{"id":35406,"date":"2018-06-11T06:30:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-10T18:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=35406"},"modified":"2018-05-28T14:58:46","modified_gmt":"2018-05-28T02:58:46","slug":"having-fun-with-epic-fantasy-tropes-5-meet-the-big-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2018\/06\/11\/having-fun-with-epic-fantasy-tropes-5-meet-the-big-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes #5: Meet “The Big Bad”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Here be dragons… Art Credit: Antonio Javier Caparo<\/p><\/div>\n

I believe all fiction requires an antagonist in some form, but just as epic fantasy frequently includes a wham-kapow, no-holds-barred apocalypse<\/a>, it also inclines toward what I have previously described as ‘a great, world threatening evil, aka \u201cthe Big Bad.\u201d ‘<\/em><\/p>\n

In fact, you’re probably seeing how these tropes fit together, so that the farm boy\/gal<\/a> or\u00a0 prince\/princess<\/a> (and sometimes both) with a destiny, must go on a quest journey (aka a road trip)<\/a>, very often with a band of brothers<\/a>, to take out the “big bad” and endeavour to avert the apocalyptic events<\/a> threatening to destroy the world, or at least its known order, and possibly the universe… Fun, huh?! And as I’ve observed in the earlier posts, all part of a longstanding tradition deeply embedded in myth and legend, folklore and fairytales.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Here to destroy the world (again)…<\/p><\/div>\n

Just as the antagonist exists in all fiction, the “big bad” trope is present in most fantasy. The distinguishing feature of the Big Bad in epic fantasy is one of degree. The threats are generally large in scale and the antagonists are correspondingly epic in scope—capable, in essence, of destroying a world or worlds. Very often, too, in order to achieve an appropriate sense of vastness and threat, the evil is monolithic and distant, with the conflict personalized through more identifiable and accessible henchmen, however powerful these may be in their own right.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The “Saruman” book jacket<\/p><\/div>\n

For example, in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings<\/em><\/strong>, Sauron is always a terrifying background threat in his fortress of Barad-dur, but never leaves it to strive directly against the heroes and their armies. Instead, the war is prosecuted through lieutenants, chiefly the Lord of the Nazgul and Saruman.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Winter is coming…<\/p><\/div>\n

In George RR Martin’s A Song Of Ice and Fire<\/strong> series, which TV viewers will know as A Game Of Thrones<\/strong> (the title of the first book), the monolithic “big bad” is primarily winter itself—as signified by the tagline “Winter is coming”—because the seasons of the world in which the story takes place last many years. The supporting antagonists are an array of largely very human characters with more recognizable and less monolithic reasons for the evils they perpetrate, e.g. political ambition, revenge, and cruelty.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Another interesting aspect of the epic Big Bad is how, as an arch-antagonist becomes more ‘personalized’ for the audience, another and greater enemy may be introduced. We see this tradition embedded in the Star Wars<\/strong> films, where Darth Vader is fairly monolithic in the first encounter, but as his character arc develops an even “bigger and badder” antagonist, the Emperor, enters the story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Unsurprisingly, the monolithic and remote nature of epic evil is connected to Fantasy’s mythic source material. Sigurd may fight a dragon, Theseus outwit the minotaur, and Perseus slay Medusa, but the larger scale conflicts, the “wars in heaven” are always more distant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The wars between the gods and the Titans in Greek myth, or between the Aesir and the giants in the Norse cycle have either happened in the past, shaping the world as we know it—as with the Titans—or will happen in the apocalyptic future, as for Ragnarok. The reason for this may simply be that we find it impossible to comprehend the magnitude of an agent that could wreak havoc on such a massive scale; in making the evil or the antagonist smaller, i.e. the lieutenants, we also make it knowable, something where motivation and raison d’\u00eatre can <\/span>be comprehended and addressed.<\/p>\n

The epic “Big Bad” also reflects the notion of duality that is prevalent in much of Western culture: for example, Good and Evil, Light and Dark. Whatever the reasons for its existence, the Big Bad remains an epic fantasy trope and perhaps even a necessity given the other elements of the story, with a cast of “best supporting players” to give it nuance, texture, and shape.<\/p>\n

