How to Act Like a Villain
Dress evil., Understand the reason behind your evil motives., Have tricks up your sleeve., Have a brilliant yet dangerous mind., Be sneaky and isolated., Remember that villains do not have friends, they gain followers., Develop an evil grin and...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Dress evil.
Black and red are traditionally represented as the color of evil.
Evil figures tend to lurk in dark corners and spaces and they often times sneak up behind their victims.
Dark or red clothes help the villain camouflage into their sneaky setting.
Wearing black and/or red clothing will also visually enhance your dark side. -
Step 2: Understand the reason behind your evil motives.
Villains tend to be evil due to their negative past and upbringing.
There are reasons for being evil and in most comic books/movies the villains weaknesses define their need for power.
Take the Harry Potter series for example:
Lord Voldemort heard the prophecy that he will not be able to live if
- or so he thinks
- Harry Potter survives.
Because of the prophecy, Voldemort sets out to kill Harry so he cannot be killed himself, thinking that he could be the most powerful wizard in the world.
Understanding why your villain (the one you are portraying) is evil will help illustrate your actions. "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another...if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.
Ha ha ha!"
- The Joker from 1988's The Killing Joke. , A villain works to destroy/kill/maim the hero in most movies or comic books and they go about it with ease.
Villains are witty and knowledgeable in serious conversations/situations and often times they get away with a trick or two before disappearing to go plan their next move.
To be witty and devise tricks:
Watch and study your opponent and play off of their actions.
Listen to what they are saying and reply in a tone that mocks them and insinuates power and knowledge.
Use sarcasm and cynicism in simple sentences as demonstrated in this quote from Loki in The Avengers: "I am Loki, of Asgard.
And I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Most villains are extremely cunning and manipulative; they know a lot of things about weapons, gadgets, minds, and/or the society that he/she lives in.
Villains warp the truth into their own insane lie; they take what they know, use their intelligent mind, and construct an obscure fabrication of the truth
- ending in a result of total manipulation.Take Khan from Star Trek Into Darkness (well... all the Star Trek series, really).
Khan explains to Captain Kirk the Admiral is evil and used his superhuman intelligence to construct weapons.
After finding this story to be true, Captain Kirk agrees to plan vengeance against the Admiral with Khan (with Khan's promise of truce).
Once Khan had Captain Kirk's trust he turned to a plan of his own and threatened the fate of the "Enterprise"., Villains usually behave in a sneaky manner in hopes of manipulating naive individuals to acquire power/wealth/sex, etc.
Although some villains gain an entourage, they are very introverted and keep the important features of diabolical plans to themselves.
In acting out the sneakiness of the villain try to:
Lurk around and move with a sly disposition.
Have minimal interaction with the general public or society at large.
Do general things alone and confide in no one. , It's unusual, though not impossible, to find a villainous character depicted as a self-centered individualist doing his dirty work all on his own (unless you are trying to depict him as a psychopath or sociopath
- a la Psycho or V for Vendetta, but this is quite digress-able).
They often have an army of minions or bodyguards who praise their path of evil and take on the minor tasks of the villains plan:
Dole out diabolical orders to your followers (if any) while keeping secret motives and actions to play out yourself in your quest of destroying good.
Be sure to expose your power frequently.
This will help your followers understand you have control over them and the evil situation and they are not your friend. , Most villains have evil grins pasted across their faces and they are best combined with a nasty expression.
Traditionally, theatricality is extremely important in the art of movie-making.
However, some advanced directors can direct villains to show zero expressions on their faces.
Case in point:
The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep elegantly demands orders through soft monotone voices matched with blank, yet sincere, expressions.
But generally speaking, it is important for the villain to show how much they thoroughly enjoy the evil situation at hand as displayed by the character Jack Torrance in The Shining played by Jack Nicholson. , It's always good to ensure that the villain you are portraying has a particularly destructive skill such as word-play, sword-fighting, gun-slinging, nuclear technology, or political power.
Any skill, no matter what, can be used to the villains advantage in an encounter against their foe. -
Step 3: Have tricks up your sleeve.
-
Step 4: Have a brilliant yet dangerous mind.
