Have Marvel Villains Become Better-looking?

[Michael Watkins]

Yeah, I think in the old days it was mostly just visual shorthand, ugly=evil. Some of that is just because the printing quality back then was so poor that they tended to rely on fairly broad caricatures and archetypes to make things clearer. A lot of the prettifying villains was likely just the priting becoming better and art becoming more detailed in response to that. At the same time, the writing and characterization was becoming more nuanced. Villains kind of stopped being gleefully evil mustache twirlers, in favor of more layered characterizations. I guess it at least partly comes down to people like attractive people, and if the creators want people to like the character, they tend to make them better looking. As villains characterizations became a bit more nuanced and sympathetic, their appearance softened as well. A little problematic, maybe, but it's what tends to happen. I also think popular entertainment in other mediums contributed. Movies saw more handsome villains, because actors tend to be good looking, and anime/manga contributed to the rise of attractive (though, sometimes in a more androgynous way) villains as well.

Also, it should be noted that with a couple of them, the change of looks was something that wasn't just art styles shifting, it was actually written into the story. Doom got a new face, so he didn't feel the need to hid behind a mask all the time any more, Loki was reincarnated into a whole new body that was much younger than the one that he had when he died. But in both cases there, the changes went along with a face-turn, which returns to the original good=attractive/evil=ugly point, which may be a bit... enh.... if you over think it. And while I am sure Hiddleston had a bit of an influence there when Loki was aged up from a kid to the Asgardian equivalent of vaguely early 20's, it should be noted that story began BEFORE the movies hit the screen, and he probably would have ended up looking very similar even if the movies had never happened. Partly because face turn, but also logically given the situation. I mean... put yourself in his position, you are mentally an adult but stuck in a body of a 13 year old, and then you then get the opportunity to be instantly aged up again to an adult and skip having to go through puberty again (and in his case, re-acquire his magic power, or at least that's what he assumed at the time). 'Adult' covers a lot of territory, and if given the chance to be any age you wanted, would you honestly choose to be older, in his case I'd say at least 50+ based on appearance (though he may have appeared older than he was, too many hammers to the face or something, I dunno), or would you want to give yourself some extra years and remove any old injuries etc. and have your body be in it's prime? i mean...

Well even Loki's old appearance wasn't his real appearance. He's a short frost giant. So we're always seeing the glamor shot.

[Michael Watkins]

I wonder if we'll ever see an X-Men team where all of the members are of the nonstandard human/hideously deformed mutant variety?

Not unless they deputize Gene Nation. Generation X had a good mix of looks. Jono and Angelo were a bit scary looking. Jubilee and Everett are kind of average. And Paige was pretty but had a gross power. Not sure how to categorize Penance.

[Michael Watkins]

There's also the trend towards villains becoming heroes (or at least, anti-heroes?, or just hanging out with heroes?) and getting a makeover. Namor is much better looking than he used to be, as is the Punisher.

And then there's Marrow, who explicitly transformed to become prettier while hanging out with some X-peeps. (Ditto Callisto, ever so briefly.)

Emma Frost, for that matter, wasn't ugly, but she was quite a bit less buxom, and described by Claremont & Byrne, IIRC, as being in her late 40's, early 50's, and more of a contemporary of Charles Xavier than his 'strangest teens of all' students (and, like Destiny, another older lady who dressed in a bikini, surprisingly well moisturized for her age...). And then she joined the X-team and suddenly had hooters the size of her head, which a later writer declared to be surgical enhancements (much like Heather Hudson, who started out a scrawny lass, under Byrne's pencil, and quickly went to the Power Girl school of ever-expanding-bustlines).

On the topic of Alpha Flight, Madison Jeffries was not even a little bit attractive, at first. Then he graduated up from secondary background character to potential boyfriend for the team leader, and suddenly he was hotty mchotstuff.

The change in Marrow's appearance kind of bothers me. She lost her edge. I prefer the villainous look. Alpha Flight was full of average looking individuals. Northstar and Aurora were a bit above average but elfen.

[Havok83]

Not unless they deputize Gene Nation. Generation X had a good mix of looks. Jono and Angelo were a bit scary looking. Jubilee and Everett are kind of average. And Paige was pretty but had a gross power. Not sure how to categorize Penance.

The Casey Uncanny team was close. Wolverine and iceman looked normal but Stacy X, Nightcrawler, Chamber and Archangel all looked like freaks

[Michael Watkins]

From this:

To This:

Being institutionalized did wonders for her. Her chest is a tad wonky though.

[Michael Watkins]

Absorbing Man
Toad
Sabretooth
Mastermind

Mastermind has been dead for some time. Generally, he was portrayed as haggard. Toad goes back and forth. He was at his most handsome shortly after ray park played him. But now he's green all of a sudden. Sabretooth is an odd one. He's supposed to have completely white eyes. Maybe he wears contacts. Absorbing Man's never been portrayed as handsome, as far as I know.

