Becoming The Villain

As I said before the hero’s journey either leads to being the hero or becoming the villain. And remember some peoples hero are other peoples villain and vice versa. Yet we understand when a character has become the villain, is the villain or might be the villain.

In our core we know the difference between right and wrong. Yet it is possible to convince ourselves that wrong can be right. We rationalize ourselves into believing what we need to believe in order to be the good guy. We convince ourselves that we are right in our actions because we are the better person. We are better than other people, we are righteous and they are wrong or corrupt. They don’t think like us their views are just wrong we close ourselves up to the possibilities of being wrong. Because how could we be wrong we are the good guy.

Most people have a view of what being evil is, what being the bad guy is. They see it as black and white and it can be that simple, but it is rare to be that simple. Humans are complex and our experiences make us who we are. They shape us, mold us, we become what has survived when we have lived through them. Some can go through a trial and come out the better for it. Others will come out changed by it and maybe they think that they are the better. Yet the path they follow leads to questionable actions.

Now here is the crux of what we are discussing. Here is an example Jerry has been bullied his whole life. His interaction with people has been negative. In fact he’s come to the point where he hates people. He is beginning to generalize them all into one simple definition. Humans are bad. At first he lives his life just dealing with it but as time progresses and people continue to prove his hypothesis he becomes angrier and more bitter. Maybe he’s looking for the worse in humanity hence why he keeps finding it. Again we search for the proof that makes us right, makes us the good guy. We close our eyes to anything that might disprove what we wish to believe.

Now at this point Jerry can go in many different directions.

He can rise above it learn from it and be and become a better person. Most people don’t understand that the hero has gone through things but has decided to not allow it to drag them down. Be good besides it, make things better for others because of it. Be the change that they want to see in the world.

He can allow it to drag him down a spiral where he becomes bitter and jaded but maybe not the villain. He hates people but finds himself still doing the right thing. Does his view of people change probably not but he understands that people can be individuals.

He can fall to hate and want to make them pay for what they have done to him. Does he know that this is what he’s doing … possibly or maybe he convinces himself that he is right in his indignation. Or maybe he accepts the hate, knows what he is doing and decides to still do it anyway.

He becomes consumed by the hate and wants everyone to feel the same way he has felt. It burns within him corrupts him and spreads like a virus. Either he knows his actions are questionable and yet still does it or doesn’t care, they have hurt me so I will hurt them.

There is a reason that it says there is no one righteous, not even one. So when the character believes they are righteous it opens them up to the fall. If you are not wrong then no one can stand against. And if we did something or something has happened it is obviously someone else’s fault for we are righteous.

Let’s take the example of Adam and Eve. When confronted on the apple Eve says it was the snake that led me astray. As well as Adam who says it was the woman you gave me that led me astray. No responsibility is taken for their action.

Enter the devil made me do it. Were the villain shirks their responsibility for their actions. If someone made me do it then I am not responsible. Or I was just doing my job or doing as I was told. The question that follows is does the villain allow themselves to see the bad that they do or do they blind themselves of it even if subconsciously they might know but are still going along.

The righteous Villain will do whatever it takes to show the righteousness of themselves and their beliefs. They will taint what they believe in, just to prove it. Most times they act against their beliefs, do not live what they believe in … you will know them by their actions… so in their actions we shall see the villain reveal themselves but they will obfuscate it by convincing others of their righteousness.

It’s even worse with Cain when he is confronted about Able. He shirks responsibility Am I my brothers Keeper on Abel’s whereabouts. If Able is not Cains responsibility or he needs to take care of him then he can do what ever he wants to him. They throw it back saying well I did this because of you. This also showcases how jealousy can lead a person to horrible acts.

The hero can be a catalyst to the rise of the villain. Jealousy against the presumed righteous hero. In all fairness it’s not usually that the hero sees themselves as righteous it’s more that someone else perceives them as such. So they set out to prove that the hero is not the righteous person that they are believed to be.

Lex Luthor fits this category very well. On top of xenophobia luthor tries to show that the big blue boy scout is a threat and not the hero he thinks or others think he is. In some aspects of the lore Luthor blames Superman for the loss of his hair. This is an interesting aspect of some villains the Look at what’s happened to me now I’ll make you suffer. Or my life sucks so I will take it out on the world or just not do the good I can because why should I.

Magneto comes from this same mindset having suffered through the holocaust and the death of his family. He now feels that he needs to over come these prejudices by any means necessary. In doing so he brings to others the same suffering he has gone through. He wishes to make the world safer by ridding it of those horrible humans. Making all humans the enemy because they are all alike. The perceived enemy and their uniformity. If one human is like this then they are all like this. Of course it can go the other way, If one mutant is like this then they’re all like this. Hence the thought process is, if we get rid of scapegoated community the world will be better. Leading to atrocities done for the sake of good.

The villain will find an excuse to do what they wish to do. To convince themselves that they have the right to do this. They will deny the evil or bad and tout the perceived good. Most will not see that they have turned down the road to becoming the villain. They will see themselves as the good bringing order. Evils greatest trick is to convince that it does not exist. That what you think is evil is not evil. Excuse away what is being done because that’s just the way it is.

Let’s take history for example the thought is that we should excuse what was done because that’s the way it was during that time. That we can not judge what happened with today’s evolved mind. Yet this forgets that even back then there were people that stood up to say this is wrong. So the logic fails since others in that time period saw the evil of it. Usually this will cause the rise of the hero. The villain creating the hero through their actions.

Here is an example… Christopher Columbus a controversial figure hero to some villain to others. His treatment of the indigenous people documented. Bartolomé de las casas stands up to Columbus the conquistadors and this treatment, becomes a voice against this dehumanizing of indigenous people. Sees a problem does something about it, getting into the ear of those with power trying to change it.

Some incarnations of the joker come to this as well, as the joker tries to show the chaos of the world. The fact that everyone is one bad day from chaos. That the world should just give in and spread chaos. That people are just that way and I will show you the truth of people. Coming back, to deciding a thought and sticking with it even when proof other wise exists.

As you can see the villain is a formula of things that come together to make them. It is rare for a villain to just be evil but that doesn’t mean that the evil villain that is just evil does not exist. Even this extreme has a lot of the bits and pieces of what we have just talked about. Always remember that evil and bad always seek to convince that they do not exist. They obfuscate what they do with excuses and misdirects or plain making others accept their way of thinking. It expects you to accept not see and do nothing. Or they will make you the villain to their ”heroism”.

Doctor Doom is trying to make the world a better place. A very altruistic goal yet his approach is to rule the world with an iron fist and force it to do what he says. And in doing this make the world better by force. “I can save the world all you need to do is bow down to doom.”

Power can and will corrupt even if one starts off with good intentions. It you can over come it you can be the hero if you fall to it you will become the villain and think you’re still the hero. Or know you’re the villain but the ends justify the means.

When creating the villains, the antagonist and fleshing them out, all this comes into play. The better you flesh them out the better the story. Does this mean you have to use all the back story not really but it’s good to have. All these bits and pieces can also help flesh out the story.

Next up we will dive into Being The Hero for the journey can lead to becoming the villain or being the hero.