-
Step 5: Be sneaky and isolated.
-
Step 6: Remember that villains do not have friends
-
Step 7: they gain followers.
-
Step 8: Develop an evil grin and stare.
-
Step 9: Define a skill and use it.
Detailed Guide
Black and red are traditionally represented as the color of evil.
Evil figures tend to lurk in dark corners and spaces and they often times sneak up behind their victims.
Dark or red clothes help the villain camouflage into their sneaky setting.
Wearing black and/or red clothing will also visually enhance your dark side.
Villains tend to be evil due to their negative past and upbringing.
There are reasons for being evil and in most comic books/movies the villains weaknesses define their need for power.
Take the Harry Potter series for example:
Lord Voldemort heard the prophecy that he will not be able to live if
- or so he thinks
- Harry Potter survives.
Because of the prophecy, Voldemort sets out to kill Harry so he cannot be killed himself, thinking that he could be the most powerful wizard in the world.
Understanding why your villain (the one you are portraying) is evil will help illustrate your actions. "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another...if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice.
Ha ha ha!"
- The Joker from 1988's The Killing Joke. , A villain works to destroy/kill/maim the hero in most movies or comic books and they go about it with ease.
Villains are witty and knowledgeable in serious conversations/situations and often times they get away with a trick or two before disappearing to go plan their next move.
To be witty and devise tricks:
Watch and study your opponent and play off of their actions.
Listen to what they are saying and reply in a tone that mocks them and insinuates power and knowledge.
Use sarcasm and cynicism in simple sentences as demonstrated in this quote from Loki in The Avengers: "I am Loki, of Asgard.
And I am burdened with glorious purpose."
Most villains are extremely cunning and manipulative; they know a lot of things about weapons, gadgets, minds, and/or the society that he/she lives in.
Villains warp the truth into their own insane lie; they take what they know, use their intelligent mind, and construct an obscure fabrication of the truth
- ending in a result of total manipulation.Take Khan from Star Trek Into Darkness (well... all the Star Trek series, really).
Khan explains to Captain Kirk the Admiral is evil and used his superhuman intelligence to construct weapons.
After finding this story to be true, Captain Kirk agrees to plan vengeance against the Admiral with Khan (with Khan's promise of truce).
Once Khan had Captain Kirk's trust he turned to a plan of his own and threatened the fate of the "Enterprise"., Villains usually behave in a sneaky manner in hopes of manipulating naive individuals to acquire power/wealth/sex, etc.
Although some villains gain an entourage, they are very introverted and keep the important features of diabolical plans to themselves.
In acting out the sneakiness of the villain try to:
Lurk around and move with a sly disposition.
Have minimal interaction with the general public or society at large.
Do general things alone and confide in no one. , It's unusual, though not impossible, to find a villainous character depicted as a self-centered individualist doing his dirty work all on his own (unless you are trying to depict him as a psychopath or sociopath
- a la Psycho or V for Vendetta, but this is quite digress-able).
They often have an army of minions or bodyguards who praise their path of evil and take on the minor tasks of the villains plan:
Dole out diabolical orders to your followers (if any) while keeping secret motives and actions to play out yourself in your quest of destroying good.
Be sure to expose your power frequently.
This will help your followers understand you have control over them and the evil situation and they are not your friend. , Most villains have evil grins pasted across their faces and they are best combined with a nasty expression.
Traditionally, theatricality is extremely important in the art of movie-making.
However, some advanced directors can direct villains to show zero expressions on their faces.
Case in point:
The Devil Wears Prada where Meryl Streep elegantly demands orders through soft monotone voices matched with blank, yet sincere, expressions.
But generally speaking, it is important for the villain to show how much they thoroughly enjoy the evil situation at hand as displayed by the character Jack Torrance in The Shining played by Jack Nicholson. , It's always good to ensure that the villain you are portraying has a particularly destructive skill such as word-play, sword-fighting, gun-slinging, nuclear technology, or political power.
Any skill, no matter what, can be used to the villains advantage in an encounter against their foe.
About the Author
Alexis Evans
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow lifestyle tutorials.
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