[ SECRET POST #1446 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1446 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 13 pages, 302 secrets from Secret Submission Post #207.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

01. http://i53.tinypic.com/zoiahe.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllGirlsWantBadBoys

[(Anonymous)]

But BeautyEqualsGoodness (averted?)

[thememusicc.livejournal.com]

You must have hated video games up until the PSX era.

[dar-actually.livejournal.com]

And they say looks aren't everything.

[wldcatsprstr-14.livejournal.com]

I'm always very confused when villains are ugly (but that's only if they're magical). And I don't just mean "not really my cup of tea" ugly; more "doesn't even look human anymore/OMGWTFISTHAT!/Voldemort ugly. A lot of them are extremely shallow so why not go the extra bit and make themselves beautiful. If you're trying to persuade people to join your side, being extremely attractive would certainly help (unless you're Voldemort and you just scare everyone into joining you lol).

[hinodeh.livejournal.com]

I think many writers make their villains ugly to prevent sympathy and also to show that their inner ugliness shows also on the outside.

But you do make complete sense. As I said, I think ugly villains are a cheap way to squash even the tiniest bit of audience sympathy. Sadly it has large unfortunate implications if all good guys are beautiful.

[wldcatsprstr-14.livejournal.com]

I think it would speak to the truth of real evil even more if they WERE good-looking. To show that just because someone is beautiful on the outside, it doesn't mean that they're a good person.

I mean, they do the whole "I'm super-ugly but I have a heart of gold" thing all the time.

And it's kinda insulting to the audience to assume that they'll sympathize more with a villain if he or she is good-looking. It kinda says "Let's make them as ugly as possible so that we'll be sure the audience won't like them at all." And it's kinda sad that the writing isn't strong enough to do all that on it's own.

[(Anonymous)]

Studies on the halo effect show that good-looking people are more likely to also be considered intelligent, brave, and other good traits. So it's not entirely insulting to the audience to make the villains ugly to make them 'more evil', it does work somewhat on a psychological level - although yeah I can see where you're coming from and it's sometimes rather lazy storytelling.

[hinodeh.livejournal.com]

Some authors certainly invoke this trope. Just not all.

Yeah, but not that often for villains. At least as a long time anime and manga fan, I can say that attractive villains have a much higher chance of being redeemed, having a sympathetic motivation, a pet the dog moment, etc.
Ugly villains are much more often complete monsters.

Well, there are plenty of good-looking villains who have no redeeming qualities and yet there are fans who try to justify their behavior or argue that they're deep down nice or something. Either way, I agree with you that making the audience hate the villain by making him/her ugly isn't exactly stellar writing. What should matter are the deeds.

[roaringmay.livejournal.com]

First of all, I agree with your comment. Especially with the last part.

Though I do remember Schiller's Die Räuber and it had a pretty long paragraph on physiognomy and how one of the characters was born ugly and thus "evil" by default since the outer appearance = personality (roughly summed up). Of course, that's 18th century literature but I sometimes wonder if people continue to (sub-consciously?) let this influence their decisions regarding character design.

[cloud-riven.livejournal.com]

Bleh. Fair enough. Visual media and all that. What about books though, where it tends to be left to the imagination or a certain character's perspective? Same thing?

As long as the characters (villain, protagonist, and otherwise) are believable, I'm happy.

[hinodeh.livejournal.com]

Can't disagree. If a villain is entertaining, interesting, a tough opponent or maybe even likable his looks are secondary. Bottom line is that she/he should be a well-rounded character, especially when she/he will get a lot of screen time.

[mutantjules.livejournal.com]

does attractive have to be looks-wise, or does a sexy voice or being awesomely charismatic or eloquent or erudite or something count? Cause if it's beyond just looks, I totally understand - I prefer a villain with some redeeming/intriguing/sexy qualities. And even with the looks thing, it does send an unfortunate message when all the good guys are good-looking and the bad guys are all ugly, so I like when that doesn't happen either.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

A bit of everything is prefferable. But if they have a boring voice or personality, then I might still enjoy them if they're pretty to look at.
Take for example, Frollo on the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He isn't attractive looks-wise, but he has a stunning voice and a sort of seductive quality about him. It made him an interesting and attractive character to me.

[mongoose-bite.livejournal.com]

Of course you care less about what the protagonists look like...how many pieces of media have protagonists that aren't above average looks in the first place? :/

[(Anonymous)]

The villian has to be in some way likable or interesting for me. Not necessarily pretty, but at least have some ambition or quirky personality that makes him worth caring about.

I find I can't care much about the plot (and hense all the things the protagonist does in it) if the whole point of it boils down to "people killing other people so some douche can get rich." If a maguffin is involved it better be a damn exciting one.