V is for...Villains!

You can't have a decent fairy tale without a villain. Villains are often easy to spot in fairy tales, as they are usually causing problems for the 'hero' character. The aim of most fairy tale protagonists is to overcome the villain, sometimes by merely getting past them and sometimes by defeating them. Villains are often perceived as being the 'opposite' of the hero character in fairy tales. There are a few different groups of villains that commonly appear in fairy tales.
Taken from here
The first one that comes to my mind when thinking of villains in fairy tales are stepfamily. For some reason, stepmothers and sisters are always really horrible in fairy tales. In Cinderella, she has her stepmother and stepsisters who have her working as a servant for them, and don't let her have any fun at all, and then you have the stepmother in Snow White, who actually tries to kill her stepdaughter because she is "the fairest of them all". Definitely villainous.
Taken from here
The next is Witches: Witches in fairy tales are always evil. In Rapunzel, you have the witch who locked the baby Rapunzel away in a tower, just because her mother craved a certain type of food from the witch's garden. The Witch then went on to blind Rapunzel's 'Prince Charming' and abandon Rapunzel in the middle of a forest. Then you have the witch in Hansel and Gretel, who tries to fatten the children up and eat them.
Taken from here
Wolves are always used as villains in animal fairy tales. In Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf goes so far as to pretend to be Little Red's grandmother, just to satisfy his hungry belly. The wolf is exactly the same in Three Little Pigs; scheming and blowing down houses to eat the pigs.
Taken from here
Other creatures are used as villains in fairy tales as well. There's the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk, and the troll in Three Billy Goats Gruff. There is even an imp in Rumpelstiltskin. All characters used to cause problems for the hero of the story. There's even an evil fairy godmother in Sleeping Beauty, which goes to show that even typically 'nice' characters can still be used as villains.
In the end though, all villains are defeated by their hero counterparts, who live happily ever after, while the villain has either been killed, or is never seen again.

Comments

  1. Not sure if it is just me but the last image (Jack and the Beanstalk) is showing as a blank in the post although if you click on it, it is then visible.

    Funnily enough I had the same problem yesterday with a picture of one of the Undead. But they do have a bit of a reputation for being troublesome.

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    1. Ooo that's interesting as soon as I added a comment it appeared OK. So just pretend I said(wrote) nothing....

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    2. Haha thanks for letting me know anyway! That happens to me sometimes too, I can't see a picture but everyone else can! :)

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  2. Like you said, villains are essential to fairtales! I love how they are always defeated :)

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    1. Me too, fairy tales wouldn't be the same if there weren't villains to defeat! :)

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  3. It would be a strange fairytale is the 'hero' did not have to overcome anything in the story. I like the Jack and the Beanstalk image in action..:))

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    1. Thanks :) You're right, you can't have heroes without villains, there would be no point in them :)

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  4. What would a great story be without a villian? There are mandatory!

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    1. They really are! Sometimes I like villains better than the heroes! :)

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  5. You are right. No Fairy Tale should be without a villian.

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    1. There's got to be some sort of conflict, or there would be no point to the story :)

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  6. Villains are so fun to write! And then defeat :)

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    1. I bet they are fun to write, I'll have to try it sometime, it's always fun reading them being defeated :)

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  7. If there's one thing fairy tales are good at, it's villains. I LOVE Maleficent, and the witch from Hansel and Gretel!

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    1. I love villains, I tend to like them more than the 'good' characters! They're just more interesting :)

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  8. What is a fairy tale without a villain? A boring princess sitting around a castle doing nothing.

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  9. Oh, how I love a good villain! When they make you so angry that you can't stop turning pages, that's the best.

    Allison (Geek Banter)

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    1. Oh, definitely! Sometimes you just need that evil character who causes trouble, makes the story so much more interesting!

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  10. There absolutely has to be a conflict in a story, I suppose in real life. Makes things interesting!

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