Villians

has this been done?

i guess the only thing that comes to mind is shitty Hannible Rising. What else?

I suppose in all hero movies there's that small flashback montage thing that shows just how the villian came to be, whether it be an acid spill, neglectful parents, or whatever else...

Harvey Dent is a good example. Especially with the multiple personality fighting thing he does occasionally.

And.... um... as a musical reference, Wicked did a pretty good job of explaining the wicked witch of the west.

hey! you're right!

What's a villian?

First, I'd suggest looking at famous outlaws and what happened there. Most of them were in down and out neighbourhoods and needed milk money. Others were bored. Others were just Psychos.

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde]Bonnie and Clyde[/URL] were bored.
[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillinger]John Dillinger[/URL] never got a chance. Didn't manage to hold down a job after deserting the Navy. Got roped into a mugging. His first offence, couldn't afford legal representation, served nine years and got paroled.

From outlaws it's a simple step to wacko serial killers.

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein]Ed Gein[/URL] was schizo.
[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz]David Berkowitz[/URL] simply enjoyed killing.

There's more to them, obviously, but they're the basics. And from there, to fictional villains and their motives.

[URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joker]The Joker[/URL]
The most widely cited backstory can be seen in The Killing Joke. It depicts him as originally being an engineer at a chemical plant who quits his job to become a stand-up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate to support his pregnant wife, the man agrees to help two criminals break into the plant where he was formerly employed. In this version of the story, the Red Hood persona is given to the inside man of every job (thus it is never the same man twice); this makes the man appear to be the ringleader, allowing the two criminals to escape. During the planning, police contact him and inform him that his wife has died in a household accident.

Stricken with grief, he attempts to back out of the plan, but the criminals strong-arm him into keeping his promise. As soon as they enter the plant, however, they are immediately caught by security and a shoot-out ensues, in which the two criminals are killed. As the engineer tries to escape, he is confronted by Batman, who is investigating the disturbance. Terrified, the engineer leaps over a rail and plummets into a vat of chemicals. When he surfaces in the nearby reservoir, he removes the hood and sees his reflection: bleached chalk-white skin, ruby-red lips, and green hair. These events, coupled with his other misfortunes that day, drive the engineer completely insane, resulting in the birth of the Joker.

Really, coming up with a motive is half the fun. The thing is a lot of these people are psychopathic in the [I]actual [/I]sense of the word rather than being schizo or anything. Hell, most people are psychopathic. Not many of them suffer from psychosis.

Common themes are basically a writer making an excuse for the villiany. Troubled childhoos, terrible tragedy, etc. Just look at Dexter. The fact is most people are just bored, that where the really charismatic killers are, and maybe a killer isn't what you're looking for, but Patrick Bateman and Son of Sam > Dexter Morgan and Ed Gein. Though I know that's a serial killer analogy, but you get the point.

This is a good idea, I'd like to see you commit to it and instead researching and exorcizing the will to write this thing by discussing it you should just write it.

the Joker has to be the biggest inspiration right now. especially the new Joker from [I]The Dark Knight[/I].

just a psychopath detached from reality who never takes anything seriosuly even when he has a gun in his face.

What about Samual Jackson in Unbreakable?

That was the first thing that I thought of when I read your first post.

The biggest thing is the villian has to truly believe that what he is doing is the right thing to do. Whether it's for personal reasons or what he thinks is best for those around him/the world.

Unbreakable is a good one to watch a villian being born, also Neil Gaiman's Snow,Glass, Apple to see things from the "villians" perspective.

[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=28129]and oh yeah...[/URL]

since most villians become villians after some sort of accident, I'll put my guy through one too. I was thinking that he should sign up to have some experimental drug tested on him. he's doing if for cash as he's down on hard times. and of course the experiment will go awry. I just havent figured out what. I think Im going to back up and give my guy a name and history first before I move ahead.

by the way, do they still pay people to test drugs?

the problem is, the villian very rarely, if ever, wins. So you're never going to have any resolution or pleasant/acceptable ending.

the villian will turn bad, get defeated and then the film ends and no one's happy.

Ive been spelling villain wrong this whole time. Its vill-[B][I]AI[/I][/B]-n not vill-[B][I]IA[/I][/B]-n.

I feel like an idiot.

[QUOTE=bearchaser;1124261]Ive been spelling villain wrong this whole time. Its vill-[B][I]AI[/I][/B]-n not vill-[B][I]IA[/I][/B]-n.

I feel like an idiot.[/QUOTE]
Oh, a villain!

[QUOTE=bearchaser;1124227]by the way, do they still pay people to test drugs?[/QUOTE]Nope, it's illegal now. Has to be done voluntarily.