"A real villain is also useful because he can force the protagonist to make moral choices. Ruthless disregard for moral rules is, after all, a characteristic of the villain. But heroes and heroines can't be like that, no matter how much they might want to be. Once again, the villain becomes a force for good, by challenging the protagonists to come up with a way to defeat evil without becoming evil themselves. The villain is part of their journey to heroism."

Alicia Rasley