Author: LC Champlin

With August comes summer swelter and…the carnival! Yes, scruffy carnies preparing food-like products, assembling death-trap rides, and running rigged games. Good times. Then there are the side shows with their giant rats and bearded ladies. And those are just the employees! In honor of this poor-man’s amusement park, we’re looking and villains and antagonists who are associated with the carnival. I might take liberties with the association, but ‘s all good, man.

Moving from the refined lord of strategy and crime Ra’s Al Ghul, we meet Killer Croc. Change is the spice of life, right? We’ll be focusing on Batman: The Animated Series, season 3 episode 10: Sideshow.

We wrap up independence/dystopia month with a look at one of the villain greats: Ra’s al Ghul. He’s one of my favorite Batman villains, and not just because he can keep the Dark Knight shirtless for long periods. His intellect, skills, and longevity make him one of the most independent villains around. He manipulates people and circumstances to suit his ends. He runs his own secret society. He’s practically immortal. He goes toe to toe with the Batman. Why? All to free nature from man’s destruction and to free man from its addiction to technology.

But what really makes him independent? What makes anyone independent? Hint: it’s not unlimited data or mounds of money, though Ra’s has both.

A month theme of independence and its villainous opposite, dystopia, wouldn’t be complete without an examination of two classics in the genre of warped worlds: Brave New World by Aldus Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. Both are stark worlds that offer a vision of what our life could be like if we swung to one of extreme of the spectrum or the other. In Brave New World, people’s pleasures keep them peaceful and pliable. In 1984, people’s pains and persecutions keep them plowed under. Toys vs torture. They can both work.

It’s July, a month were the United States celebrates its independence with explosions! But what would life look like with the opposite of freedom? Or perhaps too much freedom? Or freedom in the wrong things? What happens when the villains’ plans for world domination work? And how could they have done a better job spreading their…benevolent dictatorship over the world?

Dystopian movies, books, etc explore these questions. We look at four of the classics today.

We American’s celebrated our country’s independence from tyranny yesterday. It’s an old victory, and one that’s grown to mean less and less as our elected leaders over the decades have become our masters instead of our servants.

Independence doesn’t mean just freedom from a king. It’s not just the ability to speak our mind and worship how we like. It’s freedom from paralyzing anxiety, nagging doubt, draining fear, burning anger. It’s freedom from stagnation and boxed-in thinking. This isn’t an exhaustive list, either.

Today we see what villains teach us about power and independence.

What would a demon-themed month be without looking at the fiercest demon villains? InuYasha’s villains break the mold when it comes to usual anime villains. They’re a serious challenge to the cocky, headstrong, immature hero InuYasha (means Dog Demon). Their role is to make him grow up into the half-demon his father would’ve wanted. Like all villains, they’re among the most interesting characters of the series! Ready to pay them a visit and see what they have to teach us?

It’s 2 days after Father’s Day, but that’s close enough to unleash the demons in the time-honored tradition of harping on dads! A theme among many villains and antagonist is “daddy issues.” Demons springing from the actions or inaction of a father drive the antagonist to A.) become the villain they are today or B.) become a worse villain.

That said, there are actually villains and antagonists who are very good fathers. We’ll look at both types of villains here.

We continue this month’s theme, Demons, with a look at the main types of demons as they relate to people’s pasts. There are two general focuses: internal and external.

Internally focused demons are probably more familiar than you like. They usually start with you saying, “If only I had [fill in word/deed here that supposedly would’ve saved the day].” This is Guilt, which grows into Self Loathing. It often turns into Depression.

The second type, external, starts with you saying, “If they had/hadn’t [fill in act that was necessary/unnecessary and that would’ve prevented the disaster that exploded later].” This is Blame, which grows into Hate. This often turns into Vengeance.

Happy June! It’s the beginning or summer, or as we call it in Slaughter Swamp, Hellscape Season. In honor of this blistering time of year, we have a suitably fiery theme: Demons. To quote Vicious, my favorite villain from Cowboy Bebop, “When angels are forced out of heaven, they become devils.”

Duality of natures, outcomes of choices, and the causes of strife are some of the issues we’ll look at this month. It might be influenced a bit by the two big name superhero movies dealing with civil wars and versus match ups… Hello, DC and Marvel!

Disney is known for its beautiful artwork and fluid character designs. There are few cinematic experiences as impressive to the eyes as a Disney production. The Disney villains are no exception. Black, red, purple, green, blue – it’s like a rainbow of evil! I thought it would be interesting to take a peek at other artists’ renderings of these iconic villains. These artists appreciate villains as much as we do, and that in itself is a beautiful thing.

Consider this Disney Villain Art Appreciation.