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Originally Posted by Boromir88
Another thing that hasn't been talked about yet is the actual appearance of the bad guy.
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It definately helps to make them dark and twisted. Who's the bad guy? Probably that guy over there, with blood dripping out of his mouth. It takes almost no talent to portray evil if you're going to slack off and make a character visually bad. Why not just give them nicknames to dehumanize them more?
When Aragorn is introduced, he is an ominous stranger, sitting in the dark. Strider. One o' them Rangers. Dangerous folk. A star good guy, basically uncorruptable, great lineage, handsome when he showers, poetic, trustworthy... And he's introduced as being scary looking.
All that is gold doesn't glitter. The diamond in the rough.
Your good guys don't always look good.
But your bad guys tend to look bad. It's a decent standby.
Sauron is terrible to behold. Wow. A giant disembodied eye. Yeah, it does tend to freak people out... Undead murderers riding emaciated horses. Christopher Lee's Saruman had sketchy fingernails. Very pointy. Orcs are twisted hideously, tortured into fearsome beasts. The balrog is a creature of shadow and flame. The Mouth of Sauron... I don't even need to describe him. Most bad guys are dark (typical) and a lot of them are physical malformed. A good set of eyes will pick them out of a crowd.
Hecks yes for appearances. Everybody judges based on them.
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are all 'villains' where there is a lot of mystery surrounding them
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Fear of the unknown.
When Tolkien didn't create the actual nightmare, he created the monster under the bed. It fits in with bad guy imagery: make a villain who is not like me or you.
It's easy to hate people who stand out in a crowd. Even if they stand out by standing there invisible but for a crown.