Randall Flagg? Big Deal.

Abyssimal

River Crossing
Joined
Dec 11, 2007
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RF is a character that seems to be admired by many King readers, and is always found on the list of King's favorite antagonists. However, his undoing is usually attributed by his own stupidity and arrogance, rather than a supremely superior protaganist.

He is reduced to a foot stomping petulant child in The Stand and killed off by a baby in the Dark Tower series. I love his endings - they seem to underline his obvious flaws.

What is it that some admire about him?
 
To me he just seems cool. I figure that that is a) not the answer that you were looking for and b) an answer that most will not agree with but...

He seems cool to me, and the way he chooses his minions and gives off the image of everything being under control (even when it isn't) is an admirable trait. I don't know if that's what you're looking for.
 
The fact that he can seem like a foot-stomping child is perhaps one of the things that makes him one of King's best characters -- he's so unpredictable that one moment he can seem like this and then the next he's decided to stab you or something similar. I think it's rather disconcerting when a villain can seem childlike and playful, rather than just constantly brooding and nasty. With those kinds of villains, you have some idea where you stand; they are nasty, evil; you know you're not in for a pleasant time with them. But with Flagg, he can seem like your best friend, he can make you feel ten feet tall and the coolest person around; then suddenly he seems like the devil himself and will have you cowering and screaming.

Also, being childlike means that, as with small children, they don't fully understand the implications of what they are doing. They do things because they want to, because it's fun, because they are curious and don't really think of the consequences. Again, a villain who does that, who kills and maims and tortures because they are curious, because it's fun, is a lot more horrifying...

I have also heard that he apparently an incarnation of Nyarlathotep from Lovecraft's work; he embodies the Crawling Chaos. Of course, he has his flaws, and he is not an unbeatable force (Dark Tower, munched on by a baby spider and brought about by his own arrogance) but again he induces chaos on a whim (it's been a while since I read The Eyes of the Dragon but I think I recall that he wanted to throw the kingdom into a thousand years of chaos and anarchy...and is any reason given?) He is the chaos to the 'law and order' of the other characters in King's books: Peter and Thomas, Mother Abagail, Nick, et al, and of course, Roland.

So I guess this makes him seen a more intimidating character (at least to me): his unpredictable nature, his desire to spread chaos on a whim, etc. And he's also an admirable character because of these; and he certainly does have an intriguing, almost winning nature about him sometimes. As I said, sometimes he can seem like your best friend and at those times he seems charming, witty, intelligent. And who can't help being attracted to villains that have shades of grey...who doesn't find themselves secretly cheering for Iago now and then? :D
 
I've never been able to make it through The Stand, to be honest, and haven't read any of the Dark Tower series in quite a while (since about the third one, as a matter of fact), so this bit you posted, Hoops, has me curious. Another take on Nyarlathotep, he of a thousand forms, eh? May be something to keep in mind when I get around to reading these; that could put quite a different spin on things....
 
I think The Stand is the best example of his spreading chaos and madness for no other reason than because he wants to, really (although I admit that I've yet to make it all the way through the book myself). From the half that I have read, he walks the land, cultivating and prolonging the chaos already caused by the superflu epidemic -- and throwing in his own brand, just for the heck of it.

Just going off the Wikipedia page here, there are quite a few similarities between the two, as well. Flagg in The Stand goes around gathering followers, usually those who are already somewhat outcast from society or who have dark pasts of their own. It's also said that Nyarlathotep was known as the Black Man in one story, and from the very beginning of The Dark Tower series, Flagg is known as "The Man in Black". There's also this comment by Lovecraft himself, apparently:
Nyarlathotep was a kind of itinerant showman or lecturer who held forth in public halls and aroused widespread fear and discussion with his exhibitions.
(again, from Wiki) And if there's one thing that Flagg definitely is, it's a showman. He uses trickery, misdirection and guile to achieve his ends (well, I say achieve his ends -- as already pointed out, what these ends are is sometimes difficult to discern!)

