Misunderstood and Relatable
No matter the novel, film, TV show, or play, the audience immediately learns who the antagonist is and what he or she desires from the protagonist. These villains are often ugly in appearance, symbolizing their immorality on the inside. These villains are unforgettable and ruthless. Even though some may be attractive with their luring powers, nearly all villains are vanquished by the resolution of the story.
However, not all villains are purely evil like the Wicked Witch of the West, the Joker, or Emperor Palpatine. The most compelling evildoers are those characters who complement the main villains.
In other words, these characters behave immorally, often working with the main
villains, but they also grapple with their morality at the same time. They are unsure of themselves and try to find a balance.
These characters can be tricky to find, and they also may be considered antiheros instead of direct antagonists. Nonetheless, these characters are cunning, complex, and utterly compelling.
In analyzing this type of character, I have identified four specific examples of characters who demonstrate the “complementary villain”: Drake Stone, R.M. Renfield, Xander Cook, and Charlie Dale.
Drake Stone
Meet Drake Stone! At around age fifteen, he was partly trained in sorcery by his Morganian mentor who left abruptly. Unsure of what to do with his new powers, Drake Stone became a well-known illusionist. Although a very minor character in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Drake Stone (played by Toby Kebbell) is no doubt a complementary villain who still retains bits of his own morality.
The 2010 film focuses on the battle between sorcerers who support Merlin and sorcerers who support Morgana le Fay. While Balthazar trains Merlin’s prime successor, Horvath, a Morganian, aims to destroy the world. To assist him in his malicious endeavors, Horvath enlists the help of Drake Stone. Stone is honored to meet Horvath, but his turning sorcery into commercialized magic disappoints Horvath from the moment the two meet.
Without a doubt, the movie is cheesy at times, which is why it so entertaining. In the cheesy moments, however, Stone’s morality shines through. For instance, when Horvath demands that Stone make sure the satellites are arranged properly, Stone is not paying attention, but is instead interacting with his fans and signing autographs. When he finally trudges over to Horvath, he’s frowning. The next bit of dialogue shows how unsure Stone truly is:
Drake: “…It’s just nice for them [the fans] to see a genuine icon like me.”
Horvath: “Fortunately they’ll all be dead soon.”
—The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, 2010; director: Jon Turtletaub
After this conversation, Stone’s facial expression reflects pain, as if he’s unsure of Horvath’s plan. Why would he want to annihilate his own fans? After all, Stone didn’t grow up as an authentic Morganian. He made the best of the situation after his mentor disappeared, but he’s not a pure Morganian at heart. For Stone, the performances, fans, and publicity are what truly matter to him. At the end of the day, he didn’t have a choice when Horvath stepped into his gaudy apartment and lavish lifestyle. No one says “no” to Maxim Horvath. End of story.
Additionally, Stone’s interactions with Dave, Merlin’s successor, are also not very villain-like. One of the most iconic scenes from the film is the bathroom scene where Stone is sent to threaten Dave into giving up the dragon ring, which is essential for Horvath’s ultimate evil plan. At first, Stone struts in with his high-heeled boots, black cape, and wild hair. His appearance is threatening to Dave, but the threat itself isn’t deadly. Once Stone gets Dave to pull out the ring, he starts cracking jokes, asking Dave to use a spell on him. By the end of the amusing scene, Stone is rambling as he fails his one task. He began the evil deed so well, but, by the end, he didn’t succeed. Therefore, Stone is not purely evil.
Later on in the film, when Stone helps Horvath find the Grimhold (another piece of the evil plan), Horvath finds it using magic, making Stone look dumb for using his human eyes. Stone’s only other truly “evil” acts are his impersonating Dave to attack Balthazar and driving a getaway car. In the end, Stone is no longer valuable to Horvath, so Horvath kills him with the “Parasite Spell.”
Overall, Stone isn’t the most innocent character of the bunch, being Horvath’s assistant, but he had the ability to turn into a dynamic character because of his uncertainty about Horvath and his devotion to performing and pleasing his fans. Drake Stone was actually a cool dude before Horvath killed him, but nothing good ever comes with Morganians.
