Good-looking heroes; bad-looking villains

[HermioneLandry]

Originally Posted by RosieWildsmith

I think we need to separate the books from the movies when thinking about the looks of characters. I always imagined Hermione as not being particularly attractive. I seem to remember she was always described with "prominent teeth" and "bushy hair". Then in the movies we have Emma Watson. I know it's a matter of opinion but she seems pretty photogenic to me! Ugly people don't sell cinema tickets - that's the blunt, sad truth.

In an interview I saw by J.K. Rowling, she at first noticed how attractive young Emma Watson was when they cast her, totally different from how she was portrayed in the books, but Rowling's opinion completely changed when she saw how Emma handled the part.

[Divvie]

Originally Posted by HermioneLandry

... but Rowling's opinion completely changed when she saw how Emma handled the part.

Well, she did manage to convey "know it all" and bossiness rather well indeed, so I do think that EW did a good job despite being a bit too glamorous in the looks department.

[asdfasdf17]

I would agree, there is a mix of good/bad looking heroes and villains.
Attractive and bad: Voldemort (before he ripped his soul), pre-Azkaban Bella, Cissy (although Harry does comment that her good looks are ruined by her facial expression), Grindelwald (when he was young), Blaise's mom, Lockhart.
Attractive and good: Pre-Azkaban Sirius, Cedric, Bill Weasley, Ginny, Lily, Fleur.
Unattractive and bad: Fenrir Greyback, Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy, Umbridge.
Unattractive and good: Hagrid, Mad eye, Snape.
Average looking: IMO Harry, Ron and Hermione always seemed average, Remus, Tonks, Neville, Luna. But these are all good people, I can't really think of any average looking villains.
With that in mind I do think JKR overcame those types of stereotypes.
Except I have to agree with some people who said that the Slytherins tend to be described as less attractive, although this could be just because Harry doesn't like them? There are Slytherin's who aren't describe as either really good looking or not. Draco, as well as Lucius, (obviously I'm talking about the book versions!) would fall under this. Regulus is described as being "rather less handsome then Sirius had been" although I'm not sure if this is a nice way of saying he was unattractive or just saying he wasn't quite as good-looking as Sirius?
Then there are many characters whose looks are hardly describe (Yaxley, Nott, a lot of the Death Eaters) so we can't really tell from that.

[horcrux4]

I'm surprised you put Umbridge with the attractive villains - I can't say I find toads all that good looking!

[asdfasdf17]

Originally Posted by horcrux4

I'm surprised you put Umbridge with the attractive villains - I can't say I find toads all that good looking!

Oops! I meant to put her in unattractive. I'll fix that

[birdi86]

Originally Posted by halfbreedlover

Draco Malfoy is described numerous times as having a "pale rat face", which doesn't sound attractive to me.

He's never described as looking like a rat. Wormtail, maybe, but not Draco. "Pointy" can go many ways, you can assume rat-faced or, like Kreacher, you can just assume he is delicate and fine-boned which usually just is a term to refer to people with small noses, high cheekbones, and narrow chins. Tom Felton could be described as fine-boned and some people find him very attractive.

Likewise, if the worst that can be said about Pansy is that she has a pug-nose, she doesn't necessarily have to be ugly. The girl who played her in HBP had a pug nose and she was very pretty.

They're both described in rather neutral terms.

[ShadowSonic]

Pansy being ugly doesn't make a lot of sense anyways, would someone as egotistical as Draco want to be with her if she was truly ugly? If she does have a pug nose it probably is the pretty version, like Scarlett Byrnes'.

[Goddess_Clio]

Originally Posted by asdfasdf17

Average looking: IMO Harry, Ron and Hermione always seemed average

I agree with most of your list but I do wish to point out that Hermione comments in HBP that Harry has become "quite fanciable" which, at least to me, implies that he became more than "average" in his looks and became "attractive." Whether he would have been considered "attractive" throughout all the books is debatable but HBP does suggest he was good-looking.

[ShadowSonic]

Ron and Harry are probably both good looking, if Ron was supposed to look like Bill and Hermione wasn't just giving Harry an esteem booster.

[asdfasdf17]

Originally Posted by Goddess_Clio

I agree with most of your list but I do wish to point out that Hermione comments in HBP that Harry has become "quite fanciable" which, at least to me, implies that he became more than "average" in his looks and became "attractive." Whether he would have been considered "attractive" throughout all the books is debatable but HBP does suggest he was good-looking.

That makes sense too. But I had thought she had said he was fanciable because he was the "Chosen One" and girls like famous guys.

[GryffindorGirl2]

I don't think that is necessarily true for Harry Potter.

