Welcome to Folklore and Mythology Part 6: The Rise of Villains

Do you find heroes boring and one note? Would you prefer to explore the darker side of humanity? Do you enjoy laughing with an evil flare? Do you miss the days when Disney Villains were actually intimidating?

Then you might want to explore THE RISE OF VILLAINS!

They are coming for you!

Except, there aren't a lot of villain stories in folklore and mythology, are there? I mean there are a few examples of villains having stories in classic mythology. There's the story of Medea who murdered her children, but is she really a villain or tragic character? Or what about the origin story for Medusa? All of the versions of the story I'm familiar with indicate that Athena punished her after being raped by Poseidon (basically the ultimate rape shame story I've ever read).

But I don't really think of Medea and Medusa as villains.

When I think of folklore and mythological villains, I think of that evil entity that needs to be defeated so that the hero can live happily ever after. They're sort of one note entities that only exist to do bad things and showcase what is not okay behavior in the society the story was written for.

Heroes defeat villains. Every Disney movie made before 2010 made this very clear.

Who wants to join Captain Hook's crew?

Some of the stand out villains that I can name from my childhood are Lord Voldemort, Ursula, Maleficent, Gaston, and Darth Vader. They are all evil and the heroes need to defeat them to end the story. Villains might be redeemed before the end (Darth Vader), but it's not always the case. The villain also might not be the central focus of the plot, but forces attention on themselves because they are the drama queen villain (Gaston and Ursula).

But what makes a villain, a villain? The Hero's Journey has been studied to death and it's still everywhere in popular culture. So what's the opposite? Is there a Villain's Journey?

The Internet answers that question with a solid yes.

And if you guys want a solid example of the Villain's Journey, look no further than the manga/anime "Death Note" (not the Netflix movie, it doesn't exist in my universe). It completely focuses on the transformation of Light Yagami from genius student to self declared god. His path to villainy almost perfectly mirrors the Hero's Journey with a few exceptions.

So here's my version of The Villain's Journey:

WARNING - SPOILERS FOR THE ANIME/MANGA DEATH NOTE - THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!

