The Perfect Villain
Oh, what the heck . . . continuing with this series of posts, what makes the perfect villain?
My answer to this has changed over the years. A lot. I think my answer has changed in direct proportion to life experiences, to things I've witnessed, maybe, to how I have changed as a person. Call it my Villain Journey.
You see, I used to, when I was about 25, 26, 27, 28 . . . read exclusively--and I mean exclusively--serial killer thrillers. Thomas Harris . . . Derek Van Armen (I don't believe he ever wrote another book after his first, brilliant Just Killing Time book), a couple of John Sandford's tossed in. Then, one night, I was reading Just Killing Time and I got the medical condition known as The Creeps. I couldn't shake 'em. The Creeps took over and soon, I was an insane woman, checking under my bed, in my closet, locking and re-locking all my doors and windows. I even checked under my couch, which, for the record, was TWO INCHES of space, but I thought perhaps a serial killer could have taken out some of the stuffing and secreted himself away in there. I checked in my washing machine. In my dishwasher. I knew, for me, there was one cure for The Creeps. STOP READING TORTURE PORN. Because that, to me, was what it amounted to. It seemed, again to me, that most of these books were evolving as ever more creative ways to torture people, to prolong their anguish. And I was "done." I haven't read one since and don't ever intend to. Serial killers may be the "perfect villain"--just not for me.
So I moved on. I became enamoured of this series by Robert K. Tannenbaum--until eventually his ghostwriter left it and the books, frankly, started to suck. Nonetheless, I like the D.A. character in this book, and there wasn't one villain but many. So it became more about the hero matching wits with various villains. However, in a couple of them, conspiracy and politics were woven so my new villain was the Zealot.
Zealots scare me. Look at this story from CNN today. People like this terrify me. I don't want religion in my kids' classrooms. If I did, I would pay to send them to a private religious school. But there are Zealots of every religious stripe, and every cultish belief. And I consider it a form of insanity. So . . . they became my new Perfect Villain.
Finally, I am working on my newest work in progress, which I have not even announced the sale of yet, mostly because I've been so busy. And the tagline is that it's a tale of obsession. In it, at one point, a jealous man destroys the ONE thing a woman loves. My new villain model is the lover or friend who betrays. The husbands who kill their wives, the wives who put arsenic in their husband's oatmeal. Somehow that idea of the "perfect" facade hiding sinister secrets (like the Scott Peterson case) intrigues me.
So that's my Villain Journey. What's yours? Who is your Perfect Villain and why?
My answer to this has changed over the years. A lot. I think my answer has changed in direct proportion to life experiences, to things I've witnessed, maybe, to how I have changed as a person. Call it my Villain Journey.
You see, I used to, when I was about 25, 26, 27, 28 . . . read exclusively--and I mean exclusively--serial killer thrillers. Thomas Harris . . . Derek Van Armen (I don't believe he ever wrote another book after his first, brilliant Just Killing Time book), a couple of John Sandford's tossed in. Then, one night, I was reading Just Killing Time and I got the medical condition known as The Creeps. I couldn't shake 'em. The Creeps took over and soon, I was an insane woman, checking under my bed, in my closet, locking and re-locking all my doors and windows. I even checked under my couch, which, for the record, was TWO INCHES of space, but I thought perhaps a serial killer could have taken out some of the stuffing and secreted himself away in there. I checked in my washing machine. In my dishwasher. I knew, for me, there was one cure for The Creeps. STOP READING TORTURE PORN. Because that, to me, was what it amounted to. It seemed, again to me, that most of these books were evolving as ever more creative ways to torture people, to prolong their anguish. And I was "done." I haven't read one since and don't ever intend to. Serial killers may be the "perfect villain"--just not for me.
So I moved on. I became enamoured of this series by Robert K. Tannenbaum--until eventually his ghostwriter left it and the books, frankly, started to suck. Nonetheless, I like the D.A. character in this book, and there wasn't one villain but many. So it became more about the hero matching wits with various villains. However, in a couple of them, conspiracy and politics were woven so my new villain was the Zealot.
