Date - 14th August 2026
Book Title - Villains Are Destined To Die
Author - Gwon Gyeoeul (story) and SUOL (art)
For the first official Fireside Friday, I need to start with my favourite manhwa comic of all time - Villain's Are Destined To Die. Not only is the art beautiful, the characters amazing and the story engaging, but it's also just been announced earlier this week that it will be getting an anime adaptation. I cannot sing this series' praises enough, and I really recommend reading the manhwa before the anime comes out.
Genre - Romance Fantasy (manhwa)
Year Released - 2020
Length - 9 Volumes so far
Series or Standalone - series (I've finished Volume 5)
How I Read - Manhwa Comic (and a little of the webtoon a few years ago before I got the printed edition)
Other Adaptations - Light Novel and Webtoon
Villains are Destined to Die follows the story of a regular South Korean college student who dies whilst playing the hard-mode of the game, and becomes the character Penelope Eckhart. The twist - Penelope is the game’s villain. Knowing that she needs to raise the approval rating of the game’s male leads to survive and hopefully return to her world, she sets about trying to change Penelope’s fortunes.
Perspective - Third Person, Present Tense
Tropes - Enemies To Lovers, Redemption, Reverse Harem, Transmigration, Trapped In A Game
Triggers - Abuse (Neglect, Physical and Emotional), Death, Slavery
Review
Setting and Atmosphere
I absolutely love the setting of this story. It has clear elements taken from western history in terms of the fashion, names and buildings in the novel, but with the eastern elements such as with the festivals. The art style for the backgrounds, characters and clothes are all beyond beautiful as well.
Characters and Development
The characters in Villains are Destined to Die are brilliant. You have five main male leads (some romantic, some platonic in nature), and each one feels very different whilst still embodying the different ‘traditional’ male lead tropes - the tyrant, the mystery, the tsundere, the one in servitude, and the one who can’t seem to communicate. Visually, they’re all unique, but their personalities and encounters are all varied. As Penelope engages with them throughout the story and we get to know the characters in more depth, both the main and supporting characters feel dynamic and well developed.
When it comes to Penelope herself, her personality is a nice change of pace from the more flowery heroines of manhwa creations. She makes decisions that sometimes seem a bit callous and mean, but when you take her past into account it makes her seem more real - of course she would be disenchanted with certain characters after knowing how they treated the original Penelope. She’s a clever heroine and uses the system to her full advantage. She knows how to play the characters in this game of survival. She genuinely feels like a badass heroine who doesn’t need anyone’s help, especially in the arc after the hunting festival (which is my absolute favourite part of the comic so far).
Pacing and Plot Development
The story is filled with drama and high-stakes for Penelope. The fact that she has an affection meter and knows that she’s playing on hard-mode as Penelope, means that the constant threat of death looms over her. There is a high level of action compared to many other romance fantasy manhwa out there, which is refreshing and very enjoyable.
There are very few moments within the story that feel like empty space filler, and even those moments are revealed to have been important to the story’s development later on. The creators are also very good at leaving the volumes on a cliffhanger, making you desperate to read the next installment.
There’s the classic manhwa tropes of the hunting festival, town festival, lack of communication, and jealous noblewomen, but the creators throw in twists that make it feel unique within the redeemed villainess genre. Plus, the fact that Penelope often leans into her title as a villainess makes it exciting and paints her as a relatable character, not just a people-pleaser.
Prose and Writing Style
As a comic, this is very easy to read and enjoy. A lot of the story is show-don’t-tell due to the nature of a comic. I find that the language flows nicely and doesn’t require much effort for you to infer what the character means, which is an unfortunate side effect sometimes of Korean-English translated manhwas.
I originally read this (up to the end of the hunting festival) on Tapas online. Since then, I have been reading the printed volumes and have tried to steer clear of any future spoilers. I know that the web novel is complete and the online comic is almost complete, whilst the physical comics (which I read) are still in progress and expected to be between 10 and 12 volumes long. There’s also some very exciting news that an anime adaptation has been officially confirmed as of 9th August 2026.
Favourite Character
Of the male leads, I think Callisto is my favourite by far. I love the dangerous element to him, his design, and the depth of his character.
Penelope is also a very likable main character, as she doesn't feel like she just accepts her fate and always tries t o fight back. I'm a bit of a sucker for strong characters like her!
Favourite Part
The Hunting Festival and subsequent Trial afterward (in Vol. 4 and 5). I absolutely love the drama and pacing of them, and the art style (as always) is brilliant. They were very much scenes where I didn't want to put it down!
Similar to:
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| The Villainess Turns the Hourglass (mahwa) |
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| A Fate of Wrath and Flame (K. A. Tucker, novel) |
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