Wednesday, July 6, 2011

30 Days of Writing Questions - Day 18

18. Favorite antagonist and why!


The last one was hard, but this one is easy. I have two favorites - one who is pretty much always an antagonist, even when the book is about him, and the other who genuinely believes she's the protagonist...but isn't...mostly.

Balthazar is by far my favorite antagonist. Is anyone surprised? I mean, come on! He's charismatic, he's sexy, he's witty, he's a great fighter, a great lover, has color-changing eyes, and most importantly of all he can totally rock a long black cloak and dashing hat. And he has the world's most amazing hair (the description of his hair is actually based on the hair of the actor who played him in the movies). He's a bad ass who is definately bad. Over the years since I first created him (for Destiny, 15 years ago), he's gotten a lot more three-dimensional. He doesn't kill and fight and antagonize people just for the joy of it (though he does it enjoy it sometimes). He has fears and hopes and dreams just like any one else. He's just willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants in life -- power and wealth. He wants to be respected but doesn't always register the difference between fear and respect so he'll take fear and call it good. In his mind - he's the hero, he's the victim who's had to claw his way to top over and over again and selfish, spoiled simpletons keep getting in his way. Balthazar is ruthless and that's probably the best word to describe him.

He's also kind of insane, although it's not immediately obvious, because he doesn't have issues or subscriptions - he's got a frickin magazine store. His emotional baggage is a twelve piece matched set with gold plated tags. I especailly love writing him antagonizing Esteban and Ketlan (intentionally of course because he hates them), because he can be very witty when he's in control. He hates to lose control of course. When I did the major rewrite of Destiny where I took out all the non-Ketlan scenes and no longer got inside the other characters' heads, Balthazar suddenly because a whole lot smarter. Like evil genius smart. He actually got smarter then me and that's just not allowed. I had trouble writing scenes where he could actually be outwitted.

The other antagonist I love dearly (she's one of my favorite characters of all time) is General Leffridge from Pandora's Box. She's an antagonist only because she opposes the protagonists' interests -- but she's not exactly a villain. She is, but she would never see that. She fights against the main antagonist of the series and therefore one assumes she's with the heroes -- but she's not. She has her own ideas of how the world should week and believes that she should run it. In her mind she is the protagonist -- she is the real hero, the real leader, the real, true, and only person who can save the world. Unfortunately the way she wants to save the world is via a military coup and she's definately more than a little crazy. But at the same time she isn't. Leffridge has so much depth, so much drive and ambition, so much intelligence and charisma that it's hard not to like her. From the beginning of her creation she was a very strong voice for rebellion in a practical way. The views she has and the speeches she gives just make so much sense that I keep finding myself wondering why the rebels didn't join with her. I had to work really hard to bring out her crazy, power hungry bitchy side in order to make people see why she wasn't the protagonist and never really could be.

Another thing I love about her is her confidence and sense of self. She's the highest ranking military officer in the Empire, but she's also very femine. She's definately girly and sees no problem with being a badass bitch while wearing pink lace and silvers sequins. She's like GI Joe and Barbie combined. Her costume is silly looking in a way because it's pink and pretty and gaudy (the actress who played - Annamarie MacLeod - her dubbed her General Cupcake), but when someone sees her screaming in battle, covered in blood it's alarming and scary. She is also short and small, so she's the last person you might expect to be the star general. She uses her femine style and small size as a way to lure people into forgetting how dangerous and deadly she is. Annamarie summed her up in this great description: "She's five feet of cold terror; 110lbs of death!"


One of six drawings I did for a Destiny Calendar I never finished.


Collage of Leffridge, played by Annamarie MacLeod


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