A Raving Lunatic with a Heart
Meet poor R.M. Renfield! Dwight Frye’s portrayal of the lunatic Renfield in the 1931 film version of Dracula is so eerily spot-on that Renfield’s character springs to life from the pages of Bram Stoker’s classic novel.
Let’s be clear: Renfield has always been a victim, whether he’s under Dracula’s spell due to his already present lunacy (novel version) or he’s the solicitor sent to take care of Dracula’s travels to London (film version). Either way, Renfield cannot escape Dracula’s power. The intrigue behind Renfield is not simply his zoophagous nature of eating flies and spiders, but the way he can care about others.
In the novel, Renfield attacks Dr. Seward, proving that Renfield is indeed dangerous. In both adaptations, however, Renfield warns the other characters that Mina is in danger. Frye’s portrayal of Renfield in the scene where Dracula commands that Renfield attack Mina is heartfelt; he pleads for Dracula to not make him do this. Renfield has true emotion here. He is disturbed at Dracula’s request and wants nothing more than to disobey it. He refuses it so much so that he starts spilling the secret to Dr. Van Helsing. Renfield has a heart and a sense of morality.
In terms of evil, Renfield, to reader and viewer knowledge, does not actually consume any human blood. On the The Minnow, it is unclear who killed the crew, at least in the film. Was Dracula the only culprit, or did Renfield join in? Given that, in the sanitarium, Renfield only consumes flies and spiders, the audience can assume that he is not purely evil. On the other hand, when Dr. Seward’s maid faints in the film, Renfield begins to crawl over to her with a creepy fascination. Had he not been caught in his act, he may have taken his first sip of human blood. Therefore, Renfield can be persuaded to evil, especially as he still does Dracula’s bidding for a while, but Renfield is not purely evil at all!
The Soaps
Soap operas show the development of various characters over time, and Days of Our Lives has been allowing the audience to watch Salemites change for over fifty years. While some characters such as Stefano DiMera and and Victor Kiriakis will always be stubborn and somewhat cold-hearted, other characters are insecure and flip-flop personalities–literally! In considering which complementary villains change the most, I couldn’t help but choose Xander and Charlie, and I think most DOOL fans will agree!
Meet Xander (Paul Telfer)! The long-lost nephew of tycoon Victor Kiriakis, Xander popped up in Salem one day, unwanted and unloved. All he wanted was to become a bigshot in his uncle’s business, but Xander would have to prove his worth over the years in order to do so. In fact, Xander started his time in Salem as being Victor’s gardener.
Where does one begin with Xander? He’s had many entrances and exits since his time began on the soap, but that doesn’t mean that his character hasn’t been soapy. He’s worked with most of Salem’s bad eggs. He’s lied, killed, manipulated, double-crossed, and tortured. The only thing Xander hasn’t done is die and come back to life like the majority of Salemites–although he did help Kristen and Dr. Rolf revive a string of dead villains.
Besides his evil acts, he is quite the ladies’ man (or thinks he is) and knows how to sweet-talk the ladies into bed. Quite simply, Xander’s motto has always been “do what’s best for Xander.” However, some of those bad boy ways changed when Xander met Sarah, a goody-two-shoes doctor who also happens to be the daughter of Victor’s wife. Eventually Xander falls head over heels with Sarah, and is committed to having her no matter the costs. During this time, Xander cozies up to Uncle Vic and earns a job at Titan. The uncle and nephew get along very well, even when they coordinate a baby-swap so Sarah doesn’t have to deal with the fact that her actual baby died in a car accident (not the best plan in the world). Needless to say, that plan blows up, proving that Xander is moral in that he loves Sarah and is loyal to her, but he’s still able to hatch devious plans from that brain of his.
