Villain Origin Stories

Villain origin stories are a big part of popular media. Black and white characterisation is boring - and although happily ever afters are great, they just don’t haunt you as much as those twisted, complicated characters who turn to evil after tragedy strikes in their lives. 

Prominent examples include Darth Vader, the Joker, and Maleficent. Let’s dive into the complex backstories of each of these characters to discover what makes their storylines so gripping. 

Darth Vader is perhaps the most iconic villain in cinematic history. Ever since the character’s debut in the 1977 release of ‘A New Hope’, the glacial sound of his breathing, his sleek black suit and his utter lack of humanity immortalised him as a supervillain in the consciousnesses of an eighties child. At first, Vader seemed like your typical bad guy - no moral compass, commits genocides with disarming ease, and amputates his son’s hand without a second thought. What then, makes him more memorable than the other cinematic dictators, criminals and serial killers out there? 

Well, first of all, Vader turns into a good guy at the very last moment. Throughout the final movie of the original trilogy, ‘Return of the Jedi’, despite the expressionless helmet he dons for most of it, the viewer can practically see the conflict washing over Vader. Finally, as well as we all know, he decides to betray his master and sacrifice himself to save his son. 

But what is really striking about Darth Vader’s character is who he was...before. Regardless of whether you love or despise the infamous Disney prequels, there’s no denying that Vader’s villain origin story is tragic. Born a slave child who loses his mother at the age of 9, Anakin grows to be a young man desperate to find love and affection. His terror of losing his loved ones becomes the vulnerability that Palpatine preys on. In fact, the main reason he turns to the dark side is because of his love for Padme, his wife, who he fears will die if he doesn’t become powerful enough to save her. Sadly, his betrayal of the Jedi only ends up triggering her death, and condemns him to live a lonely life filled with regret, self-hatred and evil. In the end, the power that gave the original Anakin the makings of a hero eventually corrupted him and sealed his destiny as a villain. 

If Vader wins in the cinema, then the Joker is perhaps the king of comic strip villains. Having been recreated in countless formats, from lego movies to the original DC comics, the Joker naturally has a wide selection of backstories to select from. But if we look at his most recent one, as told in the 2019 film “Joker”, things get depressing really quickly. Here the supervillain is just an ordinary, beatdown guy, Arthur Fleck, who practically becomes evil by accident. He gets fired, he is attacked, his idol bullies him, his mother is a sociopath and to top it off, he suffers from mental health issues that lead to him creating false narratives. It’s not surprising that he ultimately goes insane. The idea of a mentally ill, working man being preyed on and abandoned by an uncaring society, which ultimately leads to him becoming a villain is not only depressing, it’s relatable.  

Ever since Disney’s remake, Maleficent barely qualifies as a villain. I don’t mean this in a bad way. In fact, the backstory the movie gives her makes her a lot more interesting than the original, dragonturning, firebreathing witch she was. Though, let’s call it, that’s already pretty badass. Originally a fairy of the Moors, Maleficent is only a young girl when she falls in love with a human boy for the first time, who ultimately betrays her and cuts off her wings in order to claim the throne. But unlike the original, after growing into a powerful woman, Maleficent doesn’t take her anger out on Princess Aurora, his daughter. Instead, she learns to love and trust again by adopting Aurora as her own, becoming more of a parent to her than her actual father ever was. 

In this feminist retelling of the story, Maleficent transcends her original role as evil witch and becomes a victim, fighter and mother at the same time, a story that all too many women can relate to.

As the saying goes, villains aren’t born, they are created. Not only do we sympathise with these characters, they also become more memorable. With the exception of Maleficent, who gets a happy ending, it’s our obsession with what ‘could’ have been that truly impresses these villains into our minds. If they had made different choices, if different paths had been opened to them, maybe they could have had the happiness that was cheated from them.

We tend to see ourselves in the roles and stories created on screen - and these miserable, tragic ends remind us that our lives could end similarly. When the credits roll, we are left alone, with the realization that not everyone gets to be happy. 

Chinese Myths - The Origin of the Earth

In China, there are many myths. The one I’m going to narrate today is the origin of the earth…

A long time ago, longer than any historical record, than any number I can count, a giant called Pangu awoke from a cosmic egg. When he did so, he saw the eerie and gloomy darkness around him. Unable to take this anymore, he lifted his axe and separated the darkness in half. The lighter part of it floated up gently to become the sky, the heavier part weighed down to become the ground. However, Pangu was very cautious and thoughtful, and, realising that the sky may fall down, he used all his strength to hold up the sky. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, and his hands became glued tight to the sky. As the sky went higher, Pangu’s height also increased, and one day, he died from exhaustion. Fortunately, when he died, things didn’t end there - his breath became the wind and the four seasons, his voice became what we call thunder, his eyes the moon and the sun, his four limbs the four directions, north, east, south and west, his skin stretched to become the land, his blood became the forever running and rushing rivers, and his sweat became the moisturiser of all living things, the rain. 

Pangu, in China, was believed to be the origin of our planet Earth. Scientific proof and other evidence today proves this myth wrong. However, creativity and these generational myths are what keep our storytelling spirits alive, and are also important in keeping language alive.