Let's face it, a good villain is essential to the success of any story. Indeed, without the villain, you often have no story.
One of the reasons fairy tales endure is that they provide an extensive array of first class villains: Snow White's stepmother, the evil father in Donkeyskin, the cannibalistic stepmother in The Juniper Tree.
Of all the villains in fairy tales, my favorite is Rumpelstiltskin. I say this because he is totally misunderstood. He just wants a child and he really does give the miller's daughter help in a variety of ways. Rumpel is a complex, ambivalent villain.
Which villain do you like best? Why?
The image is from "Donkeyskin," and is identified as anonymous, but it kind of looks like the work of Gustav Dore.
26 comments:
Dame Gothel!! Locking up a 12 year old Rapunzel, using her hair as a climbing rope, chopping it off and tricking the prince... Dame Gothel one freaky villain!
I am so happy to see your old banner again! I love it so much!
I'll cast my vote for the old fairy/wise woman from Brier Rose/The Sleeping Beauty (whichever story version--I'll even throw in for the film character.) Just for being so deliciously spiteful over getting excluded. Gotta love a relatable villain...even if she does take it to a terrible extreme!
bluebeard! he reminds me of an ex :P
{only half joking!}
I'm also rather partial to Rumplestiltskin; he's hard to peg as a villain. He works all night for three nights in a row to help a stranger. In exchange on the first two nights, he is given items of far less value than he provides; a ring and a necklace for two entire chambers of gold... really? For all we know, he could have looked at the future couple -- the king and the miller's daughter -- and decided that raising their child himself would be better. After all, the king would slay or wed the daughter with equal willingness, and she seems to be fairly helpless. What kind of life is a child likely to have with parents like those? Also, he keeps his word and gives the daughter an "out" so that she doesn't have to keep hers! Honestly, he seems like an overly nice person rather than a villain!
For a genuine villain, I like the thirteenth fairy of Sleeping Beauty. Condemning a baby to her future death out of sheer spite from a slight made by the parents is way over the top. I also like the ungrateful dwarf from the tale of the same name (similar to Snow White & Rose Red). You can actually meet this character: a selfish jerk who shows no appreciation for when you extend him a kindness.
In Grimms world I must say the wicked gueen in Snow White. This is also my favourite fairytale. In norse mythology I really find Loke facinating. He is a trickster, cis sometimes he´s wicked plans end up for the best for the gods in Aasgard. But he is the one that ends up killing he´s own brother, Balder, in pure jalousy.
I'm going to have to go with the Big Bad Wolf. The animal villains are so primal. It's all of a piece with the Tiger (or Bear) from Lon Po Po, for example. My kids in particular seem to see bears as the Big Bad.
If I had to go for a human villain, it would be Ritter Red that shows up every so often in Lang's fairy tale books. He works as the ubiquitous bad guy, the evil Red Knight. Just hearing his name, you know he's the guy who has to be overcome.
When I was young a lot of the dolled up villains in the Disney movies scared me. I did not like to watch Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, or The Little Mermaid. So it hard for me to pick my favorite villain because I tried not to watch or here things that I thought was scary. Now, I am fine with those fairy tales, but it has been so long, since I have heard or seen the Disney versions of them, that it is hard for me to pick one. I liked Aladdin, The Lion King and The Swan Princess as a child. So I guess I would have to say that Jafar was my favorite villain because Aladdin was my favorite Disney movie.
I do have to say that I love all of the Shrek movies. Puss in boots and the Fairy Godmother would be my two favorite villains if I didn’t feel as thought Disney made them up, therefore discounting them as real fairy tales.
Kaitlin Cole
As for my absolute fairy tale villain it would have to be the beast in Beauty and the Beast, the Walt Disney version is the only one I’m familiar with, but I really like the way he is portrayed. I can see why he is so mad with the way the town people treat him. I cannot say I’d act any differently. Just because someone cast a spell on him the whole town feared and wanted to kill him because the spell made him into a hideous animal man. However if he were handsome, liar and cheater he would probably still be liked by most people. It’s pretty sad how people can be so judgmental. Going back to the beast, though, I like how he tries to be big and bad but had such a soft spot for Belle and the way she brings out the best in him and returns him to the gentleman he was before the people in town ruined his happiness with their corrupted ideas about good and evil.
Jenny T.
