If you follow my blog or twitter, or regularly listen to one of my podcasts, it should come as no surprise that I like villains. It’s just one of those things – some people side with the good guys and others side with the bad. I find them to be more interesting characters across the board.

Many times I have been accused of siding with villains just for the sake of being anti-good. Other times, it’s because I enjoy violence. And then there are accusations of wanting to stick it to the establishment, so of course I’d side with those who break laws and try to take things down. But while each of those things may apply in little ways, that’s not really it.

My preference lies with the bad guys because of intelligence. Any really good villain needs to be smart – and not all of them are. They need to be able to not only come up with a plan, but come up with an effective one, a plan that’s difficult or impossible to beat. They need to have cunning and be able to maneuver around obstacles thrown in their way. They need to have no distractions or be able to ignore them.

Take, for example, Negan from The Walking Dead. He is a fantastic villain. Sure, his threats of violence keep people in line, but not everyone. When he captures the “heroes”, he knows that he needs to break Rick to not only make him comply but to get everyone else in line with him. Sure, seeing Lucille get bloodied up with a couple of killings was great, but watching how Negan tears Rick down piece by piece is fantastic.

Now I know that, eventually, villains will get their due – it’s fiction after all and for some reason it’s become standard that the good guys win (though there are a few instances where that doesn’t happen). If you pay close attention, there are always ways the villain could have avoided getting caught (and often it’s lazy writing that gets him there). But I enjoy the characters for what they’re worth and for the time they’re around. Plus they can be a great learning experience.