Hermione was portrayed in the books as being average looking, and even slightly ugly, what with her frizzy hair and buck teeth. She does get better looking throughout the series (especially after she shrinks her teeth), but she was never described as being really pretty (with the exception of the Yule Ball). Also Neville Longbottom was never described as being good looking. Snape was described as being rather ugly, what with his hooked nose and greasy hair. Merope was incredibly ugly, and she wasn't a bad guy (though not a good guy either...)

Narcissa was very pretty (though her constant scowl took away some of her beauty), and so was Bellatrix Lestrange (before her long stay in Azkaban). Regulus Black was handsom as well (though i'm not sure he can really be considered a villain). Grindlewald was described as being a very good looking boy. Tom Riddle was very handsom (until he mutilated his soul, which in turn mutilated his good looks). Tom Riddle Sr. was very handsom as well and he could definetely be considered a bad guy, seeing as he skipped out on his pregnant wife and unborn son.

[Marlo]

JK Rowling, in one of her interviews, said that Harry, Hermione, and Harry were supposed to be dorky and that Emma, Rupert, and Daniel were too good looking for the roles. So they weren't really supposed to be the typical good looking heroes/heroines.

[JenniferPotter1]

i think that's true haha :-) although yeah it does depend on what you think is good looking or bad looking :-)
for example, some may not think Sirius is there 'cup of tea' whereas i think he is lovely :-) but Peter is yeah, quite unattractive haha :-)
but on the other hand, my brother said that Bellatrix was hot in an evil kind of way so :-)

[StarsAndShadows]

Originally Posted by horcrux4

I'm surprised you put Umbridge with the attractive villains - I can't say I find toads all that good looking!

Imelda Staunton doesn't look like a toad, though, and she's not bad looking.

Oh, are you only talking about book characters, not actors playing them?

I'm not sure Ron is supposed to be good-looking in the books. The only male Weasley who's described as handsome is Bill, IIRC.

In general, the actors and actresses cast are better-looking than their book characters. Hermione is a case in point, but so are, for example, Oliver Wood or Percy Weasley.

In the attractive villains category, in canon we have of course Tom Riddle before he became Voldemort. In the movies, both Lucius and Draco Malfoy are better-looking than described.

[ShadowSonic]

I think Ron is supposed to be attractive, it's just that we read all descriptions from Harry's POV and Harry only finds older guys attractive.

[Hes]

Originally Posted by StarsAndShadows

Imelda Staunton doesn't look like a toad, though, and she's not bad looking.

Oh, are you only talking about book characters, not actors playing them?

I'm not sure Ron is supposed to be good-looking in the books. The only male Weasley who's described as handsome is Bill, IIRC.

In general, the actors and actresses cast are better-looking than their book characters. Hermione is a case in point, but so are, for example, Oliver Wood or Percy Weasley.

In the attractive villains category, in canon we have of course Tom Riddle before he became Voldemort. In the movies, both Lucius and Draco Malfoy are better-looking than described.

Let´s stick to the book characters here. We have a whole forum, Muggle Studies about the movies.

[Verena]

My reasoning is a bit twisted, but... I had thought that, growing up, Harry becomes more attractive because if JKR writes “He was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance neither James’s nor Harry’s could ever have achieved” (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - chapter 28 Snape’s worst memory) could mean that somehow Harry and his father can be compared with other attractive guys, it’s a bit like to say that him and his father are good-looking guys, but not to the level of Sirius (in this case), otherwise why JKR had to specify “neither James’s nor Harry’s”? She would have said that neither Peter nor Remus could ever have achieved and she would have excluded Harry and his father, so it is not totally excluded or denied their good looks. At least I think...
So among attractive good characters (Lily, Ginny, Fleur, Cho, Cedric, Bill) I would put also Harry and James.

[StarsAndShadows]

Originally Posted by Verena

So among attractive and good characters (Lily, Ginny, Fleur, Cho, Cedric, Bill) I would put also Harry and James.

Definitely! I always pictured James as very attractive, which explains part of his popularity, besides his Quidditch prowesses. In fact, quite as dashing as Sirius, though maybe in a slightly different way. While Sirius was content to watch his friend, James was more of a show-off (ok, an "arrogant toe-rag"). Both he and Harry had a full head of hair, even if it didn't fall "with a sort of casual elegance" like Sirius' did, and, as far as we know, nice faces.

And Hes, I'm sorry, I didn't know.

[GingerCat1]

I personally imagine Harry and James as very average looking. Not good looking but not at all ugly either. THey are the type of people that you could walk past in the street and forget about 10 seconds later.

As for Ron i think Ron has a physical appearance similar to Bill (as i think it is mentioned somewhere that they look a bit similar) and to girls Ron is the type of guy who to some girls he is very good looking but to other girls he is not good looking at all. So Harry is completely in the middle ground and Ron is at either end of the spectrum if that makes sense.