So I was torturing my cousin with my rambles yesterday, but I think it's rare these days to find a proper supervillain/a villain who's really evil in the actual sense of the word. Like, every evil person can be called a villain (although, this is also debatable, because a person is a villain if they act upon their evilness/break the law in some manner), but not every villain is evil.
Exhibit A: A thief is a villain if they are responsible for large-scale robberies. The head of an 'evil' corporation is also a criminal. But to what extent are they immoral? To what extent are the measures they take wrong? or corrupt? Is what they're doing inhumane in any way? Or is it justified to them? Are they like the Robin Hood of their times? Or are they a Pharaoh
Basically, the key question is what are your villains motives and do these motives make them evil? Besides this, it's also important (imo) to know if what is considered evil in your story's setting. For example, stealing might be wrong in some societies, but accepted in others as a way to survive.
Also (because I went on a tangent just then), if we look at Exhibit A, it just provides us with surface-level details. Sure, your villains are committing a crime. So what if they're dishonest and wrong--are those the only traits they possess? Perhaps they are evil in some senses, like in being selfish and mean, but perhaps they are also plagued with guilt and regret, or perhaps they treat their workers well, or perhaps they feel as if what they are doing is right. Your evil character might not be aware that what they are doing is even remotely evil, and that's interesting, isn't it?
Exhibit B: I've seen a couple of plays with truly evil people (unfortunately, neither of them are available online/in English), but let me give you an example. Evil Dude gets married to his ex-lover's sister-in-law out of vengeance. He had no feelings for ex-lover, but his pride has been hurt and ex-lover's actions have attacked this superiority complex he has. How dare she leave him? How /dare/ she? Instead of breaking the law by being rash and impulsive, he is bent on destroying their family. Ex-lover and her husband separate for a time, the husband and sister-in-law completely break ties (husband and sister-in-law are siblings, fyi). And despite everything, despite being caught out in the end for everything he has done, Evil Dude has managed to make sister-in-law fall in love with him. He doesn't regret his actions. He treats her dismally. He is a vile human being who uses everyone he knows and has absolutely no good qualities--at least none that are exhibited. Callous, hard-hearted--I won't list them.
tl;dr: what makes Evil Dude evil is the fact that he can ruin lives without batting an eyelash, and this actually amuses him.
Yet, would you consider this person a villain, or would you consider him as a manipulative *insert bad word here*? Are villains always evil?
Also! Because I've been rambling long enough, what do you look for in an evil villain?
(I, personally, prefer it when villains are three-dimensional, with a sprinkling of good in that bad, because it makes them more human. I'm not saying that if a character is entirely evil they aren't 3D, but more often than not, the author focusses entirely on the 'evil' aspect of their nature and doesn't do justice to the others. There is more to evil than being evil; it's the tiny quirks and traits that make up a character and which are, imo, more important.)
How evil is evil? Where do you draw the line between being 'bad' and being 'wicked'? Do you have an evil character? Or do you have a Dr Doofenshmirtz-esque villain who's loveable and annoying at the same time?
Discuss your villains/evil peeps here~
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