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A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain
Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a history narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters....
 character
Fictional character

A character is any person, persona, identity, or entity that exists in a The arts. The process of conveying information about characters in fiction is called characterisation....
 type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
 in various mediums.

They are often used as foils
Foil (literature)

A foil is a character that contrasts with another character and so highlights various facets of the main character's personality. A foil usually has some important characteristics in common with the other character, such as, frequently, superficial traits or personal history....
 to superhero
Superhero

A superhero is a Character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to act of derring-do in the public interest". Since the debut of the prototype superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes?ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas?have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other mass...
es and other fictional hero
Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, the offspring of a mortal and a deity,their Greek hero cult being one of the most distinctive features of Religion in ancient Greece....
es. Whereas superheroes often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual magical or superhuman powers, the supervillain often possesses a genius intellect that allows him to draft complex schemes or create fantastic devices.






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A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain
Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a history narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters....
 character
Fictional character

A character is any person, persona, identity, or entity that exists in a The arts. The process of conveying information about characters in fiction is called characterisation....
 type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
 in various mediums.

They are often used as foils
Foil (literature)

A foil is a character that contrasts with another character and so highlights various facets of the main character's personality. A foil usually has some important characteristics in common with the other character, such as, frequently, superficial traits or personal history....
 to superhero
Superhero

A superhero is a Character "of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to act of derring-do in the public interest". Since the debut of the prototype superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes?ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas?have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other mass...
es and other fictional hero
Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, the offspring of a mortal and a deity,their Greek hero cult being one of the most distinctive features of Religion in ancient Greece....
es. Whereas superheroes often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual magical or superhuman powers, the supervillain often possesses a genius intellect that allows him to draft complex schemes or create fantastic devices. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real world dictator
Dictator

A dictator is an authoritarian ruler who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship....
s, mobsters, and terrorists
Terrorism

Terrorism, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, is the systematic use of terror, "violent or destructive acts committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands." At present, there is no internationally agreed upon definition of terrorism....
 and often have aspirations of world domination
WORLD DOMINATION

WORLD DOMINATION is Kompressor 's first compact disc release. The album was released in 2001 and re-issued with extra tracks in 2005....
 or universal leadership.

Superheroes and supervillains often mirror each other in their powers, abilities, or origins. Often the only difference between the two is that the hero uses his extraordinary powers to help others, while the villain uses his powers for selfish purposes.

Origins

By most definitions, the first supervillain was John Devil, a proto-Fantômas
Fantômas

File:Fantomas early film poster.jpgFant?mas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre .One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fant?mas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11 volumes writ...
, created by Paul Féval, père
Paul Féval, père

Paul Henri Corentin F?val, p?re was a France novelist and dramatist.He was the author of popular swashbuckler novels such as Le Loup Blanc and the perennial best-seller Le Bossu ....
 in his eponymous 1862 novel, or Féval's nearly-immortal, machiavellian Colonel Bozzo-Corona, leader of Les Habits Noirs
Les Habits Noirs

Les Habits Noirs is a book series written over a thirty-year period, comprising eleven novels, created by Paul F?val, p?re, a 19th century France writer....
 introduced in 1863. Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty

File:Pd moriarty by Signey Paget.gifProfessor James Moriarty is a fictional character, the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle....
, the archenemy
Archenemy

An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy ....
 of Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, Deputy Lieutenant was a Scotland author most noted for his stories about the Detective fiction Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger....
's detective Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scotland-born author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle....
, was introduced in 1891. Dr. Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu

Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character first featured in a series of novels by English author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century....
, the antagonist of several popular novels of Sax Rohmer
Sax Rohmer

Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward , better known as Sax Rohmer, was a prolific England novelist. He is most remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr....
, is credited with popularizing many of the typical characteristics of the modern supervillain, including his sadistic personality, his desire for world domination, and his use of sinister lairs and themed crimes and henchmen. Rohmer's work had a strong influence on Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English literature author and journalist. Fleming is best remembered for creating the character of James Bond and chronicling his adventures in twelve novels and nine short stories....
, whose James Bond
James Bond

James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections....
 novels and their film adaptations further popularized the image of the supervillain in popular culture.

The first supervillain who wore a bizarre costume was the Lightning, from the 1938 film
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 The Fighting Devil Dogs
The Fighting Devil Dogs

The Fighting Devil Dogs is a 12-Chapter Republic Pictures Serial starring Lee Powell and Herman Brix. It was directed by William Witney and John English ....
, which preceded one of the first modern superheroes, Superman
Superman

Superman is a Character , a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio, and sold to DC Comics in 1938, the character first appeared in Action Comics Action Comics 1 and subseque...
.

The first supervillain to regularly battle a superhero was Ultra-Humanite
Ultra-Humanite

The Ultra-Humanite is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in stories published by DC Comics. The Ultra-Humanite first appeared in Action Comics #13 in 1939 and is one of the earliest comic-book supervillains....
, who first appeared in Action Comics
Action Comics

Action Comics is an USA comic book series which first appearance Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined....
 #13 (1939).

The Joker
Joker (comics)

The Joker is a Character , a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics and appearing as an enemy of Batman. Created by Jerry Robinson, Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in Batman #1 ....
 and Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor is a Character , a supervillain that appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character First appearance in Action Comics #23 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster....
 are considered two of the most popular supervillains in popular culture.

See also

  • Villain
    Villain

    A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a history narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters....
  • Archenemy
    Archenemy

    An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy ....
  • Rogues gallery
    Rogues gallery (disambiguation)

    Rogues gallery may refer to:*Rogues gallery, a police collection of pictures or photographs of crimes and suspects kept for identification purposes....
  • Evil Overlord List
    Evil Overlord List

    The Evil Overlord List, also known as If I Were An Evil Overlord, is one of several popular lists of planned actions for a competent Dark Lord to avoid the well-known blunders committed by Evil Overlords in popular fictional works, typically explained in a comical fashion....
  • List of comic book supervillains


External links