Why Modern Villain Motivations Don't Make Sense Anymore
- Views
- 741,631
- Likes
- 12,449
- Length
- 23:53
- Published
- Category
- Film & Animation
Scar, Frollo, and Yzma had motivations that held up from start to finish, but villains like Evelyn Deavor, the Chameleon, and Namaari fall apart the moment you ask whether their plans make sense. This video breaks down what separates a strong villain motivation from a weak one, why a tragic backstory explains a villain but never excuses them, and how modern animation keeps getting it wrong.
💼Inquiries:
[email protected]
Voiceover by: Mark Flores
Portfolio: @markfloresvoiceover
💼Inquiries:
[email protected]
Voiceover by: Mark Flores
Portfolio: @markfloresvoiceover
@ottobaron6392
In "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish", Jack Horner doesn't need a tragic backstory to be a villain. He's a genuinely selfish individual.
1.3K likes
@AayushGoutam-xo5wx
Chameleon: I can't learn kung fu because my body and limbs are too small
Master mantis: Are you sure you have the shortest limbs ?
Master viper: you guys have limbs?
3.5K likes
@seraphlazuli6251
I could see Chameleon’s motivation being revised as “My friends and family were taken from me/killed for their passed down knowledge in dark arts, and I begged the masters to teach me Kung Fu so I can save them. They attempted to teach me, said Kung Fu would take years to master, well I didn’t have years when my home was raided. So I turned to dark magic to absorb the skills faster, and they banned me from learning when they found out. And now my family and friends are gone. You didn’t give me what I needed to save them, you didn’t even go to save them yourself. So I will take it from you. I won’t wait to become strong. I won’t wait for anyone ever again.”
809 likes
@ashleynarwhal2394
Every villain nowadays has to be redeemable for some reason, they can’t just be evil and stay evil
1.9K likes
@theamazinglee33
Kung Fu Panda villains' backstories (taken from another video):
Tai Lung: "My father lied to me my entire life, promising me a title I was never destined to claim."
Lord Shen: "I did whatever I could to stop my fate. When my parents found out what I did, they banished me."
Kai: "My best friend who I loved like a brother betrayed me and left my memory to die."
Chameleon: "IM SMOLL"
2K likes
@Crusader-Ramos45
Anybody can make a better reason for Chameleon being a villain in Kung Fu panda 4, like she would’ve been envious of her family’s skill in kung fu so much that she resorted to dark magic, something that not even a chameleon kung fu master would approve.
1K likes
@FF-tp7qs
Yzma didn't brew the poison tge same day she was fired, she told Kronk to bring a bottle from a shelf of already existing chemicals and he picked the wrong one, hence the line: "A Llama?! He's supposed to be dead!"
565 likes
@YoshiaLubbe
A strong villain also requires a deep, psychological undertone that connects with the heart of the audience, to expose the absolute most evil heart of humanity, and serve as a mirror to humanity's own wickedness. Modern villains try so hard to be equal in good to the hero, and have their perspectives count, that they look pathetic.
367 likes
@boomer4044
King Magnifico being punished just for one vague wish and for telling the alleged 'hero,' "no," was so stupid. He's not a villain, he's only doing what is right. Sides, a lot of wishes were pretty stupid in that movie anyway. Others could have been done on their own. And the messaging was stupid too. Asha is definitely the villain of Wish.
773 likes
@hamditafa4654
Jack Horner from Puss in Boots was great as even the Ethics Bug was like - yeah your insane
266 likes
@Prettiestboyofall
Modern villains are basically excuses for evil being okay, kids
73 likes
@SpammytheHedgehog
The 90's had the best modern Disney villains. Hands down.
240 likes
@ViewerOnline101
Classic villains = irredeemable monster who need to be stopped at all costs
Modern villains = tragic victims who just need a hug and a therapy session
293 likes
@CherokeeEllison
We need more legendary villains like syndrome
377 likes
@animefan77
They’re written like Han Solos- the cynical lancer that is insecure rather than a genuinely irrational sociopath whose internal logic makes senses but is taken to such extremes that they have to be taken down rather than talk things out
99 likes
@zalla00
A villain whose motivations do make sense is Abijah Fowler from Blue Eyed Samurai. He wants control. He wants to never lose control, to have absolute power to do anything he wants because he WANTS to do it, not because he HAS to.
307 likes
@IndoventorE750
Callaghan was never confirmed to have started the fire. He was only proven to have used Hiro‘s Microbots to survive it. And, to counter your claim there was no signs he hated Crei, when we first mt the latter, Callaghan said not to trust Crei with anything else, hinting at Abigail. And before the reveal, we see in the recording that when the pod was lost, he snapped at Crei and even said „You knew it wasn‘t ready!“
130 likes
@RandomRed2005
It’s funny how people are like “villains back then were too one note, they were just evil bad guys who wanted money and power” villains have depth!
Yet power hungry psychopathic, murderers are completely realistic. Motivations give reason, but they’re not really the point of the villain.
Actions speak far louder than words.
104 likes
@metalmadness5851
Fixes for the bad villains:
Evelyn Devor - Make her an opposition from the start, but have seemingly come around, just to then make the direct betrayal when it's clear it's her last option to stop them. Then learn that she was behind dozens of different attempts at preventing the Supers from succeeding. It would be an improvement.
Chameleon - Have her be too lazy to rise to the top on her own, so she resorts to stealing to get their quicker. Make it so that she didn't work for her power, but always cheated to the top. Turn the ending into a triumph of effort over the quick path. At the very least, make her size being her weakness her own mistaken belief, not the truth.
Namaari - Obvious fixes are obvious. Make her selfish, and have her realize that she was hurting her people instead of protecting them. You know, like Zuko.
Magnifico - Just shouldn't have been the main villain, he should have been a misunderstood mentor. Have the MC try to grant everyone's wishes, only to create a tremendous problem and remove Magnifico's powers. Magnifico then teaches the MC how to undo the bad wishes, while also getting her to consider what makes a wish "good" or "bad", leading to a passing of the torch moment where the MC takes over his job, but learns that careful consideration is vital when granting a wish. Seeing a bunch of seemingly innocent wishes going badly wrong, would hammer home the point.
Callaghan - Frankly, he just needed to be written better. Have it become clear that he never actually cared about his students and was just using all of their inventions for his own benefit, rather than just Hiro's. The whole bit about being too wrapped up in revenge to consider that his daughter could be saved, works as a karmic downfall, proving that Callaghan had let his hate for his rival to blind him to such an obvious solution. Callaghan burning down the convention hall would work better if he was stealing many things, not just one thing, and have it be obvious that he never even considered that Tadashi would try to save him, since he only viewed him through a self-serving lens.
205 likes
@TheIronMagne
In other words, evil corporation refuses to create evil villains who clearly need to be put in their place, so nobody gets any clever ideas.
60 likes