Degrees of Diabolicalness - Part III

Continuing on where we left off last, let's wrap up our series on the Degrees of Diabolicalness that the all-time greatest villains had with probably the most enduring one...

Third Degree of Diabolicalness: They surpass being merely a "bad guy" and become the very embodiment of evil to their world

I think this trait is what separates a great villain from a mythic villain. A great villain is the source of conflict, struggle and pain for the hero, whereas a mythic villain literally is the symbol of conflict, struggle, pain and yes, evil, for an entire world.

Think about those final three villains from our March Madness style bracket of evil. Isn't the Wicked Witch the very personification of evil in the Land of Oz? Doesn't her dark shadow of cruelty and terror cast a worrying spectre over the entire stretch of the yellow brick road? I'm fairly confident that if you were to ask any residents of the Land of Oz what they thought evil was, there answer would be a swift and shuddering, "The Wicked Witch."

But the beauty of a villain that embodies evil is that their impact goes beyond mere fear or pain. They get inside your mind, tempting you, twisting the world to reflect what they believe it should be and draw you in to a world where there is no good or evil, only power. The world as you know it to be is an illusion. The only real world is the world they see and envision, a world that should be governed and ruled by them because it would be a better, more orderly world, wouldn't it?

In essence they get you, the reader, to question the world itself and who you are/what you believe just like they do to the hero. And it is this questioning of self and of how we see the world that lifts the villain to another level of tyranny because forcing a hero to overcome obstacles put in their path is one thing, but having a character who is so clearly evil be so convincingly manipulative to the point that the hero begins actually questioning the path they are on altogether, well that's just evil incarnate isn't it? That kind of psychological wound goes above and beyond ordinary conflict into the realm of a crisis of identity, belief and purpose. And doubt and despair in the heart of a hero is hard to watch, difficult to endure because a hero's belief and resolve is usually the only beacon of good in their world/story.

Lastly, a mythic villain provokes an almost visceral reaction within the reader. This is usually helped with a great musical theme (for movies) or distinct visual characteristics of ambiance and description (for literary mediums). Darth Vader had both of those in spades. Anytime you heard that classic theme of the Empire (yes that's right, the music you're hearing in your head right now) your chest tightened, your eyes fixed onto the screen and you couldn't turn away.

Now add on to that the ingenious breathing noise, the James Earl Jones voice, the dark and metallic outfit meshing man and machine so ruthlessly together, and then the cold, calculating efficiency of Vader's movements and actions, and you felt something every time Darth Vader was on the screen.

When you thought of evil in the galaxy, two hollow black eyes within a large helmet stared coldly out at you.

Which is just awesome, isn't it?