SGU essay: Simeon: Classic Villain
Title: Simeon: Classic Villain
Author: Shenandoah Risu
Rating: PG
Content Flags: canon character deaths
Spoilers: SGU Season 2, up to and including "Malice"
Characters: Simeon, Nicholas Rush, other SGU characters
Word Count: 1,147
Summary: “I like villains because there's something so attractive about a committed person - they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. They're motivated."
Author's Notes: This essay was written for the stargateland challenge Villain Manifesto. Thanks to ashimon for giving me the idea.
Disclaimer: I don't own SGU. I wouldn't know what to do with it. Now, Young... Young I'd know what to do with. ;-)
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Simeon: Classic Villain
“I like villains because there's something so attractive about a committed person -- they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. They're motivated."
Russell Crowe
In his book The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth, James Frey finds that the classic hero and the classic villain have a surprising amount of characteristics in common. If we examine Simeon as the classic villain and contrast him with the crew of the Destiny (and Nicholas Rush in particular, due to the old time Western-style standoff in “Malice”) we discover:
- They are big headed
Both Rush and Simeon are very good at what they do, and they are both acutely aware of their talents and the role they play in the overall story. With that knowledge comes a certain arrogance that shows up in moments when the character in question seeks to impose his superiority over another, but can vanish just as fast when trying to placate an opponent, or pretending to do so.
- They are outlaws
Simeon comes from a world where strong hierarchies appear to be in place, where scheming and cheating are standard practice. Among the members of the Lucian Alliance - themselves a group of outlaws - he is still considered a wild card, an outlaw among outlaws. Rush has strong misanthropic tendencies which often place him into an outsider position, both socially and professionally.
- They are clever and resourceful
Simeon escapes from his cell despite a guard detail, murders several people and takes one hostage, all the while pilfering supplies and then strapping a bomb to his victim in order to take more lives as the rescuers will undoubtedly try to save her. Rush on the other hand uses his eyeglasses frame to defuse the bomb, thwarting Simeon’s plot.
- They may be wounded
Although Simeon sustains physical wounds on his escape it is his mental injuries that bear the most weight, and in that he is mirrored by his most dedicated pursuer, Rush, who has just lost the second love of his life as Simeon strangled Amanda Perry in Ginn’s body
Frey postulates that these qualities are similar to the hero, and make them equal contenders. However, the villain differs from the hero in these notable ways:
- He is motivated by greed, vanity, lust for power: self-serving motives.
While Simeon at first appears to be nothing but a mean, bitter man who tries to do as much damage as possible, we find out that one of his biggest motivators is indeed grief for people he’s lost. In that he is an exact match with Rush whose only motive is revenge and the rage that grief brings. That said, one can assume that a hunger for power is certainly strong in Simeon: his desire to see Rush suffer is something he freely admits.
- He never acts out of idealism
Simeon has no noble cause, no self-sacrificing plan. His world has been destroyed, his clan murdered, and all that’s left for him to do is to lash out and bring down as many others with him as possible. It is pure rage.
- He is often cruel
Strangling Perry/ Ginn was an extremely cruel act, as was leaving Lisa Park to be blown up by an explosive device, shooting Greer in the chest and killing and maiming more personnel on the Destiny during his escape shows he has no remorse, no compassion, no regard for anyone but himself. He’s on a rampage and the more people he can make suffer the better.
- He may win by luck (which never happens to the hero; he works to make things right)
Simeon lucks out on his escape as well as by the fact that he is trained to survive in a hostile environment such as the planet on which he is hunted by Rush. Lucky for him, he knows how to run and hide, he knows how to play on Rush’s weaknesses, and he manages to get away relatively easily, even with a serious injury.
- He is not forgiving
Forgiveness is no longer a part of Simeon’s life. He can feign it on board the Destiny but it is very obvious that he’s merely playing the part. He strangles Ginn for giving away secrets of his clan, and no matter how much Perry assures him that she is not who he thinks she is, he kills her slowly and without mercy.
- He might quit
There are moments where we may think Simeon is at the end of his rope, but he manages to always get himself out of the next tricky situation - increased search teams, a trained sniper, an injury which he treats effectively.
- He may whine and grovel
Simeon was at the heart of several altercations on board the Destiny and always managed to weasel himself out of them. He promises Colonel Young that he will behave and not betray his trust, he backs down whenever Greer confronts him and he complains to Varro about his apparent complicity with the Destiny crew.
- He may turn on friends and followers
Clearly, Simeon intends to go his final road alone. After strangling his last remaining clan member on board he also turns on Varro and it becomes clear that they don’t see eye to eye. When Varro tells him to basically shut up something breaks inside him. This might have been the moment when he formulated the plan for his escape and rampage.
It appears that Simeon has few if any redeeming qualities as a human being. What I admire about him is his incredible resourcefulness, his ability to gloat even in the most dire circumstances and his glowering presence that exudes sheer malice. His single-mindedness - however twisted - is admirable. Despite the odds being very much against him he succeeds at everything, and had it come down to a game of survival in the hostile environment where the hunt takes place, there is no doubt that Simeon would have emerged victorious.
But Simeon never counted on the smarts Rush employs to bring him down. A lousy shot, poorly trained to survive in a desert, grief-stricken to the point of madness, Rush still outwits Simeon. Ushering in a stampede of dinosaur-like creatures to trample him down is both funny and horrifying.
As much as he deserves what he gets, the cold-blooded way in which Rush kills him is shocking even after repeated views. It seems that in all this, he has managed to teach Rush the power of revenge thereby tainting his character. Had it come down to a final confrontation, in a “him or me” scenario, Rush would have had to act out of self-defense. But he shoots Simeon when he is gravely injured and no longer a threat to him. Euthanasia or murder? Only Rush can answer that question for himself.