I admit I have an awful fondness for villains, antiheroes and antagonists.
Oh don’t look at me like that, I can see your fondness for the dark side reflected in your little eyes. I mean, part of this is the cookies (especially if they’re chocolate) and part of it is the intrigue of the human psyche. Why is a villain the way they are? Are they in it for the chaos or have they justified murder or are they merely an “antagonist” who is doing nothing wrong in the scheme of the world except getting in the hero’s way???
Villains intrigue us.
And they have cookies. So I don’t know what to tell you ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ but I’m here for it.
Alright so very randomly, I’m throwing together a Villains Award Tag for the sole reason that it fits the Top Ten Tuesday prompt and I want to.
Totally take this for your own blogs too!
Just link back to meeee. And nominate whatever villains YOU want to fill the categories!
VILLAIN YOU ABSOLUTELY DESPISE AND HATE
Look I realise this is my own tag and it is quite terrible to struggle on the first question. But I don’t read a lot of books with Big Unredeemable Villains that really get me riled up. I mean obviously there’s Voldemort, Umbridge, and President Snow…but like newer ones??? I had to think.
Possibly going to go for ALL the villains in The Foxhole Court series. Neil’s dad was a mob boss who totally was down to murder his son and Riko enjoyed torturing without killing. And like?!?! How dare you touch Neil. How dare you. I will sick Andrew on you and then you’ll be sorry.
VILLAIN WHO IS ENTRANCING
Omgggg THE CARAVAL AND LEGENDARY VILLAINS. My opinion on them is just a long long line of !!!!!!!!!!!!
They’re deliciously tricky because everything IS A GAME and it’s impossible to know whose interests they have in mind. They’re cursed and morally grey and wickedly intriguing. I hate things they do, and I also want to know WHY THEY DO IT. But seriously: Jacks and Dante. Yes.
Also Schwab’s Villain series!?? I can’t even with how much I love it. Eli Ever and Victor Vale are usually unapologetically DARK VILLANIOUS SOULS but you can’t even look away. And then I went and felt sorry for Eli in Vengeful. These little sociopathic super-powered monsters…I can’t even. I should not feel the things I feel. How dare you.
BOOK YOU’D LIKE TO READ FROM THE VILLAIN’S PERSPECTIVE
Is Cardan from The Cruel Prince a villain?? I don’t even know by this point. I think everyone in that book is a backstabbing villain and you love it because they’re all so morally ambiguous it’s impossible to know if (a) did u stab him for a good reason, (b) did u stab him for a bad reason, and lastly (c) DOES IT MATTER, U STILL STABBED HIM, MATE?????
Anyway. I would happily read The Cruel Prince again from Cardan’s perspective. This fills me with vicious delight.
WORST ANTAGONISTIC YA PARENTS
That moment when I nominate The Maestro out of A Thousand Perfect Notes which I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE WRITTEN. But alright, hear me out: if you’re going to spend 7 years trying to get published, and it happens, you just end up going on and on about it.
You love me, shh. Don’t leave.
Anyway the Maestro is despicable. She abuses Beck to motivate him into being “great” which is a massive parenting fail. Oh yes Beck is a great pianist, now, thanks…WITH CRIPPLING ANXIETY, WELL DONE, MOTHER.
ANTIHERO WHO IS A LITTLE BAD, LITTLE GOOD
It’s the THIEVES. I confess. Show me a book with thieves in it and I will fall over myself being accidentally in love with their schemes and cons and slight soft sides.
Let me just hit you with my thieving love list:
- Kaz from Six of Crows
- Locke from The Lies Of Locke Lamora
- Levi from Ace of Shades
- Lila Bard from A Darker Shade of Magic
- “Daniel” from Here Lies Daniel Tate (omg we never know his real name)
- Cassel from The Curseworker trilogy
VILLAIN MADE FROM TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCES
Dresden from Keeper Of The Bees is technically a “villain” because his paranormal power is to sow madness and discord (which he gains energy from to live). It’s kind of BAD TO STING PEOPLE so they turn insane. But yet…he is…actually soft™ and cursed. He didn’t choose this life omg…
Oh and also Sebastian from the Shadowhunter series. Look he was MADE into a villain by his wicked father Valentine. I actually feel really bad for him gahhhh.
