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136-484: The villain's structural purpose is to serve as the opposite to the hero character, and their motives or evil actions drive a plot along. In contrast to the hero, who is defined by feats of ingenuity and bravery and the pursuit of justice and the greater good, a villain is often defined by their acts of selfishness, evilness, arrogance, cruelty, and cunning , displaying immoral behavior that can oppose or pervert justice. The term villain first came into English from

272-416: A melodramatic manner, with mustache-twirling, eye-rolling , leering , cackling , and hand-rubbing . In 1895, Thomas Edison and Alfred Clark made The Execution of Mary Stuart depicting Mary, Queen of Scots being decapitated. It describes neither Mary nor her executioner as villains (though at the time, it was deemed so realistic that audience members believed an actual woman had been beheaded in

408-536: A benevolent pagan religion that had survived the Christianization of Europe. This has been discredited by further historical research. From the 1930s, occult neopagan groups began to emerge who called their religion a kind of 'witchcraft'. They were initiatory secret societies inspired by Murray's 'witch cult' theory, ceremonial magic , Aleister Crowley 's Thelema , and historical paganism. The biggest religious movement to emerge from this

544-405: A community with sin and corruption. Fortitude and courage are distinguishable in that fortitude is the mental or emotional strength that enables courage in the face of adversity. According to Presbyterian theologian William Swan Plumer , "There is also, in strict propriety of language, a difference between courage and fortitude. Courage faces and resists danger; fortitude endures pain.... Courage

680-459: A convincing villain must be given a characterization that provides a motive for doing wrong, as well as being a worthy adversary to the hero. As put by film critic Roger Ebert : "Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph." The actor Tod Slaughter typically portrayed villainous characters on both stage and screen in

816-632: A dangerous situation: Without an appropriate balance between fear and confidence when facing a threat, one cannot have the courage to overcome it. Professor Daniel Putman states "if the two emotions are distinct, then excesses or deficiencies in either fear or confidence can distort courage". Courage does not mean that you are not afraid, it means that you are willing to face the challenges that lay ahead of you. According to Putman, there are four possible ways courage could be distorted: Thus, Putman identifies fear and courage as being deeply intertwined and that they rely on distinct perceptions: "the danger of

952-495: A general moral balance. Ambrose held that fortitude without justice occasions injustice; since the stronger a man is the more ready to oppress the weaker. Courage is a natural virtue which Saint Augustine did not consider a virtue for Christians. The Tao Te Ching contends that courage is derived from love ( 慈 故 能 勇 ) translated as: "From love one gains courage." In Hindu tradition, Courage ( shauriya ) / Bravery ( dhairya ), and Patience ( taamasa ) appear as

1088-464: A goodness of manners. These virtues are always meant to act in the interests of individual while the positive and/or negative effects of society are merely a byproduct. This stems forth from the idea put forth in Leviathan that the state of nature is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" and self-preservation is the most fundamental aspect of behavior. According to Hobbes courage is a virtue of

1224-555: A great deal of thoughts on courage, both physical and moral. According to Professor Daniel Putman, "courage involves deliberate choice in the face of painful or fearful circumstances for the sake of a worthy goal". With this realization, Putman concludes that "there is a close connection between fear and confidence". Fear and confidence in relation to courage can determine the success of a courageous act or goal. They can be seen as independent variables in courage, and their relationship can affect how we respond to fear. The confidence that

1360-531: A hideous monster who destroyed his family out of spite . Shakespeare also ensured that Iago in Othello and Antonio in The Tempest were completely void of redeeming traits. In an analysis of Russian fairy tales , Vladimir Propp concluded that the majority of stories had only eight " dramatis personae ", one being the villain. This analysis has been widely applied to non-Russian tales. The actions within

1496-511: A key factors in facing the Devil (both internally and externally). Many have this belief because of the courage the Prophets of the past displayed (through peace and patience), despite there being people who despised them. Thomas Hobbes lists virtues into the categories of moral virtues and virtues of men in his work Man and Citizen . Hobbes outlines moral virtues as virtues in citizens, that

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1632-435: A lack of an operational definition, the advancement of research in courage is limited. So they conducted studies to try to find "a common structure of courage". Their goal from their research of implicit theories was to find "people's form and content on the idea of courage". Many researchers created studies on implicit theories by creating a questionnaire that would ask "What is courage?". In addition, in order to " develop

1768-551: A measurement scale of courage, ten experts in the field of psychology came together to define courage. They defined it as: the ability to act for a meaningful (noble, good, or practical) cause, despite experiencing the fear associated with perceived threat exceeding the available resources Also, because courage is a " multi-dimensional construct, it can be "better understood as an exceptional response to specific external conditions or circumstances than as an attribute, disposition, or character trait". Meaning that rather than being

1904-550: A minority of the accused in any area studied". Likewise, Davies says "relatively few cunning-folk were prosecuted under secular statutes for witchcraft" and were dealt with more leniently than alleged witches. The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (1532) of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Danish Witchcraft Act of 1617, stated that workers of folk magic should be dealt with differently from witches. It

2040-641: A minority of those accused. European belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment . Many indigenous belief systems that include the concept of witchcraft likewise define witches as malevolent, and seek healers (such as medicine people and witch doctors ) to ward-off and undo bewitchment. Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them. Modern witch-hunting takes place in parts of Africa and Asia. Today, followers of certain types of modern paganism identify as witches and use

2176-425: A mohawk, and her nails painted bright red. Her goal throughout the film is to become queen and disrupt the coupling of Ariel and Prince Eric , both of which connect villainy to drag queens , suggesting that there is inherent evil in those who do drag. Villains in fiction commonly function in the dual role of adversary and foil to a story's heroes. In their role as an adversary, the villain serves as an obstacle

2312-486: A more direct way than live-action villains. That their character design is based on caricatures of racist, antisemitic, and/or homophobic stereotypes with exaggerated features. That female animated villains are portrayed in ways that feed into misogynistic ideas and traditional gender roles. Sattar Sharmin and Sanyat Tania have argued that animated villains frequently fall into two categories: women who exhibit societally undesirable traits, or men displaying feminine traits. In

