Kdramas are not just fun because of all the characters you love. They are also fun because of all the characters you love to hate.
Kdrama villains are so much larger than life, so diabolical, that it's enjoyable just to throw darts at them in your imagination. Or berate them when they are on your TV or computer screen. Whether the villain is an evil potential mother-in-law or a bloodthirsty royal power-monger who will stop at nothing to advance a cause, these villains provide the perfect foil for the lead characters.
Yet one of the things I like best about kdrama villains is that as bad as they are, they are rarely one-dimensional. A back-story lets you see why they are bad. And sometimes they change. Often, they repent and see the error of their ways
Here are a few of my favorites.
Kim in Hee in "Personal Preference" qualifies as a villain because she is without a doubt the world's worst friend. She has lived with her best friend Park Gae In since childhood and still decides to steal her friend's boyfriend. That's just bad. Okay, she had a tragic childhood but that's no excuse.
Yoo He Yi in "You're Beautiful" may be desperate to date her idol but that's no reason to ruin lives and potentially break up the band.
Baek Sung Hee in "Boys Over Flowers" qualifies as the worst potential mother-in-law you might ever want to have (and that should be the subject of a whole other list). She goes beyond discouraging her son's love interest and moves on to destroy a family's life.
The Dowager Queen in "Moon Embracing the Sun" not only ignores her grandson's happiness at a marriage so obviously made in heaven but plots magic, mayhem and murder that cripples her own family. She may qualify as the worst grandmother-in-law you could ever have.
On to the male villains, Harry a.k.a. Kang Hyung Joon in "I Miss You" is just plain evil although his revenge is somewhat justified, which makes you alternately hate him and feel sorry for him. And he is so pretty, that you want to ask him to give up his attempt and revenge and become a model.
Lee Kang To and Shunji in "Bridal Mask": To explain why they are included in this list would give the plot away but I have never seen a better example of starting to like or hate a character and then having my feelings totally inverted.
T.O.P. as Vick in "Iris." I never for a minute believe TOP is actually going to kill someone because as demonstrated in his music videos, he is just too cool. But he does win the award for most stylish villain. No one commits murder with flair the way T.O.P. does.
Do you have any favorite villains? Let us know.
