Okay, so now in my editing phase of the epic fantasy novel I'm working on, I'm getting in some strange waters. I'm working on improving my mastermind villain.
If you remember right, waaay back (4-1-2012, to be exact) when I did a post on The best vilians in the history of cinema, in which I went over a plethora of great villains in movies that were my favorites; with Dr. Zaius, of course, toping the list. No need to go over THAT anymore. However, Dr. Zaius is not what I would classify as a mastermind villain. Dr. Zaius is more of a zealot of pre-existing system. Dr. Zaius is not driving the ape culture in "Planet of the Apes" (1968), rather he is zealot trying to preserve his society, which is threated by the arrival of Taylor and his fellow astronauts.
Okay, so if Zaius isn't a mastermind villain, who is? And how exactly do you define what a mastermind villain is? For purpose of clarity, let's begin there, at the definition stage.
Mastermind villain: a master villain in a given story or historical record who is head and is the effectual ruler over a system that oppresses a vast group of people.
Not sure if that's the best definition of a mastermind villain, but at least it's an attempt. Key traits of a mastermind villain is that they are in a position of authority and they have other villains under them carrying out their orders. To date I think the "Star Wars" series has the best mastermind villain, who is easy to recognize. This being of course, the Emperor. The Emperor was the guy Darth Vader answered to. The Emperor was the head of the Empire which opposed, Luke, Leah and the whole Rebel Allegiance. The Emperor was the one bent on conquest and destroying anyone who opposed his rule of oppression.
Satan and Adolf Hitler are two more that are easily recognizable as being mastermind villains. Satan existing in the spirit world, being the leader of the devils which torment and seek to tear mankind away from worship of Jehovah God. Adolf Hitler is recognized by all sane people as a monster of man who used his warped ideas of Aryan supremacy to bring the world into war. Million of innocent Jews died on account of the execution of the ideology of this mastermind, real life, villain.
All three mastermind villains I've sited: the Emperor, Satan, and Adolf Hitler are all deplorable characters. And yet all three head networks of power bent on an evil end.
Mastermind villains are unique subset of villains. And no, not all villains are the same. Michael Myers was a psycho killer, his targets were merely one fixation after the next. Lucy Wyman, Jenna Rink's foe from "13 Going on 30" was a friend of Jenna's, someone she grew up with a young girl, and worked with as a young adult. Stansfield from "Leon: the Professionall" was simply a drug addicted cop, desperately trying to cover his tracks.
My point is mastermind villains are a unique subset under the villain umbrella. Yes, all villains perform the same function: they oppose the "good guys" or the protagonist. BUT where the differ is in the scope of range that they control, and their world view. Mastermind villains have a global agenda. The Emperor want to rule the universe. Satan wants to destroy those who love the true God. Adolf Hitler wanted to universalize his Aryan nations views to justify a genocide off all the people of Jewish descent.
And now ol' E.C. Henry has a mastermind villain he's cooking up for his epic fantasy novel. Now a couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about an epiphany of sorts I had about one of the 3rd or 4th tier villains I crafted into the current version of epic fantasy novel story I'm working on, but this villain isn't like the Zaius-like one I was referring to in that post. Rather, this villain is more of a global villain. He's probably the 3rd most important villain I have in that epic fantasy novel I'm working on. YES, there are AT LEAST two more important villains than my mastermind villain. Can that be done? YES. Consider the fact that it's already been done, what with Darth Vader CLEARLY being a more central villain that the Emperor in "Star Wars" and the "The Empire Strikes Back". Now you could argue in the other four movies in the series the Emperor did emerge as a main villain, but the first two movies of the series CLEARLY, Darth Vader was the main villain who had a greater presence than the mastermind villain who was pulling his strings.
Okay, E.C. so now you're telling your readership that you have a mastermind villian of the caliber of the Emperor but you have two more villains even more important than your mastermind villian. YES, that's what I'm saying. Yes, my mastermind villain does pull some string of his subjugates, BUT not all villains in my story are his subjugates...
