Female Villains

[NOIRTRASH]

I've found no female hard-crime-noir villains. There are a few half-assed female villains but none go the whole hog as most male villains usually go. So I created one. My mother was an arch villain of the female flavor, but I suppose she was rare.

I come from big men who generally squash lil assholes, but my ma was small and petit....and packed a pistol in her purse. She suffered no disrespect from anyone. On one occasion she stuck her pistol against my nose after I guessed her participation in arson. She and my old man were organized crime associates, and I hadda interesting childhood, but female hoods were uncommon. So ny ma will be the mold for those to come.

 

[oggbashan]

Sapper's Bulldog Drummond faced a villain - Irma Peterson in The Female of the Species:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/978754.The_Female_of_the_Species

 

[ishtat]

I've found no female hard-crime-noir villains. There are a few half-assed female villains but none go the whole hog as most male villains usually go. So I created one. My mother was an arch villain of the female flavor, but I suppose she was rare.
.

I woulda thought Nurse Ratched (One flew over the cuckoos nest ) might be a useful model to work on

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Sapper's Bulldog Drummond faced a villain - Irma Peterson in The Female of the Species:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/978754.The_Female_of_the_Species

Thank you, I downloaded a Kindle sample.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I woulda thought Nurse Ratched (One flew over the cuckoos nest ) might be a useful model to work on

I want worse if its possible.

My putative character is a police detective with button men like Don Corleone had. In a nutshell she murders her suspects.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

There's an old idea to the effect that when men fall apart, they become outwardly destructive, and when women fall apart, they become inwardly destructive. Without taking it for more than it's worth, there still seems to be something to it. I wouldn't expect male and female villains to act the same, at least often. History seems to bear it out. You do get your Lizzie Bordens, but it's rare enough to make news; and you don't get any real female equivalent of Hitler.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Sapper's Bulldog Drummond faced a villain - Irma Peterson in The Female of the Species:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/978754.The_Female_of_the_Species

That's interesting. To me, Irma Peterson was the central character of a fun radio show fro the 40's and 50's. She was the prototype ditzy blonde and was played by Marie Wilson.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

There's an old idea to the effect that when men fall apart, they become outwardly destructive, and when women fall apart, they become inwardly destructive. Without taking it for more than it's worth, there still seems to be something to it. I wouldn't expect male and female villains to act the same, at least often. History seems to bear it out. You do get your Lizzie Bordens, but it's rare enough to make news; and you don't get any real female equivalent of Hitler.

I've invested years understanding Adolf Hitler. He won a1st Class Iron Cross in World War 1, and was no sissy or coward under fire. But he wasn't personally violent, it took little to earn a transfer to the Russian Front but he never shot anyone or slapped anyone. The horrendous violence was left to Himmler and others. Hitler was actually outraged by reports of egregious persecution of Jews unless they had been Communists, and many were. Himmler rounded all Jews up. Jews Hitler knew lived perfect immunity in Germany if they were military veterans. Hitler was a fanatic nationalist....or fascist. Trump is fascist for the same reason. That said, Abe Lincoln was as bad as Hitler and murdered plenty of slaves who resisted emancipation. Slave status was livestock, and Lincoln destroyed them as enemy livestock. The facts are in old letters and memoirs.

 

[oggbashan]

Images of Irma Peterson, Sapper's villain

https://www.blackgate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/female-paperback.jpg

http://graemeshimmin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Bulldog-Drummond-Carl-Peterson-and-Irma-Peterson-320x240.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/Bulldog_Drummond_(1929)_1.jpg/290px-Bulldog_Drummond_(1929)_1.jpg

https://www.blackgate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/female-stratus.jpg

http://spyguysandgals.com/images/covers/Drummond_Bulldog1.jpg

https://www.blackgate.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/female-alt.jpg

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks08/0800431h-images/BD01-01.jpg

 

[lovecraft68]

If you have Netflix check out the Luke Cage series. Takes place in Harlem and in flashbacks you see a woman who ran the cities underworld as vicious as they come.

 

[ishtat]

Baby Farmers

I find this an interesting question. If one models the female villain or compares her to a male prototype her feminimity kinda loses its point - she might as well be male. However, if she does stuff which is utterly evil and is still unquestionably feminine, then you are onto something - Being biologically female isn't quite enough on its own.

