criminal vs villain

criminal

noun
  • A person who is guilty of a crime, notably breaking the law. 

adj
  • Against the law; forbidden by law. 

  • Guilty of breaking the law. 

  • Abhorrent or very undesirable. 

  • Of or relating to crime or penal law. 

villain

noun
  • An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes. 

  • A vile, wicked person. 

  • Any opponent player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: hero (“the current player”). 

  • In fiction, a character who has the role of being bad, especially antagonizing the hero. 

  • A deliberate scoundrel. 

How often have the words criminal and villain occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )