My Inktober 2021 #8 - My Favorite Villain

Though I don't care much for Star Wars, I think Darth Vader is pretty awesome. 

 

 

Not only does he have a cool name and an unforgettable, striking design coupled with James Earl Jones's flawless voice, but I think he was the first villain I felt sorry for. I believe he was the first bad guy to teach me that not all bad guys were pure evil and so his defeat was more heartbreaking than satisfying. 

 

Sure, he's plenty scary, never one to be trifled with, there's not a shred of doubt he must be taken down...yet your heart aches for him just the same. 

 

 

 

For all the crap the SW purists give Episodes 1, 2, and 3, I personally enjoyed Revenge of the Sith, a great deal more than I thought I would. It was rather fascinating to see just how Anakin Skywalker officially became Lord Vader, and despite his jerkish moments, I still pitied him, though I easily pitied poor Padmé the most. 

 

 

"How Return of the Jedi Should Have Ended" is great, too, when Lord Vader himself brings up that particularly glaring plot hole to Lord Palpatine's zombie face: 

 

"Hey, wait a second! You told me I killed Padmé in my anger!" 

 

"Uhh...yes?"

 

"Well, how did she still manage to deliver two kids? That doesn't add up." 

 

"She...lost the will to live?"  

 

"YOU LIED TO ME! I'LL KILL YOU! GET OVER HERE!"  

 

I may have gotten the most inspiration for my Beowulf from Alan Rickman's Snape (because I vastly prefer movie Snape to book Snape) but there are bits and pieces of Darth Vader in him, too. The only real difference is Vader consciously chose his own dark path, whereas Beowulf was all but kicked into it and so he was forced to make do with what he had. I've got a special quote for Beowulf about how much "evil" varies among bad guys: "Some are evil for evil's sake. Others are evil because the world leaves them no other option."  

 

It's also thanks to Vader that my Scorpio became a lot less one-dimensional and a lot more tragic.

 

Above all, James Earl Jones is one of those actors who are about as good as they can get, at least in my opinion. I even love his portrayal of Mufasa in The Lion King.