2448-805: A multi-phase journey influenced by culture , spirituality , and societal norms. Ancient witchcraft in the Near East intertwined mysticism with nature through rituals and incantations aligned with local beliefs. In ancient Judaism , magic had a complex relationship, with some forms accepted due to mysticism while others were considered heretical . The medieval Middle East experienced shifting perceptions of witchcraft under Islamic and Christian influences, sometimes revered for healing and other times condemned as heresy . Jewish attitudes toward witchcraft were rooted in its association with idolatry and necromancy , and some rabbis even practiced certain forms of magic themselves. References to witchcraft in

2584-409: A noble good or worthy end, despite, perhaps, the presence of the emotion of fear. To further the discussion of the implicit theories of courage, the researchers stated that future research could consider looking into the concept of courage and fear and how individual's might feel fear, overcome it and act, and act despite it. The term "clinical courage" came to light in relation to modern medicine in

2720-421: A pure villain. Folklore and fairy tale villains can also play a myriad of roles that can influence or propel a story forward. In fairy tales villains can perform an influential role; for example, a witch who fought the hero and ran away, and who lets the hero follow her, is also performing the task of "guidance" and thus acting as a helper. Propp also proposed another two archetypes of the villain's role within

2856-516: A religious root. For religion is the state of being grasped by the power of being itself. J.R.R. Tolkien identified in his 1936 lecture " Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics " a " Northern 'theory of courage'" – the heroic or " virtuous pagan " insistence to do the right thing even in the face of certain defeat without promise of reward or salvation : It is the strength of the northern mythological imagination that it faced this problem, put

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2992-474: A reputation for being one-dimensional. In modern animation, animated villains that are more significant and fleshed out have become increasingly common as cartoons have begun to be favored by adults. Shows such as Adventure Time , Gravity Falls , and Rick and Morty range from child to adult cartoons, but are all watched by a largely older audience. It is sometimes alleged that villains in animated works, such as Disney movies, often embody stereotypes in

3128-484: A short film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . In 1914, Lois Weber made a film of The Merchant of Venice with Phillips Smalley as a villainous Shylock . The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation has "Northern carpetbaggers" inciting black violence as its villains. The 1916 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has a man named Charles Denver as its villain. In the same year, Snow White had Queen Brongomar as

3264-407: A show character or an attribute, courage is a response to fear. From their research, they were able to find the "four necessary components of people's notion of courage". They are: With these four components, they were able to define courage as: a willful, intentional act, executed after mindful deliberation, involving objective substantial risk to the actor, primarily motivated to bring about

3400-454: A sort of perseverance – "preservation of the belief that has been inculcated by the law through education about what things and sorts of things are to be feared". Plato explains this perseverance as being able to persevere through all emotions, like suffering, pleasure, and fear. As a desirable quality, courage is discussed broadly by Aristotle in the context of soldiers in battle for a noble cause. In Nicomachean Ethics , where its absence

3536-416: A villain's game, but for a noble cause in a way that the audience or other characters can sympathize with. They may be more noble or heroic than an antihero, but the means to achieve their ends are often considered exploitative, immoral, unjust, or simply evil. Characters who fall into this category are often created with the intention of humanizing them, making them more relatable to the reader/viewer by posing

3672-521: A villain's sphere were: When a character displays these traits, it is not necessarily tropes specific to the fairy tale genre, but it does imply that the one who performs certain acts to be the villain. The villain, therefore, can appear twice in a story to fulfill certain roles: once in the opening of the story, and a second time as the person sought out by the hero. When a character has only performed actions or displayed traits that coincide with Vladimir Propp's analysis, that character can be identified as

3808-659: A villain. There were also villains in 1960s children's film. For instance, 101 Dalmatians and the 1966 Batman both had villains. The former having Cruella de Vil and the latter being the first time comic book supervillains were adapted to film. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Star Wars films introduced Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine . 1980s films had villains like Khan in Star Trek , John Kreese in The Karate Kid and its sequels, Skynet in

3944-793: A villain. The 1923 film The Ten Commandments has the main character's brother be a villain due to his commitment to breaking all of the Ten Commandments . In 1937, Walt Disney 's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had the Evil Queen as a villain. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz had Wicked Witch of the West as its villain. In the 1940s, serial films about superheroes introduced supervillains as characters like Dr. Dana in Batman . The 1949 film Samson and Delilah has Hedy Lamarr as

4080-613: A wax or clay image (a poppet ) of a person to affect them magically; or using herbs , animal parts and other substances to make potions or poisons. Witchcraft has been blamed for many kinds of misfortune. In Europe, by far the most common kind of harm attributed to witchcraft was illness or death suffered by adults, their children, or their animals. "Certain ailments, like impotence in men, infertility in women, and lack of milk in cows, were particularly associated with witchcraft". Illnesses that were poorly understood were more likely to be blamed on witchcraft. Edward Bever writes: "Witchcraft

4216-406: A wide range of practices, with belief in black magic and the evil eye coexisting alongside strict prohibitions against its practice. The Quran acknowledges the existence of magic and seeks protection from its harm. Islam's stance is against the practice of magic, considering it forbidden, and emphasizes divine miracles rather than magic or witchcraft. The historical continuity of witchcraft in

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4352-499: A witch (m. kaššāpu , f. kaššāptu , from kašāpu ['to bewitch'] ) was "usually regarded as an anti-social and illegitimate practitioner of destructive magic ... whose activities were motivated by malice and evil intent and who was opposed by the ašipu , an exorcist or incantation-priest". These ašipu were predominantly male representatives of the state religion, whose main role was to work magic against harmful supernatural forces such as demons . The stereotypical witch mentioned in

4488-600: A witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. It became the handbook for secular courts throughout Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying on it. It was the most sold book in Europe for over 100 years, after the Bible. Islamic perspectives on magic encompass

