BearBear
Archmage
I like to have villians and monsters with an anti-hero shade, or even such that they could be the hero or the villian based on different perspectives. I feel the same way about myself.
It's not conflicted or a paradox, there are infinite possible perspectives, even those that would be considered immoral or criminally insane. To me every hero is a villian, every villian is a hero to someone. Imagine that even a civilization itself could be criminally insane from someone's perspective.
Thanos: they couldn't have painted him more of a villian but we see him from that perspective because the author guides us that way. Thanos may be a disturbing individual with an awfully disturbing childhood, and if you've not read that lore I recommend it. Dispite all that, he had a point for those who think there are too many people, and the herd needs to be culled. He had other more profound points if you believe the lore but I like to keep it simple. At least someone thought he was a hero, even if it was only him. He seemed pretty confident about that.
Iron Man: a war mongering, profiteering, playboy. The essence of white, patriarchal, privilege. He wins with money, Batman too. They "save the world" from change. Of course they would, they have something to lose if the status quo changes. They need conflict to amass more fortune.
Heath Ledgers Joker didn't care for money, he didn't care for life, what was his point? I think every hero has a dark side, it's in the nature of picking a side and he found Harvey Dent's dark side. Then Harvey is a perfect example of hero/villian, flip a coin no choice needed, it's completely arbitrary. I think that particular imagening of Joker wanted to point out that heros are villainous too. I like to see the character's actions from those multiple perspectives and understand that no good deed goes unpunished as well as no good deed is good for everyone.
Superman from Superman 3: He was conflicted, not sure if he was up to the task and his negative aspects were strong enough to become a whole other persona. This also illustrates the point that I'm trying to make, there is no pure good or pure evil given enough perspectives.
Now back to me: law abiding, so my characters often are, kind, loyal, but complicated, as I've seen myself in them. Terrible, frightening, a truly dreadful monster, I'm not afraid to admit it, after all, I was once "Angry Bear". I'm happy with myself though, people love me, a lot, I'm fun, quick witted, silly, great with kids and animals, and I understand that I can be a scary person too. This was explified recently by a good friend of mine. Follow me for a moment or end here because this is mostly just for me:
We have a very tight group and one of us has obvious anger issues. She has excess adrenaline and it takes a long time to dissipate. Quick to anger and really hard to talk down. In that state she's illogical, she's cruel, she's Mrs. Hyde no doubt. Uncaring, unfeeling, primal rage, no one's safe around her in that state. She's been called "the berkerker" and she can hold her own around some very frightening monsters. She even scared off an angry pitbull that was certainly about to tear her up--she's a warrior at heart. Tsundere, serious, terrifyingly beautiful, I love her (it's not Aleshe, she's a good friend in our group but she's a kitten).
Keep following if you must: Well we have a wonderful friend in the group. The prince. You can't find a kinder man on this planet. He's the epitomy of empathy, for anyone, and he's genuine. If they love me, they love him 100x over, we all do and it's an honor to be his best friend for real. He loves me like a brother and he sticks up for me often. In our group, I have to say, there are some who you don't want to cross. They're all heros in their own right and if you are their villian, they will not hesitate to take you down. They can be really scary. This is the kind of group you don't leave, you could say they have a particular set of skills.
Anyway, this guy was asked, "who are you most afraid of when they're angry?"
Of all the choices he has, truly worthy choices that are understandable, he pointed at me. Of all the pitbulls and pro-level bad asses around him, he picked me without skipping a beat.
What could I say? I was surprised but yeah. I couldn't ask him why, I trust his opinion though. When you can see yourself in that light, most frightening among the truly frightening, it's surreal. Who asked him was none other than our own hot hothead, and she was baiting him to point her out. She lost that contest and I could see she was dissapointed but she didn't argue either. I'd love to know what was going on in her head at that moment.
My point is, even the superhero doesn't always know he's the supervillian sometimes, and visa versa, so don't be so sure yourself. If you have a despicable villian in your stories, they could very well be a part of you, and I think they are. I also think it's healthy to admit it.
