I enjoy sub-culture, pop culture, and the internet. Wonderful stuff for your average nerd who sits around writing stories, watching anime, and scrolling on Tumblr. Also, if you haven’t seen Thor, this probably won’t make a lot of sense. Or maybe it will make you want to watch it. Hopefully. You really should. Well, anyway, onto the topic.
When encountering movies, books, comics, etc, I find myself pulled towards the anti-heroes, non-traditional villains, and bad boys. You know, that character who is not good yet he is not bad, either. Or maybe he is bad but is just that magnetic and sly. This is the character that is smart and can figure you out and what strings need to be pulled. He can make you completely vulnerable and then destroy you in an instant. Perhaps it's the opposite--he is the character you would least expect to swoop in and save the day. Unpredictable. Mysterious. Fascinating. In a writing sense, this makes the character far more interesting and sets them apart from the rest of the ensemble. They tend to have deeper stories, stronger emotions, and a warped view of the world.
In a word, they are beautiful.
Let's use one of my favorite characters as an example: Loki.
In the Marvel universe, Loki is the main villain in Thor. He is the brother of Thor and son of Odin (well, sort of, according to the film). Loki is a trickster, liar, and a thief. He was always two steps in front of everybody else in order to fulfill his own intentions. Decieving others, toying with emotions, and sneaking around in the right places. He's all around not a good person at all. Or is he?
See, the great thing about a good liar is you never know what he's thinking. There is no set motivation for him, at least not one that can be prosicely pin pointed. What are his true intentions? What is he really after?
The fact that he's such an intriguing and unpredictable character makes him very likable. He is not the typical bad guy--just out to get power, money, or kill everyone. Does he feel some sort of resentment by his father for paying more attention to Thor than Loki? Does he just want the throne so he can have control of Asgard? Is he seeking revenge on the father who lied to him?
I do not think we ever truly know (this is just going by the movie, mind you).
TVTropes.com considers Loki to be "Affably Evil." This means a character's evil nature is a part of who they are. They are the types of villains who would invite their enemies to dinner and have a polite conversation.. They can be kind to others and have good relations with them. However, whenever they need to get what they want, it would not take a second for them to turn on their friends/family/pets in order to reach their goal. For example: I honestly believe Loki cares for his father and brother. Nevertheless, he would try to kill them or at least harm them if they get in his way. Somewhere deep down, he would feel guilt. But this is not certain.
I may be completely wrong, however. Loki could be a typical villain. Boring. One layered. After material things. Yada yada. And maybe you can easily read him like an open book. But that doesn’t change the fact that this god of chaos has a few tricks up his tunic and in his rather pointy helmet.
I could probably go all day talking about him, but I won't torture you, reader. Loki is a beautiful character filled with discourse and treachery. He's gotta be one of the best villains created (besides "The Dark Knight" version of The Joker. I mean, c'mon. Heath Ledger. Win.). He can reel you in and make you trust him, but then the next second, he would kill you blind. We'd be friends, I think. I just wouldn't give him my Tumblr account information...or my bank account...or anything of value that I don't want anyone to know about...
