I know that we’re not technically supposed to root for the bad guy, but … let’s be honest. Sometimes, you just have to.
How can you resist that suave charm or the take-charge attitude or the go-getter personality? Okay, sure, maybe they want to kill a couple hundred people on their quest, but think about it. Is that really so bad? Assuming you’re not in that population, obviously.
Nothing will make or break a book for me as quickly and thoroughly as a lackluster villain. I don’t have to root for them, necessarily, or even understand them, but I want their motivation to feel real, tangible, and super important to them.
In short, the villain should be the hero of their own story. Even if it’s a very convoluted story they’re telling themselves which has nothing in common with reality.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a character freebie. And since I do tend to like the villains and insist that, really, they just need a hug … well, this seemed like a perfect time to talk about some of my favorites.
AIDAN
From: The Illuminae Files
Special Skill: Doing the wrong things for the right reason
Reasons:
✦ Just your average super intelligent, hyperlogical, murdering AI
✦ I mean, technically he saved a ton of people?
✦ I, too, would kill 1,000 to save 1,001.
✦ Awesome catch phrases like “Am I not merciful?” and “Every story needs its monster. The monster is me.”
✦ May be just a program, but he has feels darn it
✦ Tries hard to understand humans. Mostly fails. Humans are complicated, yo.
✦ Incapable of proper sarcasm and jokes. Doesn’t let that stop him.
Haikomono
From: Soul of the Sword
Special Skill: Transforming into a talking sword
Reasons:
✦ Was trapped in a sword through no fault of his own and is sick of it.
✦ I mean, okay, sure, there was that bit about abject slaughter, but talk about the punishment not fitting the crime.
✦ Is slowly being changed due to all his time spent around humans, which is terrifying (and rightly so).
✦ Obviously a total badass.
✦ Petty and vengeful, but it’s kind of adorable.
Johan Liebert
From: Monster
Special Skill: Bringing sexy and psycho back
Reasons:
✦ Passes extremely easily as a normal, non-serial killer person.
✦ Straight-up murders people without batting an eye, but at the same time genuinely tries to help others?
✦ Defined by a pretty rock-solid foundation of good and evil.
✦ Okay, a slightly skewed Tower of Pisa foundation of good and evil.
✦ Is also a victim here? Pffft talk about victim blaming.
✦ Great with children.
✦ That scene where he cries, though. My heart = </3
Cardan
From: The Wicked King
Special Skill: Scathing sarcasm and biting wit
Reasons:
✦ Spare princes don’t have to be good people, thank you very much.
✦ Being nice is too much work. Sarcasm is easy.
✦ Swears he’s lazy. Is really just resting up.
✦ Spends all his spare time scheming and whoring. You know, the finer things in life.
✦ Was always told to stick to what he’s good at. Is very good at being bad.
✦ Sometimes slips up and does the right thing for the right reasons?
✦ Immediately backtracks and insists he’d never do that, idiot.
Marcella
From: Vengeful
Special Skill: Most fashionable murderess
Reasons:
✦ Kill everyone first, then ask questions. Oh, wait …
✦ Murder doesn’t have to be an ugly business.
✦ You know what they say about boys and their toys. Well, girls like shiny new toys, too.
✦ Tired of being told to sit still and look pretty.
✦ Sick of not getting respect just because she’s got boobs. Rocks the whole having boobs thing anyway, out of spite.
Dresden
From: Keeper of the Bees
Special Skill: Maybe he’s born with it … maybe it’s Maybelline
Reasons:
✦ Didn’t ask to be a monster. Just ended up that way and can’t help what he is now.
✦ But he’s got feelings. Very complex, sticky, convoluted ones.
✦ Best meet-cute ever. You know, the one where you destroy a girl’s family and only slightly ruin her life.
✦ Friends with the “enemy” and deeply cares, because he’s a marshmallow.
Ezra Squall
From: Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow
Special Skill: Casually ignoring all the rules
Reasons:
✦ Super enigmatic backstory that is clearly interesting.
✦ May not be the big bad villain others make him out to be? Hmm? Who knows?!
✦ Banned from an area. Goes there anyway. Because technicalities.
✦ Does a lot of things just because he can.