Zealots scare me. Look at this story from CNN today. People like this terrify me. I don't want religion in my kids' classrooms. If I did, I would pay to send them to a private religious school. But there are Zealots of every religious stripe, and every cultish belief. And I consider it a form of insanity. So . . . they became my new Perfect Villain.
Finally, I am working on my newest work in progress, which I have not even announced the sale of yet, mostly because I've been so busy. And the tagline is that it's a tale of obsession. In it, at one point, a jealous man destroys the ONE thing a woman loves. My new villain model is the lover or friend who betrays. The husbands who kill their wives, the wives who put arsenic in their husband's oatmeal. Somehow that idea of the "perfect" facade hiding sinister secrets (like the Scott Peterson case) intrigues me.
So that's my Villain Journey. What's yours? Who is your Perfect Villain and why?
Labels: villains
posted by Erica Orloff at 8:31 AM
35 Comments:
I think the villain who is out to take over the world or some such thing isn't nearly as scary as the husband/wife/friend/lover who kills the person closest to them. Maybe because the take-over-the-world guy is removed from us. It's easier to think that it couldn't happen or wouldn't affect us. But reading about a person who kills someone close to them is believable. It could happen to us so it's more terrifying.
As for my favorite kind of villain, I like the ones who are somehow sympathetic. Where you can understand why/how he's been driven to do something that you find horrible.
Liz:
I agree. When it becomes taking over the world, it for me become comic book-like, and removes me from the realm of it seeming close to me and real. But yes . . . the husband/brother/wife, etc. Scary . . . I am sure what adds to the anguish of families in which those events occur is taking a microscope to every past event/family holiday, etc., and wondering if there were clues and how you missed them.
Ericia, we share a perfect villian. I'm with ya on the zealots, very scary stuff. Too much power in the "wrong" hands imo. I read the CNN link, and I can't imagine how the teacher was there for 21 years. Someone was sleeping...
I can't read the truly evil, horror stories. If I do, I'm doing the check thing too. I don't want that inside my noggin.'
Can't do horror. My imagination is far too vivid and I'd spend all night checking and rechecking everything. I've never gotten past the monsters in the closet phase.
The close friend, relative is chilling. Especially when they have such a friendly face in public.
Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game talked about how when you completely understand your enemy, then you have the ability to destroy them but you also love them. The understanding of the villian is important to having a 3D believable character.
I don't like black hat/white hat stories, I like feeling ambivalent about characters. I like the lines blurred between the good guys and the bad guys. From what I've read of your work, you know what I'm talking about.
Ladonna:
I know . . . I just feel like, why do I want to have this crap in my head.
E
sarah:
I think that's really interesting . . . I haven't read Card's take on it . . . but I thought, in an esoteric sense, that was what was amazing about Dead Man Walking. You enter the film with perhaps a black and white vision of the bad guy, but there's s redemptive element too, and you grow to understand him on some level.
E
Stephen:
I obviously do like depicting murderers who break bread with their families and have a code of trust.
E
I'm with Sarah, I can't read horror. At all. Or watch scary movies. My imagination is both a blessing and a curse and while I've stopped checking the closets at night, I always open the shower curtain (very quickly, mind you) to make sure no one's waiting there to kill me.
I used to watch slasher flicks all the time and read horror exclusively. (Loved Thomas Harris, btw.) But, I too reached a point where I desired my suspense gore-free or gore-light. I still like spooky. I still watch some of the classics (to me) that are voilent, but for the most part I steer clear of movies like SAW.
I want to be scared, not be made ready to vomit.
And I agree with your zeolot take. They are the modern day boogey man, IMO.
melanie:
When I travel, hotels are my BIG under-the-bed/check-the-shower places.
E
heather:
I still love spooky--but they are rarely done. I loved Signs, Sixth Sense . . . it was all in the mood of it. But I refuse to watch torture porn . . . and I don't "get" the genre. I did watch--and love--Sin City. And it was horrifically gory. But as an art form--it was wild seeing a film done that way.
