History is written by the victors.
This is one of the most often used phrases in the world. Just by mere exposure, we are led to perceive that history often is one-sided; it does not reflect all dimensions of reality and hence requires our critical scrutinization of recognizing what is overrepresented. However, it is harder to acknowledge that a similar thing happens with stories. Except here, our judgments are not confounded due to who is telling the story, but more because of who we define to be “good” and “bad.” We label certain characters villains of the story and from that moment on, whatever action he/she chooses to take is deemed to be evil, while the similar actions by the “good” ones do not seem particularly wrong.
Before going into the discussion, this is not to say that the actions conducted by the villains are tolerable. Voldemort killing Harry’s parents, the White Witch turning the faun Mr. Tumnus into stone and Jeanine from the Erudite faction planning to take over the whole city are not morally justified at all. As such, there are certain characters, or at least some of their actions, that are inarguably evil. However, I would like to invite all of you to take a step back from these “bad” labels attached in these character’s profiles and actually compare the essence of their actions with the protagonists.
As our first example, let’s take a look at Kronos from the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Kronos is the villain who aspires to awaken from his long sleep and overthrow the Olympians by starting a war against them and their demigods. As we see the story through the narrative of Percy, the son of the sea god Poseidon, and his friends, we are naturally led to perceive Kronos as the bad guy. Once this label is firmly attached, every action he takes is also instantly labeled bad. He manipulates and kills demigods and other mythical creatures and starts a war against the gods.
However, with a slight twist in perspective, we see that Percy and his gang are also doing the exact same thing. In order to achieve their heroic quests, they trick and kill numerous monsters, make false promises, and make so many fatal mistakes. Unconsciously, we, as human readers, label the ancient Greek monsters as the bad guys that deserve such trickery and murder, but in their perspective, the demigods and the Olympians are the invaders disturbing their peace. Weren’t Zeus and the Olympians the ones that overthrew the titans in the beginning of history in the first place? So if both sides are essentially doing the same bad thing, why do we call Percy’s actions heroic and Kronos’ evil? Who are they to judge what is evil?
Another example: The Chronicles of Narnia. This series, which, as a side note, was my absolute favorite childhood story, has Peter and his three siblings as the protagonist who save the kingdom Narnia from the White Witch. The White Witch inarguably did commit bad things. The witch turned many animals into stone and froze the entire kingdom. However, our labeling of her as the bad one again leads us to overly criticize her.
As much as the faun Mr. Tumnus and the beavers are lovely creatures of Narnia, the wolves and dwarves who sided with the witch are also rightfully animals living in Narnia. However, the witch turning the faun into stone was perceived as much more terrible than Peter mercilessly killing the wolves. In fact, many readers, including the younger version of myself, did not even find Peter’s attack on the wolves problematic in any way. So why are our standards of murder mroe lenient when Peter does it?
This double standard is seen in the manipulation of the magic as well. Aslan, the lion and essentially the guardian angel of Narnia, is initially killed by the White Witch as punishment for accepting a traitor (Peter’s younger brother Edmund unknowingly betrays his siblings after being manipulated by the witch). However, he undoes his death by manipulating Deeper Magic so that everyone, including himself could live. The Witch, who is later trapped in a sheet of ice without an established form, later aims to do the same thing, as she tries to convince Peter to give her a drop of his human blood to call her back to life. However, her manipulation of music for her life is perceived as evil. She is the bad influence that tries to use the innocent Percy for her benefit, although in essence her actions mirror that of Aslan’s.
So, are the villains as bad as you thought? To sum up this discussion, everything depends on the perspective. Our judgements and impression on the events of a story are to a large extent determined by our presumptions about the nature of the doers of those actions. This perhaps leads to a bigger inquiry on whether our minds unconsciously go through the same process in daily interactions with others outside of stories. Are we then subject to such easy “manipulations” of preconceived notions and expectations? Some food for thought for the day. What do you think?