4624-496: Is "trusting in your own strength", as observed by Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology : Men who, turning away in utter disgust and doubt from the heathen faith, placed their reliance on their own strength and virtue. Thus in the Sôlar lioð 17 we read of Vêbogi and Râdey â sik þau trûðu , "in themselves they trusted". Ernest Hemingway famously defined courage as "grace under pressure". Winston Churchill stated, "Courage

4760-458: Is a character who relies on their instincts and ability to cause destruction to achieve their ends. The evil intentions of their actions are often easily identified, as they act without concern for others (or their wellbeing ) or subtlety . The rampaging villain can take the form of a very powerful individual or a rampaging beast but is still one of the more dangerous villain archetypes due to their affinity for destruction. The authority figure

4896-462: Is a crime punishable by death and the country has executed people for this crime as recently as 2014. Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of violence against women . In Tanzania, an estimated 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch, according to a 2014 World Health Organization report. Children who live in some regions of

5032-619: Is addressed earlier in Man and Citizen . David Hume listed virtues into two categories in his work A Treatise of Human Nature : artificial virtues and natural virtues. Hume categorized courage as a natural virtue. In the Treatise' s section "Of Pride and Humility, Their Objects and Causes", Hume wrote that courage is a cause of pride: "Every valuable quality of the mind, whether of the imagination, judgment, memory or disposition; wit, good-sense, learning, courage, justice, integrity; all these are

5168-497: Is also one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit . Witch Witchcraft is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic . A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic or supernatural powers to inflict harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to Encyclopedia Britannica , "Witchcraft thus defined exists more in

5304-404: Is being discussed here is self-confidence; confidence in knowing one's skills and abilities and being able to determine when to fight fear or when to flee it. Putman states that: "The ideal in courage is not just a rigid control of fear, nor is it a denial of the emotion. The ideal is to judge a situation, accept the emotion as part of human nature and, we hope, use well-developed habits to confront

5440-405: Is courage or bravery, especially in battle . Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, hardship, even death, or threat of death; while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame , scandal , discouragement, or personal loss. The classical virtue of fortitude ( andreia , fortitudo ) is also translated as "courage", but includes

5576-468: Is defeated by their own greed, pride, or arrogance. The traitor is a villain who emphasizes the traits of trickery, manipulation and deception to achieve their goals, which is often to offer or supply information to the protagonist's opposition to halt them on their journey; often in exchange for their own freedom or safety. The traitor's goals are not always evil but the actions they commit to reach their goal can be considered inherently evil. Animation

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5712-414: Is driven by an ambiguous motivation or is not driven by an intent to cause evil. Their intentions may coincide with the ideals of a greater good, or even a desire to make the world a better place , but their actions are inherently evil in nature. An anti-villain is the opposite of an antihero. While the antihero often fights on the side of good, but with questionable or selfish motives, the anti-villain plays

5848-433: Is effeminate men, sometimes referred to by subject experts as "sissy villains," where their mannerisms represent stereotypes relating to gay men. Another example is the depiction of masculine women, which emulates drag queens or butch lesbians. Adelia Brown makes a similar allegation about Ursula from The Little Mermaid . Ursula is closely modelled after the famous drag queen " Divine " with her heavy makeup, hair styled in

5984-419: Is for action; fortitude for suffering. In this sense, fortitude differs little from constancy and patient endurance." Thomas Aquinas says that fortitude ranks third after prudence and justice among the cardinal virtues. He distinguishes fortitude from fearlessness, which can too easily become recklessness through short-sighted audacity with disastrous results. In both Catholicism and Anglicanism , fortitude

6120-633: Is home to several different villains. Winsor McCay in How a Mosquito Operates had a cartoon mosquito torment a human being and in 1925, Walt Disney created Pete as an antagonist for the Alice Comedies with Pete later becoming an antagonist of Mickey Mouse and his friends and the first Disney villain. Fleischer Studios later had Bluto as the antagonist of the Popeye cartoons. Hanna-Barbera created Tom as an antagonist of Jerry . Likewise,

6256-431: Is not always the case. As seen often in animated films, female villains are portrayed with "ugly" appearances to contrast the beauty of the protagonist, in turn associating unattractiveness with evil. This paints female villains in a negative light compared to their heroine counterparts, and showcases the duality of the female villain character. The ethical dimension of history poses the problem of judging those who acted in

6392-413: Is one that has already attained a level of command and power but always craves more. They are often driven by their desire for material wealth , distinguished stature or great power and appear as a monarch , corporate climber or other powerful individual. Their end goal is often the total domination of their corporation, nation, or world through mystical means or political manipulation. Often this villain

6528-549: Is particularly used for women. A male practitioner of magic or witchcraft is more commonly called a ' wizard ', or sometimes, 'warlock'. When the word witch is used to refer to a member of a neo-pagan tradition or religion (such as Wicca ), it can refer to a person of any gender. Witches are commonly believed to cast curses ; a spell or set of magical words and gestures intended to inflict supernatural harm. Cursing could also involve inscribing runes or sigils on an object to give that object magical powers; burning or binding

6664-399: Is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all others." According to Maya Angelou , "Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage." And C.S. Lewis wrote that "Courage is not simply one of

6800-478: Is that of "clinical recklessness", in which the actions of a clinician in stepping outside of their competence results in unprofessional behaviour, which exposes patients to risk or harm. One symbol often associated with courage is the lion . It is sometimes seen in the Catholic Church as a depiction of Christ's triumph over sin. It also is a symbol in some cultures as a savior of the people who live in

6936-654: Is that witches cause harm by introducing cursed magical objects into their victim's body; such as small bones or ashes. James George Frazer described this kind of magic as imitative . In some cultures, witches are believed to use human body parts in magic, and they are commonly believed to murder children for this purpose. In Europe, "cases in which women did undoubtedly kill their children, because of what today would be called postpartum psychosis , were often interpreted as yielding to diabolical temptation". Witches are believed to work in secret, sometimes alone and sometimes with other witches. Hutton writes: "Across most of

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7072-414: Is the universal term for characters who pose as catalysts for certain ideals that readers or observers find immoral, but the term "villainess" is often used to highlight specific traits that come with their female identity—separating them, in some aspects, from their male counterparts. The use of the female villain (or villainess) is often to highlight the traits that come specifically with the character and