Thankfully such villainous fiends are overwhelmed in a healthy and functioning persona.
It's not conflicted or a paradox, there are infinite possible perspectives, even those that would be considered immoral or criminally insane. To me every hero is a villian, every villian is a hero to someone. Imagine that even a civilization itself could be criminally insane from someone's perspective.
Thanos: they couldn't have painted him more of a villian but we see him from that perspective because the author guides us that way. Thanos may be a disturbing individual with an awfully disturbing childhood, and if you've not read that lore I recommend it. Dispite all that, he had a point for those who think there are too many people, and the herd needs to be culled. He had other more profound points if you believe the lore but I like to keep it simple. At least someone thought he was a hero, even if it was only him. He seemed pretty confident about that.
Iron Man: a war mongering, profiteering, playboy. The essence of white, patriarchal, privilege. He wins with money, Batman too. They "save the world" from change. Of course they would, they have something to lose if the status quo changes. They need conflict to amass more fortune.
Heath Ledgers Joker didn't care for money, he didn't care for life, what was his point? I think every hero has a dark side, it's in the nature of picking a side and he found Harvey Dent's dark side. Then Harvey is a perfect example of hero/villian, flip a coin no choice needed, it's completely arbitrary. I think that particular imagening of Joker wanted to point out that heros are villainous too. I like to see the character's actions from those multiple perspectives and understand that no good deed goes unpunished as well as no good deed is good for everyone.
Superman from Superman 3: He was conflicted, not sure if he was up to the task and his negative aspects were strong enough to become a whole other persona. This also illustrates the point that I'm trying to make, there is no pure good or pure evil given enough perspectives.
Now back to me: law abiding, so my characters often are, kind, loyal, but complicated, as I've seen myself in them. Terrible, frightening, a truly dreadful monster, I'm not afraid to admit it, after all, I was once "Angry Bear". I'm happy with myself though, people love me, a lot, I'm fun, quick witted, silly, great with kids and animals, and I understand that I can be a scary person too. This was explified recently by a good friend of mine. Follow me for a moment or end here because this is mostly just for me:
We have a very tight group and one of us has obvious anger issues. She has excess adrenaline and it takes a long time to dissipate. Quick to anger and really hard to talk down. In that state she's illogical, she's cruel, she's Mrs. Hyde no doubt. Uncaring, unfeeling, primal rage, no one's safe around her in that state. She's been called "the berkerker" and she can hold her own around some very frightening monsters. She even scared off an angry pitbull that was certainly about to tear her up--she's a warrior at heart. Tsundere, serious, terrifyingly beautiful, I love her (it's not Aleshe, she's a good friend in our group but she's a kitten).
Keep following if you must: Well we have a wonderful friend in the group. The prince. You can't find a kinder man on this planet. He's the epitomy of empathy, for anyone, and he's genuine. If they love me, they love him 100x over, we all do and it's an honor to be his best friend for real. He loves me like a brother and he sticks up for me often. In our group, I have to say, there are some who you don't want to cross. They're all heros in their own right and if you are their villian, they will not hesitate to take you down. They can be really scary. This is the kind of group you don't leave, you could say they have a particular set of skills.
Anyway, this guy was asked, "who are you most afraid of when they're angry?"
Of all the choices he has, truly worthy choices that are understandable, he pointed at me. Of all the pitbulls and pro-level bad asses around him, he picked me without skipping a beat.
What could I say? I was surprised but yeah. I couldn't ask him why, I trust his opinion though. When you can see yourself in that light, most frightening among the truly frightening, it's surreal. Who asked him was none other than our own hot hothead, and she was baiting him to point her out. She lost that contest and I could see she was dissapointed but she didn't argue either. I'd love to know what was going on in her head at that moment.
My point is, even the superhero doesn't always know he's the supervillian sometimes, and visa versa, so don't be so sure yourself. If you have a despicable villian in your stories, they could very well be a part of you, and I think they are. I also think it's healthy to admit it.
Thankfully such villainous fiends are overwhelmed in a healthy and functioning persona.