Whose more important to the story? The hero or the villain?

In before depends on the setting.

>In before depends on the setting.

of course not

it depends on the story

depends on the author

The Villain.

>more important to the story
>implying a story can exist without either
Even in a story without a hero, the potential for a hero to exist must be present, or there is not story.
You're an idiot.

Two competing villains can exist.

They each think of themselves as the hero, so you still have the hero-villain dynamic user.

the hero, because you can omit the villain from some stories, but every story needs a protagonist

In non-interactive media (I.e Movies, books, etc) the obstacles and villains the hero has to overcome are probably the most important part of the narrative. Disney for example often gives us bland "everyman" heros but outstanding villains who are the driving point of the plot.
However! In interactive media (I.e games both pen and paper and video) the story should be about the hero, in fact the story literally cannot advance without you the hero making it do so and a good story will center around you beating many enemies in order to grow stronger and accomplish /your/ goals not just thwarting the villain. You can play Skyrim and never interact with alduin after the first scene, and in D&D your players may just decide they don't give a rats ass about your novel length backstory villain and go do something else (Like establish gay marriage for those of you who remember that Veeky Forums story)
In short it doesn't depend on the setting, it depends on the medium and the audience.

Depends on story.

Hero.

You can have a story without a villain, but not one without a hero.

The Narrator.

Whoever drives the story

It's a symbiotic relationship. One isn't more important, they are both important, and the better each is, the better they can make the other.

Good villains are harder to create, though. They need to be hated by the audience, they need to have a reasonable motive, they need to seem like a credible threat. Heroes are simpler because really, all they need is to be likeable.

In an open road game the Villain since all you can do is pray the players take the bait. Its you don't make them interesting they wont bother. In a railroad game the Hero's since you have to make sure you are keeping it interesting. They are already on the ride make it a fun one.

Assuming you have both, the one that gets more screentime becomes the "hero" anyway.

villain is a childish concept. The Antagonist brings change to the status quo, and makes the story happen in the first place, the protagonist is the reactionary force created by the antagonist so by definition the antagonist is more important for a story to come about than the protagonist.

>villain is a childish concept.
Elaborate please. Hero/villain is certainly a more simplistic version of protagonist/antagonist but just calling things childish without justifying why makes you sound kinda pretentious.

>implying protagonists can't be proactive

The villain, always the villain. That doesn't mean the villain is automatically better than the hero, and it certainly doesn't have to be a conventional villain (like a natural disaster rather than a monster), but the villain is definitely "more important to the story".

Either or both. When you think about all the movies you liked you'll find one with a terrible protagonist and an amazing villain or an amazing protagonist and a terrible villain. Even if they are both amazing that doesn't make the previous examples any more inferior.

Its like cooking, in some respects.

Depends on how long the game's going to be.

>slice of life anime where there's no protagonist, but instead a large and varied cast
>soap operas
>TV sitcoms
Who's the potential hero of the Big Bang Theory?

Villain

You can have a story with no hero, but you can't have a story with no villains

>Who's the potential hero of the Big Bang Theory?
The person with the remote, who has the power to switch to a different channel.

Hijacking this thread. DMing 5E and I want to make a Necromancer Bard villain, but I'm having trouble with a goal, motivation, and resolution. I'm taking Inspiration from Sander Cohen, cranking up the emotion of Lust / Pride up to 11, and Guy Fawkes. I came up with a minor Noble who wishes to overthrow the local government for religious reasons and is insanely proudful.
Can a noobie DM get some advice?