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silverthunder) wrote2009-12-03 09:07 am
silverthunder) wrote2009-12-03 09:07 am
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Female Villains - Azula
Just reading this rant about female villains and the lack of good ones. She talks about female villains who don't quite make the cut, who weren't iconic or villainous enough, who were lackeys and not real villains, and so on and so forth.
I'm not going to touch on the whole idea of doing specials on Heroes, Villains, and Vixens and lumping ALL female characters (evil or good) into the goddamn Vixens category, because we all know how stupid that is and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
divalion covers that in her the very first part of her essay.
I was thinking as I read the rant that most of the qualities she is looking for can be found in Azula, Avatar's villain.
The only one sticking point that disqualifies Azula is the fact that she is technically acting on her father's orders (this corresponds with number 3 ondivalion's list). Technically. But goddamnit, we see dick-all of Ozai through most of the series and he's like this shadowy being who lurks in the background waiting to fight the Avatar in the final battle (which will be epic, I'm sure). He doesn't have much to characterize him as a supervillain, exactly. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Azula has her eye on the throne and is waiting for the opportune moment to seize power. It's certainly in character for her. And she acts in her own best interest, not her father's or anyone else's.
If she were my daughter, I sure as hell wouldn't trust her to be within 10 feet of me.
Anyway, I think of Azula as the main villain of Avatar, because she's the one who takes over that role (starting in season two, unfortunately, because we have Zhao-the-massive-failure and Zuko-the-not-quite-villain in season one) and notice that almost as soon as she does, suddenly the series begins to take a more sinister turn.
This is because Azula, as a villain, is freakin' AWESOME. She is clever (more clever than the heroes, really), she is charismatic, she is a damn deadly threat, with or without bending (as seen during the invasion). We see her manipulate those around her constantly, bending every situation so that it can work to her best advantage. She lies, she cheats, she never hesitates to take advantage of a weak point. She disregards honor when it suits her and then pulls it out of a hat later when it's convenient. She actively enjoys cruelty and takes pleasure in being able to inspire fear in others.
And most importantly, when she comes on screen, the audience reaction is "oh, shit". I found myself doing that yesterday when Cody and I watched the second part of 'The Boiling Rock'. You KNOW that because she is there, something is going to go horribly wrong for the heroes. She has the power and the ability to fuck everything up.
And that is, without a doubt, the sign of a damn good villain.
I'm not going to touch on the whole idea of doing specials on Heroes, Villains, and Vixens and lumping ALL female characters (evil or good) into the goddamn Vixens category, because we all know how stupid that is and
divalion covers that in her the very first part of her essay.I was thinking as I read the rant that most of the qualities she is looking for can be found in Azula, Avatar's villain.
The only one sticking point that disqualifies Azula is the fact that she is technically acting on her father's orders (this corresponds with number 3 on
divalion's list). Technically. But goddamnit, we see dick-all of Ozai through most of the series and he's like this shadowy being who lurks in the background waiting to fight the Avatar in the final battle (which will be epic, I'm sure). He doesn't have much to characterize him as a supervillain, exactly. Also, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Azula has her eye on the throne and is waiting for the opportune moment to seize power. It's certainly in character for her. And she acts in her own best interest, not her father's or anyone else's.If she were my daughter, I sure as hell wouldn't trust her to be within 10 feet of me.
Anyway, I think of Azula as the main villain of Avatar, because she's the one who takes over that role (starting in season two, unfortunately, because we have Zhao-the-massive-failure and Zuko-the-not-quite-villain in season one) and notice that almost as soon as she does, suddenly the series begins to take a more sinister turn.
This is because Azula, as a villain, is freakin' AWESOME. She is clever (more clever than the heroes, really), she is charismatic, she is a damn deadly threat, with or without bending (as seen during the invasion). We see her manipulate those around her constantly, bending every situation so that it can work to her best advantage. She lies, she cheats, she never hesitates to take advantage of a weak point. She disregards honor when it suits her and then pulls it out of a hat later when it's convenient. She actively enjoys cruelty and takes pleasure in being able to inspire fear in others.
And most importantly, when she comes on screen, the audience reaction is "oh, shit". I found myself doing that yesterday when Cody and I watched the second part of 'The Boiling Rock'. You KNOW that because she is there, something is going to go horribly wrong for the heroes. She has the power and the ability to fuck everything up.
And that is, without a doubt, the sign of a damn good villain.
no subject
Cool article though
no subject
Ursula from The Little Mermaid may have qualified as well, although I don't like that movie very much. She was pretty powerful and evil, and there was no one else behind her, that's for sure.
no subject
I'd tell you my thoughts on Azula, but I think it's better if I link you to my Avatar wrapup post. Don't read this until after you've seen it all!
http://herongale.livejournal.com/295732.html
Isn't Avatar amazing?
no subject
I'll definitely be checking out your post after I've seen all of Avatar (and also after I've written up my thoughts). I'm so curious to see what you have to say about it!
And yes, it is totally amazing! I love it!