this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Has there existed a Bad Guy that was volontarly Boring? (slrpnk.net)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Kyoyeou@slrpnk.net to c/books@lemmy.ml
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Writing a Good Bad Guy in Books (In Fact any media) is the "classic choice" sometimes they are really poorly made, and don't work. Other times, they are loved so much that when the character was only added to kill the hero, they end up becoming an Icon

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[–] dingus@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The best type of villain is the type that thinks they're the hero.

For this, I turn to Atlas Shrugged. The villain is John Galt.

And dear God. John Galt is fucking boring.

[–] Kyoyeou@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

he is the object of its often-repeated question "Who is John Galt?" and of the quest to discover the answer. Also, in the later part it becomes clear that Galt had been present in the book's plot all along, playing several important roles though not identified by name.

Seems like the guy was written to be cool but isn't

[–] dingus@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Galt follows Dagny to New York, where he hacks into a national radio broadcast to deliver a three-hour speech that explains the novel's theme and Rand's Objectivism.

That speech is sixty fucking pages of bullshit. He's boring as living fuck because Ayn Rand had a boring fucking mind and wanted to fuck rich men.

[–] Kyoyeou@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] dingus@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

He's meant to be the hero, but it's all such a joke... and he's the rich man who can control it all! Like, my eyes couldn't roll any harder. He's the "hero" of her story but I've never unearthed a more boring or evil motherfucker.

When people say "The banality of evil" my mind goes "John Galt."