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This is a spontaneous post born from an interesting statement on a review. The person asked why the villains don’t kill the heroes or why I explain the reason for such an action. You know what? I’m betting we all think this at some point. I’m going to go into the individual Windemere villains later behind a spoiler tag, but first I’m going to give my opinion on why this happens. My mind is rather distracted and ‘in a place’, but I think I can do this.
If the villain simply walked up and shot the hero dead then that would be the end of the story/series. Is it realistic? Yes. Is it good storytelling? Not really. It’d just be the murder of somebody that leads to a courtroom drama story. Let’s forget the whole decision about killing characters because this is about villain mentality. In various genres, these tend to be ‘larger than life’ characters that you’d never find in reality. The closest you can find is genocidal dictators and I don’t think those are taken out by a gang of ragtag adventurers or a single hero. There’s a speech that I’m reminded of whenever I work on my villains. Let me share it:
Again, is this realistic? No. Yet it does demonstrate that most villains in a series have a flaw that prevents them from doing a ‘I shoot you dead’ scene. They have arrogance, pride, ego, love of the fight, and so many things that can hold them back from that simple, brutal, real world finish. We as the readers don’t think this way, so we tend to see their actions as ridiculously self-destructive. Even when a villain tries and fails, many can point out the one thing that could have been done to get the kill. Yet, the truth is that they’re characters designed to tell a story and evolve together in a fantastical adventure. I could have had my heroes die at any point, but where would I be then? Onto the next series and leaving a ‘the bad guy wins’ one behind. It probably wouldn’t have even made it beyond ‘Beginning of a Hero’ if I let the villains take the easy kills.
It’s also really hard to explain this mentality because villains aren’t always aware of it. To have the hero or narrator bring it up can get a little too much as well. Villains that have a known reason tend to keep it a secret as well. It might get mentioned once or twice, but it’s not an easy thing to do. Mostly, who wants to hear a villain tell the hero why he won’t kill them? That kind of takes the fear and power out of them. It also brings up the question of why does the hero not kill the villain? That probably comes down to morality, which I’ve noticed many readers seem to ignore and call for death.
So, what’s stopping the big heavies in Legends of Windemere? *SPOILERS BELOW*
The Lich– Ineptitude mostly. He gets frustrated and steps into the fray when he really isn’t a fighter. To be fair, the Lich comes the closest to killing a hero several times. He also shares something with the next guy in that he has a curiosity about the champions. These are heroes who repeatedly turn up to stop the Baron, so there is an interest in figuring out what makes them tick. Killing them awakens the next champion, which causes difficulties.
Stephen– Pure sadistic pleasure. Does he enjoy killing? Yes. Does he enjoy inflicting pain and torment more? YES! Stephen could wipe out the heroes easily, but he loves having an audience and playing with weaker enemies. They are ‘worth his time’ to play with and he is under special orders that will be explained later. More importantly, he really wants to get his hands on Nyx to turn her into a weapon. Killing her isn’t the goal and his interest in her tends to make him forget about the others. Pride is another issue with him because he thinks he has all the time in the world to play with his new toys.
Queen Trinity– Reluctant villain. For those that have read far enough, you know that the chaos elves are basically slaves and hostages of the Baron. Trinity does her master’s bidding to keep them safe and will only kill the heroes when she’s under orders. There’s conflict too because she genuinely likes Sari and has developed deep respect for Nyx. It’s a rivalry that pushes her to a new level and killing her enemies would remove the first real challenge she’s had.
Baron Arthuru Kernaghan– All part of the plan. This is hinted at in ‘The Compass Key’, but the main villain actually needs the heroes to succeed enough that he can break out of his ancient prison. How will this go down? I’m not telling, but it’s a secret that only he and Gabriel know. It doesn’t come up that often because it’d be weird for the Baron to repeatedly tell everyone about this part of the prophecy. So he masks it by him wanting to return to Windemere during a fight with powerful enemies, which will solidify his reign and make future heroes more cautious.
Legends of Windemere 
That’s tough. I really wanted to make my last tale into a Greek tragedy. It fits the setting so well.
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It can go that way as long as it doesn’t keep going after the tragedy. That’s a challenge for the series author. We have to keep things going without killing everyone off. Eventually, you start wondering if the fictional world is inhabited solely by people who are simply waiting for their turn to play hero or villain.
“Well, Duke Cyril VonNastyTeeth is dead. Villain #578! Come get your starter kit!”
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It works for DC and Marvel. I’ve noticed many TV series taking that path, and they lose some lustre after time. That’s one nice thing about a large cast. Killing off a random Weasley drives home the point that the end game isn’t a cinch.
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True. The hard part is filling the void. Many times a character is killed and it destroys the series. It could be years before things settle if they ever do, but only comics and tv have that luxury. Books can take a hit that never heals right.
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Very good point. I never thought of it quite that way, but you’re right.
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Thanks. I noticed this when I was into Dragonball Z. Supposedly, they killed off the popular main character to replace him with his son. Being a world where resurrection has been done many times before, they were able to reverse the decision after the fans got extremely upset. If they didn’t have that escape plan then they would have been in a lot of trouble.
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I love suggestions that imply our stories are not realistic. HEY YOU THERE. THIS IS FRICKIN FICTION.
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There should be some realism, but you have to step away even a little bit. Most fictional tales are absurd if you think about them long enough. School for wizards? Weekly bizarre murders in Las Vegas? A talking horse?
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I could see a revue note on a talking horse now. “The horse didn’t use contractions and seemed to be unnatural.”
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I wonder if anything like that was every said about the show.
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While I completely agree that some tales don’t warrant the killing of the hero, there are tales, such as Homestuck (if you haven’t read it, read it. It’s a masterpiece of foreshadowing and character development) where killing the hero is just as prudent as killing the other characters, and even though death is a revolving door, it still doesn’t end the suspense that maybe THIS time, the death will stick.
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I agree that it’s entirely doable. Yet I don’t think it’s really necessary or as easy to do as we think it is. You bring up a great tool for accomplishing this. Foreshadowing can help build up a potential ‘replacement’ for the hero that is going to fall. If you prepare for the act then it’s definitely worth doing.
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Foreshadowing is definately, definately the best tool for that sort of thing, honestly. However, the series I specifically brought up actually kills off the main character, and brings him back, over and over. In fact, the entire cast dies, several times and instead of taking away from the setting, it actually makes it quite interesting! ❤
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That is interesting. I think there’s a superhero who has a power like that, but it’s for comedic effect. Now I’m really curious.
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Oh definately! I really recommend reading it. If only to learn how foreshadowing is amazingly done, and also character creation/growth. There are more than fifty eight seperate characters in Homestuck, each with their own individual personalities and traits. It’s amazing.
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Thanks for the recommendation. 🙂
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XD No problem! ❤ I can't wait to see more from you!
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This may be one reason the ancients started many of their tales with prophecies that the infant hero would bring about their doom. The one foretold to be doomed then tries to destroy the infant and becomes the very evil that was predicted. Listeners can understand why the villain is acting that way without explanations that bog the story down.
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It was definitely a simpler time. People probably didn’t question things as much.
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I’ve been binge watching James Bond movies in chronological order, and I’ll tell you, he should have died many times over! In some instances, I wish he had. In the earlier movies, especially, the writers took the audience as fools. I’m looking forward to the later movies when Bond doesn’t act like Superman and can get hurt on occasion!
That’s my 007 rant for the night 😉
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Those are fun. I remember reading that there was a ‘hero cannot bleed’ rule back then. Basically, viewers didn’t want their heroes to show any sign of weakness. Not like today where we want more realism.
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