I am not sure if this counts as a fairy tale or not but I am a fan of a Japanese magna series. In this series my favorite villain is Pain. Pain is a ninja that posses immense power and in a prophecy it is said his power will be used for either great evil or great good. There are two instance while he is growing up which creates the character that is shown in the magna. First his parents are killed by soldiers and his friend is killed during battle. These are the two great pains in his life which is where his self given name comes from. He deems that human beings are not able to obtain true peace so he is going to create a new world. During his final battle with the main character Pain is convinced by his view on how to obtain peace, and with his last act before he dies he revives all of the villagers he killed in a recent attack. I like his complexity, the mystery that surrounds him, and the transformation he makes.
Carl C
- I don’t know if I could call her my favorite villain, but the Queen in Snow White is probably one of the craftiest villains I’ve ever come across. While it is a little grotesque that she wants to eat Snow White’s organs after she is dead, this act was and is done often in various cultures. The act of eating someone’s organs was done because it was believed that if the organs were eaten, the person eating them would gain all the positive attributes of the deceased person. These characteristics were things like courage, strength, and honor. When the Queen learns that Snow White isn’t dead, she tries 3 other ways to kill her. Some of the ideas she comes up with would probably not have been thought of by others. Aside from the Queen, my next “favorite” villain would probably be Jafar in Disney’s Aladdin. Aladdin was one of my favorite Disney movies and that’s probably way Jafar is next in line. I don’t really have any specific reason for liking him other than loving the movie. :)
-Emily C.
I would have to say my favorite fairy tale villain is the witch lady in The Little Mermaid. I love the Disney version of the Little Mermaid, not so much the original version, but the witch is pretty much the same in both versions. She is kind of scary and yet very truthful, almost as if you can trust what she is going to say even if it bad. I just get this evil feel for her but yet truthful. Because she straight told the Little Mermaid what she was going to do and how she felt about it and never did anything tricky. In the Disney version she was a little tricky because she tried to take the prince from The Little Mermaid. But either way, she was my favorite. She was scary, yet very intriguing to me for some reason. Although I did like the witch in Snow white too, she was a very smart villain, or maybe it was that Snow White was really dumb. Haha. Either way, she was a very tricky villain and kept my attention wondering what she would try next.
Amanda F.
Perhaps this might be odd, but my favorite fairy tale villain is the witch in “The Little Mermaid” by Hans Christian Andersen. The reason why this is my favorite villain is because although the little mermaid is a sweet and innocent young girl. She comes off as being very dim-witted and so what I liked is that the witch tried to warn her of her unintelligent decision and that she could still change her mind. The witch being a witch and representing evil and the worse person from the sea world tried to open her eyes. To me the witch was being more like a care for figure in some way towards the little mermaid. The witch from this story showed care and concern for the little mermaid and this is why I consider her to be my favorite fairy tale villain. The witch is mean but showed that she can also be caring and she is definitely not as naïve as the little mermaid. Guadalupe G.
I also do not think that Rumpelstiltskin should be put in the same category with the typical evil villains of fairy tales. I agree with you that Rumpelstiltskin seems to just want to have a child of his own. In the beginning Rumpelstiltskin knows that the girl is at risk of loosing her life and is ready to take advantage of her misfortune. The miller’s daughter, left with no choice, has to make deals with Rumpelstiltskin. Even thought Rumpelstiltskin knows that he has the girl fooled and that her child will someday be his, he offers her one last chance to redeem herself. From what we have read, no other villain offers his victim as many chances as Rumpelstiltskin.
Rachel P.
I have thought about doing my paper about villains on Rumplestilskin because I agree with the idea of him not being completely being a villain. Although we do not see him as a good person for bargaining for a baby he does make a fair deal with the miller’s daughter. Is it a crime to make a bargain with an adoption agency when someone is willing to give up their child? Different scenarios, but he were not the cause of her problems and in fact made her life better. She felt forced by having to give up her child before being pregnant, but she made the deal knowing that he would hold true to it. I don’t see how you could ever forget that event and imagine a little magically man that spins gold doesn’t intend on keeping the deal. He gave her life and in return deserved something. I think it is a compelling idea that he could have possible wanted a child. He could have been lonely or maybe it was for some other reason. It is clear though that he has some compassion because he gives her chances. He tries to benefit from her hardships, but does this make him bad if they both benefit? In the end she wins and he brings about his own death in some tales. We call him a trickster character, but really she is tricking the king. Rumplestilskin is helping her and taking advantage of the situation. The father is the one in the story at fault that deserves the blame, even though he is only mentioned briefly.
