Villians We Love To Hate- The BL Version

Any kind of drama is incomplete without an antagonist. If you don’t have that added flair of jealousy or unimaginable scheming, BL’s would be lackluster.

In today’s edition, we will be talking about the most horrendous villains, who with their despicable acts left us reeling in shock or in contempt. While female antagonists are the norm in the BL industry, we have some certifiable villains who are known for being callous and deviant. Without further ado, let’s check out this weekend’s choices!

Kdarling’s Favorites

This will probably be my shortest list. Villains are a hard write for me. I have an innate sense of empathy that constantly makes me want to apologize for an antagonist’s behavior. I think, deep down, I’d like to believe there is good in everyone and that even the worst of people have reasons for being that way.

That said, there are a few villains I find so morally outside the grey area that they left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Wen Chao – The Untamed

While there are a lot of antagonists in the Chinese bromance The Untamed, Wen Chao certainly takes the lead in unapologetic deviousness. Not once does he feel remotely regretful for his past or the pain he’s caused others. Even when he’s begging for his life, he fell short of making me feel sorry for him. It isn’t often I don’t pity a character. I never pitied him.

Plern Pleng, Together with Me

Some antagonists hit all the wrong buttons. Knock’s girlfriend, Plern, in the Thai BL Together with Me is one of those. I generally hope for some type of redemption arc with a villain, especially when there’s a cheating storyline. I really did want to sympathize with her. But halfway through the series, I found myself so frustrated with her cruel decisions that I fervently prayed she wouldn’t be redeemed.

Han Tae Joo’s Father, Where Your Eyes Linger

Parental homophobia is certainly prevalent in BLs. While some parents find it in their hearts to accept and understand their children and to educate themselves about the community, still others never do. Han Tae Joo’s father refusing to understand his son while also sabotaging his son’s chance at love left him on my ‘villains I certainly love to hate’ list.

Fern, The Best Story

The worst part of Fern’s betrayal for me in The Best Story was the fact that I actually really liked her character. She didn’t seem the sort to allow jealousy to cause her to hurt someone she barely knew. Her decision to out Dew and Best’s burgeoning feelings was petty, and it never seemed she fully understood the magnitude of what she did. While I generally am not a fan of anyone who outs someone else, I’ve found myself reconciling with some characters. Fern, I did not.

Trump, Love by Chance

Trump’s actions in the Thai BL Love by Chance speak clearly, and I’m glad they never attempted to redeem him.

Keng, The Effect

The Effect is one of those dramas those with triggers should go into with extreme caution. I think there is supposed to be room for empathy here, but I never felt it. Because of my own sexual assault history, I found the scenes in The Effect to be traumatizing. Generally, I am able to separate myself from my own experiences when watching a drama or film, but The Effect left my stomach churning. In hindsight, this says alot about how well it was done, but I can’t find it in my heart to understand Keng.

MychelleLove’s Favorites

Lhong (Kaownah Kittipat), TharnType Season One

I spend far too much time hating Lhong for being a sweet liar and an evil person. Everything he did to get Tharn, inadvertently ended up hurting Tharn and in the long run, Lhong himself. He chased away anyone that Tharn loved; because in his twisted mind, he was the right choice for Tharn. He ended up paying the ultimate price whilst losing his best friend because of his actions. I truly appreciate Kittipat Kaewcharoen who played Lhong, as he was truly amazing, He made me love to hate the character and for me, that is something I admire in an actor. The only thing that bothered me was that Lhong never paid for his crimes.

Trump (Phurin Ruangvivatjarus), Love By Chance

Pete’s only desire was to find someone who loved him, but Trump only cared about money. Trump didn’t have much screen time in the drama as compared to the novel, but his evil nature is no secret. Phurin Ruangvivatjarus who played Trump was good at making me dislike him ALOT. He was in debt and went to extreme lengths to blackmail Pete. I wish they could have shown just how evil he was in the series. In the novel, he did some pretty horrendous things to Pete. He was truly notorious and had no heart or soul to speak of. The mark of a good actor is they can get you to hate their character and Phurin did it quite well.

In and Korn’s Fathers (Nhing Nirut Sirijanya played by the talented Mr. Ariyasakul, Korn’s father), Until We Meet Again

I cannot find the name of actor who played Intouch’s Father. They weren’t villains per se, but these two made me the angriest. They weren’t understanding or tolerant. I understand the era they lived in, but these were their sons and they did not deserve such a tragic ending. The pure pain Intouch must have felt all the time, whenever his own Father rebuked him for being gay. Although Korn was used to his father’s brutality, he could stand him mistreating Intouch. This is why we must stop the hate. Sometimes, I wish parents would just accept and let their children be who they are and not force them to be something or someone they are not.

Non (Chayapol Jutama), Dark Blue Kiss

This little boy, Oh I wanted to smack him hard most of the time. He was just so cocky and mean. Chayapol really played his part well. He managed to come between Pete and Kao, something that I never thought was possible. Pete and Kao had been in love for a long time and Non easily messed things up by deceiving, lying, and manipulating stories to benefit himself. In one of the scenes where Pete confronts him, Non acts cocky. He retorts that he will separate Pete and Kao. His dialogue delivery was so on point, that it made me angry. Kudos to Chayapol for making me hate his character so much!

Park (Kaprao Pongkorn), 2Moons2

Park was just a mean person. He liked Wayo and wanted to win him over, but failed miserably. Wayo misunderstood Phana because of Pring. To make him jealous, Wayo goes on a date with Park. The tables turn when Phana clears Wayo’s misunderstandings and they happily reconcile. This drives Park crazy and he does horrendous deeds to take revenge. He sneaks into Wayo’s room, marks him and takes a picture. Makes a lot of photocopies and plasters them all over the University. What did he accomplish with this? Nothing. Kaproa was fantastic in his interpretation. I wished that the story would continue in 2Moons3, but alas I am not sure whether it will.

Fiat (First Chalongrat), TharnType Season Two

Fiat is majorly portrayed as a whiny spoiled brat. All his little tricks and schemes did nothing but make people dislike him. He was my least favorite person in this drama, as the character he played was so annoyingly manipulative. He deliberately created misunderstandings between Tharn & Type to separate them. Likewise, he made me so mad, that I literally wanted to scream. First really played his part well and made the audiences hate him. Although Fiat does apologize later, I couldn’t forgive him for his indiscretions. Leo was the only one who truly loved him. I actually felt sorry for Leo, for being in love with such an annoying spoiled brat.

Aey (Bruce Sirikorn), Lovely Writer

Another annoying villain, he just wanted to be loved but went about it in the wrong way. First, he makes Gene believe that he wants to date Nubsib. Then he tries to convince Nubsib that he likes Gene and is going to snatch him. After thoroughly confusing Gene, he finally confesses his true feelings. At the end of the day, Aey was just a lonely spoiled boy, who is desperately seeking love and comfort. He is so blinded by his obsession, that he fails to see the person who truly adores him. Aey is the kind of person you want to hate, but instead you end up feeling sorry for him.

All of “My Love to Hate Villians” here are amazing actors. Extremely talented in their own right. Kudos to all of them for doing their job and making you hate their characters. They all did that and even more. There are a lot of villainous tropes in BL’s, but these are my favorite ones.

We will be back next week with the second edition of this feature. So till then, keep watching this space as we bring you more updates from the Asian BL World!