7208-414: Is the usual name, some are also known as 'blessers' or 'wizards', but might also be known as 'white', 'good', or 'unbinding witches'. Historian Owen Davies says the term "white witch" was rarely used before the 20th century. Ronald Hutton uses the general term "service magicians". Often these people were involved in identifying alleged witches. Such helpful magic-workers "were normally contrasted with

7344-556: Is the vice of cowardice and its excess the vice of recklessness , courage represents the mean between the two extremes. Thucydides , a 5th century  BCE Greek historian, wrote, "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it." In the Roman Empire , courage formed part of the universal virtue of virtus . Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero (106–43  BCE ) lists

7480-411: Is to use protective magic or counter-magic , often with the help of magical healers such as cunning folk or witch-doctors . This includes performing rituals , reciting charms , or the use of talismans , amulets , anti- witch marks , witch bottles , witch balls , and burying objects such as horse skulls inside the walls of buildings. Another believed cure for bewitchment is to persuade or force

7616-446: Is tolerated or accepted by the population, even if the orthodox establishment opposes it. In these societies, practitioners of helpful magic provide (or provided) services such as breaking the effects of witchcraft, healing , divination , finding lost or stolen goods, and love magic . In Britain, and some other parts of Europe, they were commonly known as ' cunning folk ' or 'wise people'. Alan McFarlane wrote that while cunning folk

7752-513: Is unambiguously evil. William Shakespeare modelled his archetypical villains as three-dimensional characters and acknowledged the complex nature that villains display in modern literature. For instance, he made Shylock a sympathetic character. However, Shakespeare's incarnations of historical figures were influenced by the propaganda pieces coming from Tudor sources, and his works often showed this bias and discredited their reputation. For example, Shakespeare famously portrayed Richard III as

7888-431: Is virtues that without exception are beneficial to society as a whole. These moral virtues are justice (i.e. not violating the law) and charity. Courage as well as prudence and temperance are listed as the virtues of men. By this Hobbes means that these virtues are invested solely in the private good as opposed to the public good of justice and charity. Hobbes describes courage and prudence as strengths of mind as opposed to

8024-1142: The Terminator films, Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future films, The Joker in Batman and Dark Helmet in Spaceballs . 1990s films had villains like General Mandible in Antz , Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park , Edgar in Men in Black , Van Pelt in Jumanji , Rameses in The Prince of Egypt , Carrigan in Casper and Shan-Yu in Mulan . The Star Wars prequels also introduced several villains in addition to those

8160-495: The Age of Colonialism , many cultures were exposed to the Western world via colonialism , usually accompanied by intensive Christian missionary activity (see Christianization ). In these cultures, beliefs about witchcraft were partly influenced by the prevailing Western concepts of the time. In Christianity , sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among Catholics, Protestants, and

8296-730: The Anglo-French and Old French vilain , which in turn derives from the Late Latin word villanus ,. This refers to those bound to the soil of the villa , who worked on the equivalent of a modern estate in Late Antiquity , in Italy or Gaul . Vilain later shifted to villein , which referred to a person of less than knightly status, implying a lack of chivalry and courtesy . All actions that were unchivalrous or evil (such as treachery or rape ) eventually became part of

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8432-468: The Indo-European root from which it may have derived. Another Old English word for 'witch' was hægtes or hægtesse , which became the modern English word " hag " and is linked to the word " hex ". In most other Germanic languages, their word for 'witch' comes from the same root as these; for example German Hexe and Dutch heks . In colloquial modern English , the word witch

8568-643: The Looney Tunes had villains like Elmer Fudd , Yosemite Sam , Marvin the Martian and Blacque Jacque Shellacque . In 1937, Disney made the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and it had the Evil Queen as its antagonist. Since then, Disney made a lot of animated movies with villains based on fairy tale villains. Disney Villains became a major part of that franchise. Saturday-morning cartoons also had villains like Dick Dastardly , Muttley and Snidely Whiplash . Since then cartoon villains have had

8704-574: The Tanakh , or Hebrew Bible, highlighted strong condemnations rooted in the "abomination" of magical belief. Christianity similarly condemned witchcraft, considering it an abomination and even citing specific verses to justify witch-hunting during the early modern period. Historically, the Christian concept of witchcraft derives from Old Testament laws against it. In medieval and early modern Europe, many Christians believed in magic. As opposed to

8840-487: The Treatise : "We easily gain from the liberality of others, but are always in danger of losing by their avarice: Courage defends us, but cowardice lays us open to every attack". Hume considered what excessive courage does to a hero's character in the Treatise' s section "Of the Other Virtues and Vices": "Accordingly we may observe, that an excessive courage and magnanimity, especially when it displays itself under

8976-460: The accuser's estate was handed over instead. The Maqlû ("burning") is an ancient Akkadian text, written early in the first millennium BCE , which sets out a Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft ritual. This lengthy ritual includes invoking various gods , burning an effigy of the witch, then dousing and disposing of the remains. Witchcraft's historical evolution in the Middle East reveals

9112-456: The devil ; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arises from death." Most societies that have believed in harmful or black magic have also believed in helpful magic. Some have called it white magic , at least in more recent times. Where belief in harmful magic is common, it is typically forbidden by law as well as hated and feared by the general populace, while helpful or apotropaic (protective) magic

9248-460: The evil queen and Lady Tremaine , are influenced by jealousy/vanity whereas only 4% of male villains are driven by these same factors. Rather the men, such as Hades and Captain Hook , have motives grounded in wealth and power, giving in to masculine stereotypes and signifying an attachment to the patriarchy . Additionally, in animation there is a history of mothers and grandmothers being posed as

9384-434: The secular leadership of late medieval/early modern Europe, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts . The fifteenth century saw a dramatic rise in awareness and terror of witchcraft. Tens of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions

