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You can only pick one: Charismatic villain
by DB Staff
You can only pick one, and boy the pressure is on. The DB team will answer a new prompt in each post, and you’re invited to do the same in the comments. Ready to play?
You can only pick one charismatic villain
mistyisles: For me, there can be no other choice: Lee Jin-pyo from City Hunter is and probably always will be my gold standard for a charismatic villain. A huge part of that is due to Kim Sang-joong’s performance and gravitas, coupled with the character’s twisted — but not affectionless — relationship with the adopted son he fashioned into a human weapon for his own revenge. There’s just something so compelling about the dynamic of a hero and villain who are constantly at each other’s throats, but can’t resist rushing to each other’s rescue when needed. At times menacing and cruel, at times almost sympathetic, Jin-pyo hooked me on the show itself within the first few minutes and has stuck with me ever since.
solstices: I’m certainly spoilt for choice by Shin Sung-rok’s villains, but I’d have to choose my favorite among the lot — Liar Game’s Kang Do-young. Shrouded in an inscrutable veil of mystery and masked behind a showman’s megawatt smile, Do-young’s silver-tongued charm, sly manipulation, and penchant for dramatic flair had me rooting both for and against him. Rooted in firm ideological convictions, Do-young constantly put his contestants’ humanity to the test, all while giving them the freedom of choice (or at least the illusion of it). It was so satisfying to watch our heroes put their heads and hearts together to beat Do-young at his own game, yet I almost didn’t want him to be defeated just so he could stay on screen a little longer. Six seasons and a movie for more Kang Do-young, please.
Unit: I’m not a fan of villains. But if I have to like them at all, it has to be for purely superficial reasons. This is why my charismatic villain of choice is Strong Girl Nam-soon’s Ryu Shi-oh. This is totally recenct bias, but who cares? It’s Byun Woo-seok in his villain era, and I’m downing it like the water that keeps me alive. *Wink, wink* Let’s be honest, Shi-oh is a terrible person. He has a number of atrocities on his rap sheet. But you know what else he has? Charisma aplenty, good looks, and fitted suits! Plus who doesn’t like a villain with puppy eyes and a sad backstory? Shi-oh has gone through a lot, and in Nam-soon’s words, he is “a light that’s not sure if it’s real or fake but could be real if it tries hard enough.” I love how he takes Nam-soon’s words to heart, and becomes boyish around her. But I do not ship them. I’m firmly on the Nam-soon × Hee-shik ship, and it works out just fine because I ship Shi-oh with myself. I can fix him, I promise.
Dramaddictally: Why are all the villains in the dramas I watch just the leads’ parents? Lol. Apart from that, there are a few antagonists I love, the favorite being Junho’s prosecutor gone bad in Chief Kim. Villain might be a strong word but he’s certainly villainous — and made me root for him way more than one should for a bad guy. He’s not one of those villains that I loved to hate, it’s more like, I couldn’t even hate him. Along with doing some heinous things, he’s also funny, charming, and loves to eat (hmm, when I put it that way, I feel like the pros and cons are evening out here). By the end of the drama, I seriously wanted another few episodes to give his possible love line a chance and see how his character had changed. Not all villains deserve to be redeemed, but I’m much more interested in the ones that are complex enough that they can be (which is why a very close second on my list was Kang Chae-ri from Love is for Suckers).
alathe: But, Alathe, I hear you ask. We’re picking charismatic villains, and you’re NOT choosing a Kim Min-jung character? To this, I can only respond that that would be cheating. Having waxed lyrical aplenty about charismatic female villains, I feel it’s only fair to give the men a turn in the spotlight. As such, I’m awarding this particular title to Jang Hyuk’s glorious, sardonic, fan-wielding Yi Bang-won in My Country: The New Age! Folks, I am a sucker for a guy who makes ruthlessness look this good. That man oozed in-your-face charisma from every pore, and still tempered it with emotional issues so dire it’d take days to untangle them. To be honest, he stole the whole show. I will never get over the last time we see him on that throne, telling himself he did well — because no one else would say it for him. Did he deserve it? Yeah, probably. But you know what he also deserved? A hug.
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