Heroes and Villains— and what their relationships has to do with Theme

Okay, so I’ve been meaning to make this post for a while and now I’m finally getting around to it.
I have an observation to share with you guys; something I learned along the way somewhere that I thought was pretty neat and pretty helpful at the same time. For those of you on here who don’t know, I’m absolutely nuts about themes and messages in literature. If I had to pick one favorite thing about writing books— er… No. Sorry. If I had to pick two, that would be second— right after characters. 😉
ANYWAY.
All that to say, bear with me as I delve deep into one of the many delicate intricacies of themescape. Namely, heroes and villains, and what their relationship has to do with the theme of your story. Or more correctly, how their relationship should effect the theme.
Yeah, yeah, we all know it— good guys win, bad guys lose.
No. That’s not what I’m here to talk about. I realized some time back that the most powerful villains are those who in some way de-legitimize the hero; either have a superior moral claim, or are somehow the result of the hero’s sins and/or mistakes. Or perhaps they represent an alternate way to achieve the same goal, though that’s a bit of a side-track.
I realize this does not apply to every villain, nor should it. Any rule can be broken in writing. There are always exceptions. But when it comes to presenting a clear theme, this is one of my favorite techniques. The villain that is in some way more ‘right’ than the hero, or at least can blame the hero for his awfulness.
Let’s take the last example first. This was reinforced to me about a week ago when I watched a movie called Goosebumps. In a nutshell, the story was about an author who was mercilessly teased as a kid, and as a result turned to his imaginary friends for comfort, creating horrible literary monsters to wreak imaginary havoc and vent his bitterness and frustration on the world. The only problem was, the monsters became so real to him that they finally became real— literally. One monster (a creepy, sadistic puppet with a severe Napoleonic complex) escapes from his book and decides to destroy the world. The author tries to stop him— hero against villain. Only the villain has a superior claim— the hero created him. It’s the hero’s fault that the villain is so terrible— the villain is a reflection of the hero’s inner darkness, and as such is perfectly justified in claiming that the hero has no room to talk. This makes it imperative for the hero to face his inner monsters and defeat them— BOOM. Strong theme. Right there. Isn’t that beautiful?

As for the villain who has a superior moral claim, this is particularly effective with heroes who have dark pasts, though I can’t think of any examples right off the top of my head (except in my own work 😛 ). But anyway, this is a universal concept and can be applied in any number of situations, on any level. Perhaps the hero killed the villain’s father. (Looking at you, @Hope. 😉 ) Perhaps the hero ventured on shaky moral footing in the name of collecting information, and the villain holds that over his head. Perhaps the hero claims to stand for love, but murdered his own brother, and the villain knows it. Something. Anything that will give the villain the right to elevate himself over the hero morally, or drag the hero down to his level. This forces the reader to think, and ask themselves why one is better than the other.
There are so many possibilities.
After all, any story will be more interesting if it’s a question of forgiveness/redemption vs. pride/unrepentance rather than good vs. bad. Don’t you think?
And the great thing about a villain who can drag the hero down to his level is, he can be the much-lamented dark lord stereotype and still be powerful and resonant. We hear so much about breaking the stereotype, but it’s important to realize story is never really about the external stuff in the end. If the villain can make the case that the hero is no better morally than him, he’s practically won already if the hero can’t get over that. It’s a battle of worldviews, not men. That’s what creates your theme.

What about you guys? Anything you’ve learned about powerful villains? What do you like to see in a villain/hero relationship? Any points I made that you disagree with or have something more to say on? I’m all ears! 😀