Stupid Protagonists and their Arch Nemisis

Note: This one is more of a rant than a story and I apologize if that offends anyone. My opinions are rather strong and there are times when what I say now may not be what I want later. Oh well, enough with the disclaimer, on with the show.

I hate stupid.

I hate stupid villains. I really do. I am sick of reading books or watching movies where the villain isn’t really a villain but more of an annoying hindrance. What is the point of the villain if they aren’t going to do something evil? I also hate it when the only reason the villain has for his evil plot is “I hate the world.” That isn’t a reason that is grasping at straws because the writer couldn’t come up with anything better to write. I want a truly smart evil villain that nearly wins because that makes the protagonist that much cooler. Who wants to defeat an idiot who doesn’t even have a good excuse for what he is doing? Who would rather defeat an evil villain who actually thinks he is trying to help save the world and that sacrifices are absolutely necessary?

My husband and I rented a movie last week. Truthfully we were hoping for a comedic light hearted movie but didn’t get it, we rented “Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li.” It was a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be but I enjoyed it once I stopped looking for any humor. I have to say that the villain Bison, was very villainous and evil. I was really impressed with his character overall and was glad that he wasn’t stupid at all. He was actually quite freaky. He knew when it was a liability to have someone around and he didn’t care what it took to reach his goal, which wasn’t destroying the world but trying to make a section of it a better place in his mind. He wasn’t perfect but it was cool.

I hate stupid protagonists. I understand that there are times when a sequel is going to come out so leaving the villain alive is important but I hate it. If the bad guy has killed hundreds of people and is determined to get revenge, why leave him alive? Don’t put him in some “indestructible” cage where he will never be able to escape. Just kill him and come up with another villain for the next installment. The protagonist thinks that he is better than the villain because he respects life. There are times it is absolutely necessary that people die because they are EVIL.

I hate stupid love stories. I like romance where there is a happy ending but I don’t like it when there is an evil character who magically turns to the good side because of love. I like it to be believable, yes even in fantasy/sci-fi. Romance is great as long as it is moderately realistic.