9520-448: The "how" and "why" behind their motivations rather than simply creating a one-dimensional character. Because of their motives, many of these types of villains are commonly nicknamed "anti-villains". Bravery Courage (also called bravery , valour ( British and Commonwealth English ), or valor ( American English )) is the choice and willingness to confront agony , pain , danger , uncertainty , or intimidation . Valor

9656-453: The 2000s, mostly in relation to the practice of medicine in remote or resource-limited settings. It has been described as the practice of medicine outside of a clinician's usual scope of practice, or relevant clinical guidelines, in order to provide essential medical care, where no alternative exists. It has been specifically discussed in relation to rural generalists, paramedics, general practitioners, and rural medicine. The opposing theory

9792-612: The British Isles. Historian Ronald Hutton outlined five key characteristics ascribed to witches and witchcraft by most cultures that believe in this concept: the use of magic to cause harm or misfortune to others; it was used by the witch against their own community; powers of witchcraft were believed to have been acquired through inheritance or initiation; it was seen as immoral and often thought to involve communion with evil beings; and witchcraft could be thwarted by defensive magic, persuasion, intimidation or physical punishment of

9928-618: The Devil , though anthropologist Jean La Fontaine notes that such accusations were mainly made against perceived "enemies of the Church". It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by white magic , provided by ' cunning folk ' or 'wise people'. Suspected witches were often prosecuted and punished, if found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, they made up

10064-468: The Middle East underlines the complex interaction between spiritual beliefs and societal norms across different cultures and epochs . During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft rose in English-speaking and European countries. From the 1920s, Margaret Murray popularized the ' witch-cult hypothesis ': the idea that those persecuted as 'witches' in early modern Europe were followers of

10200-532: The Principles of Morals . Søren Kierkegaard opposed courage to angst , while Paul Tillich opposed an existential courage to be with non-being , fundamentally equating it with religion : Courage is the self-affirmation of being in spite of the fact of non-being. It is the act of the individual self in taking the anxiety of non-being upon itself by affirming itself... in the anxiety of guilt and condemnation.... every courage to be has openly or covertly

10336-444: The abilities they possess that are exclusive to them. For example, one of the female villain's greatest weapons is her alluring beauty, sexuality or emotional intelligence. The perversion of inherently female traits in storytelling also alludes to the demonic display of the succubus and their affinity for utilizing their beauty as a weapon—a trait utilized by many female villains throughout modern fiction and mythology. However, this

10472-401: The alleged witch to lift their spell. Often, people have attempted to thwart the witchcraft by physically punishing the alleged witch, such as by banishing, wounding, torturing or killing them. "In most societies, however, a formal and legal remedy was preferred to this sort of private action", whereby the alleged witch would be prosecuted and then formally punished if found guilty. Throughout

10608-457: The alleged witch. It is commonly believed that witches use objects, words, and gestures to cause supernatural harm, or that they simply have an innate power to do so. Hutton notes that both kinds of practitioners are often believed to exist in the same culture and that the two often overlap, in that someone with an inborn power could wield that power through material objects. One of the most influential works on witchcraft and concepts of magic

10744-595: The aspects of perseverance and patience . In the Western tradition, notable thoughts on courage have come from philosophers Socrates , Plato , Aristotle , Aquinas , and Kierkegaard , as well as Christian beliefs and texts. In the Hindu tradition, mythology has given many examples of courage, with examples of both physical and moral courage exemplified. In the Eastern tradition, the Chinese text Tao Te Ching offers

10880-427: The body are believed to grant supernatural powers, the substance may be good, bad, or morally neutral. Hutton draws a distinction between those who unwittingly cast the evil eye and those who deliberately do so, describing only the latter as witches. The universal or cross-cultural validity of the terms "witch" and "witchcraft" are debated. Hutton states: [Malevolent magic] is, however, only one current usage of

11016-518: The cardinal virtues but does not name them as such: "Virtue may be defined as a habit of mind ( animi ) in harmony with reason and the order of nature. It has four parts: wisdom ( prudentiam ), justice, courage, temperance." However, Cicero held that "a courageous spirit in a human who has not attained perfection and ideal wisdom is generally too impetuous". In De Officiis Ministrorum , Ambrose echoes Cicero in holding reservations regarding those who exhibit courage without yet having demonstrated

11152-433: The case of men with feminine traits, this may stem from both a homophobic and misogynistic point of view which is further discussed below. As for female villains who are portrayed with "displeasing" characteristics, not only are they crafted to look unattractive, but their motivations for becoming evil are rooted in very trivial matters. Debra Bradley's survey on Disney films discovered that 28% of female villains, such as

11288-442: The cause of pride; and their opposites of humility". Hume also wrote that courage and joy have positive effects on the soul : "...since the soul, when elevated with joy and courage, in a manner seeks opposition, and throws itself with alacrity into any scene of thought or action, where its courage meets with matter to nourish and employ it". Along with courage nourishing and employing, Hume also wrote that courage defends humans in

11424-574: The concept of "witchcraft" as one of the ways humans have tried to explain strange misfortune. Some cultures have feared witchcraft much less than others, because they tend to have other explanations for strange misfortune. For example, the Gaels of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands historically held a strong belief in fairy folk , who could cause supernatural harm, and witch-hunting was very rare in these regions compared to other regions of

11560-664: The connotations worsened, so that the modern word villain is no unpolished villager, but is instead (among other things) a deliberate scoundrel or criminal. At the same time, the mediaeval expression "vilein" or "vilain" is closely influenced by the word "vile", referring to something wicked or worthless. As from the late 13th century, vile meant "morally repugnant; morally flawed, corrupt, wicked; of no value; of inferior quality; disgusting, foul, ugly; degrading, humiliating; of low estate, without worldly honor or esteem", from Anglo-French ville , Old French vil , from Latin vilis "cheap, worthless, of low value". In classical literature,

11696-500: The embodiment of national political cultures that may collude or collide against one another. The usage of villain to describe a historical figure dates back to Tudor propaganda, pieces of which ended up influencing William Shakespeare 's portrayal of Richard III as a spiteful and hunchback tyrant . The sympathetic villain or anti-villain is one with the typical traits of a villainous character but differs in their motivations . Their intention to cause chaos or commit evil actions