E
I'm all for separation of church and state. And church and school, and church and profession. I'm on this one professional piano teachers list that keeps doing the religion thing. I don't mind, really, not at all, until they start posting things like "and His one way," "the True and Only," etc.
Given the conflict in the world today inspired by religion, I have to agree. Religious zealots scare me the most. Why can't people respect that religion is a personal choice?
My husband's cousin was murdered by her husband. It was a very high profile case, which just came to an end last year when he was finally convicted (10 years later). There were Dateline specials, news coverage, and books written about it, but knowing the victim and her family threw a whole different light on my usual fascination with this kind of stuff. Though I still watch those 48 hours mysteries, and the like.
spy:
My spiritual side is deeply important to me. My children are actually being reared within a mainstream religion. I consider it my family's business, and our personal choice and would never, in a million years, push my beliefs onto anyone other than, as I always do, telling people I will sincerely pray for them. If it offends them and they told me not to, I would still do it and not tell them. ;-) But in general, I want it outta schools and especially outta politics.
E
alyson:
Wow . . . I cannot imagine having to go through pain like that in the public eye--or wait for justice so long.
E
I like funny villains. I like villains that if they weren't so damn evil you could hang out with them. I like the Hannibal Lector's. I loved Hannibal. And I loved in in a "I would totally be his lover" kind of way. Which is terrifying because that's clearly not a healthy type of guy to like.
It's absolutely important to me that my villains believe somehow that they are the good guys, though I don't always get to fully express that. I've got a novel now where the villain will be the hero/protagonist in a future book.
And I was going to ramble WAY too long here, so I put it in the blog post for tomorrow hehe. :P Thanks for the inspiration. Villains are one of my favorite topics.
Zoe:
Ok . . . so now you've scared me. ;-)
Because Hannibal is an "interesting" fellow, but no way would I go to bed with him. Not even after ten shots of tequila and just getting dumped.
;-)
But great comment and can't wait to see your blog tomorrow!
E
I agree the scary villians are the ones no one expects, but that's the true nature of evil people. They don't go around laughing like BWHAHAHA! and rubbing their palms together. They are the nice old lady across the street from you who brought you chicken soup that time you were sick. The guy who helped you with your flat tire. They are the Norman Bates of the world. "He seemed like such a nice guy..." These killers rarely look like their police photos.
But my all time favorite villians are not the ones with evil lurking under their depths, but the ones that were just pushed to kill. It may be because you can understand those killers more. Every day people have a button. Easy for most parents--hurt their children. Home invasions sometimes end badly for the criminal. It's kind of scary to realize everyone can be a potential villian.
Mel:
Yes . . . I hadn't thought of that. But did you see the movie with Liam Neeson? The one where his son killed someone and the dad covered it up? I could SOOOOOOOOOO see doing that. I love my kids and if there was a clear "accident" but I didn't trust the justice system (which I do not in any way, shape, or form--not one IOTA), I could see it. NOW imagine if your child WAS a "bad seed" and you had to face it under different circumstances? It's just a scary thought, you're right, with where people's buttons are.
E
Nope. I haven't seen that movie, but the whole concept isn't new to me. I've been known to give a class bully the evil eye.
Now the bad seed does turn things around a little, because there are two ways to look at it.
1. It's the parents fault when something is wrong with the kid.
This idea would push most parents to take the blame and feel guilty for everything their child does(never taking into account the child is their own person. Even when they are little). I mean even if the parents did everything right and there was just something off about their child, the parents would take the blame.
It's society's pressure that the parent is responsible for EVERYTHING. Best example why this logic is shaky. How many times have you told your kid when they were a baby, "The oven is hot." About a million, but what does your child HAVE to do? Touch the oven. It's a fine line(for me) between accountability when being a parent and the child's own indepedence. I can get on my soapbox about that subject, but I won't.
The other factor in this is that it's hard to believe some people are just born "off".
2. The parent knows something is off about their child and they tried to hide it, because of number 1 I listed. Also, they try to hide it because of embarrassment. "I must be a bad parent" school of thought.
