Spectacular Villains

 Before I get to the discussion of great villains, let me shout out that I've completed Book 6 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series. By "completed" I mean that I finished the first draft--it only took me six months longer than it should have. I still have editing and proofing to do. I've sent the last five chapters out to my Skirmish Team for their comments, corrections, and suggestions. That reminds me that a gentleman caught me today to report that he is reading Book 4, Promise of Carnage and Flame, and enjoying the unexpected twists and turns of the story.

One thing that reminded me of great villains was the fact that PinUp Noir 2, which features my short story "Monica on My Mind," is available in ebook and paperback. The stories feature knockout blonde bombshells in a variety of settings. Many of those dames in the stories are bad--very bad. You know who else was a blonde bombshell villain? Milady de Winter from Dumas' The Three Musketeers (one of my favorite books). Anyway, I'll have a short discussion about her in my newsletter. 

The villain I want to ramble about here is Richard III from Shakespeare's play of that name. I recently read the play and am watching the second part of The Hollow Crown series in bits and pieces in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays "the lump of foul deformity."

"Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York;"

The play opens with Richard giving us the facts, and telling us right away what to expect from him. He's completely candid about his plans and his character. He means to be king and has no qualms about using messy means to get there. Anyone who stands in his way is expendable.

His first plot is to set his brothers at odds. Clarence stands between him and the throne, which is occupied by his other brother King Edward IV. They'll both have to go so that he can take the coveted chair and crown.

"And therefore,—since I cannot prove a lover, To entertain these fair well-spoken days,— I am determined to prove a villain, And hate the idle pleasures of these days. Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams, To set my brother Clarence and the king In deadly hate the one against the other:"

With Clarence dead (or soon to be) by the King's command--and Richard delaying the countermanding order until the deed of death is done by his hired assassins--he needs a marriage that will solidify his position. He woos Lady Anne, the daughter-in-law of King Henry VI--killed by Richard. He also killed her husband.

"For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter: What though I kill'd her husband and her father? The readiest way to make the wench amends Is to become her husband and her father:"

He approaches her at the funeral process for Henry VI--and let's us know it won't be a match of lasting duration.

"Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won? I'll have her; but I will not keep her long"

He replies to her insults: "Teach not thy lip such scorn; for it was made For kissing, lady, not for such contempt." 

Claims that it was her beauty and his desire to espouse her that caused his part in the death of her family.

The woman falls for his fake charm and espouses him.

King Edward falls ill and dies, and Richard becomes Lord Protector to govern for the young Edward V. His two minions in evil are Hastings and Buckingham who get the people Mayor of London and the people to proclaim Richard king. Richard has the young princes, his nephews, confined in the tower. When Hastings balks at killing the princes, Richard orders Hasting's execution, and arranges the murder of the princes.

"I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl. The secret mischiefs that I set abroach I lay unto the grievous charge of others."

"And thus I clothe my naked villany With odd old ends stol'n forth of holy writ; And seem a saint when most I play the devil."

Play the devil he does. When Buckingham raises questions about the death of princes, Richard denies him a promised earldom. Buckingham flees to raise an army against Richard but is eventually captured and executed.

With Edward IV dead, Richard needs that brother's daughter Elizabeth for his wife to cement his position as king. Richard, being the problem solver that he is, doesn't let the fact that he already has a wife keep him from realizing his dreams. He has Anne killed and woos Elizabeth--who willingly marries him, even though she has been warned against him.

Does Richard have any kind of conscience? He answers that question with honesty:

"I'll not meddle with it,—it makes a man coward; a man cannot steal, but it accuseth him; a man cannot swear, but it checks him; a man cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him: 'tis a blushing shame-faced spirit that mutinies in a man's bosom; it fills a man full of obstacles: it made me once restore a purse of gold that by chance I found; it beggars any man that keeps it: it is turned out of towns and cities for a dangerous thing; and every man that means to live well endeavours to trust to himself and live without it."

I've probably missed some of his murders and may have put some of them out of order, but you get the idea. Richard is a villain and a charmer. He plays the saint while being the devil. He kills husbands and fathers and then marries the widowed wives and daughters. He even executes his henchmen for cringing at the depth of his evil. He means to do evil and plainly tells the audience so. A more honest villain would be hard to find. Like all good villains, he never repents and goes down fighting, possessed by his evil nature.