-Miranda Horvath
My favorite fairy tale villain would probably have to be the "Queen" or evil step-mother in Snow White. I think her character is easy to relate to real-life situations. The villain's motives result from the extreme amount of jealousy she feels when comparing herself to Snow White. Snow White possesses purity, beauty, innocence, and youth. The aspect of youth is what I feel is most significant of all. The Queen knows that she will never possess this youthful beauty again in her life, which results in her to attempt to kill Snow four different times. The first attempt the queen makes is telling a huntsman to kill Snow and bring her back Snow's lungs and liver. When she looks to her mirror and realizes that she is not the fairest of them all she goes out on her own to kill Snow. All three attempts she uses items of beauty to lure her daughter in. The Queen uses a comb, a staylace, and finally a beautiful apple to kill her. I enjoy how the items go along with the underlying motive of the villain. She will do whatever it takes to get rid of Snow so that she can be the fairest one of all. The Queen's extreme measures for beauty as a result of jealousy make her my favorite villain. Kayla W.
The term villain could be applied to the heroes and heroines of fairy tales as well as the characters we have come to know as the villains of the stories. If we are sticking with these characters that have been labeled as villains, however, I would have to say my favorite villains are Baba Yaga and Rumpelstiltskin.
Baba Yaga is my favorite for the simple fact that she provides help to the travelers in exchange for some work ethic. I have a feeling she wouldn’t have even eaten Vasilisa even if she didn’t know her stepsisters. Baba Yaga is that character that puts the hero or heroine on the right path.
I like Rumpelstiltskin because he gives help unconditionally aside from a few trinkets that really don’t matter all too much. Not to mention because of his help the miller’s daughter becomes a queen in which case she could easily replace everything she had to give in exchange for Rumpel’s help. Asking for her daughter was a bit much but I suppose if Rapunzel’s parents gave her up with little fuss, the miller’s daughter could have too. In the end, you have to feel sorry for Rumpelstiltskin since all he ever wanted was to have a child or some form of family he could call his own.
Paul Whitesell :: T390
I would have to say my favorite villain is Snow White's step mother. She is a determined woman who knows what she wants and is willing to do anything to get what she wants. She is also very smart and knows how to use her skills when it comes to tricking people. She goes through extreme measures in order to be the most beautiful of them all. Even though she was jealous she never fealt bad for herself and she always tried every thing she could to get rid of Snow White. Unfortunatly it is her jealousy for Snow White that brings her to her death. If she would have just accepted herself the way she was, and accepted Snow White the way she was, perhaps her life could have been more simple. After all she had to realize it would be impossible to compete with young beauty when she is much older and she would never have that young beauty again. But of course we would not have this magnificent Fairy Tale if the evil Queen did not exist.
Yesenia C
I honestly like Bab Yaga the best. I also find that she isn't really the main villain in the story "Vasilisa the Fair" but she definitely evil. I would say most cannibals would be classified as evil. First reason I like her is just the image of an elderly women riding around in a flying mortar and pestle. Being a chemistry major I have frequently used a mortar and pestle for various things and it is very ridiculous to me the idea of one big enough to ride in. And why would you choose that as you main vehicle...? I chuckle a the thought of the picture. I also Like Baba Yaga because of all the evil witches that I have read about she is one of the few that seems to almost admire the cleverness of a victim that has surpassed her expectations. I would argue that Baba Yaga actually helps Vasilisa more than any other character in the story. As far as evil witches go Baba Yaga is one of my favorites.
Sara Johnson
My favorite fairy tale villain is Puss in Boots. Although he is really a trickster, he is the villain of the story. He really is that bad. Sure he lies, but I the time period that the tale was wrote who didn’t lie and cheat to get their way to the top. If anything Puss and Boots was a completely normal guy…well, if he was a human. I think that this reflection on culture of the time is wait makes me like him so much. I have always loved fiction that has a little truth behind it. I think this is because whenever you take a history class you learn about the wars, art, economy, and only a small amount of the actual culture. I find it interesting to see how people lived and acted in the past. Plus, the Puss and Boots in the Disney movie Shrek is just so cute and Antonio Banderas was the voice which made it all the more great. Just like the Nasonex bee, it just wouldn’t have been as great if someone else was the voice actor.
Stacey B. T390
So far my favorite villain is the Beast from,Jeanna-Marie Leprince De Beaumont, "Beauty and the Beast". In this story the father may not be perfect but you see he cares. It is the Beast that take the role of the villain by requesting one of the mans daughters. But unlike other villains, the beasts intentions are not not to mistreat or exploit the heroine. I like this story because its depth goes beyond the common structure of fairy tales. This tale vividly enters the realms of reality of love that triumphs beauty and wickedness. The Beast seems evil in the begining, more or less because of his outter appearance, but in the end the true beauty of his heart overwhelms all things and it becomes clear that he is not the villain but he is the true hero. Plus, theres two sides to every story. The good arent always the good and the bad arent always the bad!
