The chilling art of the manic pixie dream assassin
In short: She is a shopping psychopath with an angelic face and a devil's stare. While many see a glamorous, fearless predator, the character of Villanelle is built from a complex mosaic of real-world killers, historical figures, and psychological observations designed to subvert our expectations of feminine violence.
The character of Villanelle, portrayed by Jodie Comer in the BBC America series *Killing Eve* (2018–2022), is far more than a fictional antagonist. Her origins are rooted in real-world brutality; creator Luke Jennings based her on Idoia López Riaño, a Basque separatist hitwoman convicted of 23 murders in the 1990s. To deepen the character for television, writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge drew from the interview of Angela Simpson, an Arizona woman who murdered a victim with a chilling, even giddy, pride.
The character's persona is a deliberate paradox. While she appears as a 'manic pixie dream assassin' who takes joy in haute couture and creative murder, her psychological makeup is far more unsettling. Director Harry Bradbeer utilized a blend of comedy and terror, drawing inspiration from a 2016 Spike Jonze perfume commercial to craft a character who is most dangerous when behaving with playful, innocent, or even 'naughty' energy. This creates a 'weaponized femininity' that exploits societal misogyny, as her gender often prevents observers from immediately perceiving her as a threat.
The name itself carries layers of meaning. The character Oxana Vorontsova adopted her pseudonym from a scent beloved by Comtesse du Barry, who met her end via guillotine in 1793. Some suggest the name is a play on 'villainess,' while critics like Jia Tolentino have compared the series to the villanelle poetic form, noting the repetition of patterns and internal twists. Despite her lack of empathy, the character's allure lies in her ability to mimic human connection, driven by a deep-seated need to fill an internal void.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Villanelle (character)
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