In film, it is crucial to have a villain, they are placed within a plot to

drive the protagonist to their end goal, but a well written antagonist has a back
story, has a motive. For this theory to stand villains like Batmans Joker should
stay exempt as his backstory and motives remain unclear. The Harry Potter
Serries has one of these Not EvilJust Misunderstood characters; Draco
Malfoy. In Star Wars Darth Vader, or Anikin Skywalker is also Not Evil
Just Misunderstood. Even in the legendary musical Les Misrables Inspector
Javert is misunderstood. These so-called villains do what all good antagonist
are meant to do, they drive the protagonist to their goal, but they are
misunderstood.

A villain might be misunderstood because of their appearance (for

example, the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast"), as a result of family, by the
nature of their powers, or due to circumstances outside of their control
(TVTropes.org, n.d.) This explanation of a misunderstood villain fits with
most antagonist, as for Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter serries his family
and their political views determine how the viewers see his character. His
character is defined by the need to impress his family, I think its Dracos
family, because theyre the ones who really pressure poor Draco into hating
everyone and the world around him (ANDPOP, 2009) Tom Felton said this
in an interview about the sixth Harry Potter film. Draco has a task given to
him and in return Voldemort will re-establish his families honour. So, Dracos
motive is his family. As Draco says in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Dont you see that I have to do this He says this as he points his wand at
Professor Albus Dumbledore intending to kill him. It is common fact in the

Harry Potter universe that the Malfoy family are known followers of
Voldemort, this stereotype is vital in Dracos growth as a character. It is
expected of him to be like his parents and his is in a way locked in to a future
he cant risk changing because it could affect how The Dark Lord Voldemort
treats his parents. You see him struggle with his own identity. Emma Watson
says in a behind the scenes interview on the Harry Potter DVD. Dracos
identity as the emotionless bully is ruptured in a scene where he is crying in a
bathroom, as the story follows Harry Potter we see the two fight, but before
they do Draco is clearly having a crisis of faith, through the duration of the
film we see and speculate that Draco has done some horrible things to try and
end the Headmasters long life. Draco at the end of the Harry Potter Serries
tries to redeem himself and help Harry Potter fight the Dark Lord. In a scene
cut from the final film, Draco throws Harry a wand so he can fight Voldemort.
If left in the film it would have made Dracos redemption final and would have
established his place as a good person in the audiences eyes.

Star Wars: A New Hope (G. Lucas,1977) portrayed Darth Vader as the
villain. The audience was lead to believe that he was the ultimate evil.
Darth Vader to be the greatest villain ever. His sheer power. His cold
disposition (MLT Works, 2015) This opinion was held amongst many
watchers of the first Star Wars Movie, His character was scary, you had no idea
who was behind the mask, he had his own theme tune The Imperial March.
Up until 1999 when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace audiences were
introduced to Anakin Skywalker, a child full of innocence and wonder,
Audiences clearly confused from seeing the evil dark Darth Vader as a child

proved to many that the man behind the black mask was in fact used like a
puppet. Manipulated by the Jedi and by Emperor Palapatine, Anakin grew with
the thoughts that he was chosen to re-align the force and provide balance to the
universe. Forced into the Jedi order as a child with a prophecy leading him, he
was locked into a fate that he didnt decide for himself. Much like Draco
Malfoy who was locked into a fate he didnt decide Anakin had no choice but
to comply. Motivated by the death of his wife Padme Amadala, and led to
believe that his child had died with her, fuelled by rage and hate Anakin
becomes Darth Vader. As Darth Vader, he commits many horrible things, but
he is used by Darth Sidous for evil. Anakins tragic story ends with his death
but he is redeemed. Anakins character remains interesting because his
intentions are good but the way he goes about achieving such outcomes is
inherently bad. Anakin, still to this day is a leading villain, he still installs fear
within the audience, his hidden demeanour and will to follow Darth Sidous
orders is terrifying. We see Anakin as Darth Vader, being totally devoted to the
dark side, we see him kill and stroll around with an almost Hitler like
characteristic. But we later find that Vader was just doing this to gather the
knowledge necessary to return his one love back to him. Does this make the
man behind the mask a bad person? Good people sometimes make bad
decisions. They mess up, and they let others down. But that doesn't make them
bad people. We all make mistakes (