What Is A Hero Without A Villain?

I love superheroes. I love the fights and the banter and everything else that makes the genre what it is.

But I like it best when the heroes are people.

Yeah, I want to see Hulk smash. I want to see Iron Man blast the baddie. I want to see Thor and Loki battle over good and evil.

But I also want to see Bruce Banner taking his one day a month to quietly fish and relax. I want to see Tony Stark playing with the robots he made in college and couldn't bring himself to get rid of, no matter how often they malfunction. I want to see the godly brothers arguing over what to do for Frigga's birthday.

I want heroes who are people. Heroes who exist outside the battle, the fight, the mission. Even when they exist inside or because of it.

Who is Kara Danvers without her villains? A sister, a friend, a kickass reporter, an alien rights advocate.

Who is Bruce Wayne without his villains? A father, a genius, a philanthropist, the heir to the barely-not-official throne of Gotham.

Who is Peter Parker without his villains? A nephew, a friend, a journalist, a genius, a kid who loves swinging through the city and walking upside down on the ceiling.

Who is Joker without a hero? A nobody. We've seen time and time again that he would revert to a regular, mundane civilian if he lost Batman.

I want more heroes and villains who aren't just heroes and villains. I want heroes like Kara, Bruce, Peter — ones who still have some sort of life and goals and ways to help beyond being a hero.

I want heroes who would still be themselves if all the villains disappeared tomorrow.

And you know what? Bruce probably wouldn't be entirely himself, quite honestly.

But Kara would. And Peter would.

Let's have more heroes who aren't USELESS without someone to foil and fight.

And let's have more villains who ARE.

Not every hero needs to have a real life, of course. Obsessive characters who would wilt without their current purpose are interesting, hero or villain. And villains don't all need to be obsessed with the hero to the point of only existing for them — that would be boring too.

Villains are more interesting than heroes, in a lot of ways. They aren't usually in it out of necessity. They most often aren't defending a loved one or a city or some such. They have a goal in life, a purpose, and they work hard towards it. Defeat isn't the end of the world, they just bounce back and try again.

I for one would rather root for a character whose struggles and efforts are chosen, who work towards something they desire even when it's difficult, than one who feels trapped because if they don't do this then people die.

In conclusion: Let heroes be interesting. Let them have goals they choose, failures that don't mean death or suffering, and things they do just because they love doing such. Don't let the villains have all the fun.

Who do you think your favorite hero is without their villains? What about your favorite villain without the hero?