In the Middle Ages, someone who lived in a town, far from a city, was called a villain.
Villain is a term whose etymology takes us to the Latin villanus . This word, in turn, comes from villa , which can be understood as "country house" . In this way, the first meaning of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) indicates that a villain is someone who lived in a town and belonged to the common state , unlike noblemen or nobles.
Beyond what has been mentioned, there are numerous theories about the origin of the concept. Thus, there are those who consider that villain is a word that was created in the Middle Ages , used to refer to people without honor , without a sense of morality and also capable of committing all kinds of misdeeds.
Villain Characteristics
People who lived in villages , far from cities, were considered in ancient times as uneducated, rude, rude and rustic . For this reason, villain began to be used as an adjective with negative connotations that alluded to this lack of civility .
Villains, in this sense, lacked the attributes of nobility and, according to the ruling classes, could commit vile and dishonorable acts. Therefore, as history went by, villain became an adjective used to describe people who carry out harmful, harmful or unworthy actions .
The concept in fiction
The concept currently usually appears in the field of fiction : villain is the evil character who opposes the hero . In superhero stories, soap operas and action movies, to name just a few possibilities, there are always villains.
Take the case of Batman . The vigilante played by Bruce Wayne (or, according to the Spanish translation, Bruno Díaz ) usually faces different villains to protect Gotham City . In this framework, The Joker ( The Joker ), The Penguin , The Riddler ( The Riddler ) and Two-Face are some of the villains that appear in the stories starring Batman .
Villains are evil characters in fiction.
famous villains
There are many examples of villains that we find in the world of literature and cinema and who have achieved the same prominence and even more than the central characters they face:
- Throughout his career, the superhero Superman has had a multitude of villains willing to kill him and take control of Metropolis . This would be the case, for example, of Lex Luthor , Joker , Ultra-Humanity and General Zod .
- Spiderman , on the other hand, has also had numerous enemies that have made him give his all to protect his neighbors. Among them are The Chameleon , Sandman , Mysterio , Kraven , Kingpin , Carnage , The Lizard , Venom , Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin .
- In the same way, we cannot forget that one of the most important spies of all time such as James Bond also has villains to fight against. In their case, those that achieved the most relevance were Goldfinger and Doctor No.
- And what about Sherlock Holmes ? This intelligent and sagacious detective on numerous occasions had to face the villain Moriarty , who carried out all kinds of criminal actions.