The Failure of Julia as a Villain
Villains are a staple in the Total Drama series. Without them, there wouldn't be much drama. They are a necessity. Plain and simple. However, some villains do a better job than others in Total Drama which leads me to the topic of discussion... Julia.
First thing first, Julia is very entertaining. She's an amazing character. This review is in no way meant to slander her entertainment value or her worth as a character. She is synonymous with the reboot series, and that goes a long way to say how iconic she is afar as the cast goes. This is meant to anayzle her role as a villain. Opinions are opinions at the end of the day, and we are free to agree or disagree with someone. There is no harm intended towards the people who enjoy Julia. If anything, hopefully these thoughts will provide a different perspective that may open a new way of thinking.
What makes a good villain in Total Drama? Is it how many people they eliminate? Is it how evil they are? Or could it be how many challenges they win? It's crucial to define what we define as a good villain. I'll use previous villains as examples and briefly go over what makes them great. Keep in mind, that no villain is perfect, but it goes a long way to make a villain compelling.
Scott: A crafty villain with a comedic side to him. Scott is someone you know is bad but can't help but be endeared by his charm. His method of villainy revolves around sabotage, a unique trait in the series. Currently, Scott is one of a kind in this department. No other villain can lay claim to sabotage. What makes Scott work? His tactics are not only unique, but they are logical. He strives toward picking off his own team with his charisma and confidence. He's able to function in a team by being polite but switches to devious when he's safe to do so. He does not lay all his cards out at once. The added bonus of his relationship with Fang adds levity to his manipulative nature. He's a great example of a villain who offers a form of strategy while being humorous.
Courtney: An emotionally broken villain set into motion by the actions of other characters. Courtney was the last character introduced in Action, but certainly not the least. Her dynamic with Duncan is one of the best in the season in part due to their romance. We see her rise to villainly after a not so successful time in Island where she was unfairly voted out due to Harold. This leads to her lawsuit which gives her a huge advantage in challenges. Courtney is strong, smart, and determined. She has all the reason in the world to be motivated as she is working towards what she had taken from her. She's a great revenge type villain.
Heather: The original Total Drama villain that laid the foundation down for every villain thereafter. She is the stereotypical mean girl that has one of the most iconic rivarlies in the franchise with Gwen. The classic hero type character versus the antagonist. Heather is a ruthless character that has a multitude of schemes and ploys. She's responsible for a large number of eliminations that aren't without punishment along the way. She recieves her karma in satisfying ways despite her villainly that's entertaining. Her ability to have unique interactions with nearly every character makes her very versatile. She's a rival to Gwen, catty with Leshawna, brains with Lindsay, humorous with Owen, sympathetic with DJ, and vunerable with Harold. She's a villain that adapts and can fit into a lot of character combinations.
Alejandro: Manipulative, charismatic, and always has a plan. Alejandro has no shortage of what it takes to be an amazing antagonist. We have a lot of insight into his strategies which makes for a very compelling villain. The ability to gain the trust with the majority of the cast and to twist that loyalty to his own benefit is phenomenal. What makes Alejandro particularly an amazing villain is his equal and rival in Heather, who is the only character able to keep pace with him. Despite all of Alejandro's strengths, his weakness is Heather who ends up being his downfall in a beautiful sense of emotional irony. We see the process play out in it's entirety. When Alejandro is ahead, Heather is not far behind him and culminates in argubaly one of the best finales that Total Drama has ever written.
Now what comes to mind when we think of Julia as a villain? Well, she relies on immunity and eliminates players when she decides to. This is the totality of Julia as a villain. On it's face, it's not necessarily a bad thing. However, these are traits that make UP part a villain. With Julia, this is her entire character. Unlike previous villains, she is missing a lot of substance that makes a villain compelling. She doesn't have the charisma and humor of Scott. She lacks the motivation of Courtney. She doesn't have a lot of unique character interactions or karma as Heather. And we don't see her insights into strategy or have a rival like Alejandro. Julia exists as a physical reprentation of being a villain without any case. In other words, she's a villain for the sake of being a villain. You could place Julia in any cast and she would be the same character without any deviation. She exists to raise the stakes and only the stakes against other characters who have more complexity to their character.
Season 2 is the death of Julia as her place in the finale solidified that she fails as a villain because she has no connection to anybody in that finale. The only reason she made the finale was through immunity wins and convincing people to vote off other people. There is no story being told with any of this. She doesn't face any obstacles or anybody to challenge her. Her plans never fail and always go the way she intended. That may sound like a good thing but it lacks context. Who is Julia as a character? What makes her tick? What pushes her to do what she does? Beyond the superficial answer of wanting the money, absolutely nothing. Her story is empty.
There was a seed of a compelling quality with Julia in her friendship/alliance with MK. Though, as we later find out, she is completely fine with abandoning her when it benefits her and she suffered no consequence with that action. There is no remorse and she falls back into being a mustache twirling villain that learned nothing. Her loyalty is to herself and despite the show trying to rectify it with MK being okay with it... it fails in the narrative sense because Julia does not develop from that action. Her one shining attribute is flushed down in favor of her making that finale where she has nothing to contribute. She's not a rival to Caleb or Wayne. She isn't entertaining or funny like Scott. There is nothing being told from a storytelling perspective.
What it comes down to is Julia is more like a plot device. She causes the eliminations, she creates drama, and raises the stakes of other characters that do have stories or interactions to tell. Julia is the equivalent of a "Beat 'Em Up" character. She comes in, has a lot of girl boss moments, and then loses to quantify how impressive a win is for a different character. Julia is several steps backwards when it comes to what Total Drama is capable of with when writing a villain. She would more appropriately be tolerable as the the first incarnation of a villain where there aren't all these expecations. Not the most current villain after we've had so many good ones. Julia's actions are more important than what she is as a character which is the unfortunateate circumstance.
All in all, I still enjoy Julia. This is not to bash Julia or say she's terrible. I think there was a lot of potential with her, but the story did a bad job of placing her in a villainous role. It did a disservice to us, the audience, and to Julia as a character. There is nothing wrong if you disagree with any of my points. I'm not here to convert anybody into disliking Julia. This was simply a reflection and analysis of how she was as a villain. When it comes to creative writing and the basic expectations of what a villain should be, Julia unfortunately fails.