[Alan2099]

The change in Marrow's appearance kind of bothers me. She lost her edge. I prefer the villainous look. Alpha Flight was full of average looking individuals. Northstar and Aurora were a bit above average but elfen.

I think Marrow's story sent the wrong message. She was a horrible nasty person and looked it. Then they made her prettier, and she started being nice, going from outright villainous psycho to the "anti-hero with bad attitude" category. Then they made her even prettier and she became a good person.

It's like they were saying that ugly people can't be good people too.

[Huntsman Spider]

I think Marrow's story sent the wrong message. She was a horrible nasty person and looked it. Then they made her prettier, and she started being nice, going from outright villainous psycho to the "anti-hero with bad attitude" category. Then they made her even prettier and she became a good person.

It's like they were saying that ugly people can't be good people too.

That's actually one of the most pernicious messages ever sent by comics, along with the whole "mental illness as the leading cause or driver of super-villainy" bit that's been going since almost the beginning of the industry.

[Holt]

That's actually one of the most pernicious messages ever sent by comics, along with the whole "mental illness as the leading cause or driver of super-villainy" bit that's been going since almost the beginning of the industry.

Or "being abused by your parents makes you evil."

[Raye]

Yeah, I was actually thinking of mentioning Marrow, because it was a pretty extreme example of prettifying. There are a few exceptions to beauty equals goodness, (Beak comes to mind off the top of my head) but it is still fairly common. I get liking reading about beautiful people, and making characters idealized doesn't bother me generally, but I think i still would like to see a few more heroes that are not so good looking. Not necessarily horrific or anything, but like, a 4 out of 10 kinda deal. But it is hard to keep character designs that consistent across multiple artists, facial features and body types, unless there is something extreme going on, don't usually make the jump between artists, so if a character is created with the intent of being plain to ugly, they'll likely follow the same path Marrow did, regardless of any character development.

Well even Loki's old appearance wasn't his real appearance. He's a short frost giant. So we're always seeing the glamor shot.

That's true. Though I think he's kept it going for so long now, that even he considers how he appears to be his 'true' form, and it is what he defaults to. He doesn't even get all blue and frosty when in Jotunheim with Laufey, when it would actually probably be to his benefit.

[williamtheday]

I remember when The Red Skull's Exiles first appeared. They were so fugly a few readers wrote in saying it was too over the top! Stan and Jack must have thought the same, because just one issue later The Exiles' look was toned down...no beauty winners, but they looked a little more human.

[Michael Watkins]

I think Marrow's story sent the wrong message. She was a horrible nasty person and looked it. Then they made her prettier, and she started being nice, going from outright villainous psycho to the "anti-hero with bad attitude" category. Then they made her even prettier and she became a good person.

It's like they were saying that ugly people can't be good people too.

I'm just against it because it resulted in a less cool design. they tried to play down the horror elements of it. she pulls out her bones and uses them as weapons. she should be frightening. oh well. I guess it wasn't as bad of a change as Chamber's.

[Michael Watkins]

I remember when The Red Skull's Exiles first appeared. They were so fugly a few readers wrote in saying it was too over the top! Stan and Jack must have thought the same, because just one issue later The Exiles' look was toned down...no beauty winners, but they looked a little more human.

never heard of them.

That's true. Though I think he's kept it going for so long now, that even he considers how he appears to be his 'true' form, and it is what he defaults to. He doesn't even get all blue and frosty when in Jotunheim with Laufey, when it would actually probably be to his benefit.

I just remember Doom attempting to clone Loki and only producing literal monstrosities. most of them had those twisted horns protruding from their heads.

[Phoenixx9]

Mastermind has been dead for some time. Generally, he was portrayed as haggard. Toad goes back and forth. He was at his most handsome shortly after ray park played him. But now he's green all of a sudden. Sabretooth is an odd one. He's supposed to have completely white eyes. Maybe he wears contacts. Absorbing Man's never been portrayed as handsome, as far as I know.

I know all these men are less than desireably handsome.

Mastermind later on near his death was not as ugly as original. Toad got much better looking, well, for him. Sabretooth is monstrous/beastly/scary looking, but much better in some iterations of the character bordering on rugged. Crusher Creel is much better looking last number of years than originally drawn.

[Michael Watkins]

Barnell Bohusk definitely counts on the hero side of things. we saw him when he was depowered. there was no way in hell that he became that ken doll that appeared in Grevioux's New Warriors. no amount of weight lifting is going to dramatically change your profile. but it seemed like they fixed it for the Vengeance mini series. he was back to having a prominent nose and being kind of scrawny. go figure.