He's referred to as a representation of Nyarlathotep because of all these, I guess, but it's never strictly said that he such. He (but yet another similarity!) has many forms and disguises, many different names, although each incarnation is intent on causing trouble where none exsisted before. I think it's finally revealed in The Dark Tower that he's actually human (a very old one) but he is such a complex character that it's easy to find comparisons between him and other figures -- which, of course, gives some nice layers into which one can dig one's literary fingers! :D

My, but I do rant when I'm on the subject of King...I think my longest, and most rambling, posts can all be found in this forum :D
 
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There are most definitely similarities there, yes. And the tale he (Nyarlathotep) was known as the Black Man was "The Dreams in the Witch House", because he took the appearance of the traditional Black Man of the witch covens (as viewed by the churchly of that time, at any rate). In Lovecraft's words: "a tall, lean man of dead black colouration but without the slightest sign of negroid features"; while the description of him as an itinerant showman is from a letter to Rheinhart Kleiner describing the inspiration for his prose-poem "Nyarlathotep" itself. (Incidentally, there has been a rather strong case made that the inspiration for this figure was none other than Nikola Tesla.)

At any rate, it'll be interesting to keep this aspect in mind when I get around to these and give them my full attention....

Thanks, Hoops....:)
 
Yes, I think those are all the minor details I neglected to focus on in the Wiki article :rolleyes:

And yes, do go back to them. I demand that you do :p

And not a problem, squire, as I said, I'm always stupidly happy to rant about all things King!
 
And yes, do go back to them. I demand that you do :p

Uh-oh... you should never use that tone with me, child... something teachers found out more than once. At that point, for sheer stubbornness I can put to shame a Missouri mule....:rolleyes:

And not a problem, squire, as I said, I'm always stupidly happy to rant about all things King!

Well, we've got both K and L covered, anyway....:D
 
Pah, I think you are underestimating my persuasion power when it comes to King. I managed to safely convert Pyan to the ways of the Constant Reader, I think I can do it again......:p

And yes, K and L are most definitely covered. We'll have to divide the rest of the alphabet another time...:D
 
The impression I get of RF is that he is the minion of a greater , evil being - although he seems not to realise this. He is indeed like a spoilt child , doing what he wants however he pleases - and spitting his dummy out when things don't go to plan . Possibly the most scary thing about him is that he is all tooo human. Also I thought his potrayl in the screen version of The Stand has helped create a favourable response from King afficianados
 
I've never been able to make it through The Stand, to be honest, and haven't read any of the Dark Tower series in quite a while (since about the third one, as a matter of fact), so this bit you posted, Hoops, has me curious. Another take on Nyarlathotep, he of a thousand forms, eh? May be something to keep in mind when I get around to reading these; that could put quite a different spin on things....

I got stuck in the 4th book of the Dark Tower and never ran across Flagg in the series but I did enjoy him in The Stand. I may have to utilize my excess free time while I'm convalescing over the next few weeks to pick up the series.
 
Oh, Flagg is there from the very first line of the first book: "The Man in Black fled across the desert and the Gunslinger followed" and appears in various places throughout the following books. Flagg has many different names in the series -- The Man In Black, Walter O'Dim, Marten Broadcloak, John Farson and Randall Flagg -- it's said that he's all of these characters.
 
Yes, I don't think it's ever stated outright, just inferences that one can garner when reading the series. I don't think I found out about John Farson until long after I'd read the series for the first time, as he is made out to be an entirely separate character. As all of them are, I suppose, thinking on it; they certainly seem so, which shows how well Flagg adopts different personalities and disguises. So, yes, it's never really said directly, but as the series progresses, especially in the later books when Flagg makes longer appearances, it becomes more apparent. I guess it's not really evident just how many times Flagg pops up until you realise all the incarnations he has, which probably makes rereading a little more interesting.

I didn't mean to make it sound like you'd missed something obvious or anything like that; as I say above, it's very difficult to "Spot the Flagg" on the first reading of the series!
 

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