Why do villains usually look cooler?

[Ghost]

Something that Ive noticed since a young age was that fictional villains usually seemed to be more visually striking and varied than the heroes. I dont mean to start another debate on why villains may be interesting, but more why do they often LOOK so interesting?

Some examples off the top of my head:

- Star wars: Darth Vader, Storm Troopers, Boba Fett, Darth Maul



- Masters of the Universe: Skeletor and his Minions compared to He-man and his allies.

- Lord of the Rings: Sauron, Ring Wraiths



- Various iconic Movie Monster antagonists: Universal Monsters (Dracula, Frankensteins Monster, etc), Slasher Villains (Freddy Krueger, Michael Meyers, etc) and on and on.

I think maybe one reason is that looking more impressive is something instinctively intimidating, like seen in nature and warfare (Nazis for example). I find it interesting that some monsters have surpassed their heroes in popularity. For example, people rarely remember the heros in horror movies. They remember the monster chasing them around.

I imagine this may be tied to the power-fantasy somehow. I mean, the big scary monsters are usually more powerful and feared, to make a believable and interesting obstacle for the hero(es) to overcome.

So I wonder if we unconsciously make our villains look more impressive to make the heros victory over them more satisfying. Or if its because its more interesting to live in the unpredictable monsters head?

Not to say there arent some exceptions. Batman is a visually striking hero that could just as easily look like a villain. Im sure this is no accident, since I think they originally took inspiration from Zorro and the Shadow. HellBoy is another. I cant think of many demon/monster characters that fight other monsters.

[shades of eternity]

it's a touch of the exotic crossed with the fact that black goes with everything.


Also handsome characters usually look all the same unless you make a conscious effort, whereas there are many ways to seem and be ugly and/or different.

[vaf2675]

1. They have to look powerful.

2. They have to look threatening.

3. They have to hold your attention just as much as the hero does (otherwise why bother reading the story).

[shades of eternity]

plus the hero is usually a "blank slate" for projecting purposes.

the villain doesn't suffer from this limitation.

[NerdGasm94]

Its the law of the universe. They need to be cooler and threatening. Badass too can't forget that

[Tom Badguy]

1. They have to look powerful.

2. They have to look threatening.

3. They have to hold your attention just as much as the hero does (otherwise why bother reading the story).

This sums it up nicely.

[MyriVerse]

Because concerning yourself with appearance is egotism and innately evil.

[Paradox]

Ooo, nice. I think I can use that. "Because good is slovenly!"

[JediMindTrick]

Because heroes are static once created given how many fans erupt in poutrage anytime their costume is changed slightly and there is only ever going to be one hero in a solo book and not many more in a team book. Whereas with villains creators are constantly creating new ones and some of them will have awesome designs. Meanwhile you tend to forget about all the lame looking ones who disappear not long after creation to rarely be seen again.

[Michael P]

Somewhere along the way society seems to have equated "intimidating" with "cool" and "non-threatening" with "lame". Not sure what that says, but probably not anything good.

[Legato]

I'd say some of it is a sense of fun and escapism.

[icctrombone]

Because, everyone likes the bad boys.

[TroubleWithTrebles]

Heroes have to worry about pleasing and not offending the masses. Villains only have to please themselves.

[blackwidow12345]

Yes Icctrombone is right, but let's not leave out the bad girls; even good bad girls like Electra and Natasha do some thing for for guys ........ right? LOL

[Conch22]

They need to be a challenge for the hero, therefore more of a conscious effort (in many instances) is made to make them formidable in many ways.
The best villains are the ones you'd want having your back if not for one personality flaw ( good examples being dr.doom or lex luthor).
It also acts as camouflage, that no matter how reprehensible a character, you like their visual representation, whether Electro, Stryfe or another example