A Good Bad Guy

Warning: The following may contain spoilers.

"All men must choose between two paths. Good is the path of honour, heroism, and nobility. Evil... well, it's just cooler."

"Well, this is a strange turn of events... " I watched Megamind last night, and it's an amazing movie. The protagonist is the "bad guy." And it's a Dreamworks family film. What a great idea. Really.

There's nothing more "been there; done that" than repeating the same formulaic plot over and over: good guy fights bad guy; good guy wins; good guy gets the girl. That's the genius of this movie. They play with those tired tropes and twist them around and make something new and fresh. At one point, Megamind's friend Minion says, "I may not know much, but I do know this: The bad guy doesn't get the girl!" But what if he does? (And yes, his name is Minion. So awesome.)

Megamind says to Titan, "I'm the villain, you're the good guy! I do something bad, then you come and get me!" But is Titan really the good guy? And is Megaman really the bad guy? Unlike a lot of "kids movies" it isn't quite so black and white.

I've always loved the good bad guy character. You know, the one who's technically working against the good guys, but has redeeming qualities. Can you think of any other examples? Do you do this in your writing?

Darkness and Death

Yeah, I know the post title is a little morbid; it's the title of today's piece, which isn't really all that morbid. I swear.
Someday, I'm going to make this into a novel. If I can just stop procrastinating...



"When darkness and death
Come upon us,
One who is two shall save us.
Eyes as the day,
Hair as the night;
No evil shall escape his might.
He bears the mark of one and two
Left and right upon his back..."

So it was written in the sacred writings of Lumilune. It was only a fragment, like most of the verses, yet it held great meaning. One day, great trouble will come upon the land. However, a saviour will rise.

Some didn't believe. There are always those who don't believe. Many people think the Guardians are only a story for children and magic is merely illusion. Although misguided, they are not so wrong - or so dangerous - as those who follow Tansa. The Tansans are best avoided. They only cause trouble.

Regardless of belief or disbelief, the prophecy was true . And when the Tansan armies of Saybol the Dark and his black-cloaked ally who called himself Death attacked the people of Lira, many who did not believe began to wonder...