ANTAGONIST WHO GETS IN HERO’S WAY BUT ISN’T NECESSARILY “PURE EVIL”
I think it’s fair to point out that not all antagonists are pure evil!! Like Minya from Strange the Dreamer. Like you look at her, catching ghosts soul’s and threatening to murder cities and think:
“OK, Cait??? Um. You need help.”
But LOOK. She witnessed a massacre at 6 years old and has spent her entire life force on keeping the surviving babies alive and looked after and!! All she wants is to protect them!!! She is the ultimate Slytherpuff and you can fite me but I love Minya and all her stabbiness.
A NON-HUMAN VILLAIN
Society sucks. In general. So it’s very easy to point to it for being a non-human villain so so often. Particularly in contemporaries like The Hate U Give which speaks out against racism and police brutality. UGH THIS BOOK WILL MAKE AND BREAK YOUR HEART.
VILLAIN WHO YOU THINK IS WICKED BUT THEY’RE INTRIGUING
omg not even going to lie, I LOVE Piper Greenmantle from The Raven Cycle. She’s just so Slytherin she could turn into a snake and no one would even be surprised. I mean, I hate her. But she’s so unapologetically self-serving, it’s fascinating?!
And also The Jackal from the Red Rising series. I HATE HIM. But he’s a treacherous little creep and I’m forever intrigued by his plans and goals and he’s so BACK STABBY. He is so good at being bad ok.
ANTAGONIST WHO GETS A REDEMPTION ARC
First off: AIDAN who is a slightly terrifying AI system with a god complex and crush on a human girl aaaaaand would mass murder the multitudes. But OK YOU SORT OF END UP LIKING HIM A LITTLE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ He really is designed to protect people, and if that means killing off 100,000 of them…well he does it. He is not…good. But omg he comes through magnificently in Obsidio.
And Holland from A Darker Shade Of Magic. Hollaaaaaand. I mean, I can’t even. I never hated him, even in book 1 where he was a burnt box of disagreeable cornflakes the whole time. But by book 3, when you find his backstory and his motives, I just…it’s ok (crying) I forgive you for nearly murdering Kell 1 or 29 times. YOU’RE JUST DOING YOU’RE BEST (crying).
QUESTIONS FOR YOU TO TAKE
1. Villain You Absolutely DESPISE And HATE.
2. Villain Who Is Entrancing
3. Book You’d Like To Read From Villain’s Perspective
4. Worst Antagonistic YA Parents
5. Antihero Who Is a Little Bad, Little Good
6. Villain Made From Tragic Circumstances
7. Antagonist Who Gets In Hero’s Way But Isn’t Necessarily “Pure Evil”
8. A Non-Human Villain
9. Villain Who You Think Is Wicked But They’re Intriguing
10. Antagonist Who Gets A Redemption Arc
I love villains too 😀 My favourite kinds are redeemable ones and the one made from tragic circumstances. A fine example of both of these would be Inan from Children of Blood and Bone 😛 I hate the pure evil villains, like the Sea Queen in To Kill A Kingdom?
Nice twist on today’s prompt though 🙂
Inan had such a good arc too!! Like poor smol son he was just TRYING to do the right thing but following the wrong person.
And ahhhh I hate the Sea Queen but LOVE Lira!!!
I saw the first half of the title of this post, and totally thought this was about Vicious and Vengeful… Which I’m very very obsessed with right now… Because seriously! Those characters! So villainous! And evil! And why do I love them so much??? They’re all terrible people, but I just ADORE THEM!
Also same I feel sooo bad for Sebastian! Like, he deserved better honestly. And Valentine is definitely a villain I will NEVER forgive.
And yesss I’m a sucker for thieves! Particularly Lila and ALL the SoC crew! But like… really just (almost) all thieves in books… (WHY are my faves always basically terrible people??)
Holland! I love Holland!! But also I loved him from the start, and I sort of don’t think of him as a villain? Even though when I think about it… technically he sort of IS. But I LOVE HIM, and from the start I could just tell I was going to like him.
