The Villain's Journey
Descent and Return in Science Fiction and Fantasy
(0 vote)Average rating:
| 0 | rating |  = We can do without |
| 0 | rating |  = Good book |
| 0 | rating |  = Excellent book |
| 0 | rating |  = Unique / a reference |
Your rating: -
Book Presentation:
The villain’s journey is rare in popular culture—most characters are fully-formed tyrants with little to no story arc. However, a few particularly epic series take the time to develop complex villains, including Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Babylon 5, Game of Thrones, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Increasingly, villains’ origin stories have found new popularity through films like Wicked, Maleficent, and Despicable Me, alongside shows starring serial killers and Machiavellian schemers. This book examines the villain’s decline and subsequent struggle toward redemption, asking why these characters are willing to cross moral lines that “good” characters are not. The first half follows characters like Loki, Jessica Jones and Killmonger through the villain’s journey: an inverse or twisted version of scholar Joseph Cambell’s hero’s journey. The remainder of this book examines the many different villainous archetypes such as the trickster, the outcast, the tyrant, or the misunderstood hero in greater detail. Written for writers, creators, fans, and mythologists, this book offers a peek into the minds of some of fiction’s greatest villains. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here
About the Author:
Valerie Estelle Frankel teaches English at Mission College and San Jose City College. The author of 90 popular culture books and more than 100 stories and essays, she lives in Sunnyvale, California.
> From the same author:
The Trans and Non-Binary Hero's Journey (2024)
Quests for Empowerment in Science Fiction and Fantasy
by Valerie Estelle Frankel and Dean Leetal
Subject: Genre > Science Fiction
Adapting Bridgerton (2024)
Essays on the Netflix Show in Context
Subject: One Film > Bridgerton (TV Series)
Star Wars and the Hero's Journey (2021)
Mythic Character Arcs Through the 12-Film Epic
Wonder Women and Bad Girls (2020)
Superheroine and Supervillainess Archetypes in Popular Media
Subject: Sociology
Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism (2020)
Weighing All the Galaxy's Women Great and Small
Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction and Fantasy (2019)
Volume 1. Essays on Film Representations, 2012–2019
Subject: Genre
Superheroines and the Epic Journey (2017)
Mythic Themes in Comics, Film and Television
Subject: Sociology
> On a related topic:
Lair (2025)
Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains
by Chad Oppenheim and Andrea Gollin
Subject: On Films > Characters
Giving the Devil His Due (2021)
Satan and Cinema
Dir. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock and Regina M. Hansen
Subject: On Films > Characters
Vader, Voldemort and Other Villains (2011)
Essays on Evil in Popular Media
Dir. Jamey Heit
Subject: On Films > Characters
Monsters In and Among Us (2007)
Toward a Gothic Criminology
Dir. Caroline Joan Picart and Cecil E. Greek
Subject: On Films > Characters
Psycho Paths (2000)
Tracking the Serial Killer Through Contemporary American Film and Fiction
Subject: On Films > Characters
Anatomy of a Robot (2014)
Literature, Cinema, and the Cultural Work of Artificial People
Subject: On Films > Characters
Revenge of the Movie Monster Models (2024)
A New Gallery of Figures and Dioramas
Subject: On Films > Characters
Back
