Possible Discussion: Queer Villains

[J.]

I recently came to the realisation that one of the characters in my novel fits the trope of the queer villain. It makes sense within the story and I really like the character, but some of my friends think it's a really bad idea.

It made me think of a question I am eager to find an answer to: are LGBT+ villains a good thing or are they damaging?

It's an interesting topic to discuss on here, and perhaps we could do a video about it at some point too. What do you reckon?

[Aurora]

I feel like it really depends on the story in question, and how it's portrayed. If the villain is the only queer character in the story, then obviously it's a problem. If there's a plethora of queer characters and this villain isn't portrayed as... I'm not totally sure how to word it, but if the villain isn't portrayed as really overly tropey and predatory, it could be alright.

It's very subjective, I feel like. It depends on what the story is about, how everything is set up, and how everyone is portrayed. I don't think it's an inherently bad thing, especially if it's written by a queer author, but in a lot of situations it could not work out.

[J.]

I think it's a very mixed thing, myself.

I certainly don't like to see characters who are bad because they are queer or where this is perceived as a weakness, but I'm also of the opinion that queer people are normal people, with just as much potential for evil as everyone else. While it's not explicitly about queerness, I recommend reading Terry Pratchett's Jingo. It talks about how you can be good or bad regardless of a minority or majority status.

So long as the character is complex I don't see much of an issue with it, but it should make sense within the story.

Take Loki in his recent series. His gender and sexuality are fluid - he's a trickster. Some could argue that this queerness is what makes him powerful so it's a good thing but, then again, why must queer characters be antiheroes? Can they not just be good, old-fashioned evil?

I feel a little guilty for having a queer villain in mine and fitting several of the tropes, but at least it makes sense. In my world, Gods are genderless, merely taking on whatever form they choose and going after whatever they want. There are millions of gods, and all of them are like this. He is one of them, but he's not so strong as some so he has to be tricky and rely on subordinates (though he did overpower them to get them on side) to do some of his dirty work.
Is this necessarily a bad thing?

[Aurora]

I don't think that's a bad thing! That sounds seriously interesting, actually - and I super agree with everything you said up there.

[J.]

Aurora wrote: "I don't think that's a bad thing! That sounds seriously interesting, actually - and I super agree with everything you said up there."

Thank you. I'm a bit down at the moment, so someone sounding interested in my book is what I need right now.