I’m not talking about villains who are misunderstood, where in hindsight or a different context they were right or turned out to be a good guy. I’m talking about a very clearly defined villain you are supposed to be against, that also has the best writing, dialogue or scenes in the entire story, who just eat up every scene they’re in.
My best example would be Blood Meridian, with Judge Holden. Yes, he is a genocidal child molester, BUT, every scene he is in is an 11/10 when it comes to entertainment factor.
Judge Holden is just so enigmatic. Is he immortal? Is he a human, or Satan in the flesh? Did he actually exist in the real Glanton scalping gang? (Of course the books version of him couldn’t have existed, but there are hints that a wildly intelligent, gigantic and albino man was with them)
My favorite line from him is when the *”protagonist”* The Kid, asks him why the Judge is sketching out animals and plants that he sees. His response? “Anything in creation that lives without my knowledge, lives without my consent” that line was the only time a book ever gave me chills, holy *shit* what a powerfully evil thing to say.
Another example from me would be the Devil in Paradise Lost.
Last example is from another Cormac McCarthy book; No Country for Old Men. The villain, Chigurh, is another enigmatic personification of fate and evil. Cormac never really describes what he looks like, his goals and intentions are never revealed, and his “ending” is never resolved to the reader. His dialogue is sparse, but hits like bullets.
by tmfult
2 Comments
Good pick
He Who Drowned The World by Shelly Parker Chan
It is a sequel though, so you would have to read She Who Became The Sun to understand what’s going on. Yes, the character is in both books.