(Yes, I'm doing a Marvel marathon in preparation for Endgame. Yes, I just rewatched Black Panther and yes, Infinity War Part I is up next. Shut up.)
Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about villains who make a good point or truly believe that they're the hero of their story. Because these are the compelling villains, aren't they? They're the ones readers can't fully dismiss as crazy or evil because they, well, have a point.
The villain who goes on a killing spree because the corrupt government destroyed his people and he wants revenge or at least to get rid of corruption. The one who has the cure for cancer and it would save so many people if only he had the money and influence to get it where it needs to go. The one who loves his family and would do anything, and I mean anything, for them.
We get it. We have loved ones too, and we also see corruption. We want to save and help people, and what's more, we're trained to sympathize with characters who think like this. Because that's what the heroes do.
Heroes are selfless. They want to make the world a better place and to protect their loved ones, and all those innocents. They take action and do good. So what makes them heroes and these ones I mentioned villains?
Um...methods?
Well, yeah, but that doesn't feel like a good answer, does it? "We agree with the villain's philosophy but we can't get behind him killing so many people" makes sense, up until the hero kills a bunch of people. But they were bad guys, so it's okay?
No. I think we base the difference on something else: motivations.
And I don't mean "wants to protect family" or "wants to rid the government of corruption." I mean the deeper, simpler emotional motivations tied to these more practical ones.
Heroes are motivated by hope and love.
Villains are motivated by fear and anger.
This is an idea I've been thinking about a lot. So you get a little of my armchair philosophy today, in which I consider how in our world, acting out of fear and anger leads to negative outcomes, while acting out of hope and love leads to positive ones.
Anger and fear are powerful motivators. You can get a lot done when you're angry, or when you're scared. An angry person can be a powerful force for change, for good or bad. She can fight tirelessly against injustice, raging against systems that harm innocent people.
Same with fear. Someone afraid will do anything necessary to protect against that thing. Likewise, this can be for good or bad.
But sooner or later, anger and fear consume. They can become selfish, or they can grow and overtake the nobler intentions. I see this in protestors who, though their intentions are very noble, allow the cause to become more important than the people they have to hurt along the way. Who allow the fight to turn them into victims who just want what belongs to them instead of heroes who are healing and restoring good to others. I may be wrong (I'm no genius), but when this happens, it seems like they hurt their cause more than help it.
I also see it, all over the place, in people who are so desperate to maintain the safety and peace of their lives, their jobs, etc. that they will fear and blame other groups of people for taking it away.
A villain may blend hope and anger, fear and love. But what makes them a villain is when the anger becomes the driving factor, the fear all that really matters. A parent, loving their child, afraid for the child's safety, traps and smothers the child, manipulating them to the point that the child can't function normally. But at least they're safe. A leader, fighting corruption in hopes of a brighter tomorrow, but mostly because how dare they hurt others, how dare they hurt me, and I'm going to make them hurt so they understand how it feels.
In both cases, anger and fear can turn to hate. Hatred of an idea can easily become hatred of a person, or group of people, unless checked.
This is the villain. We understand. We see the villain's point. But the anger and fear allow the motivations to shift. Bringing in Black Panther, we see this in action. Eric Killmonger has a point: Wakanda could do a lot more to help people in pain. But he's so eaten up with anger that he'll kill anyone in the way just to get what he wants. He'll kill most of the world, if that's what it takes, and then he'll make any survivors know what it feels like to hurt like he did. So, he's the villain.
King T'Chaka is passive, letting Wakanda stay a secret, out of fear. He wanted to protect his people, and as a result, did not reach out to help others. He killed, too, to keep the secret. He's not really a villain, not in narrative terms, but his acting out of fear led to suffering.
(I've been into a lot of Star Wars lately too. Shut up.)
But T'Challa acts out of hope and love. He's a very compassionate Marvel hero, even to the point of wanting to help and heal the guy who tried to kill him and take over the world. T'Challa sees a brighter future, and has hope that Wakanda can help those who need it. He's not trying to take revenge or strike a blow. He's not afraid of the alternative. He cares about others and envisions a better tomorrow.
Which is why he's the hero. We can trust that his actions, his methods, will be above-ground and heroic because we know that, at the end of the day, he only want to help people. He doesn't want to see anyone hurt, and he's not afraid. He's hopeful and compassionate.
It's not easy to explain why I think hope and love return better results, other than to say they don't lead to hatred. I think while it's good to act, and anger/fear are powerful motivators, hope and love can do the same work while ensuring that the people involved (or perhaps just standing nearby) are cared for, too. It's very much a "we can all succeed together" mentality instead of "I need to have what I want, and I don't care who I have to hurt to get it."
So, long post short, villains give in to fear and anger, letting it control their actions, even when they are fighting for something objectively heroic. Heroes, while pursuing the same thing, choose to have hope and act out of love, perhaps even for the villain they fight. It can't be easy to do, but I suppose that's what makes them heroes.
