Discussion Villains in Asian Novels

most of the villain seems op but in front of mc it's like mc lvl 10 vs villain lvl 1

 

You can't really say comics have improved. There have been great stories for years. But most are garbage. It's the same with light novels. There are good stories out there but the whole genre is meant to be short and simple. This isn't the place to look for fine literature, this is the place to find a fun story. Sometimes it's great, but usually it's just good. Efforts to write a complex story are usually hindered by the genre itself. It's hard to be detailed and still keep readers coming back for each new chapter.
And honestly, I like it better this way. If I wanted sympathetic villains, I would read a novel. I don't want to feel bad for the guy who has to die at the end.

 

A complex villain is simply too much work to make for these novels you read online as most of them are just the work of amateur catering to an audience that care more about feeling good than give you any deeper meaning than black and white.

 

Easier to digest when its less complicated. Why must villain have deep back story or reason why. Can't they just be evil because they are. Like in tsuki michi, the 3 otherworlder makoto, hibiki and scum-moki all represent different ideals. Its easier and more satisfying to see makoto pummel scummoki rather than clashing with hibiki because of clashing views. Since scummoki like his name is a full blown scum, and hibiki is self righteous, overestimating her ability and oblivious to the whole situation but she mean good.
Seeing scums get pummel and destroyed their hard worked evil plan is funny.

 

Probably try read real light novels. Or just novels. Webnovels have loose writing be it style, target audience, or overall content.

 

Oh don't mind me, just here to say GO READ FOUNDER OF DIABOLISM BY MO XIANG TONG XIU OKAY Such a splendid blend of characters you want to hate but can't, characters you want to like but can't and this one dude that just wants to watch the world burn (Xue Yang)

 

I only quoting @Doomr here.

 

Which Asians?

 

love ya

 

Your complaints so far shows that what you've been reading has been the wrong books for your preferences. Go to a bookstore and find anything of Haruki Murakami for example (since he's the most common name you'd probably see in the west). You can try The Wind Up Bird Chronicle or Kafka On The Shore.

Also, there are plenty of Japanese light novels that have done that. Look up Overlord, Knights & Magic, even Oda Nobuna no Yabou. There are several others, but Ai-chan can't remember right now. In the first place, you're expecting light novels to be a heavy read, but it's never meant to be that way, you're looking for literary novels. Tolkien's books are literary novels. Light novels are there to encourage reading among middle and high schoolers, so it has to be light and shallower than literary novels. If it's too heavy, it scares off its target audience.

It is the same as how many Chinese high schoolers do not want to read any of Jin Yong's books or Romance of the Three Kingdoms. They're so heavy they won't touch the books with 16-foot poles.

As for Chinese novels, you've been reading the wrong novels altogether. Make a vow never to touch shianshia, shuanhuan and wushia ever again and you'll see a lot of books that are quite good. Of course, there's nothing good that comes out of Qidian, so don't look that way. Try The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu or The Dark Road by Ma Jian.

 

I've read the three body problem. And its not that I cant find good stuff to read. It's just things things that seem to irk me (personally). And im not asking for LNs that wins hugo awards. I'm just asking for a bit of complex characters instead of you know the same stuff repeated over and over.

 

Wish i could find novels for university/adults with the tags i want from JP but its really hard, the best i found were in VNs and even them most of the ones i wanted to read probably wont ever get translated

i actually think you're looking it at the wrong angle, fiction its created in heavy amounts, books,comics every one of them has a large number of bad writing and bad villains that are pure trashy you will find this quantity in anything that its popular and its being created in numbers, and WN in special gets better in this spot because this genre actually allows people that are pure amateurs to reach more and more people, and to begin with what does these people are getting for trying to create a better story? There is no incentive to do that when all the trash that gets the chances of actually rewarding the author i hardly see authors that seem to have an actual passion for writing and even them if they get published into LN there is a good chance that their wrok might get dumbed or something by other people because they dislike it and all.... stuff is bad

 

Who was the antagonist just starting with the main protagonist in Wen Rui'an's series?

Who was that one in Ballad of the Desert? Yu Jin, Meng Ximo and Huo Buqing?

In Bu Bu Jing Xin, was it the fourth prince who randomly started on eight prince for Ruoxi?

Well, there was Zheng Keshuang in Deer and the Cauldron. Wait. He didn't make Wei Xiaobao look good; he made Wei Xiaobao look worse.

In Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain had that, oh, forgot he didn't exist.

Remember Wei Zhongxian never randomly started with Zhuo Yihang or Lian Yishang? Remember his attempt to usurp power?

Remember those protagonists starting on the main protagonists for a woman or just to insult him in the 轩辕剑 series? Yeah, neither do I.

Mandarin Duck Blades... well, there was... his name was... it was...

Remember all those 2D-style CN novels taking after the Jap trends like Son-con? Who just went and started on Troy again? Remind me who was there to just make Lin Dongqing and Veirya look good again.

I remember there was that protagonist who started on Mei Changsu in Nirvana in Fire just to make Mei Changsu look good. His name was um... mm... hmm... This is harder than I thought.

Then, there was that antagonist just starting with Ming Feizhen in Martial King's Retired Life, and his name was... uhh... think, think... oh, there was...

Boy, I'm glad this wasn't an exam question.

 

If you want to listen to the truth, the answer is that their writing skills do not support their role creation, and their lack of reading and life experience leads to their lack of imagination for the villains. So they can only choose to shape small villains who can't survive three chapters. These are problems many online writers have, their novels are like products produced on assembly lines, just the right products created according to the articles of association.
A good writer is capable of creating a decent villain. For example, a novel I like very much: 《搬山》( Move Mountains, a literal translation. ) , there's a villain, 贾添( Jia Tian) , a guy who likes to play emperor-playing games in this novel that I find very attractive.

 

These kinds of books do exist, and they're not even particularly uncommon. If all you're finding is one note villains, then that says more about your taste in books than it does about what kind of books are out their.

 

You're just reading bad novels, there are tons of Asian novels with well-made antagonists with sensible reasons and that are not complete assholes.

Try being more strict with what you read and you'll find better stuff.

 

the ex henchman
the princes
gold and silver sect
and many more to come

 

Ex-henchmen - They didn't go starting on him. He stepped in to stop them from their deeds.

The princes are vying for power; he's intervening.

Gold and Silver Sect didn't start with him. Jin Wangsun didn't start on him solely for a woman, either. He started on him for the woman, because she served him a bigger purpose.

Most importantly, to connect back to first post's point, there was never anyone there to blow his trumpet. He was masked in most of those scenarios. He almost undoes anything worth a compliment with his own antics in the end.

Plus, JWS wasn't slapped into orbit to end the arc. It didn't take the face-slap route in the end.