I’d pretty much just finished reading them when I wrote this post so YES VERY HAPPY IT COINCIDED. 😂They are precious sociopath boys and also tERRIFYING. Also like so many of Schwab’s characters are unrepentant antiheroes but I LOVE THEM.
And omg Sebastian made me so so sad, because like that could’ve been JACE. But he got to turn out ok. Valentine is a villain I hate so so much.
I absolutely *love* villains, they can definitely make or break a book for me. My favourite ones are the truly despicable ones who are actually soft at heart, I know they are.
I will absolutely be doing this tag, it’s excellent! Although I definitely need to do some more reading as I haven’t read many of these!
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk
Aww I’m glad you enjoyed the tag too!! *flails most happily*
I just like villains tbh, I don’t think I prefer one kind over the other though maybe I prefer the evil villains done well. Or like pure evil with tragic layers but still evil like the Darkling.
I am never going to forgive a lot of villains tbh, but I think at the top of my list are Octavian from Heroes of Olympus (you can’t convince me it’s there’s ever a good reason to destroy stuffed animals and then mess with my babies), Kiko’s mother from Starfish (I honestly found her pretty realistic and similar to the narcissist I’ve dealt with) and Bailey from The Hate U Give (she was a villain shhh)
One I’ve forgiven is . . . um does Victor Vale count? I mean at the beginning of Vicious I thought he seemed pretty bad but after a while I adopted him as a problematic son. Oh and Luke Castellan from Percy Jackson, I actually really liked his redemption arc and how it was in character and not rushed.
Also I got the email for the new post! 😃
Omg I hate Kiko’s mother so much. I can’t even understand or fathom how she could be so so cruel and racist to HER OWN DAUGHTER. *shakes fist* But I guess that’s evil parents for us…they don’t make sense. 😭
I totally think the villains in the Vicious series can be forgiven though. I mean I don’t even know HOW?! They don’t do anything redeemable but somehow I feel all the things for them afdjksald. Even Eli after reading Vengeful!
I also love Luke oops. 🙈
(Also thanks for letting me know about the email! IT WORKS I AM RELIEVED.)
I haven’t read your book yet, but many congratulations! This is a great list, and your photos are so gorgeous!
Aww thank you! I hope you get to someday.😂
I’m discovered. I do have a fancy for the dark side.
THE COOKIES ARE BETTER THERE.
I love the Genius one And good at leading people like Moriarty or Levana
Ohhh yes! Moriarty is a fascinating one!
I don’t have a preference between redeemable and irredeemable. Then again, some of my favourite heroes started out as villains so… I think I like antiheroes best overall though.
A villain I will never forgive… I don’t know. I haven’t read a lot of villains who’ve made a massive impression on me. Umbridge, I suppose, although I actually like her as a villain. I think she’s a really good one. Pekka Rollins from Six of Crows is another one. Poor Kaz. 🙁 As for a villain I have forgiven, I’m going to cheat and go with Damian Wayne from DC who isn’t a villain anymore. He was raised as an assassin, so I always figure he didn’t know any better and some of his more evil actions were perfectly normal and justified from his perspective. I tend to sympathise with characters who were raised as villains in general. Sue me.
My first thought when I read antagonistic parents was the Maestro so I am not surprised and, also, you are totally valid. :’) 😉 <3
Ugh I hate Pekka Rollins and Umbridge. Umbridg made me sO SO ANGRY because every time she did something and made the kids powerless just agahgihaglh I hate her. And Kaz was just doing his best though. ❤️💔I mean, YEAH he was bad. But he was more antihero so I’m totally normal to love him. 😂
I also like the ones who are like RAISED to be bad but aren’t doing it maliciously? Like The Grey Man too from The Raven Cycle!
This post made me realize that I don’t read many books with traditional villains. Most of the “bad” characters I read about are normal people who make poor choices. I have read the VE Schwab books. I also felt bad for the characters in the Villains series. I shouldn’t because most of them are terrible people!
