When you think the best villain in
cinema the first one that comes to mind for most people is Darth Vader. He is a
tall, dark, monstrous figure that wields a dark force, just like Grendel and
both of them just love to destroy everything until they are satisfied. But the
greatest weakness for great villains is not magic swords, naked men, or The
Millennium Falcon, it is backstory. Both Vader and Grendel were completely
neutered by telling the stories of their teenage angst, going from awesome
villains to whiny teens that we wish would die.
The next few paragraphs contain
spoilers for the entire Star Wars Franchise (minus the new one), so for the
five people in the entire world who have never seen Star Wars you have been
warned.
In Beowulf the only thing we know
about Grendel is that he is a large ugly monster who kills Danes and destroys a
mead hall on a nightly basis just because they were having fun. Same with
Vader, all we know is that he the second in command of the Empire in charge of
using the Death Star to destroy planets and kill rebels (sound familiar). Then
after several years people decided that the villains cannot be evil just
because, no every villain needs a reason for being bad so they can be more sympathetic.
So the book “Grendel” was written in 1971 and the Star Wars prequels began
releasing.
In “Grendel” they traded excessive
religious symbolism for excessive philosophy. The story is told from Grendel’s
point of view, which could have been exciting until you realize that Grendel
does nothing but complain and be nihilistic. So this great beast that did nothing
but destroy and torment is now saying things like “Pity” I moaned, “O pity! Pity!”
I wept”, who has ever heard of a monster who cries for pity (Gardner). Grendel continues
his angst as he complains about his mother’s love, the dragon and the Shaper’s
philosophies, and even his own death.
