The Monomyth of the Villain

Source: Z. Krupinski, used with permission.

Human history has been debased by the recurring tragic pattern of villainous leaders rising to power and committing massive atrocities. Vladimir Putin is the most recent example, but other notable villains include Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, and Leopold II of Belgium, among many others. Fictional villains include Darth Vader, Lord Voldemort, The Joker, and more.

None of these villains starts out “bad.” They are ordinary people at first and evolve into their villainous identity. Their development follows a common pattern, a common set of stages that transform them from an ordinary person into a villain.

Borrowing from Joseph Campbell’s iconic hero monomyth, I call this pattern the monomyth of the villain. This monomyth describes the common blueprint of development that is characteristic of villains in real life and in storytelling.

Similarity Between the Hero Monomyth and the Villain Monomyth

We tend to believe, and want to believe, that a huge chasm exists between heroes who represent the best of human nature and villains who represent the worst. But studies show that heroes and villains share many traits in common. They can both be intelligent, strong, brave, resilient, inspiring, and charismatic. As such, it can be difficult for the average person to distinguish a heroic leader from a villainous leader.

The blurry line between heroism and villainy is demonstrated in the phrase, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Plenty of good Russian people currently support Vladimir Putin, and plenty of decent Germans supported Hitler in the 1930s and 40s.

Why? Because villains can be effective in persuading followers that they are heroes.

Campbell’s monomyth of the hero refers to the observation that all hero stories can be distilled into one single hero story. All great heroes, in real life and in fiction, pass through a series of stages:

• The hero lives in an “ordinary world” that is safe and familiar.
• Something happens that hurls the hero into the “special world” that is dangerous and unfamiliar.
• In this second world, the hero takes on a mission or a quest of some sort — to survive, to acquire something, to achieve a goal, or simply to get back home.
• The hero is always wounded in some way, or missing an important inner quality that thwarts the growth needed to accomplish their goal.
• The hero’s missing quality can be healing, humility, confidence, courage, empathy, resilience, resourcefulness, or some truth about themselves or the world.
• The hero encounters villains, obstacles, and setbacks.
• The hero undergoes terrible suffering.
• The hero receives help and guidance from wise allies and mentors.
• During a crucial moment, the hero is tested to their limits, discovers the quality they are missing, and uses it to accomplish their mission.
• The hero is now “the master of both worlds” — the original familiar world and the new world.
• Transformed into their best self, the hero returns home and shares what they have learned with others.

Villains, it turns out, undergo several of these same stages. They, too, must leave the comforts of home to venture out into dangerous worlds, often testing them and helping them build confidence and courage. Here are some basic commonalities:

• Both heroes and villains believe they are on a mission to accomplish something of vital importance for themselves and for their larger communities.
• Both heroes and villains encounter adversity in life and experience great suffering.
• Both heroes and villains are missing an important inner quality that prevents them from accomplishing their goals.
• Both heroes and villains receive help from allies and mentors.
• Both heroes and villains attract followers, often due to their charisma.
• Both heroes and villains, at the end of their journey, leave a lasting imprint on society.

Differences Between the Hero Monomyth and the Villain Monomyth

Here are some of the striking differences between the hero and villain monomyths:

• Whereas heroes become aware that they are wounded or missing an important inner quality, villains seem unable or unwilling to recognize that they have any major personal deficiency.
• Whereas heroes are influenced by good, wise mentors, villains are swayed by dark, immoral mentors.
• Whereas heroes resist the hero label and are humbled by their journey, villains lack humility and view themselves as heroes on a noble mission.
• Whereas heroes discover their missing inner quality and undergo personal transformation, villains resist change and remain “stuck” at a low, immature stage of development.
• Whereas the hero’s deficiencies are corrected by humbling experiences, the villain’s mental and emotional deficiencies remain entrenched and may become magnified over time.
• Whereas the goals of heroic leaders involve unifying and uniting people, the goals of villainous leaders involve scapegoating and dividing people.
• Whereas heroes emerge victorious and enjoy long-term success with their goals, villains at best only achieve short-term success and are ultimately defeated.
• Whereas heroes become “the master of both worlds,” villains never master the second world. In fact, they probably never mastered the first world, either.
• Whereas heroes leave a large, enduring, and positive imprint on society, villains leave a small, dark, residual mark on the world.

Stages of the Villain Monomyth

Given the above observations, the stages of the villain monomyth look something like this:

• The pre-villain is an ordinary person living in an ordinary world that is safe and familiar.
• Something happens that hurls this ordinary person into the “special world” that is dangerous and unfamiliar.
• Often this new dangerous world is the world of abuse, with the ordinary person at the receiving end of emotional or physical abuse.
• Typically, the abuser is a parent, but sometimes another authority figure, peers, or harsh social conditions damage this ordinary person.
• The ordinary person suffers psychological harm that can assume the form of narcissism, psychopathy, depression, or schizoaffective disorders.
• This mental illness distorts the ordinary person’s views of themselves and the world, often producing an extreme self-narcissism and/or collective narcissism of their community or nation.
• The ordinary person remains unaware of their skewed perception of reality and is never able to acknowledge their damaged state nor their need for psychological and/or spiritual help.
• As a result of their untreated trauma, the villain undergoes terrible suffering, often in private, but is unable to learn or grow from it. Their deep fears and sadness transform into anger.
• The ordinary person receives help and guidance from troubled or sycophantic allies and dark mentors.
• The ordinary person takes on missions or quests to survive, to acquire power, and to elevate the power and status of their community or nation at the expense of other groups of people.
• The ordinary person attracts followers who share similar deficits and tribal goals of elevating the greatness of their community or nation.
• The ordinary person views themselves as a hero on a heroic mission. Their imaginary villains must be vanquished.
• In the service of their mission, the ordinary person performs one or more acts of violence that are irredeemable and that propel the person to the status of villain.
• The villain uses violence to accomplish many of their personal and social goals, reinforcing their confidence and belief in the virtuousness of their mission.
• Over time, the villain’s use of scapegoating tactics increases and their violence escalates.
• The villain encounters heroic individuals and groups who attempt to thwart the villain's aims, and the villain declares these heroes to be villains.
• In the end the villain is defeated, but their evil deeds leave residual scars for society to cope with for many generations.

Just as it is true that not all heroes pass through all stages of the hero monomyth, it is also true that not all villains pass through every stage of this villain monomyth. While villains should be held responsible and accountable for their actions, it is clear that their lifelong pain and inability to overcome their damaged psyches are the driving mechanisms for their violent actions. They are victims themselves, driven to create more victims. As a society it is incumbent on us to end childhood abuse and school bullying — the seeds of villainy. We must identify damaged people and find ways to treat them as early as possible, before they damage others.