11832-712: The employment (or presumed employment) of some occult means of doing harm to other people in a way which was generally disapproved of. In this sense the belief in witchcraft can be defined as the attribution of misfortune to occult human agency". Emma Wilby says folk magicians in Europe were viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing, which could lead to their being accused as malevolent witches. She suggests some English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose supposed fairy familiars had been demonised . Hutton says that magical healers "were sometimes denounced as witches, but seem to have made up

11968-400: The false donor will pose as a benevolent figure or influence on the protagonist (or those associated with them) to present them with a deal. The deal will present a short-term solution or benefit for whoever accepts it and, in return, benefit the villain in the long term. During the story's climax, the hero often has to find a way to rectify the agreement in order to defeat the villain or achieve

12104-407: The fear and allow reason to guide our behavior toward a worthwhile goal." According to Putman, Aristotle refers to an appropriate level of fear and confidence in courage. "Fear, although it might vary from person to person, is not completely relative and is only appropriate if it 'matches the danger of the situation'". The same goes for confidence in that there are two aspects to self-confidence in

12240-417: The film Spartacus had Marcus Licinius Crassus as its villain. In the same year, the film Psycho had Norman Bates as a villainous protagonist. The 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird , like the book, had Bob Ewell as its villain. Other 1960s films like The Guns of Navarone and The Great Escape had Nazis as their villains. Beginning with Dr. No in 1962, every James Bond film has had

12376-503: The first two of ten characteristics ( lakshana ) of dharma in the Hindu Manusmṛti , alongside forgiveness ( kshama ), tolerance ( dama ), honesty ( asthaya ), physical restraint ( indriya nigraha ), cleanliness ( shouchya ), perceptiveness ( dhi ), knowledge ( vidhya ), truthfulness ( satya ), and control of anger ( akrodha ). Islamic beliefs also present courage and self-control as

12512-466: The fourth added by Christina Larner : Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the shunning or murder of suspected witches still occurs. Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic. Apart from extrajudicial violence , state-sanctioned execution also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in Saudi Arabia practicing witchcraft and sorcery

12648-775: The franchise already had. Early 2000s films like the Spider-Man trilogy , The Dark Knight Trilogy , the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings films and Avatar all had villains like, Green Goblin , Two-Face , Lord Voldemort , Saruman and Miles Quaritch . In the 2010s, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe have had several notable supervillains such as Thanos and General Zod . The term villain

12784-450: The frowns of fortune, contributes in a great measure, to the character of a hero, and will render a person the admiration of posterity; at the same time, that it ruins his affairs, and leads him into dangers and difficulties, with which otherwise he would never have been acquainted". Other understandings of courage that Hume offered can be derived from Hume's views on morals, reason, sentiment, and virtue from his work An Enquiry Concerning

12920-435: The general public in at least four ways. Neopagan writer Isaac Bonewits proposed dividing witches into even more distinct types including, but not limited to: Neopagan, Feminist, Neogothic, Neoclassical, Classical, Family Traditions, Immigrant Traditions, and Ethnic. The word is over a thousand years old: Old English formed the compound wiccecræft from wicce ('witch') and cræft ('craft'). The masculine form

13056-476: The grounds of fear and hope... While many definitions are given in Plato's Laches , all are refuted, giving the reader a sense of Plato's argument style. Laches is an early writing of Plato's, which may be a reason he does not come to a clear conclusion. In this early writing, Plato is still developing his ideas and shows influence from his teachers like Socrates. In The Republic , Plato describes courage as

13192-399: The happy ending. Similarly, the devil archetype is one that also makes an offer to the protagonist (or someone associated with them) and appeals to their needs and desires. However, the devil archetype does not hide their intentions from the protagonist. The subsequent story often follows the protagonist's journey to try and annul the agreement before any damage can be done. The beast

13328-592: The helpful magic of the cunning folk , witchcraft was seen as evil and associated with Satan and Devil worship . This often resulted in deaths, torture and scapegoating (casting blame for misfortune), and many years of large scale witch-trials and witch hunts , especially in Protestant Europe, before largely ending during the Age of Enlightenment . Christian views in the modern day are diverse, ranging from intense belief and opposition (especially by Christian fundamentalists ) to non-belief. During

13464-422: The hero must struggle to overcome. In their role as a foil, they exemplify characteristics that are diametrically opposed to those of the hero, creating a contrast distinguishing heroic traits from villainous ones. Other have pointed out that many acts of villains have a hint of wish-fulfillment, which makes some readers or viewers identify with them as characters more strongly than with the heroes. Because of this,

13600-537: The identity of a villain in the modern sense of the word. Additionally, villein came into use as a term of abuse and eventually took on its modern meaning. The landed aristocracy of mediaeval Europe used politically and linguistically the Middle English descendant of villanus meaning "villager" (styled as vilain or vilein ) with the meaning "a person of uncouth mind and manners". As the common equating of manners with morals gained in strength and currency,

13736-404: The imagination", but it "has constituted for many cultures a viable explanation of evil in the world". The belief in witchcraft has been found throughout history in a great number of societies worldwide. Most of these societies have used protective magic or counter-magic against witchcraft, and have shunned, banished, imprisoned, physically punished or killed alleged witches. Anthropologists use

13872-622: The importance of courage: "The great epochs of our life are the occasions when we gain the courage to re-baptize our evil qualities as our best qualities." According to the Swiss psychologist Andreas Dick, courage consists of the following components: Researchers who want to study the concept and the emotion of courage have continued to come across a certain problem. While there are "numerous definitions of courage", they are unable to set "an operational definition of courage on which to base sound explicit theories". Rate et al. states that because of

14008-429: The individual in order to ensure a better chance of survival while the moral virtues address Hobbes's social contract which civilized men display (in varying degrees) in order to transcend the state of nature. Hobbes also uses the idea of fortitude as a virtue. Fortitude is "to dare" according to Hobbes, but also to "resist stoutly in present dangers". This is a more in-depth elaboration of Hobbes's concept of courage that

