Why is the Villainess formula so successful?

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

Isekai offers an easy formula for writers to deliver exposition and narrative tension in their fantasy stories. Villainess, an even more niche section of isekai, which is already a niche section of fantasy, is currently popular. Furthermore, if anything, villainess has even less trash than isekai which is counterintuitive considering that there are less ways to spin a villainess story than an isekai which means that there should be more repititive tropes in villainess which isn't true. Anyone have any guesses?

 

[a_s_]

The villainess story essentially inverts the protag vs villain trope allowing the underdog (villainess in this case) a chance to win. This really appeals to a wide audience currently as we are becoming more critical in the way we see portrayals of characters (think how in Harry Potter, Slytherin went from being the 'bad' house to now being seen as a misrepresented house that was described with bias from a character in Gryffindor, meaning a lot of people actually root for them rather than just considering them the 'edgy', 'evil' house)

But it's also because the villainess formula isn't just following a bad person. Villainess stories often include isekai element, time travel etc. The authors use these techniques so that the readers will root for the characters (because not a lot of people will root for an evil character, usually).

In isekai, you may end up rooting for the protag because they never asked to be in the position of the villainess. With time travel, the characters have often experienced something awful and now want to change from being a villainess. There's also the otome theme where characters either: 1. try to not involve themselves in the game, or 2. if they do want to play the villainess role, their personalities are very... stupid/naive/innocent/childish where you still kind of root for them (or you get annoyed and stop reading).

At the end of the day, it's pure luck that the subgenre blew up as it did. There's no guarantee that these type of stories would have been popular 10 years ago, or will be popular in 10 years time. It's also difficult to have a definitive answer as most villainess stories are different in some sort of way from each other.

[also, sorry if the HP example did not make sense. It's the main one I could think of]

 

[pandascepter]

Yes.
Since it's more easier to tell you which one is the antagonist and the protagonist plus the story can be pretty much simple yet with much different route that you can pick up.

Isekai perspective is more harder to give the protagonist purpose, who is the enemy, what kind of world is it like, etc....
its much more wider and need more imagination shit to write something like that, given itself in an "isekai" not even in this god damn world, but the good side is, once you give the preview the world, it'll be so good. Like that shield guy, that spider isekai novel, and the other shit.

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

@a_s_
While I enjoy poking fun at the Villainess fanbase, I do acknowledge that there's definitely something the genre does right that results in it being so popular.

Since you seem to have a good idea of what actually makes Villainess manga appealing, which well-written Villainess mangos would you recommend to people?

 

[Richman]

It's probably the same reason people like playing as the villains in videogames (think Sonic Adventure 2, The Force Unleashed, Halo 2), The Villainess Turns the Hourglass is an example of a villainess that doesn't act for the common good as her main objective, while other stories like Doctor Elise are redemption stories, where the readers want to see an "evil" character turn to the light side. Sometimes there are also underdog stories where, through comedy or a tragedy, you root for the villainess.
IMO the villainess stories that are "I got isekaied and turned into the villainess" are weaker than the ones where the villainess goes through an actual character arc, because with the former, it's basically just background info that doesn't really matter afterwards (I think one exception is Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess).

@bigtiddyoneesan
MAY I INTRODUCE YOU TO YOUJO SENKI? HAVE I EVER MENTIONED YOUJO SENKI TO YOU? IF YES, THEN I'LL REPEAT IT SO THAT YOU DON'T FORGET. PLEASE READ YOUJO SENKI. HAVE YOU READ YOUJO SENKI YET?!
Actually serious recommendation is the one I mentioned before, The Villainess Turns the Hourglass, that is if you're looking for a revenge story, others are Beware of the Villainess and Cheating Men Must Die (this one's chinese, so it's not of the same quality).

---

more easier
more harder
more wider

:)

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

@Richman
Oh shit, it's that Youji Senko guy! Quick everyone, hide your family!

Well, I suppose I could give The Villainess Turns the Hourglass a try. The thing is, it's a bit difficult to separate the general responses to various Villainess manga when they're all rated so damn highly.