JCS
For me it is really a toss up between the ogre in “Jack and the Beanstalk” and the witch in “Hansel and Gretel”. I really like the ogre because he seems to be fairly dumb. Jack constantly tricks him, even after he is sure that he smells Jack in his house. If I constantly had my possessions stolen from me while I fell asleep at the dinner table I would hope that I would quit doing that, but he just keeps on taking naps after he eats and then has his priceless possessions stolen. My other favorite villain is the witch from “Hansel and Gretel”. She disguises herself as being harmless and nice by building a house out of candy and bread to lure in children. What is really creepy about her is the fact that she wants to eat these children despite the fact that she already has enormous amount of food available. For me the fact that she is a cannibal purely for pleasure and not out of necessity makes her one of the creepiest villains. Brandon H.
I would have to say that Ursula from The Little Mermaid is my favorite villain of all time. She is so evil and twisted that it just amazed me as a kid to watch. I was fascinated that this witch could get away with living in such a wonderful underwater kingdom without being found and executed. The parts with Ursula in them frightened me because of the evil snarl that she does. Also, her eel friends are just sick and vile. You can definitely say that anyone who makes friends with electric eels has to be beyond malicious. Poor, innocent Ariel is taken advantage of and left without a voice. Who takes a person’s voice? That is just strange and peculiar behavior for a being to portray. I know the point of the act is to win over the prince but the witch has to be really old, so that just makes the story creepy. She is my favorite for the way that she is able to use her magic to manipulate everything around her.
-Katie E.
My favorite villain is probably the step mother and step sisters in Cinderella. Partially, because my favorite fairy tale is Cinderella anyways, so I'm a bit bias. But I think I just love so much to love to hate them. They're so cruel and evil to Cinderella, turning her own father into a weak and spineless, sad excuse for a parent. No one sticks up for her or defends her, until she is united with her fairy god mother, and her prince charming at the ball. I think it's so great that the sisters totally get what they had coming, and what they deserve, at the end. It's a real slap in the face to them when the glass slipper fits not them, but "Cinderelly," and they're humiliated, not to mention green with envy. My favorite version is also where they get their eyes pecked out in the end for their evilness. Again, mostly because I am so sensitive towards eyes, and anything touching anyone's eyes, I would imagine that would be the most awful, horrendous thing in the world to happen. If it happened to me, I'd definitely just want to die. So I think that was a great punishment for them, and I would wish something equally as bad, if not worse, and her horrible step mother, and her pathetic father.
Chelsea S.
I would say that one of my favorite villains would be Cruella De Vil from “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”. I mean how could you not love her half white/half black head of hair?! And she almost always had some type of cigarette in her scrawny hand. She was in dire need of all one hundred puppies coat of fur, just so she could make a coat out of it. I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with killing animals for their fur, but just her character is pretty amusing. She seems to wear a coat that she can barely handle but makes her look like she is very wealthy. And of course, she is fooled time and time again! She definitely makes the story. I haven’t seen the movie in awhile but I remember she has two sidekicks that she sends to capture the puppies. They are kind of like the two “wet bandits” in the movie “Home Alone”. They are funny and amusing especially to little kids because they are portrayed as fools.
My favorite fairy tale villain would have to be Snow White's Stepmother. The Disney version of Snow White was the first movie that I saw in a movie theater. I remember being terrified of the stepmother when she turned into the old witch. The way that Disney made her look was so repulsing and ugly. In a way, it was saying that she must sacrifice her own beauty in order to kill Snow White, or take her beauty away to have it all to herself. The stepmother is just so evil and conniving. She is bound determined to kill her stepdaughter over jealousy. She is a true villain that really makes your skin crawl with fear. She is like one of those psychopath murderers who will not give up until the job is done. She is a creepy woman with really horrible intentions. I definitely would not want to run into her anywhere. She may look beautiful on the outside, but she is a cruel, jealous monster that is truly evil in many ways. That is what makes her a great villain!
Melissa M.
I would have to say my favorite fairy tale villain is Maleficent from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Nothing scared me more as a child than seeing her turn into a dragon. She absolutely terrified me. My mom had to fast forward the dragon part when I was younger. That’s one scary Disney movie! Coming in at a close second place would be the queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. She was just so evil! She is also one of the craftiest villains in a Disney movie, which makes her even scarier. I like her even better in the Brothers Grimm story, though, because she makes 4 attempts on poor Snow White’s life. Even though they scared me as a child, I now love fairy tale villains. You can’t have a good fairy tale without an evil villain trying to ruin the “happy ever after” of the main character. I’d pick a villain over a love story any day.
Emily K.
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