Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.
They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes. Whereas superheroes often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual physical, mystical, superhuman or superalien powers, the supervillain often possesses a genius intellect that allows him to draft complex schemes or create fantastic devices. Another common trait is possession of considerable resources to help further his aims. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real world dictators, mobsters, and terrorists and often have aspirations of world domination or universal leadership.[1][2]
Superheroes and supervillains often mirror each other in their powers, abilities, or origins. In some cases, the only difference between the two is that the hero uses his extraordinary powers to help others, while the villain uses his powers for selfish, destructive or ruthless purposes.
Origins
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The definition of a supervillain is a villain who can defeat other villains. By some definitions, the first supervillain was John Devil, a proto-Fantômas, created by Paul Féval, père in his eponymous 1860 novel, or Féval's nearly-immortal, machiavellian Colonel Bozzo-Corona, leader of Les Habits Noirs introduced in 1863. Professor Moriarty, the archenemy of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes, was introduced in 1893. Dr. Fu Manchu, the antagonist of several popular novels of Sax Rohmer, is credited with popularizing many of the typical characteristics of the modern supervillain, including his sadistic personality, his desire for world domination, and his use of sinister lairs and themed crimes and henchmen. Rohmer's work had a strong influence on Ian Fleming, whose James Bond novels and their film adaptations further popularized the image in popular culture, like Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
The first supervillain who wore a bizarre costume was the Lightning, from the 1938 film The Fighting Devil Dogs. The first supervillain to regularly battle a superhero was the Ultra-Humanite, who first appeared in Action Comics #13 (1939). In contrast to the super-strong Superman, he was a crippled and bald genius, and could be seen as one of the first examples of the evil genius archetype, due to his deformed body and baldness. However another potential is the Batman foe Doctor Death, an evil Scientist who used poisons. He appeared in Detective Comics #29 (July 1939) and #30 (August 1939), however these were his only Golden Age appearances.
Well known supervillains
Comic book supervillians such as the Joker, Lex Luthor, Sinestro, Green Goblin, Loki, Doctor Doom, Scarecrow, Riddler, Two-Face, the Penguin, Doctor Octopus, Venom and Carnage are well known in popular culture and have been adapted in several films.[3][4] Some notable examples of comic supervillainesses (female villains) are the Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Cheetah, and Circe.
Non-comic book supervillains of note include Ernst Stavro Blofeld from the James Bond series, Darth Vader and the Emperor from the Star Wars series, The Master from DoctorWho, Voldemort from Harry Potter, and Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes series.
See also
References
- ^ Bags and Boards: "The Supervillain Book": A good tome on bad guys[dead link]
- ^ "Eury & Misiroglu On The Supervillain Book". Comicon.Com. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
- ^ "Joker tops supervillain poll". Metro.co.uk. 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
- ^ "Top Ten Comic Book Super Villains". Comicbooks.about.com. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
External links
The dictionary definition of supervillain at Wiktionary
Media related to Supervillains at Wikimedia Commons
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