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Off My Mind: Should Supervillains Wear Costumes?

When they're arrested, their secret identity is revealed so what's the point?

In comic books, a costume can mean everything. For superheroes, it serves as their symbol in fighting evil and sometimes provides them with the anonymity they need to protect their private lives and families. For supervillains, a costume typically serves the same purpose as a ski mask for a regular bank robber. It hides their identity when committing a crime. But when supervillains are apprehended by the heroes and go into custody, their identities become known. What is the point in trying to hide who they are when everyone will already know? 

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There are some case where the costume serves as part of the supervillains' schtick like with Rhino or Mr. Freeze. If the world knows than Norman Osborn was the Green Goblin, would it make any sense for him to bother putting on the costume again? 
 == TEASER == 
In a lot of cases, a villains costume is meant to instill fear in their victims. That could be why Hobgoblin is still using his outfit. But when a lesser villain is constantly getting nabbed by the heroes, you would think they'd try to keep a lower profile. There have been stories where a villain has been skulking around only to get grabbed before they can even commit a crime. If a costumed criminal like the walks into a bank in costume, everyone will know what their intentions are. To deal with this, some villains will even try wearing a trench coat over their costume to make it to the front of the bank teller's line. That doesn't always work since their legs and footwear still show and can be a give-away. 
 
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I do like the visual of heroes and villains wearing costumes. I think it's come to the point where a costume just isn't practical for the smaller villains. If they have been arrested a few times, their best bet for a costume would be to dress as a normal civilian. Unless they're someone like Vulture, it should be all about subtly. If a villain wants to be successful, they have to stop trying to have a flashy look to act as their trademark. All it's doing is asking for someone to bust them and take them to prison. 
 
Is the day of the costume for villains over or should they wear their outfits with pride?

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AndromedaOmega

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Edited By AndromedaOmega

A villains outfit is like part of their persona. Just as a heroes is for them.

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gmanfromheck

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Edited By gmanfromheck
@Dr. Detfink said:
" Always wanted to see the Green Goblin in a Brooks brothers polo and khakis when throwing bombs. "
As close as I could recall. From Spectacular Spider-Man #261. 

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Deadcool

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Edited By Deadcool
@brc2000:  How many RE videogames you have played?
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Demas

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Edited By Demas

Villains should wear costumes so that the heroes don't look silly. :P

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brc2000

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@Deadcool:  First 4
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Deadcool

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@brc2000:  ...
Have you ever played?
 Resident Evil Zero, Resident Evil, Resident Evil Outbreak, Resident Evil Outbreak File 2, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil Code: Veronica, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Resident Evil: Uprising, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: The Missions, Resident Evil 5 or Resident Evil: Degeneration.

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brc2000

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Edited By brc2000
I've played these:
Resident EvilResident Evil 2,Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 4

"
+ I've seen playthroughs of some of the others. The games aren't that bad, but story-wise I don't like it much.
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Deadcool

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Edited By Deadcool
@brc2000:  Wesker is the appears in  Resident Evil Zero (Character), Resident Evil (Villain), Resident Evil Code: Veronica (Villain), Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Playable Character), Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (Cameos) and Resident Evil 5 (Main Villain) he is a better character in the other games, but I really liked him as main villain.
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XFan616

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Edited By XFan616

My first thought was the fear thing, but that's already been touched on hehe. I personally think that a lot of them think that THIS will be the time I (Electro) finally defeat Spider-Man!! They're addicted to the struggle. They love bashing heads with whatever cape happens to see them rush away. 
 
Another possible reason: they're just not very smart.

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The Velvet Rabbit

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I think for a lot of the bad guys it's become a showmanship sort of thing - people like Lex Luthor don't need a costume because they already have these larger-than-life personas, while somebody like Shocker or Riddler invent these otherworldly alter egos to add character.   also, there's people like Hobgoblin and Scarecrow who use their costumes as their major means of intimidation

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Edited By zoist

Villains need costumes for the simple fact that they are characters in a comic book. We're not reading articles in news papers about some crook holding up a liquor store, we're reading fantastic stories of men and women with super powers trying to rule the world. Stop trying to make comics so goddamn realistic all the time. They're comic books, there's supposed to be an element of the absurd in them.

