Take a look at this excellent post by Declan Finn, readers. And since it’s Christmas, remember to give his books a try! He’s got everything from urban fantasy (the Love at First Bite series)*, to modern thrillers (St. Tommy, NYPD* and the Pius Trilogy*), to a new space opera coming from Tuscany Bay Books next year. Odds are if you are looking for a new story to chew on, Declan has them!
Enjoy, readers!
A villain versus an antagonist
An antagonist is an opponent, but a villain must be stopped.
I’ve done this on my previous blog, but I think it bears repeating.
Though I admit, there are more and more people who are putting aside the idea of “Oh, the villain doesn’t think they’re evil” and are replacing it more with the concept of “Nope. We just don’t think about good and evil.”
Heck, more frequently, it’s “Good and evil are just soooo subjective.”
Just look at anyone out there that wants to redefine pederasts as “Minor Attracted persons” or SFWA backing Marion Zimmer Bradley and her husband. The justification? “Oh, it’s a lifestyle / it’s just another orientation / who are YOU to judge?” or “what difference what it make?’“
No, a villain doesn’t necessarily see a villain in the mirror … but sometimes, a villain doesn’t acknowledge that there is such a thing as a villain.
And sometimes, people just want to be the villain.
*These are Amazon affiliate links. When you purchase something through them, this author receives a commission from Amazon at no extra charge to you, the buyer.
If you liked this article, friend Caroline Furlong on Facebook or follow her here at www.carolinefurlong.wordpress.com. Her stories have been published in Cirsova’s Summer Special and Unbound III: Goodbye, Earth, while her poetry appeared in Organic Ink, Vol. 2. She has also had stories published in Planetary Anthologies Luna, Uranus, and Sol. Another story was released in Cirsova Magazine’s Summer Issue in 2020, and she recently had a story published in Storyhack Magazine’s 7th Issue and Cirsova Magazine’s 2021 Summer Issue. Order them today!
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A Song of Joy by Caroline Furlong 
James Daily and Ryan Davidson in their The Law Of Superheroes point out that by the majority of laws defining “Legally Insane”, the Joker is not Legally Insane.
Of course, that means that Joker could have been executed for his crimes.
Oh, I’d call the Joker evil.
I also think of an antagonist as somebody that the hero would likely be willing to accept as an ally.
There might be times where circumstances might force a hero to ally with a true villain but those wouldn’t be something that the hero like and likely wouldn’t trust the villain.
Oh, one interesting take on Joker was in the Batman/Captain America cross-over (set in WW2).
Joker does a Job for Red Skull but thinks Red Skull is a criminal like him.
When he learns that Red Skull is a Nazi, he attempts to kill Red Skull. Joker’s line is (roughly) “I may be a Criminal but I’m an American Criminal”. 😉
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Kudos to you for making it through that comic. I got about 10 pages in and had give up due to Bucky and Robin’s gee willikers and such like exclamations.
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Chuckle Chuckle
I don’t remember reading it but Joker’s line about working with a Nazi has been widely spread. 😉
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Ahhhh, selective amnesia. That’s quite understandable 🙂
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Thankfully, the screenshot of that page has spread far and wide, so the gem is lifted from questionable foundations. 😀
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