COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF A SCI-FI HERO, VILLAIN

& ANTI HERO

• Creatures that have human characteristics. Something new that audiences wont see everyday.

• Most heroes work in groups/ teams- reinforcing the idea of a community and people working together.

• New machinery and technology.• Blue is a common color used. It connotes ideas of trust,

loyalty and confidence which reinforce the idea of a group/ team working together as a community. As well as this, blue is usually associated with the sky and space. This suggests that the movie and characters will be something unordinary and unique.

• Light colors such as blue and white are used to imply the idea of piece and purity within the movie and the characters.

• Idea of humans and aliens working together to overcome differences.

• Normal people that display bravery to become the hero of the day. This relates with the audience and creates a connection- pushes the audience to believe that they too can achieve greater.

Heroes:

These Sci fi film heroes share similar characteristics as the majority are simply normal people who are forced to face extraterrestrial powerful creatures and seemingly impossible tasks and utilize their physical or physiological skills in order to defeat the villains. (Carter)

Heroes

Heroes

• When a hero is being filmed the mise en scene is always brighter to emphasize their courageous character.

• The heroic characters are always presented with colour to give them personality.

• When the hero approaches the scene there is happier music playing to inform the audience that they are the hero.

Some heroes also obtain villain features such as using extraterrestrial powers or futuristic technology in order to defeat the villains. For example batman has black clothing and cars which signifies his dark and evil nature, whereas him fighting against villains enforces himself as a hero.

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Ripley is a strong female character that notices the danger with bringing Kane and (with the alien attached to his face) back in to the spaceship. Ends up being the only survivor. Alien

Ray is an unlikely hero as he doesn’t have a very good connection with his two children but ends up saving the world while building a strong bond between his son and daughter. War of the Worlds

E.T is quite small and a very curious but harmless alien that befriends a young boy and his siblings who help him to get home.E.T

Obi-Wan sets out to find the children of Darth Vader to save the galaxy.Star Wars

Heroes

Luke Skywalker is an example of a typical hero who starts off as an average person but through the movies becomes a Jedi. He is made relatable by his normal background and friendly character.

Peter Parker is an example of a hero as he again is from an average background. He is normal looming with no particaully amazing physical attributes at first sight. He however is special and relatable through his persistence for normalcy. He achieves this by hiding his identity but still helping people like a hero.

Hero’s tend to be smarter than the average person and strive for the greater good. E.g. Spiderman who helps people around the city whilst covering his identity.

Generally wear brighter colours to distinguish them as good. The mise en scene is brighter connoting to there characteristics.

Hero’s are more persistent, they don’t give u when meeting failure. They do things for the greater good not for recognition or revenge.

Special powers = phsycic, super strong, fast, mind reader good with technology, super smart.

Looked up to by the audience

There powers come to them when they as normal people are put into a difficult situation.

• Majority are humans • Associated with bright colours –through costumes• Blue colour symbolizes trust, loyalty, confidence as well as intelligence it is also considered to be

beneficial to the mind and body. • Dark blue also signifies knowledge, power and seriousness which you can relate to all sci fi superheroes • WALL-E, white – is associated with light, goodness and innocence as opposed to black – which is the

colour of the villain in the same movie

These anti heroes maintain extraterrestrial powerful qualities in which they fight against vulnerable humans, this makes sci fi’s appealing and entertaining as generally in sci fi films the heroes win despite facing these powerful anti heroes and hence it’s intriguing for the audience to discover how the heroes do this. villains such as Darth Vader and Voldemort are often set against dark backgrounds or wear dark colours, this is done in order to symbolize their dark and evil nature

Villains

The Alien known as Xenomorph lacks technological civilization and are predatory creature with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destructions of life forms that could pose a threat to them. The Aliens biological life cycle involves traumatic implantation of larvae inside living host, which then erupt from the host’s chest after a short period and then mature into adulthood to seek out for more host for implantation. Alien

Ash you get a sense there is something wrong with him as he doesn’t listen to the co-captain’s (Ripley) orders. And turn outs to be a robot from the government to take the Alien back to earth to be used as a weapon.Alien

Darth Vader uses the force to struggle people and has his very own theme tune when ever he enters the scene.Star Wars

Ming threatens to destroy the Earth. Wears red to show the audience that he’s dangerous.Flash Gordon

Villain (Millie)

HEROES• Thrust into situation but was unwilling at first• Noble and moral high ground• Saves other main characters• Don’t kill• Loyal • Good• Only violent when need to be• Responsibilities • Harder than being a hero or antihero• Internal struggle• Tries to save everyone• Learns with audience

• Typical heroTypical heroes are normally ordinary people who discover they have powers or authority. They have determination and more courage than the average person and seem to excel at most things. They could be smarter, faster, stronger, or just more skilled at a certain thing. They long for justice and hate evil.

