Hello and welcome, new blog readers. If you have ever
watched a cartoon villain growing up, you have come to the right blog site. I
am sure everyone has watched a cartoon show growing up. I would also hazard a
guess that said show had recurring antagonists. Characters that actively
challenged our heroes and vied for victory. Every show has them because they
are an essential part of a given show. They help set up the tone, adventure, or
eventual moral our heroes must learn.
Image: moviepilot.com/
Antagonists are the lifeblood of a show. They keep the
protagonist from getting an easy win, an easy life that makes it interesting
from the audience to watch every time the show comes. What sets them apart from
movie villains is that. They are given much less time to formulate plans and
execute them. This is usually 11-22 minutes to actually be a threat, which does
add some challenge for writers to get right. Movie villains usually have over
an hour to get them right, so show villains require more attention. As well,
they usually come into contact with the flowing narrative of the show, such as
the plot or ongoing character progression. That is if the show isn’t just
episodic.
Growing up, amongst my favorite characters of shows was the villains. They were some of the most fun I had watching characters grow up and I honestly would remember them more often then the heroes. This is especially so with the likes of Zim (possibly my favorite antagonists ever) of Invader Zim and other such antagonists. As an avid reader and writer, I believe I'm qualified enough to write about antagonists.
Growing up, amongst my favorite characters of shows was the villains. They were some of the most fun I had watching characters grow up and I honestly would remember them more often then the heroes. This is especially so with the likes of Zim (possibly my favorite antagonists ever) of Invader Zim and other such antagonists. As an avid reader and writer, I believe I'm qualified enough to write about antagonists.
The goal of this blog will be going over recurring
antagonists of these shows. Antagonists that have been able to influence their
shows more then once, so oneshot antagonists will be excluded. As well, I will
not count a villain who had a small cameo/appearance in another episode. This
will only count to antagonists who have had at least two major story
appearances.
I hope you all enjoy these future blogs and have a great
day.
I agree that antagonists affect the plot a lot, but do you think that, in modern culture, villains often overtake the plot to the effect that they supplant the hero? Are villains more important than the hero in certain stories? You posted a picture of Loki from the Thor franchise. I would argue that Loki, in some respects, influences the plot more than Thor. He's certainly a more interesting character. For starters, I'm convinced Thor doesn't have a brain.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways, antagonists have taken a lot of spotlight from the heroes. This is most likely because a lot of antagonists beforehand didn't have anything really going for them other then they are evil. Not all, but quite a number of them. So to compensate, people try to develop them moreso. This leads to them getting more time to shine and for a lot of people, they find themselves loving to write antagonists rather then heroes. Which can have adverse effects in its own rights.
DeleteHowever, yes, antagonists or villains are sometimes more important then the heroes. Some stories benifit more for following a good villain because if you don't have a good villain, then it doesn't really feel like the hero accomplishes much when they best them.
Loki does influence the plot more, but I have to say I don't really care for the 'evil' Loki. Whereas his actual mythological self wasn't a villain and often had to save the other gods. Oh he causes trouble, but he isn't straight up evil. As for Thor, yeah, he never was all that smart. From my knowledge, his mythological self was like how he started in the first movie.... except a redheart, big bearded, and had an even bigger lust for battle. {Also he was with Sif.}
I certainly prefer trickster Loki in the Marvel films. He's kind of just forced into the role because the films need an antagonist.
DeleteI disagree that Loki wasn't evil in Norse Mythology (though that depends on the myth). There's a heartbreaking story where the gentlest of the gods Baldr is killed by the blind god Hodr. Loki guides Hodr's hand so he shoots Baldr through the heart.
I think that's pretty evil.
Full story:
http://norse-mythology.org/tales/the-death-of-baldur/
I am aware of the tale of Baldur, partially because of my interest in my own norse heritage. Loki’s action was evil, however he himself wasn’t. In the original mythology, Loki was a trickster. He would do just as many good things as bad. He has saved the gods on some occasions and then caused them grief in others, this being his worst action. He was a moral roulette wheel. However, Baldur was boasted in being protected from every known material. Given this boast, Loki couldn’t help but prove them wrong because he likes to break rules and use loopholes for his own merriment.
DeleteOverall, he was more of an asshole then a villain.
It wasn’t until the ‘Christianization’ of the norse gods and mythology was he made to be truly ‘evil’ as they focused on some qualities and ignored others.
I'm very interested in reading more about this. It's no surprise that the most common villains we know of today are from the Marvel and DC cinematic universes. Perhaps this could be an article by itself but I'd love to hear your thoughts on how Marvel and DC handle their movie villains respectively. What they get right, what they get wrong, on average who does villains better, etc.
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I know of many recurring antagonists in TV shows, so this seems like a great spot to learn! The one thing I will say about antagonists is that I love when they are relatable to the viewer. One of my all-time favorite antagonists has got to be Tom Hardy's character Fitzgerald in "The Revenant." Fitzgerald is ruthless and willing to do anything to survive (no spoilers here). The greatest part about Fitzgerald is that he does some pretty terrible things, but throughout the movie you realize he's only doing what he thinks will guarantee his survival. While his choices may be questionable, I can totally understand where he is coming from. Tom Hardy should have won an Oscar for his performance (I'm still very sore about that subject). What qualities do you think make a great antagonist?
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late reply.
DeleteAs for the question, the answer is quite simple: Audience enjoyment. Oh yes, there are several aspects in making a great antagonist, but then there comes the aspect of choosing what kind of antagonist; whether comedic or serious. At the end of the day, it matters on whether the audience can enjoy the antagonist's manner and appearance in the show.