I reckon that larger than life characters work best if they have a hint of darkness - like Wolverine in X-Men, or Roarke in the JD Robb books.
Staying on that topic, the one villain who I've always felt steals the show, is Iago from Othello by William Shakespeare.
"Hell and night will bring this monstrous birth to the world's light."Brrr, he's so evil it gives me the shivers. But there's no arguing that he's also a powerful, memorable character.
Villains and dark heroes - who are some of your favorites?
3 comments :
Absolutely positive heroes are boring. As for the villains, they should be the ones you "love to hate". Allison Brennan writes great heroes as well as villains, and so does Lisa Gardner.
Batman. In the comics, he was the dark knight, a hero with a lot of darkness in him. And I loved Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. Not exactly a hero, but such a powerful character!
Hey Olga, Charlene & Milady!
Olga - "love to hate" - I think that's an absolutely perfect decription. They have to be so bad they're compelling.
Hi Charlene! Wow, Heathcliff - he was one BAD boy. I can never decide what I feel for him. At times I basically think he was a psycho, but then I see him as the ultimate in dark, tortured heroes.
Milady - for a second I thought you wrote, "I second the BATMAN comment" and then of course, your second line made no sense whatsoever. I was thinking - Batman's published by Ballantine? Really?! *G*
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