Overread
Searching for a flower
An observation I've made that I thought would be good to share in relation to evil characters and their portrayal in stories; which is that evil characters need time-outs/off from being evil.
In fact the more you focus purely on their evil actions and their generally being evil the more you can risk losing them as a character and the more they simply become an icon. Which can be risky if their position in the story isn't as the "god of evil" or such - ergo a symbol or a creature expected to behave abnormally. It has even more of a knock-on effect if they are leading a large body of people - a kingdom - a nation - an empire etc...
These can be very subtle elements to how you display a character, for example in the original three Starwars films we very rarely see Vader going much except interacting with rebels and generally commanding and being "evil" and menacing. However there's a scene where we see him in his "pod" with his helmet removed for a few moments. It's a very short scene, its a very short moment, but it's a moment in which we see behind the evil. Behind the posing and the commanding to see the person within the character. It's a good display of very small and subtle elements that detract nothing from the character, but which leave us to think that yes they do have a life outside of being evil. Furthermore from the very first time we see him we are clearly shown the divided leadership of the Empire - different generals and leaders and commanders. We are shown that there's room for Vader to do his own thing because he's got support staff and a command structure underneath him that keeps it going. We see those leaders own fear of Vader and even the hints of disagreement etc... This is important as it shows that there is a world outside of just our main evil agent.
In contrast I've been reading Warrior Witch of Hel by D.D. Andersson - in that story the evil character of the tale is always shown being evil. Every scene is them focusing on their obsession, on being evil and twisted and doing nasty things. All the things we expect of a great evil overlord. However each time we see him its always the same, him being evil, we are left with a view that he actually has very little to no time spent ruling his nation. We also get no real indications of his rulership being in question or having a second in command etc...; the kingdom just sort of "works" even though he's busy in a tower being all evil and twisted all the time. Not only do we never see him relax or perform any actions outside of his core plot advancing elements, but we also never see him ruling his nation either - save when issuing orders for the plot.
In the worst of cases the character can be reduced to purely a plot driving machine; efficient editing and writing style has removed the breadth and diversity of the character in a bid to keep things focused. The result is a character where we don't believe in them any more. They have become the weekend morning cartoon vilan.
An evil character is all the more evil and terrifying and fearsome when you see them not just performing evil, but also doing normal things within the setting that you'd expect of them. When you show the underlings and underlaying mechanics of how things work and run. The layers that permit the evil to function. Be it as a person leading a nation or as a loan character operating in the shadows.
In fact the more you focus purely on their evil actions and their generally being evil the more you can risk losing them as a character and the more they simply become an icon. Which can be risky if their position in the story isn't as the "god of evil" or such - ergo a symbol or a creature expected to behave abnormally. It has even more of a knock-on effect if they are leading a large body of people - a kingdom - a nation - an empire etc...
These can be very subtle elements to how you display a character, for example in the original three Starwars films we very rarely see Vader going much except interacting with rebels and generally commanding and being "evil" and menacing. However there's a scene where we see him in his "pod" with his helmet removed for a few moments. It's a very short scene, its a very short moment, but it's a moment in which we see behind the evil. Behind the posing and the commanding to see the person within the character. It's a good display of very small and subtle elements that detract nothing from the character, but which leave us to think that yes they do have a life outside of being evil. Furthermore from the very first time we see him we are clearly shown the divided leadership of the Empire - different generals and leaders and commanders. We are shown that there's room for Vader to do his own thing because he's got support staff and a command structure underneath him that keeps it going. We see those leaders own fear of Vader and even the hints of disagreement etc... This is important as it shows that there is a world outside of just our main evil agent.
In contrast I've been reading Warrior Witch of Hel by D.D. Andersson - in that story the evil character of the tale is always shown being evil. Every scene is them focusing on their obsession, on being evil and twisted and doing nasty things. All the things we expect of a great evil overlord. However each time we see him its always the same, him being evil, we are left with a view that he actually has very little to no time spent ruling his nation. We also get no real indications of his rulership being in question or having a second in command etc...; the kingdom just sort of "works" even though he's busy in a tower being all evil and twisted all the time. Not only do we never see him relax or perform any actions outside of his core plot advancing elements, but we also never see him ruling his nation either - save when issuing orders for the plot.
In the worst of cases the character can be reduced to purely a plot driving machine; efficient editing and writing style has removed the breadth and diversity of the character in a bid to keep things focused. The result is a character where we don't believe in them any more. They have become the weekend morning cartoon vilan.
An evil character is all the more evil and terrifying and fearsome when you see them not just performing evil, but also doing normal things within the setting that you'd expect of them. When you show the underlings and underlaying mechanics of how things work and run. The layers that permit the evil to function. Be it as a person leading a nation or as a loan character operating in the shadows.