Then there are those of us who especially like villains because we love a good redemption story - it fits my personal philosophies to portray all people as potentially redeemable
This probably comes closest to it for me; I like reading about characters who struggle with good and evil or struggle against their own natures. I don’t know if you are familar with Magik from Marvel’s XMEn/New Mutants (she was Colossus' sister) – as a kid she got suced into this hellish limbo world where 3/5 of her soul was twisted and emerged back as a teenager. The thing was she really had this cold evil streak that was real and that she fought to control, and that fight made her sympathetic. Although she wasn’t a villain, the same thing occurs with villains.
And that points to the thing I often find most compelling with villains – there’s the sense that they could have been heroes if something had been different – that they got a bad break most people don’t… and we’re not sure how sane/good/whatever any of us would be if we’d been in their shoes. For me with the most compelling and sympathetic villains you can see how easily things might have turned out differently, especially if there’s a sense that other people could/should have stepped in and didn’t.
it's also about.. how deeply you relate and equate fiction with reality. This is something I’ve been struggling to sort into words. Often, it seems that fannish discussions take stories and evaluate them as if they were real and really happening today. I’m not saying that’s a “wrong” way to read or interpret stories, just that it isn’t the only way and it certainly isn’t my way. I tend to go into the story rather than drag it out with me. I think that means that I also tend to read much more metaphorically – and I think this carries over into villains. I’m much more likely to read stories as being about redemption or struggling within yourself, or self-isolation or anything rather than how I would react if this was actually happening in real life. Of course it probably helps that so much of what I read and watch is fantasy.
no subject
This probably comes closest to it for me; I like reading about characters who struggle with good and evil or struggle against their own natures. I don’t know if you are familar with Magik from Marvel’s XMEn/New Mutants (she was Colossus' sister) – as a kid she got suced into this hellish limbo world where 3/5 of her soul was twisted and emerged back as a teenager. The thing was she really had this cold evil streak that was real and that she fought to control, and that fight made her sympathetic. Although she wasn’t a villain, the same thing occurs with villains.
And that points to the thing I often find most compelling with villains – there’s the sense that they could have been heroes if something had been different – that they got a bad break most people don’t… and we’re not sure how sane/good/whatever any of us would be if we’d been in their shoes. For me with the most compelling and sympathetic villains you can see how easily things might have turned out differently, especially if there’s a sense that other people could/should have stepped in and didn’t.
it's also about.. how deeply you relate and equate fiction with reality. This is something I’ve been struggling to sort into words. Often, it seems that fannish discussions take stories and evaluate them as if they were real and really happening today. I’m not saying that’s a “wrong” way to read or interpret stories, just that it isn’t the only way and it certainly isn’t my way. I tend to go into the story rather than drag it out with me. I think that means that I also tend to read much more metaphorically – and I think this carries over into villains. I’m much more likely to read stories as being about redemption or struggling within yourself, or self-isolation or anything rather than how I would react if this was actually happening in real life. Of course it probably helps that so much of what I read and watch is fantasy.