Do Villains Know They Are Evil?
I was watching Iron Man (2008) and, as always, was struck by Jeff Bridges performance as the villain Obadiah Stane. What intrigues me about it is his portrayal is the attitude he projects. He has this great speech he gives to Robert Downey, Jr. that sums his character up beautifully. Stane considers himself a hero and Tony Stark is the real villain in his mind.
That got me looking at serial villains and their motivations. Do villains believe they are evil? Some, like James Craven in his Columbia serials and Roy Bacroft as the Purple Monster seem to realize they are and relish it. But a lot of others seem to have different viewpoints. Lionel Atwill in Captain America (1944) certainly doesn’t consider himself evil, he feels fully justified in his actions for the injustice done to him in the past, as does Ralph Morgan in Gangbusters (1942).
The same thing applies to most of the Axis villains during the forties as they are doing what they must for their country during a time of war. Other great example are Gene Roth in Captain Video (1951) who seems to really believe he is liberating planets by subjugating them, and Lane Bradford in Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) who is doing horrible things so his planet can survive.
On the flip side you have villains like The Lightning in Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) The Spider Lady in Superman (1948), they know they are evil and are okay with it. Doctor Satan and Lex Luthor are interesting as they let slip they could have been good men once, but at some unknown point in their past they made a conscious choice to take the path they’re on.
Charles Middleton as Ming displays a fascinating character arc. In the first serial he projects a feeling of doing what is necessary as a ruler. The next serial shows him angry and bitter at being dethroned, becoming ruthless and manipulative as he embraces his dark side. The final serial has him regaining his power and glorying in his evilness.
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