Week 1: Fictional villains
Introduction
Who is your favourite fictional villain? From Voldemort to Moriarty, from Hannibal Lecter to Cruella de Vil, villains are often the most thrilling aspect of a story and can be more exciting than the hero. It is argued that ‘villainy is integral in narratives that reflect the innermost fears of the human psyche and is often a significant part of the construction of loss whether it is loss of innocence, loss of loved ones, loss of power, or loss of self and/or identity’ (Fahraeus and Yakah-Çamoğlu, 2011, p. vii).
Villains are designed to be morally reprehensible, yet they are often popular and celebrated characters in books, films and other media (Kjeldgaard-Christiansen et al., 2021). While your attraction towards heroic characters in fiction is easy to understand (they are pro-social, positive characters whom you may see as being role models), the attraction that you feel towards your favourite villain is perhaps harder to explain and has been something which psychologists, alongside authors of fiction, have been interested to explore.
By the end of this week, you should be able to:
- consider your favourite villainous characters and start to understand why they might be attractive to you, despite their despicable behaviour and intentions
- understand how various authors create villainous characters and how they feel about their creations
- think about the different ways in which writers, like psychologists, consider personality and character.