Honestly same though. Because I was trying to list an Ultimate Big Bad villain who wasn’t President Snow or Voldemort and I got stuck.😂I prefer the villains who aren’t completely black-and-white evil.😂
Ahhh what a great tag, I loved your answers. And you’re totally allowed to mention your own book in the worst antagonist parents category, I mean, I would have mentioned your book, too, because the maestro was TERRIBLE. My heart is honestly aching for poor Beck every time I think about it. And for the a little bad a little good category, I would have picked Lila & Kaz, too. I mean, we adore them, don’t we 😀
She was just the worst.😂Someone apologised to me for hating her so much and I’m like?!? No no! I hate her too.😂 She’s truly the worst kind of person because she believed she was justified and I’M JUST !!!! (Probably shouldn’t be this mad at my own creation but hmm here I am.😂)
MORALLY GREY VILLAINS AND ANTIHEROES COMPLETE MY LIFE ASGSHSJAJ
I cannot forgive Umbridge even if you give me billions of dollars and I’ve already forgiven Luke Castellan from Percy Jackson. He was just brainwashed and angry. Dude deserved his redemption arc.
This tag is absolutely great by the way and I will surely make a post about it on my blog. MY UNFINISHED BLOGPOSTS ARE CRYING LMAO.
I also love your answers Cait! I HATE THE MAESTRO TOO. BECK DIDN’T DESERVE ANY OF THOSE VIOLENCE. He deserves all the cakes in the world tbh
ANTIHEROES ARE WHAT WE NEED IN THIS BOOK WORLD. THEY ARE PRECIOUS AND TERRIFYING. ❤️💔
Also I’m mad at myself for forgetting Luke?! I LOVE Luke!!
If Beck ever gets a sequel it will legit just be called A Thousand Years Of Therapy 😂😂
I LOVE this post so much, Cait! I have this secret (or not-so-secret, if I’m being honest with myself) love for villains and morally grey characters! Totally agree with Legend being an intriguing villain and KAZ IS MY BABY! I love him to pieces. Lila Bard and Piper Greenmantle are also fantastic characters! I’m currently reading A Conjuring of Light and Lila has grown on me so much!
Anywho, this is a wonderful tag, and I’m definitely going to do it sometime soon! Haha. I hope you’re having a lovely week, darling!
Ahhhh we are together on this *hi fives* And like some villains are just TOO fascinating and I love them so much. Kaz is juST TRYING HIS BEST. I mean, yeah he stabbed a guy’s eye out, but he had a panic attack and passed out in a prison wagon and I just ❤️💔my poor Kaz son
RIGHT!? He is so cruel and has serious anger management issues at times, but HE IS A PRECIOUS LITTLE BEAN! I just wanted to bundle him in my arms when he passed out in that wagon! *cries* ❤️
I am not a villain girl (I like my heroes SO much), but I did add ‘Six of Crows’ to my list because a. I DO want to read this duo, and b. I hear it’s all about the good/bad characters. Either way, I’m still curious!! 🙂
Six of Crows is MOST EXCELLENT. And tbh, they’re more antiheroes than villains and they care and support each other so much despite, you know, stealing things…😂
Much fun this tag. I need all the thieves. They all just need secret cuddles. *gets her arms chopped of* right..
Thieves are so awesome?! I probably shouldn’t admit it, BUT HERE WE ARE.😂
I was just looking for an idea for my next blog post and this is perfect! 😍 I love villains too and I’m not ashamed! My favourite villains are the morally grey characters for which you are not sure if they are actually villains or not..
But with that said there is a line and I cannot like any villain that is stupidly convinced they are right and don’t have any traits that make them at least a little bit human. I feel like they are just so annoying to read about because you can’t have a normal interaction with them! And they remind me of the worst possible humans in real life. (I’m thinking Umbridge and the Commandant from An Ember in the Ashes).
So yeah I would never forgive those two but I have already forgiven Kaz for being a bit too aggressive at times. 🙂
I really enjoyed reading this post!
AHHH I’m so glad you enjoyed this tag!
Also I definitely agree. Like some villains shouldn’t even be tried to be redeemed. Just let us hate them! And the ones that are outright EVIL are frustrating a bit, but I also don’t mind if they get me to really really hate them. That’s good writing to have me feeling os strongly about them!
