[behindthemask]

Who has the most impact to a story the hero or the villian? Do you want the bad guy to win? or good defeat evil? Is batman even memorable without the joker? or is he just a billionaire running around at night in a rubber suit like a rich crazy man? I belive their is no need for heroism when live is at peace and there is no chaos. But when you add, destruction,mayhem,rape,killing,theft to any society and it's only a matter of time before society itself crumbles. Unless the actions of 1 or more individuals take charge, this sometimes can be forced on people like superman due to his natual abilites, but it can also be like Bruce Wayne and feel the need to take the burden upon themselves. what are your feelings of who has the bigger role in our comic universe the hero or the villian?

[Crazy Jetty]

The villain *definately* has the most impact.
Its the villain who sets up the stories. And all heroes are simply mediocre, when they don't have a fantastic villain to play off of.
Where would Batman be without his rogues gallery? Or the Fantastic Four without Doom?
It's the villain that makes the story great.
Hush, The Sinestro Corps War, Identity Crisis, Dark Reign, Age of Apocalypse.

[behindthemask]

I like your thinking and share similiar thoughts, in some most cases it's the villian causing trouble and the hero to the rescue, but in some cases there could be a hero and the villian grows from the hatred of everybody liking the hero, the same way bloods and crips hate cops. loose reference lol.

[vampireheart]

I would have to disagree and say that both the hero and the villain are more important otherwise we wouldnt have really cool stories about what is "right" or what is "wrong" Look at Magneto im sure he doesnt consider himself a villain but to others he is. If Batman didnt have Joker all we would have is a crazy rich dude in a bat suit thats hung up on his parents death and hangs out with little boys instead of all that AND fights "criminals" We need one or the other would have no reason to exist.

[behindthemask]

In addition, some characters become heros through "accidents" like spiderman, remove the radioactive spider and you got a nobody add the spiderbite and you have 1 badass crimefighter, because he obtained the great ability he sought out to use it for good and become a hero/crimefighter. he could of easily stayed a normal guy but choose the path. someone like superman,hercules,ares,thor,loki,etc all born extra-special with God-like abilities and then you take majority of mutants where they're simply born with the genetic disorder. so I believe ability to become good or evil is in every character as it's in every person on earth. However being good, evil, rich,mutant, or God-like you choose your path, so does the villian merely create a backdrop for the hero to rise to the occasion and save the day, or is he merely a simple of good that's battered by the hard cold world. Hard to say, who has a greater role, but I like the debate.

[CLASSIFIED]

The central character in most stories is the protagonist as opposed to the antagonist; therefore the hero is more important than the villian.

It may appear at times that the villian is driving the story with his various attempts to best the hero, but it is how the hero manages to overcome their trials in order to ultimately vanquish their nemmises that is the pay off of the tale.

[trebleshot]

From a literary standpoint, the protagonist is always the main character (though sometimes there are secondary protagonists). And it's not necessarily the hero or the villain. The antagonist is always a character (or characters) that creates obsticles for the protagonist(s) to overcome. However, the hero isn't always the protagonist, nor is the villain always the antagonist. In fact, sometimes the story isn't even centered around them.

Having said that, the original question asked which has the greater impact to the story. I feel it all depends on the story itself. Most of the time, it's the hero, since comic book stories are usually about them. Sometimes it's the villain, though.

[Optimus Vader]

They go hand in hand. Can't have one without the other.

[BlackRazor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimus Vader

They go hand in hand. Can't have one without the other.

Yep!

I love a good villain & it makes a hero more interesting if the villain is tough to beat - almost like a good fight or game.

If you beat a weak opponent/team, how impressive is that?

[D00MTR0N]

Dr.Doom is always the most important part of the story.

[Darkspeed]

I would say that it depends on the story itself. From the stand point of a superhero comic you generally can't have a hero without a villain, a protagonist without an antagonist. But to say which of the two is more important in an actual story would depend upon their actions during it.

Let's take Spider-Man and the Green Goblin for example, and let's go with the Death of Gwen Stacey storyline. Would GG be the more important character here because of everything he put Spidey through, or is Spidey more important because of what his actions lead to? In this instance, I'd say the Goblin, as his actions are the catalyst for what happens to Gwen and force Spidey to do what he did.