That's where things get really cloudy, because it's no longer about the child. It's about the parent saving face.
Now bad parenting creating bad seeds is just another subject all together.
Hi Mel:
I do believe some people are born "off." And then a combination of events can create a perfect storm and they can disintegrate.
I also believe, very much so, that my four kids have their own journeys. I am responsible for helping each of them find their gifts . . . and what they choose to do beyond that is their choice. I don't feel embarrassed when one of my kids does something wrong. I am proud when they do something right--but only to the degree that I am happy for them. I generally don't feel I can take any credit whatsoever. They are individual souls making their way through the world.
But you raise two interesting ideas. I was actually thinking of the case in which, let's say, a kid accidentally swerves on a rainy night and hits someone. No drugs or alcohol involved, just tragedy. Our society doesn't accept that model. We want BLAME. And let's say the kid knows that, panics because he's 16, and leaves the scene. Now he has, through a mistake of judgment that any teen in a panic COULD make, compounded it to a huge criminal mess. And so . . a parent would feel trapped between a rock and a hard place. Maybe they know the new prosecutor is tough on car accidents resulting in death, maybe the kid once went through rehab, and so no blood alcohol test was done because he left the scene in a panic . . . and now things look VERY bad. You could see this swirling mass of bad mistakes, teenage judgment, and you could see a parent feeling trapped.
Then you raise the idea that . . . a parent KNOWS they have a bad seed on their hands and they are mortified. Look at Scott Peterson's parents. To this DAY, they swear his innocence when he killed their own grandbaby. They can't face it.
E
How about a trusted friend who's also part of an Aryan Nation-like group of zealots with a tradition of human sacrifice once a year on the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birthday?
At one point my protag feels like he's stuck in the plot of a low-budget horror flick. He wishes someone would shout cut! and send the stuntman in. ;)
To this DAY, they swear his innocence when he killed their own grandbaby. They can't face it.
Very, very good point. Who wants to think they gave birth to a monster.
And the scenario you give is a very hard one. I think it's faced more often than realizing your kid is a psycho. Teens make mistakes all the time. Some are minor and others are life changing. Most parents instinct is to protect their child. I know that's mine, but there is a point where you have to say, "Mommy can't fix this one." Since your example involves prison time (I have this huge fear of dropping the soap) I'd be a major support for my child and I wouldn't lie. It's also for a mistake they made someone is dead. You have to cross the line some where.
Lastly, you are right, society needs to blame someone when tradegy happens. I'm not sure if that falls under our mores or human nature to do so.
Jude:
I would have a hard time believing a trusted friend could do that. Here's the thing, for me . . . I think most WOMEN'S friendship are based on a level of intimacy. I cannot possibly imagine it. I know my best friend better than any man I have ever been with in my entire life. I know how she thinks, I can finish her sentences.
And I think the other thing is something like that is a thread that runs through your entire life. I can understand someone snapping or someone hiding a mistress that leads to murder . . . but hiding an intense devotion to the Aryan nation and murdering once a year? I don't see it. All in the execution, of course. It's too easy to dismiss a pitch.
When I was in college, in the South, as a New Yorker, in the 1980s, I was stunned by the level of despicable racism. My boyfriend from high school was Puerto Rican and looked African-American . . . and my college ACQUAINTANCES (not friends) didn't hide their racism. They dressed it up with pretty smiles, but it was a HUGE part of them, and to this day, I have THREE college friends remaining, two black guys and one white girl. That's it. I think people who have deep-seated zealotry are STUPID, or crazy like a fox. And I don't think most of them are vested in hiding it. And I don't think I could be friends with someone for 20 years and not see them slip. But maybe that's just my choices of friends.
Racism is evil, though, pure and simple.
Mel:
You know that idea that when you are a mother, you are every child's mother? I see stories of abused kids, and I sob. I see teens make stupid choices on the news (like the bullied child who cracks and kills someone) and I sob. It's heartbreaking because I don't think they see past for the forest for the trees. I have worked as a volunteer mentor to at-risk teens, and sometimes I would come home at night and just break down.