14144-541: The law codes also prescribed the death penalty for those found guilty of witchcraft. According to Tzvi Abusch, ancient Mesopotamian ideas about witches and witchcraft shifted over time, and the early stages were "comparable to the archaic shamanistic stage of European witchcraft". In this early stage, witches were not necessarily considered evil, but took 'white' and 'black' forms, could help others using magic and medical knowledge, generally lived in rural areas and sometimes exhibited ecstatic behavior. In ancient Mesopotamia,

14280-444: The majority were men. In Scots , the word warlock came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female, but is used predominantly for females). The Malleus Maleficarum (Latin for 'Hammer of The Witches') was a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants for several hundred years, outlining how to identify

14416-465: The making of that film.) In 1896, Georges Méliès made a horror film titled The House of the Devil which had The Devil as an antagonist. Edison's The Great Train Robbery , released in 1903 had the bandits who rob the train as its villains. In 1909, there was a feature length adaptation of Les Misérables with Javert as a villain and in 1910, Otis Turner had a Wicked Witch as the villain of

14552-561: The masses did not accept this and continued to make use of their services. The English MP and skeptic Reginald Scot sought to disprove magic and witchcraft altogether, writing in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), "At this day, it is indifferent to say in the English tongue, 'she is a witch' or 'she is a wise woman'". Historian Keith Thomas adds "Nevertheless, it is possible to isolate that kind of 'witchcraft' which involved

14688-511: The monsters in the centre, gave them victory but no honor, and found a potent and terrible solution in naked will and courage. 'As a working theory absolutely impregnable.' So potent is it, that while the older southern imagination has faded forever into literary ornament, the northern has power, as it were, to revive its spirit even in our own times. It can work, as it did even with the goðlauss Viking, without gods: martial heroism as its own end. Virtuous pagan heroism or courage in this sense

14824-769: The motherly stereotypes in their villains. Other female villains are portrayed as hyper-sexual and powerful beings that are used to juxtapose the beauty or physical characteristics of the heroine ; for example, the Lady Tremaine and stepsisters in Cinderella . Male villains also hold several traits that are characteristically feminine. Characters like Jafar ( Aladdin ) and Hades ( Hercules ) have features such as shaded eyelids and accentuated facial features, similar to those typically associated with femininity. Zachary Doiron has argued that animated villains are based on homophobic stereotypes. As an example, he brings up

14960-424: The narrative forward and influence the hero's journey. These, while not as rounded as those that appear in other forms of literature, are what is known as archetypes . The archetypal villain is a common occurrence within the genre and come under different categories that have different influences on the protagonist and the narrative. The false donor is a villain who utilises trickery to achieve their ends. Often

15096-432: The narrative through another character. The legacy of the villain is often transferred through that of bloodlines (family) or a devoted follower. For example, if a dragon played the role of a villain but was killed by the hero, another character (such as the dragon's sister) might take on the legacy of the previous villain and pursue the hero out of revenge. The fairy tale genre utilises villains as key components to push

15232-542: The narrative, in which they can portray themselves as villainous in a more general sense. The first is the false hero : This character is always villainous, presenting a false claim to be the hero that must be rebutted for the happy ending . Examples of characters who display this trait, and interfere with the success of a tale's hero, are the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella who chopped off parts of their feet to fit in

15368-555: The particular societies with which they are concerned". While most cultures believe witchcraft to be something willful, some Indigenous peoples in Africa and Melanesia believe witches have a substance or an evil spirit in their bodies that drives them to do harm. Such substances may be believed to act on their own while the witch is sleeping or unaware. The Dobu people believe women work harmful magic in their sleep while men work it while awake. Further, in cultures where substances within

15504-740: The past, and at times, tempts scholars and historians to construct a world of black and white in which the terms "hero" and "villain" are used arbitrary and with the pass of time become interchangeable. These binaries of course are reflected to varying degrees in endless movies, novels, and other fictional and non-fictional narratives. As processes of globalization connect the world, cultures with different historical trajectories and political traditions will need to find ways to work together not only economically, but also politically. In this evolving framework of globalization, tradition, according to political theorists like Edmund Burke , historical figures perceived and evaluated as either positive or negative become

15640-531: The present. According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions there is "difficulty of defining 'witches' and 'witchcraft' across cultures—terms that, quite apart from their connotations in popular culture, may include an array of traditional or faith healing practices". Anthropologist Fiona Bowie notes that the terms "witchcraft" and "witch" are used differently by scholars and

15776-431: The shoe. Another role for the villain would be the dispatcher, who sends the hero on their quest . At the beginning of the story, their request may appear benevolent or innocent, but the dispatcher's real intentions might be to send the hero on a journey in the hopes of being rid of them. The roles and influence that villains can have over a narrative can also be transferred to other characters – to continue their role in

15912-412: The situation", "the worthiness of the cause", "and the perception of one's ability". Plato's Laches discusses courage, but fails to come to a satisfactory conclusion on what courage is. Many definitions of courage are offered, including: ...a man willing to remain at his post and to defend himself against the enemy without running away... ...a sort of endurance of the soul... ...knowledge of

16048-415: The sources tended to be those of low status who were weak or otherwise marginalized, including women, foreigners, actors, and peddlers. The Law Code of Hammurabi ( 18th century BCE ) allowed someone accused of witchcraft (harmful magic) to undergo trial by ordeal , by jumping into a holy river. If they drowned, they were deemed guilty and the accuser inherited the guilty person's estate. If they survived,

16184-664: The term "witchcraft" for similar beliefs about harmful occult practices in different cultures, and these societies often use the term when speaking in English. Belief in witchcraft as malevolent magic is attested from ancient Mesopotamia , and in Europe , belief in witches traces back to classical antiquity . In medieval and early modern Europe , accused witches were usually women who were believed to have secretly used black magic ( maleficium ) against their own community. Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by their neighbors and followed from social tensions. Witches were sometimes said to have communed with demons or with

