"A Story is only as good as it's Villain"

[Rhapscallion Démone]

"A Story is only as good as it's Villain" or "A hero is only as good as his Villain".

Do you agree with these quotes?

If so do you think a writer should focus on the villain and their motives more than they do the other characters in the story?

 

[Khalil's_Black_Excellence]

No.

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

No.

So you don't agree with the quotes?

 

[Somebody]

since the first christopher nolan batman film was cheeks, i would say yes.

i mean all of his batman films are boring and depend on cinematography except the one with bane. Tom Hardy really carried that one.

 

[42 Monks]

hell nah

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

since the first christopher nolan batman film was cheeks, i would say yes.

i mean all of his batman films are boring and depend on cinematography except the one with bane. Tom Hardy really carried that one.

Batman is a great example in general because most of the time his villains carry the story while he remains mysterious for the most part.

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

hell nah

Why not?

 

[Swiggy]

I agree with Batman being the best example. The third act of Begins was cheeks because of how poorly the League of Shadows were developed, and TDK was GOAT status.

 

[42 Monks]

nolanverse batman cannot be your baseline for this kind of discussion

Why not?

protagonist vs antagonist/deuteragonist/tritagonist, man vs man/self/nature/society/etc, layered conflicts, and so on

a 'villain' is nothing more than a road for a lead to travel. if that

hyperfocusing on villains often discounts everything else that goes into writing

 

[Somebody]

nolanverse batman cannot be your baseline for this kind of discussion

protagonist vs antagonist/deuteragonist/tritagonist, man vs man/self/nature/society/etc, layered conflicts, and so on

a 'villain' is nothing more than a road for a lead to travel. if that

hyperfocusing on villains often discounts everything else that goes into writing

i disagree, but it was a great read

 

[42 Monks]

quick example - game of thrones is a stand out popular franchise because protagonists and antagonists change hats from one chapter to the next. that complex back and forth emphasis lets readers love, hate, and most importantly respect a variety of aspects from that world due to perspectives that they wouldn't normally encounter in straight forward story telling. you've got characters defined by how they maneuver in a political environment, through war, through surviving in harsh settings, through identity crises, etc. martin shows consistently that he's not going to let readers off with simply labeling anyone a 'villain' without considering all they are attached to.

nolan essentially rolled out batman with a bunch of assumed knowledge and used villain introduced conflict to fill in the blanks for what's a decades old established character.

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

quick example - game of thrones is a stand out popular franchise because protagonists and antagonists change hats from one chapter to the next. that complex back and forth emphasis lets readers love, hate, and most importantly respect a variety of aspects from that world due to perspectives that they wouldn't normally encounter in straight forward story telling. you've got characters defined by how they maneuver in a political environment, through war, through surviving in harsh settings, through identity crises, etc. martin shows consistently that he's not going to let readers off with simply labeling anyone a 'villain' without considering all they are attached to.

nolan essentially rolled out batman with a bunch of assumed knowledge and used villain introduced conflict to fill in the blanks for what's a decades old established character.

Cersei Lannister was an unrepentant bytch but she was so well written that you had to keep watching to see what she'd do next and if she would ever get her comeuppance

 

[DaylitoJames]

"A Story is only as good as it's Villain" or "A hero is only as good as his Villain".

Do you agree with these quotes?

If so do you think a writer should focus on the villain and their motives more than they do the other characters in the story?

I agree... but you also need a good plot and good writing as well.

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

I agree... but you also need a good plot and good writing as well.

Very true

 

[OVER]

I don't agree. Stories don't have to have a bad guy and plenty of stories have been fine while having mid villains by having them be one of many obstacles.