A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. In soap operas, the villain, sometimes called a "bad guy", is an antagonist, tending to have a negative effect on other characters. A female villain is sometimes called a villainess or "bad girl". Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines villain as "a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot". [1] An early use of the term soap opera villain was in 1942. [2]
Tom Conroy from Media Life Magazine noted that "On soap operas, sometimes a perfectly nice regular character will suddenly turn into a villain. Viewers are rarely alerted to the change beforehand." [3] Shelley Fralic of the Winnipeg Free Press described the "first-class villain" of soap as: "Ruthless magnate. Serial groom. Charming rogue. Unrepentant schemer. Demanding paterfamilias. Defier of death. Tough, impatient, decisive, magnetic and infuriating. The blackest of blackguards." [4] A writer for Inside Soap magazine warned that "soap psychos" are often overly keen on their partners, keep them separated from their families, have strange things hidden in secret rooms, will attempt to kill their partner's ex-partner, and are fond of fire or high places and named a number of characters from EastEnders , Emmerdale and Coronation Street who have behaved in such ways. [5] Debra Hale, writing about the fate of villains for the Associated Press, said that "Sometimes, a villain becomes so evil he's beyond redemption and must be killed or imprisoned", but noted that "some villains are just too delectable to kill." [6] The following lists soap opera characters who have been described as villainous, evil, bad guys or baddies.
The villain on the program is now Susan Stewart [...]
Les Dennis is revealed as Brookside's new villain, Jeff Evans.
There hasn't been a villain on the show since Tina Mollet's abuse storyline with Jacob Masters came to an end last year
As the villain spins around, innocent Chesney walks through the door, and is slashed with the lethal weapon...
Fred was a bit of a villain to start with, he said
The evil con woman seems to be unravelling, while her partner-in-crime Jim secretly meets with Liz, telling her that he's never stopped loving her
This is our first proper look at Callum, who promises to be one of Corrie's most intriguing villains for years
Donna Parker may be one of the Street's lesser known villains-but Alf Roberts will never forget her
Evil Grace convinces Faye to run wild in Tracy's flat and bully poor Simon.
We know she's an acquired taste but we're already very keen on Corrie's Evil Evelyn
As Lillian, Lipman was an archetypal Corrie comedic villain.
Emma was held hostage, and that was like a little two-hander for me with Matthew Dunster who played her evil captor, Ryan Sykes
With the family now sitting targets for Ronan, Ryan makes the bold decision to get out of the car and face the villain alone, in a misguided attempt to save his mum and Ali from any further harm
will Adam get to his evil twin before the police?
Adam was the jealous soap villain who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted
Villainous Derek will join his family to start a new life.
The more evil Joey Branning gets, the more we swoon
Meanwhile, the raison d'etre of the show's current villain, Fi Browning, has been to restock the Queen Vic with craft beer
Sonia Fowler left Walford in emotional scenes during Thursday's episode of EastEnders after her father Terry Cant was finally exposed as a villain
Despite being a baddie during his time in Walford, Rocky provided Sonia with words of wisdom in a scene that demonstrated the unlikely father figure he became for her.
She's a very evil lady-if she was one of my relatives, I think I might do her in!
A new villain arrives on Albert Square.
The lovable rogue, who is quickly becoming Albert Square's resident villain, gave them a video call to confirm that baby Cherry was safe.
The villain sets out to wreck Ronnie's life...
However, it could be villainous Mel (Tamzin Outhwaite) who gets rid of the youngster once and for all...
Yep, Joseph was a soap villain only last year, as his vicious alter ego made Mick's prison life hell.
Even worse, evil Willy Roper-who had stolen the money-was making moves on Pauline
As if having bad boy Carl on the Square wasn't enough, now his brother Adam has popped up as well. And he's even more of a villain than Carl.
...pure, unbridled evil
'Liv is the thorn in Paul's side-he says it's only ever gone wrong since she came along!' says Reece Dinsdale who plays the Dales villain.
As the villain brazenly denies all, Cain issues him with a chilling promise: Cross me again, and you'll end up just like Joe!
Baddie Dennis Rigg came to a nasty end when he was crushed by the Sugdens' prize bull in 1989.
Or maybe it's smart thinking that brings this villainous vixen back to Emmerdale
With his confession to the murder of Harry Mowlem, Derek Warner proved to be one of the most evil characters to appear in Emmerdale Farm.
When you play a baddie it's so challenging and thought-provoking and it makes you feel bad inside
Next week's episodes see Ray's evil character Jonny Baxter come clean to Ste Hay (Kieron Richardson) about his involvement in a far-right extremist group.
Hollyoaks' Wendy Blissett is proving to be quite the villain
Further north on Hollyoaks, it's confirmed that Olivia Bradshaw – that classic breed of soap villain that's a perfect blend of petty and camp
He finally saw the truth, however, during his engagement party to Marie, after evil Arlo delivered a speech welcoming Tony into the family.
Hollyoaks viewers were finally granted the answer to a burning question as the true identity of the enigmatic 'J' was revealed, sparking an electrifying new plot involving village villain Rex Gallagher
Evil Macki continues his reign of terror over Ali Taylor and Justin Burton this week
Mandy Morgan (with new hair to show us we are very much in the future) weeps as she finds hidden stash of cash in daughter Ella Richardson's belongings. Expect the schoolgirl to go from goodie to baddie as she's drawn into the dark world of underage trafficking.
Evil Stuart will be leaving the cast of Hollyoaks at the end of Ste Hay's far-right extremism storyline.
Realising that he and Joel have a common enemy, Darren offers to take down the villain in tandem-but after sneaky Shane works out what they're up to, he abducts Cleo and uses her as a pawn in his plan for revenge...
The mysterious character appeared out of nowhere with one goal in mind - to find her birth mother and exact revenge as Sofia Nolan becomes Summer Bay's latest villain
Or might evil Mick-who attacked Billie in the gym several months ago and is the father of her baby-make a shock return and bump off his victim?
Ash may live to regret threatening evil Simmo!
Evil Zannis the drug dealer poisons the Morgans' water
While in Neighbours, doctor Karl Kennedy (Alan Fletcher) faces a fight for the affections of Izzy Hoyland (Natalie Bassingthwaite) from Ramsay Street villain Gus Cleary (Ben Barrack).
Last time Paul and Terese tried marriage counselling it ended in recriminations and accusations, and drove her into the arms of his evil brother
ends up with bad guy Mannix as her housemate.
All up, Davidson spent seven months and 59 episodes on Neighbours, playing the part of villain Cassius Grady.
Will brave Imogen be able to escape evil Forrest's clutches?
Michael sets out to warn Helen that Len is nothing but an evil conman who is simply after her money.
Neighbours' David Tanaka, Aaron Brennan and Nicolette Stone all receive a worrying threat next week as new villain Veronica McLain turns even nastier.
The murder of a guest villain and an ensuing whodunnit is a bit of an overdone twist, and we hope Neighbours won't spend too much time on the plot in its final stretch.
Villainous Montague breaks into Brennan's place
But the big moment is when one of the suburbs' more interesting villains – Steph Scully – rides back into town.(subscription required)
Evil Annie's got her eye on Ben...