Time rolls on and Xander and Sarah are back together. Xandy’s still a bigshot at Titan–that is, until Uncle Vic’s son Phillip comes back into the mix looking for a highfalutin position. Victor makes Phillip and Xander co-CEOs, which, unsurprisingly, doesn’t go well. Phillip tries to get dirt on Xander, and vice versa; in this case, however, Phillip is actually playing dirty, and Xander is a good guy trying to save the company. He’s cleaned up his act, for the most part, and he is an admirable character.
Most recently on the soap, Xander is having major issues. After Sarah “stood him up” at their wedding (even though it was Kristen impersonating the real Sarah), Xander has sunk back into his evil ways. Really, he can’t help it. Sarah was the best part of him, and, with the real Sarah missing, Xander can only resort to his old ways in order to take care of himself. He began waving guns around again, not to mention some classic blackmailing and cheating with a married woman.
Yet, Xander still isn’t purely evil. Jack Devereux, the local newspaper editor, is Xander’s only true friend. Like with Sarah, Xander will do anything for Jack, even if that means ruffing up a doctor who blackmailed Jack’s daughter, Gwen, into selling drugs. Gwen, who also has a jaded past, talks Xander out of killing the doc. She tells him that they are both outsiders who are misunderstood. She’s very correct here. However, Xander’s “ruffing up” causes the doc to have a fatal heart attack. Now there’s another dead body in Salem. Surprise, surprise!
Xander is simply a compelling character to watch. He amuses himself when he cracks jokes! Xander lives his “best life,” even if it’s not the best he wants it to be. He is a badass, but he’s also a total sweetheart.
Meet Charlie Dale (Mike Manning)! He’s an innocent-seeming young lad who comes from a rocky childhood. What most Salemites didn’t know was how much that negative childhood affected his self-esteem and mental health.
Charlie has mommy issues. Son to ex-Italian mobster Ava Vitali, Charlie soon learns to feel unloved by his mother, who longs for the firstborn son she was taken away from. As a result, Ava couldn’t care less about Charlie and would rather have him spy on the now adult firstborn son she’s trying to reach.
When Charlie enters town, he winds up working for Titan as an intern, meaning he becomes planted in the middle of (wait for it) Xander and Phillips’ co-CEO feud. Each CEO asked Charlie to find dirt on the other. In this situation, Charlie is innocent because he doesn’t want to get on either CEO’s bad side. He plays both sides of the deal, trying not to get himself in trouble. Eventually, his “innocence” leads him to coming clean and confessing to Phillip that he’s been spying for Xander. Sweet Charlie just wants to be on everyone’s good side.
Then enter the girlfriend. Charlie and Claire find themselves falling for each other, especially after an unplanned kiss. Even on their first date at the Brady Pub, Charlie is a gentleman, and there is no cause for alarm. He jokes, he smiles, he compliments; he’s perfect…
Until the viewers witness him talk to his mother. His conversation with Ava shows how Charlie isn’t totally on the up and up. His tone of voice hardens as he talks to his mother. He is jealous and resentful that his half-brother gets more attention than he does.
So his mother doesn’t spill the secret that he raped a beloved Salemite, even though the community thinks his half-brother did, Charlie drugs his own mother and ties her up in his apartment. Ava goes “missing” for weeks as Charlie tortures her.
When he’s at a party with Claire, he comes face to face with the girl he raped, and he clams up. He devises a way to excuse himself, but Claire gets suspicious. Various members of the community seek the truth of who is rapist, especially because a child’s involved.
Sadly, Charlie is shot by another crazy Salem villain, who doesn’t even kill Charlie because of what he did. On one hand, Charlie’s disgusting and unforgivable deeds earned him the impersonal murder, but, on the other hand, Charlie’s abnormal childhood left him predisposed to emotions and misgivings about women. Viewers can’t help but feel some sympathy for Charlie Dale.
What’s my True Confession when it comes to soap operas? Click here to find out!
Misunderstood Outsiders
Complementary villains are misunderstood. They have a lot of thoughts bouncing between their ears as they try to decide whether or not they’re on the side of the law. In many cases, these villains assist the prominent, purely evil villains, but they are unsure of themselves. They have not completely sold their souls, and they will keep fighting to find who they are!
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Confessions of a Classic Soul 