What do I mean by third-party villains? A typical story has its protagonist and its antagonist…but what about the stories that include the other guy over there that neither the main character nor the main bad-guy like and who simply exists to cause both parties extreme discomfort?
For those of you that still have no idea what I'm talking about, some examples include…
• Gollum
From The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
He doesn't want Sauron to get the ring, but he certainly would prefer it to come to his precious hands rather than stay in those of Baggin's. He's not exactly the all-powerful Sauron with armies to destroy Middle Earth, but he seems to be way more successful when it comes to actually finding and following our furry-footed friends.
• Rumpelstiltskin
From Once Upon a Time (tv show)
I told you he'd be back! Rumpelstilskin freaks me out––he knows way too much! And who's he working for, anyway? I've got to hurry and get to the end of the season to find out! Our evil queen certainly is uncomfortable with his…creepiness, and our heroes certainly don't like him either!
• The Children of the Light
From The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
I'm scared to say anything about this series for fear something will drastically change as I progress further into these eternally-long books, but so far the Whitecloaks are rather eery with their whole "walk in the Light" talk. Religious bad-guys are always the scariest…especially since Darkfriends consist of practically anyone that has ever been involved with anything mysterious, good guys included.
• Ezra
From The Leven Thumps series by Obert Skye
Amazingly evil and equally hilarious, our extra-long fancy purple-frilled sandwich toothpick makes a most incredible third-party villain. How did he come into existence? When Geth's soul was forced into a seed and later chopped up for scrape wood, all the fiery revolutionary's anger ended up in this furious, confused sliver of wood. Ezra's main goal in life? Kill Geth.
Unfortunately for the true villains of the series, when Ezra sets his mind to ruling Foo as well as destroying Geth, he causes quite a bit of trouble for all his limitations.
Spoilers concerning The Legend of Korra and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
From The Legend of Korra (tv show)
All of the sudden Tarrlok seizes hold of our attention with his incredibly powerful blood-bending. Um, Aang even had trouble with a previous blood-bender, how on earth is Korra going to deal with this?! Amon, the main bad-guy himself, can't possibly (or so we first think) stand up to someone who can control his enemies own bodies! Tarrlok manages to throw quite a pleasant wrench into the plot-line with his distractions.
• Szeth
From The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
It is a source of great frustration to me that Szeth continually does what he does not want to do. Why must he comply with the orders of whoever holds his Oathstone? Szeth has great potential to be a good-guy! Get his Oathstone into the right hands and he would put the combined efforts of both Dalinar and Kaladin to shame! …Of course, put it into the wrong hands and he still is likely able to put the combined (defense) efforts of both Dalinar and Kaladin to shame…gulp!
As the story unfolds Szeth is sent to assassinate kings and leaders, including Dalinar's brother…and finally Dalinar himself. The book ends leaving the reader terrified for the sake of Dalinar, the target of the assassination, and just as troubled about the probable fate of Dalinar's new Honor Guard leader: Kaladin.
DON'T DIE DALINAR AND KALADIN!!
With villains on my mind I've enjoyed puzzling out the alluring aspect of these third-party members. Some are better than others, but all add to the conflict of the story and increase the tension of the situations, and are therefor an excellent addition. Some author who's name I can't remember once said something like…
If it tortures your characters, go for it!
Next week another post on villains with a quick word for "superman" villains versus "everyman" villains.
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