ummm so, idk why but I was thinking about it and like, a lot of 'complex' villainess characters - they're complex due to the genre. As a category, they aren't very diverse and idk in doing so that makes them ig not complex as a result.
Like hear me out, if author writes a story about MC becoming the villainess, they aren't going to take the static villainess route from the hero's perspective, that's not going to be a 'good' or ig socially acceptable character would make more sense? So, they have to create the so-called complex character, not because it is complex, but because it's acceptable. They're complexity isn't really complexity as it is formulaic. They don't necessarily even know what makes a character complex, they just have to be able to 'side with the villainess' and that will eventually lead to a supposed complex character with varying motives.
But idk that's not ig real complexity, which I guess is not really complexity at this point (?). Like, I see some people complaining about the genericness of some characters and so on, but like, think about it this way. The author doesn't really have much of a choice in villainess plot. It's easier to make some tragic backstory than to create some sort of deep philosophical ideal as to why they might do so and so even if it's dangerous. Like, imo, the latter would be more jg controversial but more interesting. They can't risk people not agreeing or they just don't think of it. This leads to genericness and furthermore, a lack of ig real complexity... where the characters seem complex but really idk it's not that hard to make.
Umm the set up is already there. The MC is the villainess, thereby they usually automatically have faults. This is especially the case for if it's the villainess returning back in time. Something must have gone wrong and that usually (unless author is really stupid) leads to the necessary flaws. But when you think about it, is that really complex? You have the option to go back in time, the MC's fundamental personality has likely gone under severe reparations, then are those old personality traits still technically applicable as 'flaws'? I mean, yes they still remember but when I tried to consider them separately, idk I found that those fix-it villainess characters are pretty... uncomplex. Beyond regretting certain actions, they're not actually really all that special. I'd even argue that they're pretty uncomplex because now that they are living their second life they only really have 3 maybe 4 modes: regret, happiness at chance to redo things, bravery in face of time line change, and ig the lovey dovey.
Granted not all villainess reincarnation plots do this and it's not fair to say all of them are like this and that's not what I'm saying, but ig a lot of them are tbh, at least from what I've read. They all have the same base structure and idk, it seemed kind of weird to the point where it's not simply a matter of copying an idea.
Of course, I'm not saying your favourite character is dumb or anything, it's just something I thought of ig.
idk I can't sleep and finding a reason as to why so many reincarnation stories have similar character types seemed more interesting.
(this is so long and idk how I got here...)
want to do question
did explain a manga plot badly
