'Evil'

A few weeks ago, I remarked a little sadly to a friend that I don't seem able to write a simple, innocent, basically good character any more. It always gets... complicated.

You would not be unjustified in saying that I have a thing for 'evil' or 'broken' characters; perhaps for the same reason that we read with interest about serial killers. We want to know why, what makes them tick, what leads them to their actions. For me, it is much the same.

One of the best examples that springs to mind is that of Selene Sundheim, AKA Inferno. She's an anti-hero in Dark City, my personal take on the superhero concept. Selene is borderline psychotic, cynical as hell, and a drug addict. Her last actions before disappearing from society for years were to burn down her school, and murder her own father. Yet somehow, in the dystopic world of corporate corruption in Dark City, she's one of the good guys! I've remarked several times to a friend who I've bounced ideas off for a long time that in any other universe, she would be a perfect villain... but in Dark City, she's just extreme. She's the victim of a horrible childhood, a bad environment, and a hundred other circumstances.

By contrast, there's Edgar Coralsten, AKA Terminus, also from Dark City. Terminus is not one of the good guys. He's nominally on the same side as the story's protagonists, but he was kicked out of the little band of rebels for being too extreme.

I like Terminus, as a concept, because he's utterly off the wall. He's smart, and his incredibly destructive acts of terrorism mark him as your average scheming villain... but he has a strong cockney accent, and is always quoting Robespierre, the architect of The Terror during the French Revolution. Both Terminus and his role model are pretty despicable men... but that above friend once remarked that it's oddly hard to argue with him.

So where's the gap? What makes Inferno a hero and Terminus a villain? Both are fighting against the looming, faceless corporate oppressors who make up the backdrop of Dark City. Both kill without hesitation, and both are wanted criminals. Where's the line that Terminus has crossed and Inferno has not?

It's little questions like that that keep bringing me back to writing 'evil' characters - plus, of course, the aforementioned "What makes them tick?". The idea of 'The Cage' is one that I've returned to a few times, espoused by a couple of unmitigatedly evil characters in short stories and concepts; the idea that everyone has a beast inside, imprisoned in the cage of society's rules, and most of all, the consequences of their actions. When the consequences no longer matter, the beast is released.

A rather bleak and cynical view, perhaps. But is there some element of truth to it? Don't we all, as we go through life and meet people, have little flashes of what we could do, but don't, partly because of the consequences?

It puts me in mind of the werewolf myth, the literal beast within, released at the full moon to rampantly destroy... but during the day, just an ordinary person, obeying society's rules. I've always preferred vampires to werewolves, mind... but please note that anyone mentioning Twilight to me will be stared at disappointedly for some time.

Although, I confess, I am interested to read the book (or at least try to), simply to see if I can work out what the hell the fuss is all about. Vampires are a sad case, so devastatingly hackneyed and overused... but I digress.

For now, dear readers, I leave you to consider the concept of 'the beast within'.

Until tomorrow... I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel.