Is there ever such thing as a good one dimensional villain?

[Addleburg]

Luther from The Warriors remains one of my favorite villains because he's unabashedly one dimensional. When he's finally asked why he shot Cyrus and set up The Warriors, he says something to the effect of, "I dunno. I just felt like it!"

I'll take a super one dimensional villain that the film knows is one dimensional over a one dimensional villain that the film is convinced is deeper and more interesting tan they really are, giving them way more screen time and portentous dialogue than is warranted.

 

[RedVejigante]

Carnage is the worst level of shit.

 

[I am a Bird]

Snidely whiplash is 1 dimensional in every sense of the word and is still very entertaining.

 

[RedVejigante]

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tomhardyasmadmaxnoddingandsayingthat'sbait.gif

 

[TheChuggernaut]

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Doctor Doom is not one dimensional lol

 

[Richiek]

Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sideous

Also, here's a great video analyzing Frieza:

 

[Astral]

As long as you're entertaining, you can be as one dimensional a villain as you wanna be.

 

[falcondoc]

Luca Blight

 

[RedMercury]

Zombies?

 

[Firmament1]

Ozai.

 

[Mona]

 

[Zolbrod]

People seem to love Kefka, so yeah.

 

[TheCthultist]

I know it's been said a bunch, but it's pretty much the whole reason I love DIO so much. Dude just loves being evil for no reason other than that he can be...

 

[Mr. President]

Lavos was just a space tick and it was great.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

How is Sheev one dimensional. He's like the best character in the prequels.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Yes. Sometimes evil can just be evil.

 

[Stinkles]

Kurgan. (Highlander)

Description : super evil for no reason. Throws kids to ravenous dogs for sport. Kills everyone. Tortures victims. Is mean to nuns. Is a rapist.

Yet Clancy Brown took it and ran with it and made him a classic.

 

[R0b1n]

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Wut

 

[Akira86]

Sauron

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this guy??

 

[Sheev]

*Insert username/avatar quote here.*

 

[Deleted member 21339]

 

[SupremeWu]

Anton Chigurgh didn't have dimensions did he?

He's aaaaa.. psychopathic killar but so what, plenty of them around

 

[bionic77]

Spoiler

and

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Big Worm is not the villain of the movie!

And regarding DeeBo did we ever learn anything more about his character in the sequels?

 

[DrForester]

There was nothing deep or complex about Hela. Just Cate Blanchett hamming it up.

And it was wonderful.

 

[Winston1]

Michael Myers works great when he's a guy who decides to murder just because he's evil. All attempts to actually give him motivation and character have failed badly.

 

[Bumrush]

Xenomorphs, if that counts. And they're more terrifying for it.

 

[Reym]

A lot of good specific answers in this thread. I'll answer the question far more generally:

Of course!
Sometimes it's fun to just have a bad guy you can just root against no questions asked. (Spandam from One Piece is sorta my go-to for this type. It was genuinely enjoyable to watch him get beat up.)
One-Dimensional villains can also be a lot of fun if they're charismatic, or hammy, or just have a compelling design, or just represent enough of a threat for the heroes. They don't always have to be deep to properly serve the story.

Multi-dimensional villains are really great too, of course. The best is having a nice variety of types.

 

[Deleted member 25606]

Kurgan. (Highlander)

Description : super evil for no reason. Throws kids to ravenous dogs for sport. Kills everyone. Tortures victims. Is mean to nuns. Is a rapist.

Yet Clancy Brown took it and ran with it and made him a classic.

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"I'm Incognito"

Love that movie and the Kurgan is a major reason why.

 

[Watchtower]

There was nothing deep or complex about Hela. Just Cate Blanchett hamming it up.

And it was wonderful.

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The MCU's Ronan the Accuser is also incredibly simplistic as well.

He works because Pace chews the scenery in every scene he's in and as a result comes off as non-stop intense. And flat characters like Ronan and Hela are better serviced by how the world around them responds to them and how they particularly serve as instigators for the protagonists' own arcs.

 

[blame space]

agent Smith

 

[Strangelove_77]

 

[Actinium]

Seeing a lot of multi faceted characters being posted. 'One note' is different from 'one dimensional'. A character can pursue a selfish goal singularly and still have compelling motivations and character traits. One dimensional characters are ones that are entirely summed up by what they are like 'who is he? a murderer. what's he do? he murders. why does he do it? because he's a murderer.'

 

[Deleted member 33120]

How is Sheev one dimensional. He's like the best character in the prequels.

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How is he not? It's not like he has complex motivations or moments of doubt: he's evil purely for the sake of evil.

 

[SamAlbro]

 

[nitewulf]

Yeah, if they are hamming it up like Captain Cold.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

Biff Tannen from Back to the Future.

 

[jack_package_200]

Frieza and DIO say hi

 

[fontguy]

Sometimes I like a villain who's just a plain ol' dick. No pathos, no ethos. Just dick. I love a good dick.

 

[SeasickCrocadile]

Does Trump count?

 

[Kcannon]

Yes, as long as they're sufficiently entertaining and/or intimidating.

Entertaining: Skeletor, The Joker, most Disney villains...

Intimidating: The Terminator, The Thing, most DBZ villains, any slasher movie killer...

Both: Dio, Palpatine.

 

[The Kidd]

Sheev Palpatine.

He's evil, and he loves it, you gotta respect that!

 

[CloudWolf]

How did nobody mention Hans Gruber yet? One of the most iconic action movie villains of all time and he's just a random terrorist who likes to steal shit.

 

[Primal Sage]

The T-1000 in Terminator 2 is 100% one-dimensional and a perfect villain.

 

[Laser Man]

Freeza, perfect for Goku, the one dimensional hero. Unless you think they are not one dimensional and want even flatter characters?

 

[PSqueak]

The best villians don't have to be complex, they have to be fit for their story.

That's why Dragon Ball villians work well, they're written adequatedly for what you should expect from dragonball.

 

[lazygecko]

 

[The Archon]

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[SteamyPunk]

How is he not? It's not like he has complex motivations or moments of doubt: he's evil purely for the sake of evil.

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But he had secret identities and acts differently depending on who he's dealing with. He literally had multiple dimensions. That doesn't mean he's necessary well-written, mind you.

 

[Cuburger]

I'm glad this thread exists. I get annoyed that so often people think that a one-dimensional villain means that the villain is bad or that all villains need a sympathetic backstory/motivation. It's understandable that people want more nuanced and relatable villains rather than the same one-dimensional villains all the time, since complexity can make them more interesting, but it just ignores all the great "one-dimensional villains" that exist in media.

Surprised no one mentioned OT era Darth Vader, who I think of as way more of the main villain of the trilogy than Sheev, or at least his presence was more vital and Sheev wasn't as developed as a threatening villain until the prequels when we learn how he came to power.

 

[J2C]

Ahhh. Jaws?