 

[krossite]

Besides those points above me, I'll also point to the female protagonist representation perspective as an up-until-recently untapped market in this general isekai boom. And by female protagonist, I mean girls that act like girls, not what (often male) authors thinks girls are like or want girls to act. And the stories also tend to be more social-focus than power-fantasy.

The "clearer life purpose" and clearer story directions in general can be seen in the story descriptions, where isekai stories are often "I got powerful (relatively or just blatantly) effortlessly, so I'll do whatever I want", while villainess stories are often "I don't want to die (literally or figuratively), so I'll use social skills to avoid that" and/or "I don't like the direction this story is going, so I'll go away and live on my own". The isekai ones are much more flexible wish-fulfillment, but require setting up the world and characters the readers would care to see more of and empatize with, which can be difficult when the protagonist can do "whatever they want" and can easily be made too powerful in too vague ways that the readers don't even know when they're in trouble or not, while villainess ones are mostly grounded in normal world and the troubles are mostly social, so the readers can quickly recognize what the protagonist can and can't do, and thus easier to emphatize with the characters.

 

[Grimmycoffee]

Honestly, my guess is that it's simply because this genre only started/become popular again recently. It won't take long before they start slipping and become like the others

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

I forgot I made this thread lol. Thx for the replies, they're very insightful.

 

[a_s_]

@bigtiddyoneesan honestly despite knowing objectively what makes a good villainess story, I'd have to say my taste is said stories are pretty... shit.

To name a few I'm currently enjoying now:
- Beware of the Villainess: mainly reading it for the protagonist who is a portrayal of women/girls who are not as often represented (not insanely attractive, may have a harsher personality, or make weird facial expressions very often). Basically, can relate to the protag which makes me root for her. Also, a subversion of the 'true love' trope showing that sometimes men ain't shit
- The Evil Lady's Hero: more than anything, it's the emotional maturity of the protagonist. There are instances where she tries to explain concepts like how being selfish and wanting one's own happiness is not an entirely bad thing to the male lead, and how she interacts with the female lead and tries to maintain a respectable distance. These showed emotional maturity to me which made me root for her, rather than her being insanely naive and disregarding others' feelings.
- A Stepmother's Marchen: while it's not tagged as a villainess story, it follows the story of a woman who became a parent to 4 children at the age of 16. She was sent back in time to when she was 16 and decides to change her actions so that in the future she will be able to have a healthy relationship with her children. It is very family-focused and seeing her improved relationship with her kids made me really happy.
- The Villainess Lives Twice: very often you see villainesses in stories not truly be evil. In this instance, the protagonist had committed a lot of crimes (which you only really see in a flashback). When she travels back in time, she resolves to change the course of the future and creates many plans to achieve said future. It is her meticulous planning and scehming that shows the reader the protagonist is capable of truly evil things.

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

@a_s_
Nice, thanks for taking the time to recommend them. I plan to take a look at Beware of the Villainess, A Stepmother's Märchen, The Villainess Turns the Hourglass (Richman's suggestion), and Sonic Adventure 2 (also Richman's suggestion) when I get the chance. Who knows, maybe I'll even become a Villainess fanatic.

 

[ColorfulSoy]

@bigtiddyoneesan
you already did....

XD

 

[bigtiddyoneesan]

you already did....

This can't be!

 

[ColorfulSoy]

@bigtiddyoneesan
yes, once you step upon your foot on this thread, you already did become one of us.

ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US
ONE OF US

 

[MawMaw]

because waifu? lol

 

[aloysiusks]

Girl villain hot.

 

[blackyawgdom]

The true reason is more sinister. They're trying to usurp Disney as the world's premier shitty story creator. Using Disneys own stolen from public domain plots

 

[BroederTrapist]

Disney's Frozen is basically a villainess story.

 

[ColorfulSoy]

@BroederTrapist
lol, no.

Elsa is not villainess, she is just "let it go."

 

[Richman]

@bigtiddyoneesan
I have to warn you though, A Stepmother's Märchen is very good in like 90% of all the released chapters so far (I rated it like 9/10), but right now, things are... complicated. Personally, I would prefer for MC to stay alone.