{ ++ } Welcome to Guest Who, a new feature here at Once Upon a Prologue, for 2012. I wanted to get to know my followers and fellow bloggers better, so this idea was born: a guest-post swap! Each month, I'll feature someone new. We will write either on the same topic, or one of our own choosing, and it'll give me a chance to see what y'all think about the chosen topic, and have loads of fun! And of course, discussion is welcome, anytime!
To get involved, send me a email at courageousgrace (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject "Guest Who." : )
To get involved, send me a email at courageousgrace (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject "Guest Who." : )
{ ++ } Today's Guest Who features Michelle from Oh! For the Love of Books. Michelle and I both chose to write on the subject of villains...which was especially fun for me considering I ADORE a good villain. Plus, Michelle is awesome and so fun to work with.
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I love teaching high school English. I hope one day to be a successful writer! I am addicted to whatever catches my fancy!
Guest Who - #2: Villains Are (This) Girl's Best Friend
What makes a good villain? Well, in reality a lot of things. In a great story – the villain has to be as developed as the protagonist of the story. If I don’t know what the villain looks like, acts like, connection (more than superficial) to the protagonist, and what is the driving force to their evil plot to take over the world or steal my fictional boyfriend – then I don’t love the story.
The other, and most important to me, factor in a great villain – is the hatred factor. I HAVE to hate him/her/them. When they appear on the page or are mentioned, I need to grip my book in frustration and get angry. I need to think things like: I hope he gets his @ss kicked or God, how I hate you! If that isn’t there – then I don’t want the protagonist to triumph over the halls of her high school or save mankind from the apocalypse. I will not become emotionally invested.
A recent element that I need to hate (secretly loving the hate) is he/she needs to creep me out – could be a passing phase because lets face it, the high school queen bee – I love to hate her – but she’s not creepy. BUT, recently – the scarier or the creepier – the better – like if I am walking down the road in my small town and I run into him/her – the hair on the back of my neck would stand up and I would cross the road, sprint to my door, and lock it once I was inside – creepy. Give it to me!
Some of my favorite villains of all time:
Male:
Valentine – The Mortal Instruments
Roland – Unwind
The Killer – The Body Finder – CREEPY!
Female:
Abigail Williams – The Crucible
Lady Macbeth – Macbeth
Annie Wilkes – Misery – HOLY CREEPY
Society:
Government in Divergent – hate it
I’m looking at my list and realizing my male villains are recent reads and my females are ones that I read in high school. Who are some of your favorite villains?
{ ++ } Thanks to Michelle for stopping by today! Hit the comments to tell us what villains YOU have loved/hated or loved AND hated!
2 comments:
I do love a well-written and developed villain as well. I absolutely LOVE Professor Snape from Harry Potter fame. He was one of the best villains I've ever read about. And I agree with your pick of Valentine too. I mean a man willing to experiment and sacrifice his own children needs his ass kicked royally.
PS...I never read misery, but the movie was awesome! And the villain was uber creepy and crazy. Kathy Bates did a wonderful job with that role.
SNAPE! I felt so bad for him in the end, but hated him all the way through!!! Misery was intense - the movie is a good depiction of what she was like in the book!
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