Some of the Victorian 'Baby Farmers' are good examples. Much more prevalent in UK than USA half a dozen Baby farmers were hanged for murdering children placed in their care - some killed on an almost industrial scale for money. And yet these same women were often loving and caring mothers to their own children.

I dunno whether in the USA's South, children were essentially nursed and brought up by black slaves. If so there would be some decent potential for a black woman to kill off white kids. A story around that scenario would also have the racial overtones to stoke folk's fears.

 

[Samuelx]

Plenty of great female villains on TV shows like Gotham and Once Upon A Time.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh might provide some RL inspiration:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilly_Devine
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Leigh

 

[lovecraft68]

Apparently misogyny runs so deep in some men they can't even acknowledge females can be villains. It must be horrible to go through life that insecure.

Female villain to the left in the AV

 

[NOIRTRASH]

Misogyny, racism, and homeopathy made America what it is today! God bless America.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I appreciate the recommendations and decided to roll my own. I was raised by the real deal who knew nuthin about martial arts but knew how to use a gun and prevail over tough guys with other means....like money and private detectives. My favorite memory of her was when she sweetly asked the judge," YOUR HONOR, HOW MUCH IS THE FINE TO INSULT YOU REALLY BAD?" then she added, "PLEASE STOP ME WHEN MY TIME IS UP." It was in the paper.

 

[My I]

A snippet from a story I never finished:

“Cli-cli-click”

The sound was unmistakable. The sound of an automatic pistol’s hammer being drawn back. My breath stopped and my hands slowly reached upwards.

“You’re not a common burglar.” His voice came from close behind me. “The fact that you got past the security system and the dogs tells me you are highly trained. That you are in my computer room tells me you are not looking for money or jewels. So, who are you and who sent you?”

My mind raced. How could I tell him his own boss had sent me? But what lie could I come up with that he would believe? He already had me pegged for the professional that I am.

He grabbed my arm, spinning me around. Reflex took over, my left hand swept across, bashing his right wrist against the door jam. His grip loosened on the gun momentarily and I snatched it away, my right knee impacting his abdomen to drive home my point. He was in good shape, I knew, but a fighter he was not. He crumpled to the floor, I guided him down with my free hand and straddled him, sitting hard on his chest to pin him down. I placed the muzzle of his Beretta firmly under his chin, jabbing it a little harder when he started to protest.

“I work for the highest bidder.” I pulled the spandex hood off my head, shaking my hair out as it fell over my shoulders. “In this case, Transpax Corp.”

His eyes grew wide, shock, disbelief and betrayal all evident in his expression. “Celia? What the fuck? You’re a corporate thief? Why? Why would you do this to me? And Transpax? They fired me years ago because they didn’t like where my research was going. What the hell would they want with it now?”

“I’m sure you have a hundred questions just now. I don’t have time to answer them all. Suffice it to say that Transpax regretted terminating your research before they fully understood its potential. They attempted to contact you to offer your job back. You didn’t return their calls and instead signed with Corvatti Corp. Transpax believes that the research you did while in their employ belongs to them even though they wanted nothing to do with it at the time. So they hired me four months ago to get it back.”

“Four months ago? Before we met! The day at the conference was a set up, wasn’t it? This whole relationship was just a way for you to get inside.”

“Yes, Jack. I had reconned your place beforehand and knew the security system would take too much effort and expensive special equipment to get past. But I also knew you were alone, no wife, no family, no girlfriends. Yes, I set you up. I looked over your Transpax file and watched you for weeks. I arranged to be at the conference and bumped into you on purpose. Sorry about the shirt. Look, don’t be too hard on yourself, Jack, you’re a good looking guy and smart, caring and genuine. Most girls would love that.”

“But not you?”

“You’re joking, right?” His stare remained serious. “Jack you are a great guy. Any woman would be proud to have you on her arm. Yes, even me. But I can’t. What I do is illegal, even though every major corporation on the planet sanctions it. I can’t run the risk of that sort of relationship. I have to admit, you tempted me, but now you know who I really am. There’s no turning back. If I fail to bring this info to Transpax they will send another CT after it and another CT after me.”

“So why are you still here? Why not shoot me with my own gun? Make it look like a suicide and disappear.”

“What do you think I was hired to do?” The sudden change of his expression made me smile.