The "Bad" Characters

[padfoot]

Not all of them have a completely bad side, as we know. JKR thought out their personalities quite well, there are of course the ones who like Bella, don't really have any good in them as far as we know, but the ones that do. Did you like their parts in the series, do you like them as a character? Take Draco and Snape for instance, they were pressured into doing bad things (well not really Snape, but he hated the fact that he had to kill Dumbledore and act as a death eater). I've seen some people who have hated Draco because of what he did in HBP but really, he couldn't kill Dumbledore, and he's always had some innocent in him behind the bullying, but Lucius doesn't help. Snape... a lot of people disliked him throughout the series too, until Deathly Hallows and it made them think the opposite of him, and love him

 

What do you think? And Voldemort? Do you think he has good in him, just one tiny bit, after all he's done?

[Arie]

I actually love Draco and Bella's character. I find them so intriguing. Especially Bella. I want to know her story.. we really don't know much about her. One of the only parts I liked about the epilogue is that Draco appears, but JKR really leaves it up to the reader to decide weather he is good or bad in the end. There has always been a back and forth debate over Draco. Is he evil because of pressure, does he really want to be a death eater? ect. But, I love both of their characters. They add a lot of depth to the story.

[lavieenrose]

I kind of like Draco... at first though he was just a pompous stuck up little boy who thought he was the God's gift to mankind... definitely a mini Lucius. But I definitely think it was pressure that made him become a deatheater, I think his father forced him, and when Voldemort told him to kill Dumbledore he didn't want to, at all. I think there is definitely good in him. He also tried to protect the trio when they came to the house, trying to pretend he didn't know them. That's how I perceived it anyway.

 

He's the only "bad" character I like, except maybe his mum. I absolutely hate Bellatrix but I would also like to see her story, how did she and her sister turn out so different? Why is she borderline insane and her sister borderline "good", I mean Narcissa did fool the Dark Lord by telling him that Harry was dead, when he wasn't. I would definitely like to know more about the story of the sisters and how they turned out so different.

[Danielle]

I like Draco too, early on he just comes across as a stuck up bully but that's just an act put on in front of his mates. As he gets older and becomes more involved with the Death Eaters he comes to realise what he is getting himself into and doesn't want any part of it. It was only ever down to pressure from his family and while I don't think he will be hosting tea parties for muggle borns anytime soon, deep down I do think he is a good person.

 

Snape's character is simply brilliant, one of the best in the book, he is probably the best double agent in history.

 

As for Voldemort I don't think there was any good left in him whatsoever, I think that he and Bellatrix, from what we know of them are the only truly evil characters.

[Luciana]

I like Draco too, early on he just comes across as a stuck up bully but that's just an act put on in front of his mates. As he gets older and becomes more involved with the Death Eaters he comes to realise what he is getting himself into and doesn't want any part of it. It was only ever down to pressure from his family and while I don't think he will be hosting tea parties for muggle borns anytime soon, deep down I do think he is a good person.

 

Snape's character is simply brilliant, one of the best in the book, he is probably the best double agent in history.

 

As for Voldemort I don't think there was any good left in him whatsoever, I think that he and Bellatrix, from what we know of them are the only truly evil characters.

 

I'm completely agree! Draco is not that bad, I feel sorry for him. Snape could have had his mistakes, but he is a good person. But on the other hand, Voldermot and Bellatrix are evil, they are despicable!!

[Leey]

You know something I only noticed when I watched DHP1? (Yes, I admit, that was pretty slow ...) ... Even the bad guys don't curse ... And no, not "they don't curse in the movies so the HP movies can get a PG-13 rating" but also in the novels, they never curse lol. "Blimey" or "Merlin's beard" isn't cursing lol.

[HermioneP.]

I firmly believe there is some good potential in every human. But there are people who have lost it at some point in their lives, some earlier, some later. I think this is what happened to Voldemort and Bellatrix. Both of them show signs of derangement, and I wonder what happened to them, because there must have been some influence from the outside. They can't have been born this way. I think in HBP we get a slim insight in what happened to Tom Riddle. He experienced a lot of bad stuff during his childhood and I think this is what turned him bad in the end. In the OOTP film version Harry tells Voldemort that he pities him, because he doesn't know love or frindship. I think there is a lot of truth in these words. No matter how much bad stuff someone brings into this world, I think there was always the chance of a completely different life for them at some point.

[mixed.witch]

Snape really isn't that bad of a person. Quite frankly, sometimes i feel sorry for him. He was picked on in school and had to live with the fact that someone he disliked so much actually saved his life. Inside he has a good heart, like in POA when he was trying to save the students from Remus when he transformed into a werewolf. Snape is just a misunderstood person and is judged more for his bad behavior than his good.

[Dumbledores Woman]

I love Snape, I absolutely love his character. I'm not sure I'd call him 'good', exactly, but he certainly has redeeming qualities, in particular the ability to love which is what Dumbledore always said differentiated Harry from Voldemort.

 

I like Draco more as the series continues, because we get to understand him better as he matures from spoilt child influenced by his parents' prejudices to a young man pressured by his family and surrounding forces to commit to a world he does not necessarily think is right. I think a lot of people could relate to Draco in this way. I certainly do not class him as a 'baddie'. He's not nice to Harry, perhaps, but then Harry isn't exactly nice to him either.

 

I would love to know more about Bellatrix, particularly her marriage to Rodolphus, who we see very little of in the books and I don't believe is even mentioned in the movies. As much as I love to hate her superb*tch character, it would be nice to know the background of why she is that way. Even Voldemort's background gives some explanation for his behaviour, which is worst of al, so there must be a reason for Bellatrix's cruelty as well.

 

Actually, some of the 'bad' characters are just as much my favourites as some of the 'good'. I may not wish to meet some of them in person, but I can understand and enjoy the complex and different personalities of each character, which is credit to JK. She writes real people, not cartoon villains, and considering the whole story is based on a genre frequented by animation and action-film industries of good versus evil, it is remarkable that her characters are not just traditional, one-dimensional villains but real, relatable people. Through the use of this genre, JK has (knowingly or not)brought concepts of psychology and humanity into popular awareness, particularly alongside young readers, and that (IMO)is a significant achievement.

[Carlyn]

I was indifferent to the bad guys in the HP series. I neither liked or hated them and concentrated most of my attention to the good guys. I was a little interested in the villains history which I found interesting but I didn't care too much.

Edited December 29, 2010 by Marcus Brody