Activity

@rose-colored-fancy

Great question! These are a few thoughts I had on it:

Since villains are supposed to be evil, we often give them features associated with evil. Dark clothing tells readers that this person chose to appear negatively, that they chose to hide from the light and embrace the shadows. Physical features can also reflect villiany. Scars indicate a troubled past and eyes are some of the most memorable and expressive features in people. When  you give a villain exceptionally dark eyes, it is showing that the essence of their personality is corrupted.

Since heroes are supposed to be the ones we root for, we want them to be a person we admire in nearly every way, including their appearance.  People want perfection, so their role models/heroes also have to be “perfect”.

But like @taylorclogston said, that doesn’t make it right to always have a gorgeous proantagonist. We also have to remember that our good characters’ beauty should be on the inside, regardless of whether they are physically attractive or not.