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In film and cinema, villains are just as important as heroes. For every protagonist, there is an antagonist. Most times, the antagonist’s success connotes the protagonist’s downfall and vice versa, so it is safe to say that the villains in fact enhance the relevance of the heroes and the story at large. Film industries across the globe have had this figured out for as long as they’ve existed and have given villains great background stories, strengths, weaknesses, and even some good traits that help to breathe life into the film, and our very own Nollywood is not left behind.
Nollywood villains have really levelled up and evolved as times change, to conform with the present reality of Nigerian society. Since the cinema is said to be a reflection of its own society, it is not hard to see where Nollywood gets its villains from.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, when witchcraft, secret societies and ritualism were big topics in the Nigerian public space, the likes of Kanayo O Kanayo, Pete Edochie, Margaret Dele Olaynka (Iya Gbonkan) and Patience Ozokwor, among others, regularly played the characters who were wicked just for the sake of it and were always on the side of evil.
When you think of Nollywood villains in the mid-2000s, that was the era when cultism became rampant on Nigerian campuses, Nollywood also moved with the tide with university campus villains – the story of student cult groups that terrorise fellow students on campus. It was also the era of robbery kingpins and movies like ‘Derico’ and ‘Issakaba’, among others remind you of the likes of Gentle Jack, and Hanks Anuku.
In the present age when fraud and drug-related issues have become prevalent and the consciousness of young citizens are being awakened to national politics and the in-fighting among the political class, the Nollywood villain storyline has also evolved from witchcraft, cultism and money rituals to stories on politics and the desperation of young people to get rich quick by any means – including organ trafficking.
Take, for instance, Aboderin a.k.a ‘Scar’ from the 2023 mini-series, Shanty Town.
Scar, played by the famous Nollywood actor, Chidi Mokeme, was many things – a pimp, a tyrant, a drug trafficker, an abuser, an organ harvester, and of course, a murderer. I mean, we watched him sexually harass the sex workers and cut down one of them (while she was still breathing!).
On the surface, it was quite obvious that he was merely a pawn in the governorship aspirant, Chief Fernandez’s underground schemes, but a deep look into the “Scar” character, in general, will uncover that he was, in fact, a victim of manipulation and child abandonment. As revealed in a conversation with Dame Dakota, Chief Fernandez’s opposition, Scar was the chief’s bastard son whom he had abandoned with his mother in Shanty Town, and your guess is as good as mine – the chief played practically no role in raising him. But somehow, he was able to gain Scar’s full loyalty and use him for all his dirty work and illegal business. Scar did all that he was instructed out of a deep desire to gain his father’s approval. Politics, organ trafficking, prostitution, and drug trafficking among many other anti-social vices common in today’s Nigerian society were captured in Shanty Town.
We also have Akin from the 2022 movie, Brotherhood, played by Tobi Bakre.
In the opening scene, it’s the night of New Year’s day and a family – a father, mother, and their twin boys – are in a car, probably on their way home from a little New Year’s day celebration when they’re waylaid by robbers. The robbers killed the boys’ parents and that marks the beginning of their stories; two boys alone in the world with nothing except each other. One, Wale, grew up and became a police officer and the other, Akin, became a criminal, who was once again just getting out of prison in the second scene.
The police officer had a touching story to tell when he was asked his reason for joining the force, but the criminal had an even more compelling story. Akin got arrested and imprisoned for the first time ever for stealing money to buy drugs for his sick twin brother – you have to feel some form of empathy for him.
In another scene where Wale, the police officer, was getting married to his boss’ daughter, Akin shows up at the wedding despite his twin brother’s stern warnings forbidding him to do so. Akin and his gang, the Ojuju Boys, made quite a scene at the event, and his actions almost cost Wale his job. But Akin didn’t mean to get Wale in any kind of trouble, he just wanted to be there to celebrate with his brother. No matter how much Wale pushed him away, Akin never failed to show that he loved him, regardless. The story mirrors the get-rich-quick syndrome among many young Nigerians and their desperation to flaunt their wealth on social media for validation.
On the other hand, Nollywood has succeeded in drawing us to the villains by means of charisma, or, better yet, “actor tax”; case in point, Oga Rambo from yet another mini-series, Far from Home.
The character was played by Bolanle Ninalowo, one of Nollywood’s most famous and good-looking actors. Now, if you watched Far from Home, you might remember that Oga Rambo wasn’t as much of a “bad guy” as the movie tried to portray him to be. He never really set out to hurt anyone, he was only interested in his drug business (which is also an illegal business) and he “took care of” anyone who stood in his way or stole from him.
He also eventually became the main character, Ishaya Bello’s boss. In this case, it was the protagonist who gave relevance to the bad guy in the story!
However, the character, with the help of the actor, did the production some good. According to feedback from quite a number of viewers, he added a peculiar twist to the film and sparked up their viewing experience.
Another villain who was given the privilege of an intriguing story by the writers is Nnamdi Nwokeji from one Showmax’s recent mini-series, Diiche.
The series started with the investigation of the murder of a famous film producer, Nnamdi Nwokeji, the morning after his engagement party, and as the plot unfolds, we uncover the shady life of Nnamdi.
The investigation (and the plot at large) revealed that he was a dubious man whose dealings might have caused him to have a few enemies, one of whom possibly wanted him dead. There was his business partner and friend, Jimi, whose signature Nnamdi had forged to close fraudulent deals. There was also “Ichie G-Money”, an investor who was deceived into pushing ₦20 billion for a project that would never have been executed even if Nnamdi hadn’t been murdered.
Amidst all that chaos, the plot also revealed that he was paid a sum of ₦50 million to propose to Diiche, the lead character and co-producer of the film he had been working on before he was murdered. However, he planned to never show up at the wedding. He had given his actual girlfriend, Esosa, Diiche’s manager, the impression that they would leave together, but he never bought her a ticket. Phew! What a guy.
So, as seen with these four characters, Nollywood story writers are doing very well with the villains by giving them more significance in the stories, exploring different parts of their lives, and even giving them backstories. This reflects the great improvement in our storytelling and movie production. Unlike before, you might get intrigued by bad guys and even find yourself understanding them and their motives, as against merely hoping for their downfall.
The post Rise Of The Villains: How Antagonist Characters Are Reshaping Nollywood appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