✦ Master of disguise, Wunder, and breaking the rules.
✦ Rules are for lesser folks who aren’t smart enough to find loopholes.
✦ Has a bunch of puppers. Sure, they’re made of smoke and likely to eat your face, and probably the rest of you, but gotta love a man with a dog.
✦ Good with kids. Obviously a natural-born teacher. And on the bright side, if your student doesn’t succeed … destroy them! Unblemished record.
Ajaka
From: David Mogo, Godhunter
Special Skill: Trying to save his people … by destroying yours
Reasons:
✦ Filled to the brim with Ashe and power, but smart enough to not go throwing them around blindly.
✦ Mad scientist vibes going on.
✦ *insert Linkin Park’s “Somewhere I Belong“*
✦ Is so much of a foil for the hero that I’m not even sure who to root for anymore.
✦ I demand a prequel from his point of view! *chants “prequel”*
Lydian
From: White Stag
Special Skill: But was he wrong?!
Reasons:
✦ Most definitely a garbage being, but technically not any more so than the majority of his race.
✦ So easy to hate, but at the same time … his motivates are solid?
✦ Just trying to save the world from being destroyed. You’re welcome.
✦ Lost his mind, but it seems like such a small price to pay.
✦ “What happens when the serpent stops eating his tail?”
Jake
From: The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind
Special Skill: Can move sh*t with his mind. Duh.
Reasons:
✦ Poster boy for why eugenics is a slippery slope.
✦ Trying to save the world, all on his own. You know, by killing the bad guys.
✦ Slowly losing touch with reality. Like you do.
✦ Just trying to find himself. Ends up losing himself instead.
✦ Eerily relatable.
Great list! Villains who are well done and have emotional layers can steal the show😁 Gotta love Cardan especially, there’s just something about him…
Right? Even if a book has a dud of a main character, I can still love it if the villain is well done. xD And yes, Cardan is a charming lil pain in the butt.
Oh I totally agree with all of the ones that I know! Especially AIDAN!
(www.evelynreads.com)
AIDAN is number one on my list for a reason, after all. 😉 I think a lot of people really like him.
I love how you chose to feature literary villains. A good villain really makes a book. I especially enjoyed how you profiled each of them! This was so fun to read. Cardan from The Wicked King is one of my favorites as well, and I need to read Shadow of the Fox, so I can get to Soul of the Sword – because the talking sword!
My TTT
Thanks! I always have fun talking about villains. xD How can you not? I definitely recommend Shadow of the Fox! Actually, the talking sword is most prominent in that one, but Haikomono is actually a POV character in Soul of the Sword. 😉 So worth it!
Awesome list!
I love AIDAN too 😍 I was going to do a villain list but decided on the animals
To be fair, the only thing better than villains is cuddly animals, because it’s hard not to love the fluffer sidekicks. xD
😂😂
This is an incredible list!! Well done!! These villains are wonderfully interesting and I don’t mind exploring the darkness sometimes there’s a more richly nuanced character there
I think sometimes villains are the most interesting, because in my mind, I’m predisposed to understand the hero, so that’s easy. But understanding the villain is something different. 😉
I don’t know most if any of these, but I really love the way you described them all so distinctly and beautifully. My favorite bad guy… Is probably the Sniper mask from High Rise Invasion, but… SPOILER ALERT… he joined the good guys partway through.
I highly recommend them all, for obvious reasons. xD But since you seem to be into graphic novels, I’d recommend Monster by Naoki Urasawa. They made it into an anime, too. It’s a bit bloody, but it was such a good psychological read! Or, you know, watch, whichever route you take haha.
I totally agree that villains need to be fleshed out in order to be believable! I haven’t read any of the specific books you mention, but the best books have good bad guys.
Great list!! I’m planning on reading Vengeful soon, so I’ll definitely have to keep an eye on Marcella 😛 I haven’t read most of these books, but it was so much fun reading the villain profiles! Now I’m itching to read the Illuminae files to see more of Aidan.
Oh, I hope you enjoy Vengeful! It introduces a lot of different EOs and new powers, which was so neat, but I have to admit that I missed my main guys having most of the screentime.
