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Barius Addresses the Senate
I have never had a character that people have actively told me they wanted to beat up until Barius, which means that I did something right with him.
To me, one of the worst types of villains is one who thinks they're doing a good thing. In Barius' case, he felt he was helping break his country's caste system and making his country stronger. His fault though was that in his passion to help his country, the people of it became fodder.
Barius was a war hero who had gained nobility status because he had won a very hard and very difficult stand off war with an opposing country. He's an expert tactician and is extremely patient. He's also very charismatic and can make just about anyone like him.
He could have just retired to luxury after he was granted nobility, but instead he passionately threw himself into politics and managed to gain a seat with the senate. He was granted overseer rights to new buildings in the city (which was actually given to him as busywork in the hopes he'd go away) and he even made something of that.
I really liked his design. His black contrast against Silver's white, his medallions around his neck and his red toga (a sign of his nobility status. Only nobles may wear red and may wear gold jewelry). He may have one day become an even greater man had he not been so sure only he knew how to 'fix' things, and had he not been so eager to sacrifice as many people as needed to achieve his ends.
To me, one of the worst types of villains is one who thinks they're doing a good thing. In Barius' case, he felt he was helping break his country's caste system and making his country stronger. His fault though was that in his passion to help his country, the people of it became fodder.
Barius was a war hero who had gained nobility status because he had won a very hard and very difficult stand off war with an opposing country. He's an expert tactician and is extremely patient. He's also very charismatic and can make just about anyone like him.
He could have just retired to luxury after he was granted nobility, but instead he passionately threw himself into politics and managed to gain a seat with the senate. He was granted overseer rights to new buildings in the city (which was actually given to him as busywork in the hopes he'd go away) and he even made something of that.
I really liked his design. His black contrast against Silver's white, his medallions around his neck and his red toga (a sign of his nobility status. Only nobles may wear red and may wear gold jewelry). He may have one day become an even greater man had he not been so sure only he knew how to 'fix' things, and had he not been so eager to sacrifice as many people as needed to achieve his ends.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / General Furry Art
Species Wolf
Size 845 x 600px
File Size 500.2 kB
I actually hadn't had a chance to read your comic about Barius and Three yet, so I knew I was missing something about Barius as a villain. Up to that point, he was a suave jerk and won his senate seat through his victory in the war, but nothing that otherwise indicated that he rose to power on the bodies of others.
Then I read the comic to see for myself, and...yeah. I can now see why so many people hate Barius's guts now. There's a lot more I can say about this story, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it yet (all three of them!).
Then I read the comic to see for myself, and...yeah. I can now see why so many people hate Barius's guts now. There's a lot more I can say about this story, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it yet (all three of them!).
Okay then! *clears throat*
Barius is an interesting villain because he's fairly mild, especially when compared to similar politician-villains. He's not what I'd call evil and he's not really cold either since it's quite clear he can be rather passionate (both when pursuing Three/Silver and his ultimate goals). What he is is cunning, scheming, heartless, and, most dangerously, insidious. We have no idea how many others he stepped on and ground under his heel before his betrayal of Three, so that is the greatest sin we've seen him commit. But even with just that one act, he's already shown himself to be, well, let's just say that this is the reason why so many people hate him so. Part of me wonders whether he had this planned from the moment he first learned of Three's secret when he was still pursuing her, which means that he was manipulating her heart from the very start, or he came up with this plan later, after he and Three became lovers, which means he was perfectly willing to sacrifice the trust from the women he loves for the sake of political power. I'm not sure which is the worse option, but either way, you'd have to be pretty heartless in order to do that to someone.
What makes Barius so dangerous as a villain, though, is that he doesn't look or act like a villain. In fact, he was able to fool Three for quite a while, and she's fairly perceptive about these things. That's why he's insidious. His charisma and admirable goals are thoroughly disarming, lulling you into a false sense of security until it's too late. If Three didn't have those steel claw caps on, he might as well have gotten away with it (though I'm not sure how he intended to keep control of Three afterwards. She doesn't seem the type to just give up for good like that).
However, I do have to wonder just what he was willing to do in order to attain his goal. For a politician willing to do anything for power, sometimes that involves doing good for the people and becoming a hero. His plot with Three was essentially creating a new cult/sect devoted to her for political points, so would he be willing to start another war or persecute a convenient scapegoat if it would gain him more influence in the senate? His goal of eliminating the caste system seems to imply a sense of justice and thus of morality, but according to you in one of your streams, he's doing this in order to make his country strong. As it has been proven multiple times in history, patriotism can trump morality and even justice.
I suppose we'll never know now.
Barius is an interesting villain because he's fairly mild, especially when compared to similar politician-villains. He's not what I'd call evil and he's not really cold either since it's quite clear he can be rather passionate (both when pursuing Three/Silver and his ultimate goals). What he is is cunning, scheming, heartless, and, most dangerously, insidious. We have no idea how many others he stepped on and ground under his heel before his betrayal of Three, so that is the greatest sin we've seen him commit. But even with just that one act, he's already shown himself to be, well, let's just say that this is the reason why so many people hate him so. Part of me wonders whether he had this planned from the moment he first learned of Three's secret when he was still pursuing her, which means that he was manipulating her heart from the very start, or he came up with this plan later, after he and Three became lovers, which means he was perfectly willing to sacrifice the trust from the women he loves for the sake of political power. I'm not sure which is the worse option, but either way, you'd have to be pretty heartless in order to do that to someone.
