| Can A Villain Want To Be Evil? Case Study: LaCroix | |
|---|---|
| Author | Ken Hughes |
| Genres | on-line article |
| Format | essay |
| Archive Location | |
In "Can A Villain Want To Be Evil? Case Study: LaCroix", Ken Hughes discusses the character of LaCroix from the perspective of the author. He points out that one of the truisms of writing is that "No villain believes he’s a villain", and then uses the counterexample of LaCroix, "one of the most 'deliberately evil' villains I know". Hughes contends that this positions him in opposition to Nick, pushing Nick down the road to heroism.
One explanation for LaCroix is that he “doth protest too much” about having no softness in himself, in that he’s been actively crushing it out of his soul over the centuries until it’s become a reflex. After all, a vampire isn’t like a terrorist who believes God needs murders or a serial killer who simply wants to kill. A vampire, unless he makes serious sacrifices like Nick did, needs to kill humans just to stay alive, not to mention playing cat and mouse with them to keep his secret and then watching any humans he may still connect with age away and die. The core of existing as a vampire is dealing with the killing and isolation… and likely LaCroix has been working very hard to keep any regrets in line for a very long time.