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Edited By sweatboy
@cbishop said:

 Supes said he chose a bright costume so people would see that he's not trying to hide anything.  He's out there, you'll immediately recognize him, and hopefully, trust him.  In a universe where costumes mean recognition and fame, I think the supervillains wear the costumes so people know who they are. 
 
1) The few times I have seen it tried in comics, the artist wasn't good enough to make distinctive characters, and often drew them in the same colored suits, trenchcoats, or whatever.  It made it hard to tell which character was which, when the action actually happened.  NO, I don't want to read that. 
 
2) On the other hand, I think as long as there is a good story going, people won't care whether there are costumes or not.  I also think no costumes lends to the sense of threat level, because anyone in the scene could turn out to have superpowers 

 
@G-man said:    There are some case where the costume serves as part of the supervillains' schtick like with Rhino or Mr. Freeze
CBishop, Hey buddy. So my reply isn't really to you but the whole topic, but yeah 5 pages of comments? 
G-Man nailed it all, AND CB makes a good point, like even in Dragonball i got confused, cos sometimes they wear the same thing but you're supposed to tell them apart BY HAIRCUTS (which change when they go SSJ) That's actually one of the GOOD examples, and this weekend i bought this book (which included) Mr Parker goes to Washington, (part ONE of three) where for the first time i saw...A BUFF PETER PARKER. I'm ok with the idea, but this was a SUPER BUFF picture, but around his wife and employer Stark.  But in PART THREE, Parker looks like a hobo, which i think IS the best peter parker image, but these 2 pictures were like TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. Artists CHANGE and whatever the one before tried to do, the next one MAY or MAY NOT follow, that if not for the S-symbol or bat we could not tell the character.
 
 I think costumes go for heroes as well as villains. Spidey has a reason to cover his face, to protect his identity and thereby protect his loved ones. Now, although it may not be so noble, villains may have a similar reason to cover their face. At least it let's them stay active for slightly longer and i know Hobby, thanks to your (G-Man's) 3 minute enlightenment did just that. Also like you said, some villains (and heroes) are nothing without the suit, like The Mask. Venom HAS to be in costume, or he's either Brock/Gargan or a symbiote. And as Batman used the symbol of a bat to SCARE people, villains could do that. SOMETIMES the villain's face is scarred, (Dr. Doom, Deadpool although we HAVE seen him without a mask in Wolverine Origins) BUT some like Joker (who had a deadpool incident,) milk it. The car, the planes, the hideouts,...almost every batman villain, i mean NO WONDER they called batman gay. (Dont forget Luthor though) Originally these stories were meant to be THEATRICAL, or to catch the reader's eye with a) images or b) catchy names. And in creating characters, isn't designing them the fun part? giving them something that SAYS i'm me?
 
And finally costumes are viewed as immature by "society" but when in X-Men (the first movie) Cykes asked Logan if he was expecting yellow spandex, GUESS WHAT? I WAS
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cbishop

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Edited By cbishop
@sweatboy said:
"...Originally these stories were meant to be THEATRICAL, or to catch the reader's eye with a) images or b) catchy names. And in creating characters, isn't designing them the fun part? giving them something that SAYS i'm me? And finally costumes are viewed as immature by "society" but when in X-Men (the first movie) Cykes asked Logan if he was expecting yellow spandex, GUESS WHAT? I WAS "

Well, that's just it: that scene was a commentary on the comic spandex - it looks great on the page, but it's not so practical for real life - Wolverine would've looked silly in yellow spandex.  Superman & Batman movies keep using the rubber, kevlar, or leather suits, or have to resort to airbrushing certain areas so they aren't showing things they shouldn't be to a younger audience. 
 
I think superhero and supervillain costumes are unquestionably an essential part of the comic.  I mean, I gave pros and cons in the previous post, but really: we want to see costumes.  It doesn't always make sense for the character to be wearing one, but really, we want to see it anyway.
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difficlus

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Edited By difficlus
@Demas said:
" Villains should wear costumes so that the heroes don't look silly. :P "
lol good point but really they don't need to unless there some powerhouses so its won't matter if people notice them. The writers make it for them for appeal and stuff, they don't really need to wear one. 
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Edited By Neverpraying

Yes, yes villains should wear costumes.

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Edited By moviegeek17

Depends on the villain. luthor really doesn't need a costume but he's lex and is the exception to the rule so yeah for the most part they should