What makes Barius so dangerous as a villain, though, is that he doesn't look or act like a villain. In fact, he was able to fool Three for quite a while, and she's fairly perceptive about these things. That's why he's insidious. His charisma and admirable goals are thoroughly disarming, lulling you into a false sense of security until it's too late. If Three didn't have those steel claw caps on, he might as well have gotten away with it (though I'm not sure how he intended to keep control of Three afterwards. She doesn't seem the type to just give up for good like that).
However, I do have to wonder just what he was willing to do in order to attain his goal. For a politician willing to do anything for power, sometimes that involves doing good for the people and becoming a hero. His plot with Three was essentially creating a new cult/sect devoted to her for political points, so would he be willing to start another war or persecute a convenient scapegoat if it would gain him more influence in the senate? His goal of eliminating the caste system seems to imply a sense of justice and thus of morality, but according to you in one of your streams, he's doing this in order to make his country strong. As it has been proven multiple times in history, patriotism can trump morality and even justice.
I suppose we'll never know now.
Barius was honest in saying he didn't believe Silver's immortality claims at first, but the fact that she didn't seem crazy made him wonder. Then he noticed that some of her blades were forged in the northern continent (a couple thousand miles away) and he quietly sent some people to investigate. He was lucky in that his agents were able to track the blades and the blacksmith was still alive and remembered her... from fifty years previous. They collected statements and evidence to prove that she was at minimum eighty years old at the youngest and that was enough to prove the claim. THAT is when Barius would have started scheming, in the midst of his almost marriage to Silver even.
He planned and worked at this for almost six years. He had a temple of Kiviena converted to her name and deliberately picked Usaden because he knew Silver hated him. (This was during her atheist days and she found Usaden's claims that her friends died at the will of the gods to be insulting to their names) On that fateful day he deliberately... um... physically wore her out in the morning before she went to the arena, emotionally built her up by telling her there was a surprise but not what kind so she'd be in edge and anxious, and then arranged for a monster battle to make sure she'd be exhausted when she came to the temple. So when she arrived she was emotionally frayed and too tired to have the mental wherewithal to stop and consider that the whole thing was a trap. He knew she would snap and counted on it. And he knew that after that she'd have nothing left and he could overpower her.
His plan was that if she didn't want to play along he'd hold her in a little room made special and see how long she lasted with him as her only social contact. He was prepared to starve her, keep her from sleeping, and a few worse things until he broke her. Barius wasn't lying when he said he knew how to get her to do what he wanted. He'd studied her for over a decade and knew a lot of her strengths and weaknesses. He'd even planned on offering Sryinx his freedom and protection if the little scribe was willing to say that she smited everyone in the temple because she found them unworthy.
Then with his fingers in the senate and also as the right hand of a goddess, he'd finally have the power to affect and influence the country and its laws.
He loved her, but he loved something else more.
He planned and worked at this for almost six years. He had a temple of Kiviena converted to her name and deliberately picked Usaden because he knew Silver hated him. (This was during her atheist days and she found Usaden's claims that her friends died at the will of the gods to be insulting to their names) On that fateful day he deliberately... um... physically wore her out in the morning before she went to the arena, emotionally built her up by telling her there was a surprise but not what kind so she'd be in edge and anxious, and then arranged for a monster battle to make sure she'd be exhausted when she came to the temple. So when she arrived she was emotionally frayed and too tired to have the mental wherewithal to stop and consider that the whole thing was a trap. He knew she would snap and counted on it. And he knew that after that she'd have nothing left and he could overpower her.
His plan was that if she didn't want to play along he'd hold her in a little room made special and see how long she lasted with him as her only social contact. He was prepared to starve her, keep her from sleeping, and a few worse things until he broke her. Barius wasn't lying when he said he knew how to get her to do what he wanted. He'd studied her for over a decade and knew a lot of her strengths and weaknesses. He'd even planned on offering Sryinx his freedom and protection if the little scribe was willing to say that she smited everyone in the temple because she found them unworthy.
Then with his fingers in the senate and also as the right hand of a goddess, he'd finally have the power to affect and influence the country and its laws.
He loved her, but he loved something else more.
Loved her enough to psychologically torture her and break her will so he can use her in this little power play he cooked up and figured she could play a useful part in. Such a romantic.
Before this bit, I had figured Barius to be on the border of Lawful Neutral and Lawful Evil, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and put him on the LN side. With this, he definitely crossed the line into LE at some point early in the story. The fun part about Lawful Evil characters is that they can be genuinely congenial and even pleasant to be with (they make good "I'm evil but I'm still your best friend in this town" NPCs, or even PCs); they're not all tyrannical megalomaniacs, or at least they've learned to hide it well.
Before this bit, I had figured Barius to be on the border of Lawful Neutral and Lawful Evil, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and put him on the LN side. With this, he definitely crossed the line into LE at some point early in the story. The fun part about Lawful Evil characters is that they can be genuinely congenial and even pleasant to be with (they make good "I'm evil but I'm still your best friend in this town" NPCs, or even PCs); they're not all tyrannical megalomaniacs, or at least they've learned to hide it well.
Yeah, I don't think this guy could've met a "good" end as he was. Even if Silver hadn't been involved, his ambition and arrogance were too great. Some people just run headlong into their own undoing with full confidence in themselves and their goals. Unfortunately, reality takes a rather dim view of those who don't mind their p's and q's...
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