Do you want to see villains suffer or be forgiven?
Summary:
Good must conquer evil in the media, and there are different ways of doing so.
Villains might have a redemption arc to show that they’re not evil anymore.
They can also get punished and receive retribution.
We all love a well-written villain sometimes. They’re often extremely fascinating and there’s just something about the way they think that feels unusual and even bizarre. If you throw a high level of intelligence into the mixture, it gets even better. Intelligent psychopaths are truly entertaining to watch, are we right?
But there always comes a moment when evil needs to be either punished or turned good — that’s just the way the media works. So what is the best way of dealing with villains?
Redemption arc
One of the possible solutions is to have a redemption arc for the villain. If they’re no longer bad, then why hate them? This strategy is very widespread, since, let’s be honest, there’s just something compelling about a person realizing their mistakes and trying to be better.
They may struggle with being heroes, and their path can be a long one. Or a big reveal can happen that will show you that a villain was never actually a villain. For example, Itachi from Naruto. Everyone thought that he was a true bad guy because he slaughtered an entire village. While in reality, he did that to save his brother, Sasuke. Who, by the way, is another great example of a redeemable character.
Death and suffering
However, this is not the only possibility. Not all villains are meant to redeem themselves, some stay true to their dark selves until the end. And, if we’re being honest, we prefer this path. Not everyone has to be a hero, let villains stay evil and get their punishment.
Do you remember how good it was to see Mahito defeated and hunted by Yuji in Jujutsu Kaisen? Mahito is a type of character that cannot be redeemed, and to be honest, we don’t really want him to do that. We want to see him get punished. Watching him try to escape Yuji and seeing absolute horror and desperation on his face meant a lot. Especially after everything he’s done.
Light from Death Note is another great example of a well-deserved punishment. Although he was the main protagonist of the series, and a lot of people actually rooted for him, we all knew that letting him win was not an option (unfortunately?). He committed unspeakable things, and died miserable and alone. The manga was even crueler to him than the anime as he was clinging to Ryuk in terror, while the shinigami was writing his name in his Death Note.
Do you prefer villains getting redemption or retribution?
Do you want to see villains suffer or be forgiven?
Summary:
Good must conquer evil in the media, and there are different ways of doing so.
Villains might have a redemption arc to show that they’re not evil anymore.
They can also get punished and receive retribution.
We all love a well-written villain sometimes. They’re often extremely fascinating and there’s just something about the way they think that feels unusual and even bizarre. If you throw a high level of intelligence into the mixture, it gets even better. Intelligent psychopaths are truly entertaining to watch, are we right?
But there always comes a moment when evil needs to be either punished or turned good — that’s just the way the media works. So what is the best way of dealing with villains?
Redemption arc
One of the possible solutions is to have a redemption arc for the villain. If they’re no longer bad, then why hate them? This strategy is very widespread, since, let’s be honest, there’s just something compelling about a person realizing their mistakes and trying to be better.
They may struggle with being heroes, and their path can be a long one. Or a big reveal can happen that will show you that a villain was never actually a villain. For example, Itachi from Naruto. Everyone thought that he was a true bad guy because he slaughtered an entire village. While in reality, he did that to save his brother, Sasuke. Who, by the way, is another great example of a redeemable character.
Death and suffering
However, this is not the only possibility. Not all villains are meant to redeem themselves, some stay true to their dark selves until the end. And, if we’re being honest, we prefer this path. Not everyone has to be a hero, let villains stay evil and get their punishment.
Do you remember how good it was to see Mahito defeated and hunted by Yuji in Jujutsu Kaisen? Mahito is a type of character that cannot be redeemed, and to be honest, we don’t really want him to do that. We want to see him get punished. Watching him try to escape Yuji and seeing absolute horror and desperation on his face meant a lot. Especially after everything he’s done.
Light from Death Note is another great example of a well-deserved punishment. Although he was the main protagonist of the series, and a lot of people actually rooted for him, we all knew that letting him win was not an option (unfortunately?). He committed unspeakable things, and died miserable and alone. The manga was even crueler to him than the anime as he was clinging to Ryuk in terror, while the shinigami was writing his name in his Death Note.
Do you prefer villains getting redemption or retribution?