1. Ordinary World - Starting out in the ordinary world is essential to both the Hero's and Villain's Journeys. Light starts out as a normal extremely smart high school student. All of that changes on one fateful day...
2. Call To Adventure or The Temptation - Once again we see the similarities in the two Journeys. One random day, Light finds a strange book on the ground with weird rules about how he can kill someone just by writing their name in this book. This is the opening for Light to leave the Ordinary World and enter the Extraordinary.
3.  Skeptical of the Call - The first step that I think separates Heroes and Villains is how they respond to the Call To Adventure step. In Light's case, he doesn't reject the call, but he is skeptical of it. He's intrigued and wants to know more about what he's been presented with. He is tempted to answer the call, but doesn't really believe what he is being offered.
4. Meeting The Mentor - The two paths meet again at the mentor step. Much like Harry Potter has Dumbledore to guide him, Light has Ryuk. Ryuk was the one who dropped the Death Note Notebook in the first place, all because he was bored and wanted to know what a human would do with it. He tempts Light into using the notebook's powers and then guides him on how to best use them. He is entirely indifferent to how successful Light is because he can just find another human to mess with if Light proves to be too boring. Mentors don't necessarily have to be villains, but they often are. Mentors are often another challenge to overcome. Sometimes the villain has to kill their mentor to gain ultimate power or be killed by their mentor.
5. Embracing Temptation - Villains don't cross a threshold, so much as embrace their temptation. In the case of Light, it's when he chooses to use the Death Note and kill anyone who breaks the law. He will be the one to punish them, especially if the powers at be can't punish the criminals. He takes out mobsters, murderers, and thieves left and right all while believing he is doing the right thing. He becomes the mysterious killer known as Kira.
6. Addiction, Minions, and Adversaries - Heroes have tests to see how committed they are to their cause. Villains often find that their success comes naturally, almost too easily. They like this success, this power. It's thrilling and they want to keep feeling that thrill. It becomes an addiction. And unlike heroes, who find strength alongside their friends, villains don't need friends. They have minions. People who do things for them. Minions can be willing or unwilling. Some might be fanatical devoted fans of the villain. Misa's devotion to Light is unquestionable, neigh fanatical. She loves Light's alter ego, Kira, and will do anything to prove her love. Finally, there are adversaries. They're the ones who fight back against the villain. At first they're unsuccessful, like the police force and FBI agents looking for Kira. But then someone worthy shows up to challenge the villain. For Light, that worthy adversary is L.
7. The Point of No Return - This is the step where a villain truly diverges from the path of redemption and heroism. They might still think they are doing the right thing, but everyone else knows the truth. The villain has fully embraced evil. Light hits this point when he chooses to kill the FBI Agent, Raye Penber, and Raye's fiance, Naomi Misora. They weren't criminals. They hadn't broken the law. They were trying to find and arrest Kira. This is when Light showed that he didn't care who got in the way of his goals. He would kill them.
8. The Confrontation - This is when the villain is finally confronted by the hero or heroes. It could be the final show down, but it's usually not. This is when the villain is confronted by his greatest adversary. In my example, it's when Light and L start playing their games, trying to out do each other. Waiting for the other to slip up. 
9. The Conquest - Heroes have their rewards, villains have their conquests. Here's the biggest spoiler of Death Note, despite L being Lights greatest adversary and should be the one to defeat Light/Kira. He isn't. L is ultimately killed by Light. And Light becomes the god he always wanted to be.
10. The Reign of Terror - Villains ultimately end up in a high seat of power. We see this with Lord Voldemort, Darth Vader, and Light Yagami. Light through his alter ego Kira secures his power. He gets to decide who lives and who dies in his world. Crime virtually goes away. Some people see Light/Kira as a hero, someone who made the world a safer place. Others see the truth, that in reality, Light is an evil dictator who can choose to kill someone on a whim. What Light is doing is wrong.
11. The Resistance - This leads to the rise resistance against the villain. This is usually external, but there are cases where there is an internal resistance, such as if the villain is seeking redemption. New heroes rise to challenge the villain and remove them from power. Near and Mellow are L's successors. They are the new leaders of the resistance against Light/Kira. Though I didn't find them as awesome as L (as did almost everyone else who followed the series), they are the ones who will ultimately bring Light/Kira down.
12. End of the Villain - All villains will eventually be defeated. This is true of any story. Some villains end up redeeming themselves at the end of their stories. Most are either imprisoned or killed. Light is ultimately defeated by his own ego. He doesn't think as highly of Mellow and Near as he did L. This leads him to making mistakes and is eventually cornered. Ryuk, seeing that this is the end of his fun, write's Light's name in the Death Note, killing him. 

This 12 Step Guide is really just that, a guide. Villains are known for taking short cuts and finding the path of least resistance. But I think that you could take the journey that I've outlined above and find a way to apply to many different villain stories. Lord Voldemort would easily fit this outline, as would Darth Vader. 

Prince Zuko from "Avatar - The Last Airbender" would also be an interesting case to look at. He's one of those cases where chooses to redeem himself at the end of his journey to become part of Team Avatar. (Actually "Avatar - The Last Airbender" is probably one of the greatest examples of epic modern storytelling).

What makes Light such a cool villain isn't that he ever thought he was evil. He never once thought he was doing the wrong thing. He wanted a world rid of crime and he got what he wanted. Light thought he was a good guy, but he wasn't. He was the villain of his own story. 

Like I wrote above, most villains in classic mythology and folklore don't get a story arc. They are simply The Villain. But I can think of at least one example of the this journey in folklore and religion, that of the Fall of Lucifer. He is the ultimate villain for a lot of people and he had to have gone on some kind of journey to go from most beloved angel to greatest adversary to God.

Stories about heroes and villains have always been popular. They are the stories about good versus evil that we loved as children. Though they can be complex at times, they're usually fairly simple in premise. 

Villains teach us a lot of things. They show us how not to act. They show us what can happen when someone has ultimate power. And they can show us how someone who believes they doing good are actually evil.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Let me know if there's something you'd like me to cover in my series on Folklore and Mythology. I can't promise to work it in, but I'll try to get to it before I move on to a new topic.