Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-30744559-20171102125000/@comment-33699543-20171119121616

In my opinion, a powerful villain isn't something like "who can punch the hardest," or "who can more easily break reality with minimul effort." To me, a powerful villain is someone or something that gives a story value.

Now, of course it's cool to see someone destroy an entire planet with the flick of their finger, but power alone isn't something I find interesting of itself. You wouldn't consider the sight of a waterfall pouring out millions of gallons of water as anything other than natural, so how is a villain that is stronger than the protagonist or other characters any different?

For me, a villain's power isn't determined by the number of worlds they've destroyed or conqured, the number of lives they've ruined, or their status as being "god-like;" a villain's strength is the impact they have on readers and how they change the characters around them.

A villain is someone or something that acts as an obstcale for the protagonist.

A good villain is someone who actively thwarts the hero in their endeavors to help, fix, or change the world and problems around them.

A great villain is someone who has an ideology and/or beliefs that they strive to see accomplished, despite what they have to do in order to accomplish those beliefs and ideals.

A powerful villain is someone that the readers can understand; someone they can connect with, and they remember.

You will know when a villain is "powerful" or not if you find yourself rooting for their victory over the protagonist/heros.