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Black Hats, Books, Editor's Corner, Fiction, Heroes, Maguire, Month of the Dragon, Shades of Grey, Smaug, Villains, Wicked, Writing
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – Loving Our Villains.
You learn eventually that, while there are no villains, there are no heroes either.
And until you make the final discovery that there are only human beings, who are therefore all the more fascinating, you are liable to miss something.
― Paul Gallico
Once upon a time – at least according to popular culture – the world was a simpler place. There were white hats and black hats and we walked through life with the certain belief that, no matter how grim things got, good would emerge victorious in the end. It is a comfortable worldview, littered with archetypes and stereotypes. We need not look too deep within ourselves to know who merits cheers, who boos.
Empirically speaking, of course – and taking absolute nutters like Caligula out of the equation – villainy – and heroism – are much more situational qualities. Napoleon or Nelson, Pizarro or Atahualpa, Saladin or Richard I. Each has their supporters and detractors, with the balance tipped by the passage of years and history’s shifting tide. As Ian Fleming – a man who knew a good bad guy when he penned one – wrote, “History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.” [Casino Royal] True-life villains are characters of passion and action, with the sort of laser conviction that makes them heroes in their own minds and those of their minions. (One has only to look at the current American shame, aka the Republican Party, to see this playing out in real time.)
The best literary villains – nutters still excepted – have always been closer to this real-life model than to two-dimensional mustache-twirling brutes or murderous harridans. Shakespeare’s legion of dark characters (Macbeth, Richard III, Goneril, Tamora, Claudius, et al), Marlowe’s Barabas, Hugo’s Javert and Claude Frollo, Quilp, Moriarty, the list is long and colorful. A complicated age requires complicated characters; modern audiences demand more layered, multifaceted antagonists, people who flirt with the shadows, one foot in light, one in dark.
It is from this ambiguity that we get characters who, though considered villains by previous generations, might be now seen as sympathetic, occasionally even heroic. Shylock, Dracula, Captain Nemo, Moby-Dick, even Milton’s Lucifer, each are characters with complicated pasts, complicated motives. Personally, I cheer for them all, cheated, abused, betrayed – human – as they are. Gregory Maguire (“Wicked,” “Confessions of a Ugly Stepsister”) has taken this one step further and made a career out of turning tales on their heads and showing us just how heroic some famous villains are. All depends on who is telling the story.
It being the Month of the Dragon, I would be remiss not to at least mention one of the most maligned “villains” of all time: Dragons. Smaug, Fafnir, Smok, Beowulf’s Dragon, all are literary black-hats who, in actuality, are simply guarding their homes and property, avenging past wrongs, in short, defending themselves from those who, by virtue of comely looks and Homo sapien “superiority,” believed they had the right to take what they wanted, when they wanted and where. Dragons are different and what is different is easily feared and vilified.
What is the role of an antagonist in an increasingly grey literary landscape? And how do we make them memorable?
Your antagonist is the one who drives your story. They compel the protagonist into action, give them someone to rise against and outshine, to save the kingdom or rescue the lost. Without villains, our heroes would just be sitting at home, enjoying their boring lives. Villains make heroes great.
To make them memorable, we must write characters we like. Their hearts may be cold as Pluto’s core, but you, the author, have to like them. You want to write villains you’d enjoy inviting over diner (just be sure to lock up any stray weapons and hide the silver).You want people who not only have an interesting take on their world but who, despite their ethical flaws, can also be understood. As much as we might enjoy the occasional larger-than-life monster threatening cosmic devastation, the best antagonists are simply people who, when confronted with crucial choices, opt for the more sinister path. The more heinous a character’s actions, the more they need some spark deep in their background that holds the possibility of being just like us.
As their creators, we have to recognize this and tread joyfully in their shoes. Then, in inky Stetson or raspberry beret, our antagonists will be memorable and alive.
You can catch up on past posts in the Editor’s Corner Archive. Enjoy.
It is interesting that a great evil character nearly always has something that we can identify with psychologically~ almost a way in which we can feel sorry for them. Great post Shawn.
Yes – As if they are somehow us but broken. Thank you, Niamh.
Reblogged this on On The Plum Tree.
Very interesting post. In dark characters I always look for the reflection for me — because it’s always there in exageration so I can see it. I loved the Wicked and Son of Wicked — an example how we need to look a little deeper into the evil to understand it’s origins.
I think you’re right, Patricia – it is that glimmer of ourselves, no matter how slight, that makes a black-hat resonate. Love Maguire’s books. “Wicked” & “Son of a Witch,” excellent. Have “Lion Among Men” waiting for me on my bookshelf….
Reblogged this on thisoldtoad.
Thanks for the reblog, Chris.
And if you’ve done any acting you know that villains are the most fun to play!
Absolutely, Juliette. I think part of it is that we – most of us – are playing against type. 🙂 – and get to go to places so far across social norms that it becomes safely cathartic!
From heinous crimes to hideous characters,
this post has them all. Now who will put them in their place?
Some villains are super-unnatural, whether made by human hands,
or by an accident of God. Frankenstein, the book, taught me a few lessons.
First, don’t believe everything you see in the movies.
Jung suggested a book – a bit more contemporary, from 1949,
by Arthur Machen, so I read it. A 1964 edition – a collection of works.
“Tales Of Horror & The Supernatural”
A little rub on the ‘pubs, too, from Shawn. 😉 They know no shame.
Hi Uncle Tree- wonderful to hear from you as always.
Frankenstein the book – brilliant, the rule that was echoes in Jurassic Park and should be remembered constantly: Just because you can do a thing, doesn’t mean you should do a thing.
Our villains shape our heroes – and I think, in the end, get the heroes they deserve (and vice versa). You can’t have a truly great hero with a mediocre villain. Like any cast of characters, brilliant fellow players make everyone else that much better.
Thanks for the mention of Machen (and pardon the alliteration 🙂 ) – I will check it out.
As for the Repugs – we writers are required by the Gods to be soothsayers and shame must be called where it is warranted. 😉
First – I love the last picture you shared on this blog – that is one of my favorite books and favorite movies. She was wicked good, her character was nuts, and she played it to the hilt. That said, I sometimes prefer the bad guys – they are usually more complex (when displayed well), more intense, there is more back story with bad guys. Perhaps that’s why I love horror – to read and write. And I have a dark shark side to me. too. There are so many bad guys in my own past that I love to do dark and dirty things to. Writing about it helps me expel those demons.
That is it, exactly, There is that notion that we write out our angst and our worries, but we also write out our demons and give form to those who can vanquish them. The dark is a side we who live examined lives, know with a tenuous familiarity. It makes us feel alive.
Interesting. I’ll keep this in mind. I like my villains to be “cool” but totally evil, where you wish to be like them in a way (not the murder-y like way, nor the evil way, but the accessory/power/whatever type way.). I like villains with a past, explains why they are evil. Or maybe they don’t want to be evil. Or whatever.
Erik
P.S. Just me being curious, but what is the 4th picture from the bottom about?
Yes – an element of cool can go far in making a villain “relatable.” The past is very important – it reminds us that we are all one or two missteps/misfortunes from being absolute rotters! 🙂
The picture 4th from the bottom is from the musical “Wicked” based on Gregory Maguire’s book. It looks into the pasts of OZ’s Glinda and the Wicked Witch, and shows us that things are not as L.Frank Baum might have painted them. I often wondered what made Elvira Gultch such a miserable character. Great loneliness there, I think, that hardened her heart and turned her wicked.
I’ve never heard of Wicked before. Sounds good! 😀
very good- a whole new look at the OZ mythology. And the musical has some great songs in it. 🙂
🙂