Every anti hero aims to do the right thing, but frequently use villainous tactics or isn’t always morally right. They could also have started out by doing the wrong thing, but then get reformed and change their ways. OR they do the wrong thing to do the right thing. They might be as bothered to do the right thing as a hero, but do it for different or immoral reasons. Care about themselves only. Lack of emotion or emotional connection with other people. Sometimes rude. Witty.

Common features of a hero

• Very human, they are meant to represent and relate to the audience

• Usually the perfect representation of what humanity stands for

• They fight for what they believe in, for the good

• Usually in a personal conflict• Lawfully and just

Villains

• The Villain is presented with lack on lighting and If they are outside in the sunlight they appear very out of place as they are most commonly dressed in heavy, intimidating clothing and colours.

• The villain is also deformed a lot of the time, for example the villain often has a missing limb due to accidents in war/fire/fights or they have a missing eye or part of their face that makes them look very eerie.

A stereotype of an anti hero is being deformed which can immediately connotes to feelings of repulsion or disgust. This allows the audience to take a disliking to them.

Anti hero’s can usually be described as stern looking and extrememly serious. Emotionless cold

Usually the antihero is physically intimidating through there size, taller and more muscular.

The antihero usually wears darker colors to distinguish them as evil to the audience and can sometimes cover their face to increase tension.

Antiheros usually portray attributes that could be described as alien and not normal.

Mise en scene changes when a antihero is around to be much darker and more mysterious.

The alien from alien, Darth Vader, Predator, men in black

• Machines and creatures/ monsters are used as they are something unusual displayed as a threat. People are usual afraid of new things and the topic of change.

• Humans are not displayed as the threat as the idea of a new species taking over is trying to be achieved. Humans uniting to overcome mutual threat is achieved.

• Dark colors such as black and grey are used. These connote danger, darkness, death and loneliness. This reinforces the idea that villains are usually independent and disliked, they have no one to work with them. Black also symbolizes grief which could relate to the past of the villains and their desire for revenge.

• Green is a common color used in the appearance of villains. It connotes ambition, jealously and power- characteristics usually found in the personality of many. As well as this, it is usually seen in the natural world, making many villains relatable.

Villains:

• Associated with Dark colours• Majority are not humans sense that they are usually new robots, something the

audience haven’t seen before which stimulates fear as it’s something new relating to the topic of change

• Black is a mysterious colour, it relates to all villains as it’s associated with power, evil, mystery and most importantly death

• Black is also a symbol of grief which perhaps could relate to the Villains history and desire for revenge

• The use of dark green symbolizes ambition, greed and jealousy, green also depicts nature, growth and stability this portrays that It’s not something unusual, usually found in the natural world making it relatable

Villains

.All of these characters are dark coloured and have the colours of red and black. This is a popular .colour in the villain world. .They all kill and look threatening , violent and possibly mysterious. .Really good with weapons, hunting people etc.

Stinger, Xenomorphic, Darth maul.

• They have an appearance that audiences would not see every day and look scary and mysterious/eerie

• They all have a hero target• They have a mission of

destruction• They will all do anything to get

what they want including being violent ,threatening and killing

Common features of the Villain

• Deformed, they are not quite human to make the audience dislike them

• Some wear a mask or something that covers their face to distance themselves from the world

• Usually in a dark backlight• Frequently men, rarely female in sci-fi films• Anarchistic • They are good at a certain thing, weaponry,

intelligent

ANTI HERO• Some heroes also obtain villain features such as using extraterrestrial powers or futuristic

technology in order to defeat the villains. For example batman has black clothing and cars which signifies his dark and evil nature, whereas him fighting against villains enforces himself as a hero.

Hero vs Antihero

•Antiheroes are like heroes. •They usually have the same aims and objectives as a conventional hero.•However, they have darker/different qualities e.g. they might have a criminal background, they use more violence, they have a lot of knowledge about the enemies.•They usually lack the qualities of a conventional hero.•They usually have iconic weapons e.g. Han Solo’s blaster, Wolverine’s claws, Red Hood’s Outlaws (dual pistols)•They are usually not part of a faction, they don’t have responsibilities.•They might help the hero achieve their aims, but in a different/negative way.

Some hero’s complete there acts in controversial ways. They share

some characteristics with villans. They often wear dark clothing and use violence.

They often kill bad people but enjoy the killing and use less tan orthodox methods

ANTI HEROES• Does good but for wrong reason• Methods bad goal good• Violent• Kills people• People can be hurt in crossfire• For money• No allegiance or responsibility• Goal is only thing that matters• Fighting skills• Outsmart conventional hero• Knowledge and experience similar to that of the villain • Iconic weapon