Christmas Villains We Love to Hate

We love to hate villains. Much of a hero's worth is measured against the villain's malice. A capable villain makes the hero look even more... heroic. The "good vs. evil" theme is a staple of traditional storytelling, and it becomes particularly relevant at Christmas time. Christmas-hating villains are a special breed of bad guys. All over the world, readers and moviegoers that cherish the Christmas season, cringe at the likes of The Grinch and Stormella, and take pleasure in their downfall. After all, 'tis the season to be jolly and chastise un-Christmas-like behavior.

Here is a sampler of Christmas villains we love to hate (at least) once a year:

We just can't get enough of Ebenezer Scrooge, the miserly, cold-hearted hero of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Scrooge has become a Christmas standard, and his story has inspired endless adaptations. Scrooge is a special Christmas villain because his character has a wide arc: In the end, he sees the error of his ways and embraces the celebration of Christmas with kindness and gusto. A roller-coaster ride from "Bah, humbug!" to "God Bless Us, Every One!"

The timeless plot of "A Christmas Carol" was adapted and parodied in the 1998 film "101 Dalmatians: Christmas", where Cruella De Vil is visited by cuddly canine versions of Christmases past, present, and future. It's OK if you like that sort of thing, but if you want to see Cruella at her black-hearted best, watch "101 Dalmatians" and "102 Dalmatians" with the inimitable Glenn Close.

Some Christmas villains threaten symbols and traditions of the holiday season: Stormella, the Evil Ice Queen, is out to get Santa Claus (she even contemplates setting him on fire!), until "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (1998) saves the day and the holiday. In a similar way, the grouchy Grinch keeps coming up with ways to sabotage Christmas, wreaking havoc wherever he happens to be visiting for the holidays. Like Scrooge, he displays an endearing character arc when he embraces the true meaning of Christmas.

Stormella may be nasty and the Grinch may be grumpy, but the Gremlins are downright vulgar, vicious, and violent. "Gremlins" (1984) is a black comedy (rumor has it, the original screenplay was even blacker), but the evil little monsters are fun to watch as they overrun a little town at Christmas. We have fun watching their mischief-- almost as much as watching them burn to death. Naughty, guilty seasonal fun!

OK, OK, it is not really a Christmas story, although it does take place on Christmas Eve, but the holiday references are too many to ignore. After all, all John McClane wants for Christmas is to re-unite with his wife and kids. What could be more Christmasy than that? And although Hans Gruber (played with relish by Alan Rickman) does his villainous best to thwart McClane's plans, Christmas festivities Die Hard.

Sources:

http://www.readersread.com/booklinks/
http://swan.sls.lib.il.us/
www.imdb.com