What makes the hero? What makes the villain? In my books the two are very similar. Two very similar personalities, what separates them is what side they fall on what we call the moral code or lawful code. In essence what differs between the Hero and the Villain is where they fall on this line, the choices they make essentially for what? Themselves? Or for others? Both can be argued for the Hero or the Villain. Does a Hero that betrays the ideals of the world to achieve a greater good really someone that can be considered The Hero in their story? Would this paint them as the Villain, for some yes perhaps, their actions in their search for their justice or ‘moral justice’ can cause them to cross the line what is considered a Hero or a Villain. Take a renowned scene from Fate/Zero.
Here Kiritsugu (man in suit) argues to Saber (Blonde warrior) that his way of seeking for true peace is more practical rather than being more moral because of the ideal of the battlefield being a place of ‘honor’. On the battlefield there is no honor, only death awaits those who are not ready. The same can be said about life really, if you’re not ready to compromise and take your opportunities due to your moral code of being giving to others or being a role model to others, you may be left in the dust and your actions ultimately leading to a situation less than desired even though at the time of your decision in seemed like the right thing to do. In this case, Kiritsugu references Saber, or her real name Artoria Pendragon (King Arthur in Legend, a Japanese take on King Arthur), he blames the fall of her/his rule because of her chivalry in combat, attacking her ideals of being an honorable fighter ultimately leading to her death and fall of her empire. It may be true, might not, but her ideals is what he claims to have claimed the lives of many unnecessarily. To achieve an ideal greater good, by being the ideal person in everyone’s mind can lead to complications where being the heartless, cold decision maker would suit better. It can lead to situations where you are considered by people to be foolhardy or naive in the way you are going about solving a problem because you would not budge or your so called ‘just ideals’.
However on the flipside, if you commit atrocities to achieve a greater good it may be more practical. As Kiritsugu said, “even if that means staining my hands with every evil in the world, I do not care”. If it is true, to amount to such immoral actions to achieve a greater good can create more complications than that if you were to approach it with a more righteous approach. The only way to make this approach seem practical, would be to create a greater evil than that already is thus creating a common threat for all parties. Uniting conflicting parties into peace, however more often than not this only results in a temporary peace. In both situations though, both ideals has its pros and cons, it is up to each individual to evaluate and act upon what is the right course of action. The perception of a hero is only what the public sees as ‘The Hero’ because the Hero may very well become the Villain in the eyes of somebody else.
Take Tyrion from Game of Thrones for example (S3 Spoilers ahead, but honestly who hasn’t seen/heard of it)
Tyrion, beloved character of Game of Thrones, is what we would call a ‘Hero’ however in this case, we see him being victimised as ‘The Villain’ of the murder of King Joffrey at The Purple Wedding. Here we see his ideals as a character come back to betray him, for him to think he is trying to make sense of the complex world of Game of Thrones in Kings Landing, trying to make peace with what he can and not be involved has resulted him in this situation where he was blamed for regicide. His ‘noble’ or ‘smart’ character was turned around where he was once seen as the Hero of Kings Landing, saving the city from Stannis Baratheon’s army, is now seen as the Villain. He is done with his ideal to achieve peace with what he can and in an attempted last cry to say ‘fuck you’ essentially he blasts everyone in the room in typical Tyrion fashion. A contrast of character that doesn’t seem too far fetched. This takes me back to my point that, the Hero and the Villain are two very similar, so similar that they very might well be the same person. It depends on the context and the situation you are in.
You might feel it too, there have been situations I’m sure that every person has been in, that they would act harshly or not idealistic but chose not to. To lash out with frustration, everyone feels it. It is ‘The Villain’ inside of us. Something inside of us that makes us feel like what we’re experiencing is unfair and should do something about it, ‘The Hero’ inside of us tells us that this is what we’re given and we have to deal with it, but ‘The Villain’ says we should do something really stupid about it. And it takes a strong sense of character to find the right time and place for such actions where action is needed. You must find the time to abide by your ideals, and times to make a compromise and bite the bullet not only for yourself but the people around you. There may come a time where an action that is needed that betrays your ideals, when people realise what you’ve done they will know why you had to do it and you made that compromise to trust yourself and those around you to understand. However I hope no one has to go through that process of insecurity of themselves, but in saying that once you do it and conquer it, you’ll be a better person for yourself and those around you so take the challenge head on. So the word of the day would be Compromise.
So there it is, my ramble on what is a Hero and what is a Villain. I hope it made sense, I did my best to convey what I wanted to say with examples to make it seem a bit easier. But hey, stay safe everyone. Tune in for the next Real Talk
Next Real Talk topic: Anger & Depression