Kaz like stabbed a guy’s eyeball out but then had a panic attack in that prison wagon so like 😭😭😭 Kaz you poor smol son
I am a total sucker for redeemable villains. I always want the good in them to overcome somehow! Unless of course your’e talking about Umbridge or THOSE DESPICABLE BOYS WHO DESTROYED FREDERICK in All the Light We Cannot See, or other monsters like that. Sometimes it’s hard to fathom that there is actually good in some of those characters at all. Maybe I should try but I don’t want to? I love Roscuro from The Tale of Despereaux (no, the movie does not count). And I know there are others but my brain isn’t totally working at the moment?
Great post! Villains are indeed fascinating and complex characters.
Yessss I totally agree! I mean some villains I just am happy to sit here and LOATHE AND HATE. But like a book that can get such strong emotions out of us is totally talented. :’) I like to think the best of people…but then some of these villains come along and like afhsohs I hate them so bad.
Thanks for making this tag, Cait! VERY HELPFUL and i’m going to use it!!
Aww I’m SO glad you enjoyed it!
THIS TAG IS SO FUN – I might have to steal it too!
Also HOW do you take so many graphics for your posts??
YAY! I look forward to reading your version!
And do you mean graphics or photos? I take photos with a camera lmao.😂
mother: i made a kid and he’s successful
readers: you ruined a perfectly good kids, that’s what you did. look at it, it’s got anxiety!
WHY IS THIS SO 100000% ACCURATE
Honestly I love all the types of villain! I’m a sucker for an antihero, I love a good redeeming arc, I love the pure evil ones just so I can hate them, if they’re written well, there’s not a villain I won’t fall in love with! Umm….a villain I’ll never forgive….probably Snape, because even though he had a redemption arc, he did nothing to earn it and there was no reason for him to treat Neville the way he did. A villain I do forgive…Luke Castellan, I don’t think he was really evil, just misunderstood and angry. Honestly, I’m pretty sure all my favourite characters have at least some villain in them, characters would be boring if they were all wholly good.
YES I HATE SNAPE FOREVER TOO!! I actually don’t really understand him. I know he was like being a double-agent and obviously would hate Harry since James was such a horrible person to him (but then it made me hate JAMES more than Snape even?! James was a frikkin’ bully!) but why did Snape have to be abusive to all the children?? omg
I LOVE LUKE. 💛💛💛💛💛💛
I like redeemable villains, like everybody on OUAT, but I haven’t read many books with villains that I actually like. I hate the books where the protagonist falls in love with the villain and they aren’t redeemed very well. It just makes me so mad cuz I feel like it makes the girl look bad and it just annoys me so much. I guess I’m just not a villain person in general though.
Oh btw I’m getting your posts emailed to me again! 🙂
Ugh yes, I’m NOT here for that. Like even if I sometimes forgive a villain, it doesn’t mean they should get rewarded?! I’m all for repercussions too.
Sebastian! <3 What a perfect example for a villain made from tragic circumstances!
Love this tag. I'm too late to use it for this TTT, but I might tuck it away for a rainy day – thanks for sharing!
I FEEL SO BAD FOR SEBASTIAN. I mean Jace got a second chance and saved, but not Sebastian.
yesss shoutouts to Holland, Minya, and Kaz. this is officially the Best Post
THEY MAKE ME CRY I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
Oh my gosh this tag is so much fun! Definitely going to steal it for my blog in the future!
Villains are honestly so exciting to read about, more so than heroes in many ways. I think my favourite types of villains are morally grey characters: people who aren’t completely evil but do some really awful things. And “monsters” who aren’t really monsters! They’re also good. The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy has a great cast of villains and maybe-villains and is just super entertaining all-round.
Yes absolutely!! I am totally there for those types of villains as well. Ooh and I love Skulduggery Pleasant! He, himself, is a perfect example of the morally grey!
Yes! So great to find another Skulduggery Pleasant lover!