I can’t recommend The Illuminae Files enough! AIDAN is perfect, but he’s only one in a whole cast of perfectly quirky and fun characters.
Aiden was a great villain! I always forget about it when I think of villains, but it should really be at the top of the list!
The top of every list! Because he deserves it. Even though I’m sure he’d consider it unnecessary. Silly AI.
So true! A good villain can be so fun to read about and lots of the time they’re more interesting/exciting than the hero, especially if they have an intriguing backstory 🙂
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
Yesss! I love the bad guys too (sometimes)! Cardan is a great choice and I love Aidan!
Yes, sometimes. xD Every now and then, a villain is irredeemable, but for the most part. 😉
AIDAN is one of my all-time favourite characters! Such an interesting villain.
I’m glad I’m not alone in that! It seems a lot of people really loved him. :3
Aidan yasss! I love Aidan he’s such a great character/non character. Great choices.
Thanks! He really is. Some of the best characters are non-characters, if I do say so myself. 😉
I LOVE this post. Ugh, AIDAN! Like, epic hate to love and love to hate character right there. Even thinking about him gets my blood pressure up (just a little bit) haha
Funny enough, I had noooo problem loving AIDAN. xD But I’m married to a sociopath, who functions 95% on logic and 5% on emotion, soooo he basically IS AIDAN. Just not as smart. Made him just a teensy bit easier to love. :3
Hahaha I mean he grew on me but it was so love-hate. But mostly hate at first. I’m too emotional for that 😅
oh wow this was super cool! I love a good villain and all your descriptions sounds wicked 😀 Definitely need to pick up a couple of these books now ~
I hope you do! Enjoy. 🙂
Ooh I love this! I also love a good villain and hate it when they’re not convincing. AIDAN creeped me out so much (AI makes me nervous), and I loved every second of it haha. I think the latest villain I’m going to love is the one from Wicked Saints. I enjoyed that character in the first book, and after the book ended, I am so excited to see where things go later in the series.
I honestly didn’t know what to expect going in and when the first “Am I not merciful” came up, I had to set the book down for a few minutes. You know stuff’s about to go down when your AI comes out with something like that. xD Oooh, but how I loved those creepy vibes haha.
I’m so sad because I haven’t read that yeeeet! Ugh. My library is clearly just not going to get it in, despite my request. xD So I have to buy it, which means I have to wait for a couple more months, unfortunately. I’m so glad to hear you like the villain in it, though, and that makes me all the more excited to read it! 😀
Oh my gosh, right?! I still get chills thinking about that line, in the best way.
Wicked Saints was weird for me because it was one of my most anticipated 2019 releases, I got an ARC, and…I gave it 3ish stars :/ But, I think it’s going to be one of those that has a bit of a shaky start to the series, and then gets *really* good later. Good luck getting it! Hopefully the library does get it, or you find it on sale if you do have to buy it!
Funny how that works sometimes, right? I’ve had a couple books already this year that I was so sure I’d love and really looked forward to and then I wasn’t completely enamored with them.
I actually picked it up on Amazon Prime day with their book coupon. xD So yay! I’ve now got that and Aurora Rising, and I am one happy bookdragon now.
Sometimes the baddies are just so right. There was this dragon in The Dragonslayer and they killed his mate and babies and I was like: burn them all
Ahaha that sounds perfect! You really get to express your dark side when you root for villains, while knowing no actual people/creatures were harmed. xD
Great topic! I haven’t read a lot of these, but I totally agree with Marcela! I think she’s my favorite addition in the sequel.
I haven’t read like most of these books, but I do like a good villain. 😀
The only book on this list that I’ve read is The Cruel Prince, but I definitely agree with the placing of Cardan on this list. I haven’t read The Wicked King yet so I’m excited to see more of him!
Oh, there was lots more fighting and betrayal and dark fantasy goodness in it! I hope you enjoy it when you’re able to read it. :3
All of these villains (and reads, of course) are new to me; but the way you described them make me want to pick up the books and learn more about these villains..
My favorite villain – I have to give it some thought and maybe will do a favorite villains post when I make a list ..
I hope you do! I had so much fun reading all these. :3 But then again, I do tend to love villains. 😉 Do it! Spread the villain love. 😀