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flyingskullAllow me to introduce to you my favourite kind of villain of all times: the Smiling Villain so called because that Shakespearean quote has been in my mind for years and years, don't ask me why.
The Smiling Villain is, basically, a sociopath. Sometimes s/he's a grunt sociopath limiting her/his activities to serial killing or raping: scary, but rather flat. You can find her/him in crime stories of all ilks and - though scary enough when written well - s/he's generally only a step up the Universal Unseen Villain in the ladder of good gripping storytelling.
The True Smiling Villain (the facial rictus denoting affability, joy and affection is actually optional) is a functioning sociopath who may, perhaps, engage in a spot of serial killing out of necessity or on a whim, but who'd never let her/his pleasure in the multiple taking of life interfere with her/his plans. Because the True Smiling Villain has a... - wait for it... - vision. S/he knows what the world or people should be and sets about changing said world or people until it or they conform to her/his vision.
S/he may appear benevolent - and s/he is, for a given value of 'benevolence' - s/he may appear happy and carefree - and, ohboy is s/he! - s/he may appear to overflow with the milk of human kindness, to be a protector, a wise counselor, a friend or, in some cases, a stern authority figure exuding efficiency and concern for the common good, in which case s/he won't smile a lot, if at all. The Hero/ine may well be as taken in as the reader for a goodly portion of the story ignoring, or willfully blind to, all the subtle hints to the character real character... heh... sorry about that, I meant the character real personality. Depends on the writer, really.
The biggest hint is generally the fact that a True Smiling (or not, as the case may be) Villain is obsessed by one thing or person. It's all about the power, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the Power Over All Universes, sometimes it's just the Power Over One Poor Wretch. Because if you happen to be the object of desire of a True Smiling Villain, a wretch you are, or shall soon become.
Thus our old friend, the Queen of the Elves in Lord and Ladies is, IMO, a True Smiling Villain. She appears to be the thing that she is not and schemes incessantly to Queen it over the land; she also holds an obsessive grudge against Granny. BTW, the manner of her double downfall is rather typical of the downfall of all True Smiling Villains: they forget that all those expendable cardboard cutouts are in fact three dimensional people and thus are surprised by unforeseen reactions, not to mention by the capacity of said cutouts to work together for a common goal.
A True Smiling Villain is often taken for a Protector or Wise Counselor exactly how the True Bastard Hero (with its sub-species the Byronic Hero) is taken quite easily for a villain at the start. What makes both those types delightful is the way the author messes with the preconceived notions about how a Friend or a Villain talk (it all boils down to manipulation of semantics, doesn't it? The most horrifying actions are explained in terms of the most syrupy benevolence and the noblest actions are kind of annihilated by the agent's foul mouth) and what makes them scary is how very efficient they are in the pursuit of their aims.
No, I mean, no, truly, look at Small Gods' Vorbis! Granted, he doesn't smile, but he certainly changes people and not for the better. He makes people be like him. He manufactures sociopath-like behaviour in others. He's certainly obsessed by his worldview and the only thing that is not quite typical is that he's beaten by Divine Action. But then it's Small Gods and internal logic must be preserved. Night Watch's Carcer too is a Master of Changing People for the Worse. He almost manages to change Vimes, for fucksake! Like Borgs they could crackle RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED! Teatime is, IMO, a Smiling Villain Simplex or grunt sociopath.
AND Mr Cheney. DW Jones is not one for Smiling Villains, generally. Her bad people are generally as confused and human as her good people, but Mr Chenney is one chillingly terrifying dude. Of course he embodies a Financial Entity more than a person, but all the same he's the person that makes Financial entities possible and functional.
AND what is possibly TEH True Smiling Villain of all times - well, no, I tell a lie. Of modern times. Hmm. Of a fairly long portion of time casually coincident with the last ten years. Maybe. Or not. Oh fuck who cares, he's perfect - is Gravitation's Seguchi Thoma. He smiles, he's obsessed both with power over the musical business and one person, he appears a friend, a wise counselor a protector... you name a good solid virtue necessary to qualify as 'important secondary character who helps hero/ines' and he seems to be the embodiment of it. His plans are both byzantine and ruthlessly efficient, his knowledge so vast he appears omniscient, his coldblooded disposal of inconvenient or irritating people is akin to swatting flies, his sadism is sweet and cloying like molasses and - which makes him both scary and delightful - he can be thwarted, but never beaten. He can move in and manipulate both the Farce World and the Tragedy World and he corrupts people.
