Bad Boys, Bad Boys...

What is so compelling about bad boys?  In the recent film Star Trek: Into Darkness, I fell in love with John Harrowman, also known as the infamous Khan.  It might have had something to do with my huge fan crush on Benedict Cumberbatch, but it seems as though critics all over went raving mad over his role in the film as well.  An exceptional actor in his own right, Cumberbatch had audiences completely captivated with the intense skill and emotion.  More and more frequently, fangirls all over the world are falling for the villains of films and villains alike.  I, too, am guilty of this, swooning over Cumberbatch as Khan, and becoming more interested in villains Raistlin Majere and Artemis Entreri than their heroic counterparts in the respective sagas of Hickman and Weiss' DragonLance and R.A. Salvatore's Forgotten Realms.  But why? You ask.  Why are the bad guys so good? 

Because there are only so many factors that can go into a hero's journey and motivation.  Vladimir Propp, a Russian Formalist, studied over a hundred Russian folk tales and determined 31 plot elements that occur during those tales.  According to him and other folklorists, every plot development in a tale is a variation on those 31 elements.  As an English student, I used Propp's techniques to analyze myths and folklore, and found that most fiction tales follow the same plot as well.  While the entire list can be found on Vladmir Propp's Wikipedia page, it is often summarized as follows:

• There is a lack or desire
• The Hero leaves home
• The Hero encounters some obstacles
• The Hero receives magical aid
• The Hero fills the desire or lack
• The Hero returns home

 Lets test it.  James Kirk wanted to be a Starfleet Pilot and they must catch an escaped villain (desire: pilot.  lack: escaped villain).  They leave the planet, and journey to the planet of the Klingons (obstacle).  Khan helps them defeat the Klingons (arguable magical ((at least unexpected)) aid), and agrees to return with them (filled lack).  They attempt to return home when one of Kirks superiors tries to destroy them, and the cycle begins again.

The hero must always travel in this journey.  He must always fill the lack or desire.  Sometimes you have to stretch to find out what that motivation is, but it is always there.  For Harry Potter its a lack of friendship and a desire to be wanted.  It masks itself with a desire to learn magic, and later a desire to destroy Voldemort and save the wizarding world.  It could be Babe the pig, or the Cat and the Hat where the kids lack enjoyment.  Whoever it is, the hero cannot deviate from that path with much ease at all.

The villain needs to follow no such plan.  His motivation doesn't need to be lack (although it often is - Syndrome in The Incredibles had a lack of superpowers, ect.)  What does the Joker lack?  What does Moriarty lack?  Where do their morals come from, if they have morals at all?  Where does their motivation come from?  How did they become the person presented to us?  Why is Sauron evil?  Who knows?  The ability to explore the past of the villains, rather than being fed the same heroic mold, allows the audience to latch on to the backstory of the characters and see in them something we are not allowed to see in the best of heroes.

Of course, maybe it doesn't hurt when they are incredibly good looking.