Villains We Love to Hate and Hate to Love
They say a book is only as good as it’s villain, and while I don’t know if that’s true all of the time, I do know this about villains: they are there to push the protagonist into action, but they are also there to play with the reader’s feelings. The really good villains always fall into two categories for me: The ones I love to hate and the ones I hate to love. So, let me share some of them with you.
No spoilers here, but if you’ve gotten to the end of Immortal Dark, you’ll know what I mean. Samson is terrifying and cruel—but I can’t look away! The bargaining scene is burned in my brain for life.
Arrogant, handsome, and part of the cruel aristocracy?? I know how I’m supposed to feel, but they could never make me hate you, Titus. It’s characters like him that keep me flipping pages long into the night.
It turns out that I just can’t resist a villainous prince. Yes, Zixin is cunning, ambitious, and powerful, but sometimes a girl just wants to read a morally gray man. So I will go on loving Zixin, ruthless or no.
Yes, he’s a shadow-wielding, closed-off villain. So what? The chemistry is unmatched, and his cursed past brings so much intrigue to the table. I mean really, who would you rather have by your side when things get nightmarish—a hero or a villain? Are you starting to sense a theme in my entries to this list?
There’s just something special about an ambitious queen in charge (even if we are morally compelled to root against her). Her mind is a steel trap—and if you’re not careful, her teeth will close around you before you even have a thought of escape.
Listen when I tell you there is nothing about this man I liked, I mean it. He was just horrible. But I honestly think he is the perfect villain; you can’t help but DESIRE for him to fail. The thing that makes Madoc the perfect villain is because he is smart, fierce, loyal to those who are loyal to him, and a little charming, you can see why people would follow him. All of that makes him dangerous. So yeah, I super hate him.
Hate to love: Cardan from The Folk of the Air—duh!
I mean would it be a list without him? So honestly, he is only the true villain for the first book. It was so bad that I couldn’t figure out how he was going to be a [SPOILER ALERT] love interest, but as the series goes on you can’t help but love him.
Can I start by saying, “ewww! This man, just ugh!” He isn’t in the story a lot but he’s in it too much for my taste and I would love to see him gone. He was just so mean and nasty for no reason and I didn’t like that. Trying to steal from people that already have nothing—off with this head. Was that too extreme?
I know he isn’t the villain of the story, but isn’t he? Think about it: even in death this man is playing with the lives of other people—people who don’t even know him. He had to make sure that everyone was doing exactly what he wanted them to do and when died, there was no difference. You can’t play with people like that Tobias. So…hate.
Love to hate: Emily Laughlin from The Inheritance Games
She is the kind of person I can’t stand. If you’re upset with something, take that up with the person you’re upset with and don’t involve other people, who have no idea what’s going on. I can’t stand bullies. Emily is still stuck in her mean girl phase but it’s time for her grow up.
He just sucks—I know you agree. We can’t be the only ones who think that. I refuse to believe it. (Okay so we don’t love him so much, but we just feel bad for him mostly because he sucks so much.)
He is the perfect person to hate: I mean he was a serial killer! If you need more of reason than that…I’m worried about you.