What role baddies?

For all the focus I've given to villains over the course of my history with this thing, you'd think I'm a major Villain fan.

Actually, I'm not. I'm all about the heros. I don't even much like Anti-heros. I find Wolverine, the Punisher and that ilk to be annoying and pointless.

That said, I do think that Villains in many ways define stories, and even define the heros that they are associated with. I've joked that the true role of Villains is to provide a jaw for the hero to punch, but it really does go deeper than that.

It's obvious, but they provide the tension for the story. After all, does anyone really want a comic book were Batman and Alfred spend all their time in the Batcave playing Canasta?

There are few villains who "define" their hero better than the Joker. The whole "order vs chaos" thing is pretty potent. However, he's a bit of an exception really. In many ways, the best villains for helping to define heros are the true "masterminds." They are characters where it is very believable that they have their "fingers" in the heros life at nearly every moment. Lex Luthor is an obvious example of this. In his role as "richer than Trump," he's able to be involved in nearly every Superman story, at one level or another. He's always there, weaving his web, shaping the world around Superman. Kingpin was able to do much the same for Daredevil.

Now, there are some great villains who are "crosses," in that they are both "masterminds" and direct threats to the heros. Magneto and Dr. Doom would be good examples of this.

Oh well, I'm tired, and rambling, so I'll shut up and leave y'all alone.