Yoshiki is another True Smiling Villain - she's so grey she's still apparently open to interpretation, though really! Not after Vol 10, people! But, apparently, there are many who view her as one of the Good Guys. *sigh* - but her sadism is more overt, her scope much more narrow and she's a bit over the top, frankly.
AND Loveless' Seimei. The sociopath one loves to loathe, the one who manages to change/corrupt one of the Heroes. Paladin in the Game World, Loving Protector and Brother in Ritsuka's Inner World, Defenseless But Plucky Boy in the Apparent World, Outstanding Strategist in the Magic World and Incestuous Abuser and Murderer in the Real World.
What's nice about Seimei - well, alright, about all of the True Smiling Villains - is that they have some endearing weaknesses (Seimei is seventeen, is a bit OCD about being touched and tires easily after gouging out people's eyes. Seguchi is vain, is a great musician and acts like a loving child with his wife. Mr Cheney likes his son and is refreshingly afraid of his demon. Carcer is stupid. Vorbis... well, Vorbis is an idealist, after all. He truly believes that the world would be a better place if everyone did as they were told, which makes him stupid too, I suppose. ;) And I am sure the Queen of Elfland is still mourning her unicorn.).
Vetinari is a borderline case, in a sense, though not in another. I mean, he's a useful villain and he loves his dog, but he certainly couldn't care less about people as such except perhaps a little for those he finds amusing like Leonard or Vimes. BUT, yeh, borderline. He doesn't mind if people is his city live a better life, provided this won't break the equilibrium that makes Ankh-Morpork work or that they aren't mimes.
I would like to end this ramble - thank you for not pelting me with rotten tomatoes - with a tribute to the subtlest of the True Smiling Villains: Dumbledore. He smiles! He speaks of love! He actually pontificates (BTW the pope is a good example of the TSV in Real Life) on love! His eyes twinkle! He dresses like a clown! He dances! And he coldly sends a boy to be abused time and time again so to be sure said boy won't balk when he's supposed to die for the common good. Not having enjoyed life, y'know, well, except when he was hurting other people, but most of the time certainly not enjoyed life at all and so leaving a world of pain and misery would be easy... easier... whatever. Do you think La Rowling is a very clever author after all? ^_^
The Smiling Villain is, basically, a sociopath. Sometimes s/he's a grunt sociopath limiting her/his activities to serial killing or raping: scary, but rather flat. You can find her/him in crime stories of all ilks and - though scary enough when written well - s/he's generally only a step up the Universal Unseen Villain in the ladder of good gripping storytelling.
The True Smiling Villain (the facial rictus denoting affability, joy and affection is actually optional) is a functioning sociopath who may, perhaps, engage in a spot of serial killing out of necessity or on a whim, but who'd never let her/his pleasure in the multiple taking of life interfere with her/his plans. Because the True Smiling Villain has a... - wait for it... - vision. S/he knows what the world or people should be and sets about changing said world or people until it or they conform to her/his vision.
S/he may appear benevolent - and s/he is, for a given value of 'benevolence' - s/he may appear happy and carefree - and, ohboy is s/he! - s/he may appear to overflow with the milk of human kindness, to be a protector, a wise counselor, a friend or, in some cases, a stern authority figure exuding efficiency and concern for the common good, in which case s/he won't smile a lot, if at all. The Hero/ine may well be as taken in as the reader for a goodly portion of the story ignoring, or willfully blind to, all the subtle hints to the character real character... heh... sorry about that, I meant the character real personality. Depends on the writer, really.
The biggest hint is generally the fact that a True Smiling (or not, as the case may be) Villain is obsessed by one thing or person. It's all about the power, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the Power Over All Universes, sometimes it's just the Power Over One Poor Wretch. Because if you happen to be the object of desire of a True Smiling Villain, a wretch you are, or shall soon become.
Thus our old friend, the Queen of the Elves in Lord and Ladies is, IMO, a True Smiling Villain. She appears to be the thing that she is not and schemes incessantly to Queen it over the land; she also holds an obsessive grudge against Granny. BTW, the manner of her double downfall is rather typical of the downfall of all True Smiling Villains: they forget that all those expendable cardboard cutouts are in fact three dimensional people and thus are surprised by unforeseen reactions, not to mention by the capacity of said cutouts to work together for a common goal.