Can villains exist apart from control of the mastermind villain? Yes, once again consider the "Star Wars" series, and go to Jobba the Hutt. Was Jobba working under the Emperor? No, Jobba's reign was apart from the Emporer, as was Boba Fett's if you really think about it...
Point: even in a story with a mastermind villain, there is room for even more villains to exist who are not subjugate to the mastermind.
Never limit yourself by what's already been done before. Rather, build on the lessons taught by fellow world builders who came before you. And that's what I endeavor to do: create unique worlds and villain unlike any you've ever seen before. Sure, you MAY compare what I've done to those who came before me, but trust me; I NEVER outright seek to rip-off those who came before me. Rather, I subscribe to the creative belief that first you create your characters, THEN you compare them to what's already out there to see how you stack up against the lexicon of what already was written and existed in the movies.
My mastermind villain exists in several different forms and ways, both as a legend of sort, which had a history even before my story begins, and then as a meddler and puller of strings once the real meat of the story unfolds.
Not all stories need a mastermind villain. But if you're writing a James Bond-esque story, you would be behoved if you didn't have one.
Currently I'm working at expanding the bio file on my mastermind villain. He's a lot more tricky to keep straight then either two of my other more main villains in my story of whom I think I have a firm hold on who they are.
But that's the fun of writing stories. Making them deeper. Giving your villains and the protagonists more depth. And YES, I still subscribe to the belief that it more important to understand your villain as opposed to your protagonists. Why? Because, I still subscribe to the belief that your villain drives the story with the evil desire that he or she is chasing after. It's the villain's evil desire that gives the story's protagonist something to do--fight the villain and his or her evil desire.
If nothing else I hope I've further whetted your appetite to someday read what I'm working so hard on. No, I'm not cranking out the scripts like I've done for the past decade, but what I am working on is BIG. Someday it will rival "The Lord of the Rings", may even rival "Star Wars". We'll see...
But lemme end this post on a football note which is loosely tied to the whole Anakin Skywalker falling from grace. And that being the Seattle Seahawks surprising move of trading WR Percy Harvin to the N.Y. Jets this last Friday. What a shocker!! But then I started hearing reports that Percy Harvin was a bad teammate. That on the day before the Super Bowl, Percy Harvin actually gave his fellow WR Golden Tate, who was a Seahawk at the time, though now he's playing for the Detroit Lions a black eye! Can you believe that!! The day before the biggest game of your life your giving a fellow teammate a black eye! Another report has Percy mixing it up with another Seahawk WR, Doug Baldwin in August just before the start of the 2014 regular season, before a pre-season game with Oakland.
YES, before the season started I was super geeked about the prospect of getting to watch a phenomenal athlete like Percy Harvin make electric plays for my Seattle Seahawks. But in light of these reports, my opinion of Percy Harvin has turned. When time allows I'm going to BURN my #11 Percy Harvin jersey. You see, at heart, I'm a team player. And I believe that as member of the team it was Percy's primary responsibility to do everything in his power to make the team better. I CAN'T STAND "me first" athletes. I don't care how much or how little a player makes. When you are paid to be a player for a given team, you're supposed to do everything in your power to push that team to greatness--for the sake of the team, not for the sake of yourself.
From all reports, Percy was not a team player. Hence, I back the Seahawks 100% in shipping him off. I'm now backing Doug Baldwin 100%. I love his game. I love his attitude. Last week I watched him play on special teams and actually block a punt. I have NEVER heard of a starting wide receiver in the National Football Football league, playing on the punt block team. But Doug Baldwin did. He has done EVERYTHING he can to make the Seahawks a winner, and I respect that. I wish more players were like Doug Baldwin. No, Doug Baldwin is not the best wide receiver in the NFL, but he is a guy who gives it all he's got, and I respect that. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't apply that talent in the right way, it can actually work against your team.
I would have liked nothing more than to go on cheering #11 of the Seattle Seahawks, but he burned his teammates by his selfish attitude, and now the next chance I get, I'm burning the $125, Percy Harvin jersey I bought. I feel betrayed by Percy Harvin. The Seahawks paid him a lot money for his services, and yet they saw fit to trade him off for literally nothing. Percy Harvin fan no more. I'm a Doug Baldwin fan now!
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