This time, instead of individual titles, I thought I might list clusters of “Big Bad” categories, focusing on some of the more commonly encountered types.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Arch Enemy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I like to think that the prototype for the “arch enemy” (or as the Buffy<\/strong> series would have it, the “nemesis”) is Milton’s “archangel ruined” in the great epic poem, Paradise Lost<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As mentioned above, Sauron in The Lord of the Rings<\/em><\/strong> falls into this category, as does Maugrim the Unraveller in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar<\/strong> trilogy, and the Dark One of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time<\/strong> series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Other examples include: the necromancer Fendarl in Red Moon and Black Mountain, <\/strong><\/em>the Crippled God in Steven Erikson’s Malazan<\/strong> series, the sorcerer, Cob, in Ursula Le Guin’s The Farthest Shore<\/em><\/strong>, King Leck in Kristen Cashore’s Graceling<\/strong><\/em>, and the Blood Mage Ruslan in Courtney Schafer’s Shattered Sigil<\/strong> series.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n..<\/span><\/p>\n

The Monolithic Enemy:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>The ‘Force of Nature’<\/em><\/strong>
\nThis can take several forms, but is often a force of nature, such as George RR Martin’s winter (A Song of Ice and Fire<\/strong>) and Brandon Sanderson’s Everstorm (in the Stormlight Archive<\/strong>), that may or not be informed by sentience. Others examples include the forest in Naomi Novak’s Uprooted, <\/em><\/strong>the bear of winter (based on Chernevog) in Katherine Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale,<\/strong><\/em> and the less well-disposed denizens of the Verge in Julie E Czerneda’s A Turn Of Light<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/span>
\nThe Artefact:<\/em><\/strong>
\nOne of the best examples of this is the Stone in Barbara Hambly’s Dragonsbane<\/em>, which is the story’s true antagonist but in many ways is also neutral, reflecting the will of the one who wields it. Another example is Elric’s sword, Stormbringer, in Michael Moorcock’s Elric<\/strong> series. The sword definitely has a will and is bent on destroying Elric and the order of the world—although arguably it is the instrument of a more remote “Big Bad”, the Chaos Gods.
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Collective Force:<\/strong><\/em>
\nSometimes the enemy is not a single entity, but a collective force of people or beings, such as the Valheru in Raymond E Feist’s A Darkness At Sethanon<\/em><\/strong> or the Aoi in Kate Elliott’s Crown Of Stars<\/strong><\/em> series. The Dark Dweomer masters in Katharine Kerr’s Deverry<\/strong> series and the ultimate antagonists in Laini Taylor’s Dreams of Gods and Monsters<\/strong><\/em> also fit this category. As readers, it tends to be the collective entity that we—and the action of the story—encounter, rather than specific individuals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>As regards my own work, in Thornspell (<\/em>which has some epic elements while primarily being a fairytale retelling), the story features an arch-enemy in the person of the Margravine zu<\/em> Malvolin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

USA<\/p><\/div>\n

The Wall Of Night<\/em> series, which is classically conceived epic fantasy, adheres to the epic tradition in terms of having a monolithic enemy (the Swarm) as well as “best supporting players” (although they’re more allies than “lieutenants.”)<\/p>\n

These take the form of the Darksworn ascendants, sorcerers, and warrior-mages that are the Swarm’s vanguard, i.e. the enemy with whom the protagonists most frequently clash.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

UK\/AU\/NZ<\/p><\/div>\n

As for the exact nature of the monolithic enemy, whether it’s a force of nature, an artefact, or the collective force that it’s name suggests—well, that remains to be seen in the fourth and final book, which is the current work in progress.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Next Week:<\/strong> To quote a very famous Big Bad, “I’ll be back” with a trope that complements both the “Apocalypse Now” and the “Big Bad” tropes: the Sweep of Time.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Previously In This Series:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Introduction:\u00a0Having Fun With Epic Fantasy\u2014Meet the Tropes<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Instalment 1:\u00a0Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes: A Farm Boy\/Gal Goes On A Journey\u2026<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Instalment\u00a0\u00a02:\u00a0A Prince\/Princess Finds A Destiny<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Instalment 3:\u00a0Dreams and Portents, Prophecy and Destiny<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Instalment 4: <\/span>Apocalypse Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

On SF Signal: The\u00a0\u201cHaving Fun With Epic Fantasy\u201d Series<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1. \u201cMaking the Grand Tour<\/a>\u201d (aka the Road Journey);<\/p>\n

2. .\u201dThe \u201cBand of Brothers<\/a>\u201d; and\u00a0the<\/p>\n

3. . \u201cSoul-Sucking Sword<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/pre>\n
\u00a9 Helen Lowe<\/em><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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