So…villains.
Admit it. I got your heart beating a little faster there, didn’t I? There’s something incredibly entrancing about a good villain. Is it the ease with which they fall into immorality, or their determination to destroy the villain? Or maybe, their obsession with their honour?
I had to go there. Anyways,
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
WITH A HEART OF GOLD
And by gold, I mean, solidly gold. This is the villain who’s deep, deep, deep, very deep down actually sympathetic. This is the villain whose tough mask sometimes slips to reveal a softer side. They might even get a little embarrassed at their kindness but this gives readers even more hopes for a redemption arc.
GOOD INTENTIONS
These are the lost ones. The villains who only want to do good for their people, their family, or their country. As good as their intentions are, their actions are extremely misguided. I think these are the characters that are toughest to write because how do you write one who has morality of their own, and where do you draw the line between what their version of right and wrong?
WICKED GENIUS
Ah. Probably the most intimidating of villains for me. Because not only are they ruthless but they also have the means to be. These villains need not rely on others to bring their evil plans to fruition. They’re driven, obsessive, and terrifyingly creative!
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL
We need an excuse to love our villain, and not feel like one ourselves. While there are those villains who pursue power simply because, we have villains whose motives are driven by vengeance. Then there are those who’ve simply given up and surrendered to the darkness because they see no hope. Now, those stories are the ones that pull at my heartstrings.
THAT CHEEKY BASTARD
What good is world domination if you can’t do it with any finesse? I love my villains with a tongue in cheek attitude. The chaotic ones who are quite beautiful in their element.
RECOMMENDED READS
What makes a villain likable? Who’s your favourite villain?
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Camillea Reads 
Love all of these!
Gone Girl was brilliant, and my first encounter with a story where everyone was kinda bad.
Still need to read Him.
🙂
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Guess what! I ordered Sharp Objects sometime ago! I can confidently say Flynn is already a fave haha Have you read any of her other books?
I hope you end up liking Him! I think Amazon has the Kindle copy on sale.
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Yes, i read all Gillian Flynn, except the one called Adults (or something along those lines). I really like her style ❤
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Like, just throwing it out there but this would make for a very villainous tag. Just saying. :’)
I’d definitely go with Rhysand in ACOTAR for the first one. I honest to the skies want to reread those books sometime soon but that probably won’t happen, haha.
The best fleshed-out “villain” for me, will probably always be AIDAN. I have the weakest spot for that AI and I just can’t help it. xD
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Haha I love a good pun 😀 I do love book tags and will try creating one in the future.
Everyone seems to be talking about this Rhys from Maas’ books! Is Aidan one of her characters too?? Haha sorry, I haven’t read any of her books!
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Hahah. No, AIDAN is an Artificial Intelligence from The Illuminae Files by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. Rhysand is one of Maas’ babies and you should totally read her books! 😛 If only to find out more about him. 😛
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Gone Girl is so great!! And I have such a soft spot for villains with hearts of gold… we definitely need more of those. Do you have a favorite book with this trope??
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Off the top of my head, I can think of Pride & Prejudice haha you can also check out Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri. Or the Great Library series by Rachel Caine.
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Lately I’ve been having weird feelings about villains. Idk. But I just feel like even if they are good deep inside, it doesn’t justify their actions like killing and stuff. Gaaaah I hate myself. One part of me loves villains but the other part is confused fkldfgbkdfjb
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The smart and slightly misguided villain is probably my favourite. I loved Forest of A Thousand Lanterns! Ink and Bone, Gone Girl and Damsel are all books I want to read! Great post!
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AHHHH I LOVE ALL OF THESE POINTS????!!!!!! I’m going to add so many of these books to my tbr. gosh, villains w hearts of gold + genius minds + cheekiness are so amazing. I’ll root for them all day ❤
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I don’t think I could ever like a villain entirily. Also because I’ve seen too many times this “we can like the villain” turning into romanticization or terrible redemption arcs that ignore… just all the people scarred by the villain in question? But I can like them as the figure they should represent. And I’m kinda down to every type. I think that the more scary type is the vicious villain, one that end up in power even elected by people, the one that do it with a smile and contempt. It’s hard to explain.. but we can find plenty even in our life.
And… what is that gorgeous cover? Water of Salt and Sin! Looks amazing!
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I hate it when people romanticize or try to justify villains. In spite of the sob stories, I don’t think it’s right. It’s okay to acknowledge the character and love them, but making them out for what they are not…NOPE!
I hope you pick up that book! I loved it! The book series is on sale, also, I think!
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I haven’t read many of these but I do agree with you about Forest of a Thousand Lanterns!
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i am a real sucker for a good villain, but i am so picky about who i’ll love! i also want them to be an evil genius and cheeky, like you, but also i…don’t really love when they have a heart of gold. lol i want them to be evil to the core! but i do like when they have good intentions 🙂 love this post!!
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Lovely post! I have a soft spot for redeemable villains and those who are evil genius. I agree with you on Gone Girl, though I wasn’t fan of the premise Amy Dunne is creepy badass. Love the plot twist. 🙂
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Totally agree with you on the cheekiness. I love my villains to have a way with words.
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