Whenever I conduct workshops on cartooning and comic-making, I usually ask the attendees to name some of their favourite comic characters. Some usual names crop up like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man. But a few other names that are thrown around make me wonder, ‘Wow, look at the fan club these guys have!’ 

Villains! The Riddler, the Lizard, Dr Doom, Dr Sivana (quite a few doctors there), Lex Luthor and of course, the Joker. I kept the best for the last. You see, there is a very interesting take on villains such as the Joker. The fans claim that if it wasn’t for the Joker, Batman wouldn’t be Batman. Heck, they even mention this in the comics and the movies. And speaking of our Clown Prince of Crime, you must be living under a rock in case you didn’t know the Joker movie is out in cinema halls. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must!

I find reading about the bad guys really exciting. They have interesting origin stories, motives and means to achieve what they have set out to. I’d go a step further and say that villains overall are more pro-active than the heroes. What the hero does to save the day is largely dependent on what the villain has made him overcome or undo. This proves the point that villains are smarter and are always one step ahead. Heroes have to make sure they foil their plans and keep things under check. 

Look at any typical template where there’s a hero and a villain. The villain would be scheming on some nefarious plans and setting the plan in motion. Hero then has to suffer a bit at his hands, get captured even, and then break out to defeat the bad guy. In such a scenario, the weight of the story falls evenly on both of them, the good guy, and the baddie too. In pop-culture, this is what has made storytelling so popular. 

Building up a villain is tricky. The antagonist has to be someone formidable and strong, if not physically, then mentally! Otherwise one would risk creating just another henchman character, if the villain has not been fully developed in the character development stage. 

Let’s take the example of one of the most popular villains ever...Darth Vader. Star Wars is a legacy that has given us ample fodder for pop-culture, right from the iconic mentions of the Force, to the Stormtrooper helmets. Not to forget the light sabers. But it’s Darth Vader that really strikes fear in the hearts of every living being in the galaxy. The look, the voice, the power...everything about him is the definition of a great villain. So much so that an audience would cheer every time he’s on screen. That’s the impact of a good bad guy (the irony in that sentence!)

Villains have missions. Some want world domination, some want to make all the money possible, some just want to see chaos all around. Some would actually be some sort of authority over a race or a country (Dr Doom is the ruler of Latveria, a fictional country), some would just want acceptance among ‘normal humans’. In many ways, these can be seen as equal and opposite to what a superhero’s missions might be. These topics are highly debatable and once set off, the arguments on both sides throw up very interesting points. 

Of course, in life, one would say good always triumphs over evil. And that’s the way it should be. But when the stakes are really high, the going gets even more interesting. Who wants to see a typical story with an easy victory? It’s only when you have a match-up who’s mighty that a payoff really comes through. 

Back home, we’ve had some terrific villains too, in our mainstream cinema. Mogambo, Gabbar Singh, Shakaal, Loin (Ajit pronouncing Lion as Loin), Crime Master Gogo! I’m sure there are many many more that I can’t list down here, but they have all contributed to Indian pop-culture massively. And at the end of the day, if one’s aim was to stay happy, Mogambo was definitely doing something right. After all, Mogambo toh hamesha khush hua!

(The writer is a comic creator, illustrator and animator)