"Atypical Villain"

Vampire Diaries Spoilers: Markos Is an "Atypical Villain"

Though we got a shadowy glimpse at The Vampire Diaries’ latest villain in last week’s episode, we still know very little about Markos (Raffi Barsoumian). What does the Traveler leader want with Mystic Falls and our favorite doppelgangers? Paul Wesley (Stefan), who made his directorial debut with the upcoming Season 5, Episode 18 (“Resident Evil”), talked to E! Online about the new big bad…

"The first time he spoke on camera was actually in my episode and he did a really nice job. He's a really good actor. He had a lot of information that he had to unload in some scenes and he handled it very naturally. He surprised me," Paul said of Raffi’s performance and the more in-depth introduction of Markos. "He did a really nice job. I really like him. He played it really well. He's sort of an atypical villain for some reason. I don't think we've had a guy like him before."

It’s always nice to hear about camaraderie between actors (and actors and directors), but we’re most intrigued by Paul’s mention of Markos as an “atypical villain.” What does this mean? How does Markos differ from past TVD villains? Perhaps, it is in his scope. From what we gather, the Other Side may soon be destroyed. Is this Markos’ goal? Given that, until recently, he was living there, we’re not sure what he might be looking to gain from destroying the supernatural purgatory.

Or, perhaps, Markos’ atypicalness has something to do with his motives. Does his planned destruction of the Other Side come out of a noble place? This would be somewhat new for a TVD villain given that so many of them have been motivated by very personal and/or selfish reasons.

Markos is also atypical in that he has legions of followers — another relative first for a TVD villain. Though Klaus may have been building a hybrid army and Silas could pretty much control anyone, Markos’ followers are not only numerous, but their loyalty doesn’t seem to be bought. It appears to be based in faith. Basically, they will do anything for the cause (including lighting themselves on fire). With followers like these, Markos may just be the scariest TVD villain yet.