E is for Evil, Elaborate, and Elusive Antagonists
Yikes…I realised this over a year overdue. :”> I was given the letter E by ladyadeone, and I chose to do antagonists, whether they be villains or just people who make things difficult for the heroes. :)
Rules:
1. Comment - intelligently or in a nonsensical fashion, mentioning you would like to play.
2. I will give you a letter.
3. Post the names of five fictional characters whose names begin with that letter, and your thoughts on each. The characters can be from books, movies, or TV shows. Please note that adding character quotes is optional. (But it's more fun!)
Eli Fitzfaeren:
“How many [FitzFaeren] are there really?” Henrietta asked.
“Some scattered hundreds,” Eli said. “No more than that.”
“And you’re just going to let them die?”
Eli snorted. “I’m not the one letting them die. They don’t have to ask my permission to do that.”
Dandelion Fire by N. D. Wilson.
To be honest, I’m a little rusty on Eli’s history. But, I remember him as a bitter, cowardly old man (…well, at least that’s how he’s always described, not as Faeren) who is interested in only saving himself and won’t even stop to help a lost child. When one of heroes finally catches him, he extremely grudgingly allows her to come with him on his flee from the impending end of the world; never mind those who should be warned or might be able to help. However, an interesting encounter does start to pull him out of who he’s become, even if it doesn’t necessarily set him on a road to redemption.
Ethan Nakamura:
“All I want is respect, Jackson. The gods never gave me that. You wanted me to go to your stupid camp, spend my time crammed into the Hermes cabin because I’m not important? Not even recognized?”
The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan.
Ethan enters the scene as a minor antagonist, just one challenge in a series of obstacles in our heroes’ journey. However, he represents an important force in the great battle - the demigods, or mortal children of Greek gods and goddesses, who are lured to the enemy’s side by the discontent due to their parents’ neglect of them. Being a demigod is an incredibly risky business - most of them don’t survive to adulthood - and to have their immortal parent not even dain to acknowledge their existence is a hard burden.
Erondites (Baron):
“Why not use the sister then if she has caught the king’s eye?” [Sejanus]
“She reads plays. She embroiders. She is artless, unwed, and useless. Her sister is twice widowed and quite adequately prepared for leading the king by his nose. It has to be her. I told their father to beat them both, and the younger one especially. She won’t dance with the king again.” [Erondites]
The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.
The Baron Erondites is eager for power, and the recent marriage of his strongwilled queen to a less-than-interested king seems to be the perfect time for him to make his move. But, as the above quote mentions, he’s ruthless and will stop at almost nothing to get what he wants. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for the heroes, the king isn’t quite as out-of-touch as he looks…
Europe:
“I . . . I have done enough, don’t you think? It was just a little spark to quiet him . . . but look now!”
This was Europe’s voice-Europe, the mighty fulgar.
Europe, the slayer of innocents.
Europe, the electrocuter of children.
How powerfully uncertain he was of her now. So this is what she meant by a glorious “life of violence”!
Foundling by D. M. Cornish.
Europe was actually one of the first characters that came to mind when I was given “E”; though she’s not necessarily evil, even the author himself refers to her as an antagonist. On numerous occasions, she poses a challenge to our hero Rossamund, both physically and emotionally, and he’s rather unsure about where he stands in her opinion. But yet as the story unfolds and both of them change, he begins to challenge her just as much if not more, and she is all the better for it.
Envy:
“With a single bullet…I watched as the carnage of war rippled outward until it consumed the entire country. It was beautiful! Humans
are such easy creatures to manipulate! It was very amusing!!” [Envy]
Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 13 by Hiromu Arakawa.
Envy is one of the only true villains on my list. As a near immortal artificial human, he’s been helping form a diabolical plan for
centuries, into whose unwitting grasp our heroes will be pushed. As such, he’s been doing horrific things for centuries, but the two main
ones we hear about are the death of a hero and the start of a war that all but annihilated an entire race and left indelible scars on a number of our heroes.