16320-459: The term "witchcraft" for the actions of those who inflict harm by their inborn power and used "sorcery" for those who needed tools to do so. Historians found these definitions difficult to apply to European witchcraft, where witches were believed to use physical techniques, as well as some who were believed to cause harm by thought alone. The distinction "has now largely been abandoned, although some anthropologists still sometimes find it relevant to

16456-684: The term "witchcraft" or " pagan witchcraft " for their beliefs and practices. Other neo-pagans avoid the term due to its negative connotations. The most common meaning of "witchcraft" worldwide is the use of harmful magic. Belief in malevolent magic and the concept of witchcraft has lasted throughout recorded history and has been found in cultures worldwide, regardless of development. Most societies have feared an ability by some individuals to cause supernatural harm and misfortune to others. This may come from mankind's tendency "to want to assign occurrences of remarkable good or bad luck to agency, either human or superhuman". Historians and anthropologists see

16592-511: The term to servant spirit-animals which are described as a part of the witch's own soul. Necromancy is the practice of conjuring the spirits of the dead for divination or prophecy , although the term has also been applied to raising the dead for other purposes. The biblical Witch of Endor performed it (1 Samuel 28th chapter), and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham : "Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to

16728-399: The villain character is not always the same as those that appear in modern and postmodern incarnations, as the lines of morality are often blurred to imply a sense of ambiguity or affected by historical context and cultural ideas. Often the delineation of heroes and villains in such literature is left unclear. Nevertheless, there are some exceptions to this such as Grendel from Beowulf who

16864-502: The villainous Delilah and George Sanders as the villainous Prince of Gaza . In 1953, Byron Haskin made a film of The War of the Worlds . Like the book, it has Martians as villains. Cecil B. DeMille 's 1956 remake of The Ten Commandments had two main villains. Ramesses II , played by Yul Brynner and Dathan played by Edward G. Robinson . (It also had Nefertari be a Lady Macbeth figure egging Ramesses on.) In 1960,

17000-488: The villains of many stories. Neil Gaiman 's Coraline presents this phenomenon through the idea of the other-mother. In Coraline , the Other Mother is a loving, caring parent who welcomes Coraline to a new life, helping in the face of troubles back home. By glorifying this other mother, the story paints Coraline's real mother as negligent, in turn causing her to be the villain of the story. Disney films also take on

17136-442: The virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality." In Beyond Good and Evil , Friedrich Nietzsche describes master–slave morality , in which a noble man regards himself as a "determiner of values"; one who does not require approval, but passes judgment. Later, in the same text, he lists man's four virtues as courage, insight, sympathy, and solitude, and goes on to emphasize

17272-482: The witch archetype. In some parts of the world, it is believed witches can shapeshift into animals, or that the witch's spirit travels apart from their body and takes an animal form, an activity often associated with shamanism . Another widespread belief is that witches have an animal helper. In English these are often called " familiars ", and meant an evil spirit or demon that had taken an animal form. As researchers examined traditions in other regions, they widened

17408-464: The witch who practiced maleficium —that is, magic used for harmful ends". In the early years of the European witch hunts "the cunning folk were widely tolerated by church, state and general populace". Some of the more hostile churchmen and secular authorities tried to smear folk-healers and magic-workers by falsely branding them 'witches' and associating them with harmful 'witchcraft', but generally

17544-404: The word. In fact, Anglo-American senses of it now take at least four different forms, although the one discussed above seems still to be the most widespread and frequent. The others define the witch figure as any person who uses magic   ... or as the practitioner of nature-based Pagan religion; or as a symbol of independent female authority and resistance to male domination. All have validity in

17680-497: The world, accusations of witchcraft are often linked to social and economic tensions. Females are most often accused, but in some cultures it is mostly males. In many societies, accusations are directed mainly against the elderly, but in others age is not a factor, and in some cultures it is mainly adolescents who are accused. Éva Pócs writes that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories. The first three of which were proposed by Richard Kieckhefer , and

17816-555: The world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence stemming from witchcraft accusations. Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in Britain, including the much publicized case of the murder of Victoria Climbié . Magic was an important part of ancient Mesopotamian religion and society, which distinguished between 'good' (helpful) and 'bad' (harmful) rites. In ancient Mesopotamia , they mainly used counter-magic against witchcraft ( kišpū ), but

17952-401: The world, witches have been thought to gather at night, when normal humans are inactive, and also at their most vulnerable in sleep". In most cultures, witches at these gatherings are thought to transgress social norms by engaging in cannibalism, incest and open nudity. Witches around the world commonly have associations with animals. Rodney Needham identified this as a defining feature of

18088-680: Was wicca ('male sorcerer'). According to the Oxford English Dictionary , wicce and wicca were probably derived from the Old English verb wiccian , meaning 'to practice witchcraft'. Wiccian has a cognate in Middle Low German wicken (attested from the 13th century). The further etymology of this word is problematic. It has no clear cognates in other Germanic languages outside of English and Low German, and there are numerous possibilities for

18224-533: Was E. E. Evans-Pritchard 's Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande , a study of Azande witchcraft beliefs published in 1937. This provided definitions for witchcraft which became a convention in anthropology. However, some researchers argue that the general adoption of Evans-Pritchard's definitions constrained discussion of witchcraft beliefs, and even broader discussion of magic and religion , in ways that his work does not support. Evans-Pritchard reserved

18360-549: Was particularly likely to be suspected when a disease came on unusually swiftly, lingered unusually long, could not be diagnosed clearly, or presented some other unusual symptoms". A common belief in cultures worldwide is that witches tend to use something from their target's body to work magic against them; for example hair, nail clippings, clothing, or bodily waste. Such beliefs are found in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, and North America. Another widespread belief among Indigenous peoples in Africa and North America

18496-672: Was suggested by Richard Horsley that 'diviner-healers' ( devins-guerisseurs ) made up a significant proportion of those tried for witchcraft in France and Switzerland, but more recent surveys conclude that they made up less than 2% of the accused. However, Éva Pócs says that half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers, and Kathleen Stokker says the "vast majority" of Norway's accused witches were folk healers. Societies that believe (or believed) in witchcraft also believe that it can be thwarted in various ways. One common way

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