E
Hmm. I see your point, Erica, but I think evil often puts on a very deceptive public face. Jack the Ripper was probably a trusted friend to many. Priests who turn out to be child molesters...
I think it happens all the time. It's the ones we least suspect who turn out to be truly evil. They're good at fooling people.
hehe Erica, yeah I think there is something severely wrong with my self-preservation instinct. I like the bad boys. :P
I try, when doing the big bad villains in the Derek Stillwater novels, and I don't suppose take over the world as much as destroy the world, I try to bring them back to earth. In The Devil's Pitchfork I made it clear that the villain, Richard Coffee, was quite brilliant to begin with, but was exposed to a mix of nerve agents during the first Gulf War, and mix that with traumatic events in Iraq, then later Chechnya, he pretty much went nuts. And with a knowledge of biological weapons, he was ready to create his own doomsday cult.
The Serpent's Kiss, however, brought me back to less grandiose motivations, and although the Serpent is clearly nuts, he has his own twisted motivations--he believes he's killing people to impress his father and his father's followers, or at least, the man he believes is his father.
Overall, though, I like to write about crazy folks with delusions of grandeur and grand plans, I try to bring the motives down to something familiar--revenge, love, lust, greed, etc.
Jude:
I don't disagree with that. But I really prefaced it as far as the type of killer. You have the Jeffrey Dahmers of the world. They don't have a deceptive public face. Anyone who meets them knows they are utterly strange. People may not think these men are serial killers, but they are not the "life of the party" and they are not or rarely "trusted friends."
Then you have the Scott Peterson-type. Cold-blooded killer or guy who snapped? OJ Simpson. Take your pick. They are friends to people and keep up a public face, but often after the fact, their slimy little secrets come to light--still yes, their public face is very deceptive.
And then you have what you posit--which could be carried offf brilliantly. My only point is I just on the surface of it, don't believe that cult members ssacrificing a human being to Hitler, and in the Aryan Brotherhood can hide their disgust for other races. They may be trusted friends, but for 20 years can you keep your vehement racism hidden. And my experience--admittedly limited--with people like that (skinheads, who were surprisingly abundant in Manhattan for a time) were they were 1) incredibly stupid with low IQs, and 2) PROUD of it and not hiding their devotion.
So I don't know, yes, there are deceptive public faces--but then again . . . sometimes not so deceptive in hindsight. I just don't feel an Aryan brother has the ability to be that deceptive as a "trusted" friend.
E
Mark:
See, even crazy killers just want love. ;-)
E
That might be a question I'll need to ask on a future revision: How did my protag know this guy for twenty years and not figure out he's a racist?
Then again, I had family members who were Freemasons, and they took some sort of oath of secrecy or something, and they took all those secrets to their graves with them...
So, I don't know. I think there probably are stealthy racists out there. They would definitely be the most dangerous ones, because their actions wouldn't be suspected.
Jude:
I agree. But my experience is stealthy racists are the eudcated ones (not Aryan Brotherhood). They are the people who won't hire a black person or a Mexican, but will smooth it over with glossy talk of "qualifications" and so on. They're educated enough to "justify" their racism. But get them discussing things like welfare, immigration, whatever, and they're racisim is crystal clear and not likely to fool anyone.
I don't know . . . it's a tough thing to pull off I think.
E
Thanks, Erica. I think your editorial instincts are spot-on as usual. I'm going to add a couple of "hindsight is 20-20" paragraphs where my protag scolds himself for missing some clues along the way--clues that seem rather obvious now.
I think most people have had at least one of those how could I have been such a sucker? moments, no matter their level of intelligence or how good of character judges they are.
And, maybe "trusted friend" was too strong a phrase in the first place. These guys have known each other for a lot of years, worked together and played cards and drank whiskey together and so on, but they're not bosom buddies who hang out on a regular basis. They're not the kind of guys who share intimate details about their personal lives. So, I'm thinking a paragraph or two will do the trick. Thank you!
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