A True Smiling Villain is often taken for a Protector or Wise Counselor exactly how the True Bastard Hero (with its sub-species the Byronic Hero) is taken quite easily for a villain at the start. What makes both those types delightful is the way the author messes with the preconceived notions about how a Friend or a Villain talk (it all boils down to manipulation of semantics, doesn't it? The most horrifying actions are explained in terms of the most syrupy benevolence and the noblest actions are kind of annihilated by the agent's foul mouth) and what makes them scary is how very efficient they are in the pursuit of their aims.
No, I mean, no, truly, look at Small Gods' Vorbis! Granted, he doesn't smile, but he certainly changes people and not for the better. He makes people be like him. He manufactures sociopath-like behaviour in others. He's certainly obsessed by his worldview and the only thing that is not quite typical is that he's beaten by Divine Action. But then it's Small Gods and internal logic must be preserved. Night Watch's Carcer too is a Master of Changing People for the Worse. He almost manages to change Vimes, for fucksake! Like Borgs they could crackle RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED! Teatime is, IMO, a Smiling Villain Simplex or grunt sociopath.
AND Mr Cheney. DW Jones is not one for Smiling Villains, generally. Her bad people are generally as confused and human as her good people, but Mr Chenney is one chillingly terrifying dude. Of course he embodies a Financial Entity more than a person, but all the same he's the person that makes Financial entities possible and functional.
AND what is possibly TEH True Smiling Villain of all times - well, no, I tell a lie. Of modern times. Hmm. Of a fairly long portion of time casually coincident with the last ten years. Maybe. Or not. Oh fuck who cares, he's perfect - is Gravitation's Seguchi Thoma. He smiles, he's obsessed both with power over the musical business and one person, he appears a friend, a wise counselor a protector... you name a good solid virtue necessary to qualify as 'important secondary character who helps hero/ines' and he seems to be the embodiment of it. His plans are both byzantine and ruthlessly efficient, his knowledge so vast he appears omniscient, his coldblooded disposal of inconvenient or irritating people is akin to swatting flies, his sadism is sweet and cloying like molasses and - which makes him both scary and delightful - he can be thwarted, but never beaten. He can move in and manipulate both the Farce World and the Tragedy World and he corrupts people.
Yoshiki is another True Smiling Villain - she's so grey she's still apparently open to interpretation, though really! Not after Vol 10, people! But, apparently, there are many who view her as one of the Good Guys. *sigh* - but her sadism is more overt, her scope much more narrow and she's a bit over the top, frankly.
AND Loveless' Seimei. The sociopath one loves to loathe, the one who manages to change/corrupt one of the Heroes. Paladin in the Game World, Loving Protector and Brother in Ritsuka's Inner World, Defenseless But Plucky Boy in the Apparent World, Outstanding Strategist in the Magic World and Incestuous Abuser and Murderer in the Real World.
What's nice about Seimei - well, alright, about all of the True Smiling Villains - is that they have some endearing weaknesses (Seimei is seventeen, is a bit OCD about being touched and tires easily after gouging out people's eyes. Seguchi is vain, is a great musician and acts like a loving child with his wife. Mr Cheney likes his son and is refreshingly afraid of his demon. Carcer is stupid. Vorbis... well, Vorbis is an idealist, after all. He truly believes that the world would be a better place if everyone did as they were told, which makes him stupid too, I suppose. ;) And I am sure the Queen of Elfland is still mourning her unicorn.).
Vetinari is a borderline case, in a sense, though not in another. I mean, he's a useful villain and he loves his dog, but he certainly couldn't care less about people as such except perhaps a little for those he finds amusing like Leonard or Vimes. BUT, yeh, borderline. He doesn't mind if people is his city live a better life, provided this won't break the equilibrium that makes Ankh-Morpork work or that they aren't mimes.
I would like to end this ramble - thank you for not pelting me with rotten tomatoes - with a tribute to the subtlest of the True Smiling Villains: Dumbledore. He smiles! He speaks of love! He actually pontificates (BTW the pope is a good example of the TSV in Real Life) on love! His eyes twinkle! He dresses like a clown! He dances! And he coldly sends a boy to be abused time and time again so to be sure said boy won't balk when he's supposed to die for the common good. Not having enjoyed life, y'know, well, except when he was hurting other people, but most of the time certainly not enjoyed life at all and so leaving a world of pain and misery would be easy... easier... whatever. Do you think La Rowling is a very clever author after all? ^_^
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Date: 2008-09-04 02:32 am (UTC)Third picture is LOTS of overkill, shows you what an insecure person can do. My advice? Never wear anything you can't climb a tree or run a marathon in.
Actually - and I'm NOT being modest, just factual - Fleur is the interesting one. I've only got a sort fuse. :-D