CAIIIIIT! I JUST FINISHED READING ACE OF SHADES AND YOU BROUGHT IT UP. MY HEART HASN’T FOUND MY CHEST AGAIN. Why do you do this to me? (but yes, I love smol Levi, he just needs a good squish)
OH GOOD WE SHOULD SHOUT ABOUT IT TOGETHER BECAUSE IT IS EXCELLENT AND ALSO RUINS MY LIFFFFFFE. *cries and demands everyone be nicer to Levi*
OMG YES PEOPLE NEED TO BE NICER TO MY SOFT BOI
I need to up my reading game because there are SO many novels on this list that I haven’t read – I’m very intrigued by Keeper Of The Bees after reading about that villain!! I also recently found your novel just waiting to be bought in my local waterstones so I’ve given it a home on my bookshelf and can’t WAIT to read it! <3 xxx
http://www.samanthafrances.co.uk
omg thank you so so much for getting ATPN!! Here’s to us all hating the Maestro together. *cries and hi fives* 😂
Oooh I love to read villians who I hate at first, but then their past/circumstances/hurt/motives are revealed and I feel horrible for hating them and I want people to understand them. I guess that amounts to me loving villians I can identify with – they’re not totally inhumane strangers.
Kylo Ren of Star Wars is definitely one of those, and from books I feel for Murtagh from the Eragon books – he’s one of my favorite villains! I’ve forgiven him 100 times over!!
However I just read Wildcard and without spoilers I can definitely say that I will never forgive Dr. Taylor for what she did. 😡😭
Fabulous post as always Cait!!
Yessss. Although I admit I don’t know Star Wars (I’M SORRY😂) but like I do enjoy ones you come to understand! And omg I’ve only read Warcross…that makes me SO intrigued for the sequel now!
I used to love villains so much but now I’m kind of bored of them?? I do have a few favourite villain characters, but the whole “misunderstood bad guy” thing got shoved onto nearly every single villain out there (even the really bad awful ones who are completely irredeemable) and it kind of ruined it for me :/
I’m a little wary of redemption arcs too because sometimes they go wrong for me, like one character I like who got a redemption arc basically ended up hijacking the entire story and now I’m like ‘can I have the real protagonist back pls’. But there are still good arcs out there!
Aw I do understand that! I think there can be a tendency to redeem the unredeemable? Like I personally really enjoy a GOOD redemption arc, but it does depend on what the villain has done and there are things I’m like “um heck no we are not forgetting they did that”. And even forgiveness can be fine but um, don’t make the characters fall in love?!
The most intriguing villains, to me, are the psychological ones. When somebody is so twisted they can do all these evil deeds with a smile on their face and play mind games, I get super creeped out but also curious. That kind of character is way too interesting not to want to read about all the time.
Okay yeah The Maestro really is like the most awful YA parent EVER. I knew she was gonna be bad but then I read the book and she was THAT MUCH WORSE.
I never expected to like a murderous AI system as much as I do, and yet, here we are. x’D
Ohh yes! That’s why I’m so fascinated by the Joker, since his #1 reason is TO cause chaos. Like he has no ambition over that and that’s so messed up it’s very intriguing.
I HATE THE MAESTRO TOO SO LIKE, LET’S JUST COLLECTIVELY HATE HER HERE. 😂
If you loves thieves and heist books, you should totally check out The Thousand Deaths of Ardor Benn by Tyler Whitesides!! I think you’d love it, based off your list of sneaky sneak thieves above. 🙂
Ooh thank you for the rec! I ADORE heist books and can never get enough!
I’ll be really intrigued to see what you think if you end up reading it! Not too many people have read it, as far as I’m aware, which is a shame, because IT’S JUST SO GOOD.
Don’t think I am flattering you but I know only the Maestro and THUG from this huge list, as I have not read any of these books except these two. But seriously, I love antagonists more than the leads usually.
Well, totally flatter me. 😌I do not mind at all.😂
Oooh this is FUN. Such a good idea! I think my problem is, I always feel *too* much sympathy for villains? Except in certain cases where they’re just totally irredeemable. (Though I admit, the redeemable ones are definitely my favorite- I love a good redemption arc!) Also, you SHOULD be putting the Maestro on this list because she is EVIL. Like if you write a follow up, it’ll obviously have to be about Beck’s years of therapy trying to undo her damage.
And I am convinced that society is the biggest evil of all. And the most heartbreaking.
Oh agreed! Some villains I don’t even want to redeem, they are disgusting little worms. BUT. I like that a book can make us feel such hate for a fictional villain too, so that’s good writing! (The Maestro needs to just…no. The sequel is called A Thousand Years of Therapy tbh.)
