle, she sacrificed everything to come back out on top.

Now that she’s in Storybrooke, she has a pretty good setup for herself. She’s mayor and everyone is afraid of her (as they should be). She’s adopted a son that she genuinely loves. He…doesn’t feel the same way. He knows that she’s the Evil Queen and he does everything he can to help break the curse that she’s placed on this little town in Maine.

Would you ever catch Voldemort caring about his true love or his son? Not a chance. Does this make R&R any less evil? No way. If anything, it juxtaposes just how evil they really are. They’re willing to sacrifice the really amazing things in their life for power and control over everyone else. It truly shows us what they’re capable of. Any bad guy can go around town slaughtering whoever he wants to in order to gain power. But when he does the same thing to his own family or his own friends, it means so much more.

So don’t be afraid to make your bad guys human. Voldemort works in the context of the story that J.K. Rowling was trying to tell, but that doesn’t mean he’ll work in any story. A human villain will allow your readers to connect with the antagonist. They’ll understand his or her motivations and they’ll actually end up connecting with them, on some level, even if they don’t agree with what they’re doing. Anything that gives your audience a reason to connect with a character – good or evil – is something worth thinking about. In my book at least.

Which do you prefer? Do you like your baddies full of evil up to their eyeballs, a la Voldemort? Or do you prefer to be torn between feeling bad for them one week and hating them the next, like I often do with Rumpelstiltskin and Regina?

My Top 5 Favorite Villainesses of All Time

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” is not a statement you should take lightly, and nobody shows this better than reality TV and some of the best blockbusters of all time. Since I hate reality TV, I’m just going to jump right into the movies. Here are my favorite female villains of all time:

5. The last spot should go to Cruella De Vil based on her name alone – didn’t anyone teach them about subtlety? That aside, Cruella earned her stripes – er, spots? – in villain history in this movie. I’m particularly looking at Glenn Close’s portrayal of the villainess in the 1996 adaptation. Not only is she completely comfortable with killing innocent puppies just to add to her wardrobe (not to mention any other creature with a healthy coat of fur), but she’s completely insane. The Devil must have taken her soul a long time ago. *cue theme song* Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil, If she doesn’t scare you, no other evil thing will…

Best Line: “You’ve won the battle, but I’m about to win the wardrobe!”

4. Very few characters – in books or on the big screen – can boil my blood like Dolores Jane Umbridge. I think the reason I hate her so much is that she actually believes, without a doubt, that what she stands for is absolutely correct. Oh, what hubris. What ignorance. Umbridge starts off harmless enough, though that doesn’t excuse her talent for annoying the crap out of me. But then she starts to really bare her fangs – particularly in Harry’s direction – and she starts getting a taste for blood. Umbridge is Rowling’s comment on governmental corruption, and the statement in poignant: no matter if you believe you’re doing the wrong things for the right reasons, they are still the wrong things. Because, in the end, there really was no difference between Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic, except that one was at least honest in his desires for world domination and the suppression of Muggles.

Best Line: “The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue.”

 

3. Some of the most frightening villains I’ve ever seen appeared in my childhood. Ms. Trunchbull was one of those villains. She’s one of the scariest, cruelest, most inhuman bad guys from my younger days. I still can’t believe she threw that girl out by her pigtails…and kept her job. However unrealistic that might be, some of the scenes in Matilda are so intense. One of my favorites is when Matilda has to steal the doll back from Trunchbull…right out of her own house!

Best Line:  “They’re all mistakes, children! Filthy, nasty things. Glad I never was one.”

 

2. How can any list of the best villainesses not include the Wicked Witch of the West? She’s terrifying – her green skin, the way she cackles, her complete disregard for any life other than her own (and her sister’s). She tries to stop Dorothy and her friends at every turn and she nearly succeeds. What really got me as a kid were her minions – those flying monkeys are freaky. But the scariest scene for me was when she had Dorothy locked up in her tower, especially when Auntie Em’s image turns into the witch’s. It always gave me the heebie-jeebies!

Best Line: “Those slippers will never come off, as long as you’re alive. But that’s not what’s worrying me. It’s how to do it. These things must be done delicately!”

1. Okay, my number one villainess was decided well before I even thought of the other four. O-Ren Ishii deserves this spot above anyone else for the simple reason that she would kill all of the others in order to claim the trophy anyway. In Kill Bill: Volume 1 we get her incredible back story. Her parents were viciously murdered in front of her when she was nine. It took her two years, but she got revenge on the man who did it. She stuck a sword through him and blew off the heads of two of his bodyguards. By twenty, she was an assassin for hire. And at age 26, she became the leader of all leaders in underground Tokyo. The best thing about O-Ren is that she doesn’t mess around. She’s not a stupid villain. She takes care of those who oppose her without batting an eye. (All Boss Tanaka had to mention was her Japanese-Chinese-American heritage and he, quite literally, lost his head.) She also keeps the crazies close (Gogo is seriously demented) and has a huge band of samurai sword wielding subordinates to keep her safe. I’m convinced that the only person who was capable of defeating all of them was the Black Mamba herself, and even she almost didn’t live through it. In the end, though, it was down to O-Ren and the Bride, and this is my favorite part about this particular villain – she can handle her own. Not only that, but she recognizes when she is up against a respectable foe. Although, none of that helped her in the end…

Best Line: “Silly Caucasian girl likes to play with Samurai swords.”

I had a bunch of runner ups – some Disney villainesses, and even a few more characters from Kill Bill, but I’m happy with my list. What about you? Have I missed any good ones? What are some of the female antagonists that always scared you as a kid?

Make sure you stick around for Friday! I’ve got the lovely Jessica O’Neal over here, taking on my villainesses with her list of awesome heroines. It’s going to be a close fight!