Why do Villain origin stories so often revolve around a girl?

If you watch many films & TV shows, you'll notice that there are many, many times when see a man becoming evil (I am talking about male Villains specifically here). However, how the man becomes the Villain almost always seems to revolve around a girl who he loved. Maybe it's through his true love being murdered, maybe it's a fear of his true love dying or maybe his true love betraying him. Whatever the case is, A heroes turn to evil often seems to be through a girl.

Below is a list of men who turned evil as a result of girl.

Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars

Slade Wilson - Arrow

Harvey Dent - The Dark Knight

Adam Monroe - Heroes

Cyrus (the Joker Rising)

Davis Bloom - Smallville (though technically it wasn't entirely to do with a girl, but in a way it was still centered around a girl that helped him to be evil)

So yeah... You get the picture! There are a lot of Villains who became evil through a girl in one way or another. Has anyone else noticed this?

Does anyone else thing it gets overused? And is starting to get a bit cliche?

Why do Villain origin stories so often revolve around a girl?

Women ruin men's lives.

I dunno...world domination & destruction seem to be a more cliched motive than women.

I mean 3 of the villains you mentioned are from tv dramas where women are usually the source of the drama.

Because writers are lazy and rely on old, traditional gendered cliches.

Because truth in television.

Originally posted by Mindset
Women ruin men's lives.

Originally posted by Mindset
Women ruin everyone's lives.

Actually.... I've thought of another Villain to add to the list. Malcolm Merlyn from Arrow.

The Trojan War. A woman started that.

Dracula

Mr Freeze

Borat

Davy Jones (Pirates of the Carib)

Hugh Jackman / The Prestige

Johnny in The Karate Kid

Ra's Al Ghul

Dr Octopus

Sandman

Raoul / Skyfall

Jason Voorhees

Inception

Law Abiding Citizen

The Mummy

Toy Story / Woody and Purple Bear

Tony Almeida in 24

Elektra King / World is Not Enough

Adam's wife Eve

hollywood wants us to believe that in real life, pussy has that kind of power over men

Originally posted by relentless1
hollywood wants us to believe that in real life, pussy has that kind of power over men

But... it does?

not really no

Originally posted by relentless1
not really no

Maybe not for you and I, the extreme minority.

Welcome, to the real world.

Because a man's life often does more or less revolve around a girl in real life.

Joe DiMaggio to Marilyn Monroe, for example.

Originally posted by NemeBro
Because a man's life often does more or less revolve around a girl in real life.

Joe DiMaggio to Marilyn Monroe, for example.

Plus, people know that one way to make a great villain is to make him sympathetic, and an easy way to do this is to add a motivation that others can relate to or get behind like dead girlfriends or family.

I've always preferred "genius/the ends justify the means" or "insane/did it for the lols" type villains myself, like Ozymandias, Green Goblin, Ras' Al Ghul, Alex DeLarge (Clockwork Orange), the Joker, Moriarty, Khan, Tywin Lannister, The Boltons, (etc...).

Never much cared for redeemable villains. I like my bad guys bad and bigger than life.

I like Dark Heart from the Care Bears. He has no motives he just knows that being a shape shifting ****er upperer is way more awesome than feelings.

Originally posted by C-3POTheClever
If you watch many films & TV shows, you'll notice that there are many, many times when see a man becoming evil (I am talking about male Villains specifically here). However, how the man becomes the Villain almost always seems to revolve around a girl who he loved. Maybe it's through his true love being murdered, maybe it's a fear of his true love dying or maybe his true love betraying him. Whatever the case is, A heroes turn to evil often seems to be through a girl.

Below is a list of men who turned evil as a result of girl.

Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars

Slade Wilson - Arrow

Harvey Dent - The Dark Knight

Adam Monroe - Heroes

Cyrus (the Joker Rising)

Davis Bloom - Smallville (though technically it wasn't entirely to do with a girl, but in a way it was still centered around a girl that helped him to be evil)

So yeah... You get the picture! There are a lot of Villains who became evil through a girl in one way or another. Has anyone else noticed this?

Does anyone else thing it gets overused? And is starting to get a bit cliche?

Why do Villain origin stories so often revolve around a girl?

it is how it is written.. there will always be some sort of women imperilment surrounding the villain or good guy turned bad guy ...

Originally posted by Arachnid1
This.

Plus, people know that one way to make a great villain is to make him sympathetic, and an easy way to do this is to add a motivation that others can relate to or get behind like dead girlfriends or family.

Personally, I prefer other types of Sympathetic Villains. I think they can be more interesting. For example - TwoFace's backstory in the comics is far more interesting than it is in the Dark Knight in y opinion. Also, Sylar from Heroes is a much more sympathetic Villain, because his power is a curse that consumed him. I find him really interesting. I guess I prefer that kind of Villain.

Originally posted by Arachnid1
This.
I've always preferred "genius/the ends justify the means" or "insane/did it for the lols" type villains myself, like Ozymandias, Green Goblin, Ras' Al Ghul, Alex DeLarge (Clockwork Orange), the Joker, Moriarty, Khan, Tywin Lannister, The Boltons, (etc...).

Never much cared for redeemable villains. I like my bad guys bad and bigger than life.

Well (going by Batman Begins) I'm not sure Ras al Ghul quite fits in the 'doing it for lols' bracket, because he did seem to genuinly believe that what he was doing was the right thing/. From his point of view Gotham was a wicked city that deserved to be punished, so while he is a bad guy, he's not quite like the Joker.

Also, (going by Spider-man 1) It appears Norman Osborn developed a bit a split personality/Schizophrenia. I think left to himself, he wasn't particularly evil, but this other being basically took control over him, & made him into the monster we all know. He was basically driven insane.

"That's the story of, that's the glory of, love."