Oh, this tag is SO FUN!!! I love talking about villains, they’re so fun??? I’ll always hate Delores Umbridge the most. And if Cardan is a villain, I definitely like him! though I agree everyone from The Cruel Prince is kind of a villain. 😂
Villains are my favourite things ahhhhhh 😍Which is probably a concern but OH WELL. And I’m not even sure who’s a villain in The Cruel Prince by this point, but omg I love it.😍
Kaz, Locke, Lila, and Cassel are some of my favorites – awesome tag!!
They are SUch awesome characters!! AHH!!
I like redeemable villains but sometimes authors try to redeem the unreedmable.
Warner from Shatter Me was redeemed in big way. There have been a few horror books where there are some truly unredeemable villains. There was one where a lot of people liked the villain even though, I researched after reading the first book in the series, he ended up raping the MC. AND THEY STILL WERE COOL WITH HIM. People are crazy. The author I remember was not into that response so at least she was responsible.
Oh I agree! Sometimes I think there’s a tendency to excuse badness because of “tragedy” in the past or something?! Hmm, nope. It takes a LOT to make that right. But sometimes I just love villains TO be bad. Like give me something to hate! It’s good writing to make me angry. 😂
(Holy wow though I am NOT ok with characters who do things like rape and then apparently get redeemed? Nope. I can’t remember the book, but I also believe there was a ship that started off with rape and then turned to romance and people were okay with it and I’m like!??!? holy shit no?????)
“I forgive [Holland] for nearly murdering Kell 1 or 29 times” SAME. He’s my SON.
This is so off topic, but speaking of Holland and Kell, I bought a laptop sleeve with your “Kell wore a very peculiar coat” design on Society6 and I LOVE IT!! Thank you so much for helping me reach peak fangirl <3
HE IS THE PERFECT DAMAGED SON AND DESERVES BETTER *cries* And omggggg thank you so so much for buying my design! I can’t even with how excited I am about that!
AHHH you mentioned The Foxhole Court right off the bat and now I’m so 10000% thinking about the series againnnnnn
I was so upset with every single person who even slightly irritated Neil. He is the most precious boy IN THE WORLD c: c: c:
I love this post sm <3
I love villains <3 I specially love a villain which is mixed between bad and good. To me, these are my kind of favorite "villain". No people are perfect and everyone can make the wrong choices in life. I think that's why I love them so much. I have never been fond of those who are villains just to be it. I feel I need some reason why somebody's going to be evil and explaining why they've taken the choices they've taken. I love a villain with a great backstory and I hate when authors try to get their villians characters to be good towards the end for a "happy ending". It's okay to love a character even though he or she is "evil".
Yes, Dante and Jacks… but mostly Jacks. I love that there’s more to their character. Jacks’s intentions were clear with Tella but with Dante, what is real and not real right? Is it all just a game?
YASSSS just in time for Vicious and Vengeful, I love this tag! I adore Eli and Victor <3 It would be so interesting to read from Cardan's perspective omg! YESSS I am so glad I read Lies of Locke Lamora recently too cos omg those Gentlemen Bastards. Minya was so complex and terrifying but you can't help but love her?? AIIIDANNN I'm so glad you included him omg.
ARGH. Villains are so difficult for me!! Typically I end up loving them even more than the heroes (a.k.a. my obsession with Jim Moriarty from Sherlock), which is a problem, because I swear I’m a smol innocent little thing. Seriously. I promise. Aha.
BUT ANYWAY. This tag is so cool, Cait!! I might just have to steal it. . . Even though you posted this like months ago. XD I think my favorite types of villains to read are. . .um. . .all of them? I just really love villains. XD But I don’t necessarily like the ones that are just inherently bad for no good reason OTHER than the fact that they have to be bad. So. Maybe I like redeemable ones and antiheroes? Yeah. . . I think I’m going with that for my answer. XD
And a villain I’ll never forgive — UMBRIDGE. UMBRIDGE FOREVER. I know it’s cliche and all that but like!!!! She’s AWFUL. And one that I’ve totally forgiven is Moriarty because he’s perfection. (and yes, I know he’s from the television series, but like. . .it still counts. XD)