SOMETIMES

Villain

 Villain

1. A character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.

2. A criminal.

3. The person or thing responsible for specified problems, harm, or damage.

4. An evil or wicked character that enacts evil action and/or harms others. A villain may have a justification for their actions that is in line with their own principles, but their actions inflict harm and create ruin in the process.

Villain In Name Only

The villain in name only is a good reminder that antagonists don't always need to be evil or sinister. Villains in name choose different paths, are governed by different principles and uphold different values than those of the next person. Their defiant nature is what brings about the conflict. Their refusal to conformity is what excommunicates them from the rest of the world, or in most cases, to those that matter, their community.

Where do I fall? What kind of villain am I in someone else's story? Just how much of a villain am I? How bad does it get? How deep is the pain that I inflict? Is it always intentional? Do I have justifications for my "villainous" ways? So many questions, but one thing is certain, somewhere out there, I am the villain in someone's story. I am what comes to mind when they reflect on the pain, hurt and humiliation they've had to endure. I do wonder, was I the criminal type? The diabolical type? The archetype: one that naturally has negative characteristics always? Was I the villain in name only? What had to happen for me to be identified as one? Was I a hero before I went rogue? Did I choose to become one, with deliberation? Happenstance?

Do I even understand what it means to be a villain? Do I have in me villainous characteristics? Does it even matter anymore? Even if I were to try to understand why I became one, what had to happen for me to behave like one, would it change anything? Would it change how I behave and interact with people? Would it make me more accountable? Would it help make me a better person? Yes, we're at a point know where we know what a villain is, according to definition. We know the key characteristics of a person that is said to be villainous. Yes, we read about villains all the time, we see them on TV and in movie theaters all the time. Haven't you wondered though, that what we know to be the definition of a villain and what characteristics are said to be one of a villain are based off of the life experiences of one person per story, one community per era? Let's say for instance, that you are currently living out your own story that has different characters, different communities, governments, different culture and family dynamics and within this setting do you find yourself in the middle of conflict, one where even you are not sure if you are the hero or the villain because your situation is the first one of its kind. Who then becomes a villain and who becomes a hero? What criteria do we use to determine who falls where? 

We are all heroes and villains and can be both at the same time. If it comes down to knowing which is more prominent in a season, a relationship, a community, ask the next person. I believe the concept of heroes versus villains all come down to perspective and not actual hard facts.

What do you think a villain is?