Character and Archetype

In this essay I will be exploring how we identify villains from other characters with a focus on colour. First we must understand what codes are used when creating a “classic villain”
A Villain will act as a foil to the protagonist often being the personification of a vice such as greed or Wrath. Befriending or having some power over the main protagonist and achieving their goal before karma driven fate usually by fault of their own vice. [1]
With this in mind here is my example of the “classic villain”:

Protagonist [left] Antagonist [right]

This is a fairly average example people will be able to determine that the right figure is the villain on colour scheme and the inverse character proportions they have to the protagonist. However at their current state we cannot discern much else about their character origin. [2]

Firstly colour design is important in coding using darker colours such as black is a common code for villainy supplemented with crimsons to infer ideas of madness (ME!ME!ME!’s Hana), Purples, blues or silver to suggest higher power, (Final fantasy II’s Mateus)  neon greens and yellows to suggest an unnatural presence about the character (JJBA’s Dio Brando) even using all white to suggest glamor or sterility (Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Lilith) . [3]

Dio Brando’s alternate colour pallets from the fighting game “JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future” exemplifying villainous colour pallets.[4]

Disney often employs the idea of lime green as an overarching colour to signify a villain:

 [5]

[6]

[7]

On the topic of Disney, 6/11 official “Disney princess” films have a Villain that employs some kind of sorcery linking the colour green to ideas of magic.
Sorcery within the “Classical villain” trope is common place from the wicked witch Archetype to classical monsters such as vampires. [8]

[9]

 These character traits often stem from personifications of vice emphasising the villain’s overall theme. The sorcerer harking back to ideas of paganism, deals with the devil or some greater power, sacrificing your humanity for personal gain.

Dio making a sacrifice to the stone mask in order to become a vampire. [10]

With supernatural elements and if the villain doesn’t already fall into the “hag” archetype  there is often an underlying current of sexuality in one way or another in order to contrast with our protagonist akin to a Madonna whore complex. [11]
"Cliché has had it that, sexually, women are passive by nature and that the sexually active woman is abnormal, if not dangerous and destructive. The machine vamp in Metropolis of course embodies the unity of an active and destructive female sexuality and the destructive power of technology." [12]

[13]

Maria on the left and False Maria on the right

With this in mind I shall now take my research and apply it to our antagonist.

We are now seeing a lot more depth within our villain, a simple change in posture makes them more relaxed and cocky also holding some sexual overtones. Their colour pallet holding classic black but also predominantly purple and silver showing us that they are of nobility and accented with sickly shades of green to hint that there is something supernatural going on. The inclusion of armor shows a lust for power though force and both the inclusion of green in body design and though the staff it indicates that they may have gotten their power from ill means.

Referances:
[1] TV tropes: Classic villain
[2] TV tropes: classic villain

[3] TV Tropes: Good colors Evil colors
[4] Jojo’s bizarre adventure: Heritage for the for the future
[5] Sleeping beauty
[6] The princess and the frog
[7] the lion king

[8] TV tropes: classic villain

[9] Dracula

[10] Araki, H.

[11] Tv tropes: Evil is sexy
[12] Huyssen, A.

[13] Metropolis

bibliography

Araki, H. 1988. Phantom Blood vol.2. Japan: Shueisha

Dracula. 1931. [Film]. Browning, T. Dir. USA: Universal Pictures

Huyssen, A. 1981. The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Germany: New German Critique

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future. 1999. CPS-3 arcade system [game]. Capcom: Japan.

Lion King, The. 1994.[Film]. Allers, R. and Minkoff, R. Dir. USA:Hahn, D.

Metropolis. 1927. [film.] Lang, f. Dir. Germany: Paramount pictures

Princess and the frog, The. 2009. [Film]. Clements, r. and Musker, J.Dir. USA: Vecho, P,D. and Lasseter J.

Sleeping beauty.1959 [film] Geronimi, C, et al. Dir. USA: Disney, W.

TV Tropes, [no date], Classic villain [Online]. [Accessed 17 March 2015]. Available from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClassicVillain

TV Tropes, [no date], Evil is sexy [Online]. [Accessed 17 March 2015]. Available from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilIsSexy

TV Tropes, [no date], Good Colors Evil Colors [Online]. [Accessed 17 March 2015]. Available from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodColorsEvilColors