The fantasy
genre is full of stories where one (or a group, or race) of great power rules
over a kingdom or empire with malice and corruption. The subjects are forced to
live under the cruel, heavy hand of the dark rulers, and there’s always mention
of a group of brave souls who attempted to rise up against the powers-that-be
in hopes to overthrow the reigning darkness—but they failed. And so begins the
story of a chosen one, and those that follow, who rises and succeeds against the
evil power.
“The Lady”
from the Chronicles of the Black Company
betrayed her powerful, evil husband, the Dominator, to control and dominate the
Northern Empire herself. She is a cruel empress, destroying all who oppose her.
The Black Company, who were employed by the Lady, later change their course to
prepare to fight against the Lady.
My all-time
favorite, Emperor Palpatine, is the one Dark Lord of the Sith, who took the
ancient principles of the Sith, the rule of two (one to harness the power of
the darkside, and one to crave it), and patiently and skillfully took over the
galaxy—creating the first galactic empire. With his apprentice, Darth Vader,
Palpatine holds the galaxy in his powerful clutches, yet we see the Rebel
Alliance defy his rule as we read (or watch, in most cases) in what’s called
the original trilogy of the Star Wars
saga.
In the Halfblood Chronicles, the all-powerful
Elvenlords long ago entered the world through the Great Portal from another
dimension and enslaved humankind, making concubines of choice women and
gladiators of choice men, and oppressing all life forms to their will. Shana,
half elven and half human, leads a band of intelligent dragons, half-blood
wizards, and escaped human slaves to undo centuries of cruel elven reign.
Like the Halfblood Chronicles, the Annals of Drakis takes place in a world
ruled by cruel elves, yet they are not tall, fair, and good-looking like the
Elvenlords of the Halfblood Chronicles.
These are beings with (mostly) dark skin, elongated heads, and sharp teeth,
enslaving not just humans, but races of all kinds—controlling them with aether
magic to do their bidding.
In the
original Mistborn trilogy, the first
book, The Final Empire, gives us the
Lord Ruler, a seemingly all-powerful, god-like man who controls the known
empire. All who even attempt to oppose him meet their demise.
I could go
on with many examples in fantasy fiction of seemingly all-powerful dark rulers.
The genre is laded with them. It’s not too difficult to understand why authors
bring to life characters with great power who are nothing but ruthless and
dominating. It brings about conflict, and heightens the stakes for the “good”
characters that we will root for.
But why do
authors create ruling characters who possess great powers who are malevolent?
Why don’t they make ruling characters with great powers who are benevolent?
Stepping aside from the reasoning that evil characters with great powers makes
for a more climatic story, could it be that writers have rested on the fact that
no man/woman, or being, is able to be all-good if they were to possess great
powers? The writer may not see this consciously, but it’s just a rooted fact
within the human psyche. Anyone harnessing great powers will succumb to their
dark side, and force their will upon the weaker to advance their own cause.
So what can
be said of such characters? Do they reflect a reality that, in the words of
John Dalberg-Acton, “absolute power corrupts absolutely?” Putting Acton’s words more in context, he said: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they
exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency
or the certainty of corruption by authority.” An example of this in fantasy
fiction can be found in The Neverending Story. The main character,
Bastian, becomes corrupted after obtaining the talisman, AURYN, given to him by
the Childlike Empress. AURYN gave him the power to wish for whatever he wanted
in the land of Fantastica. Consumed by the world he created
with his wishes—creating havoc for the creatures of Fantastica—Bastian comes to
the brink of wanting to conquer the Childlike Empress so that he can become the
Childlike Emperor.
What would
a work of fantasy fiction be like if the tables had turned? What if the
all-powerful ruler was benevolent and good, ruling his people with peace,
kindness and justice, but evil characters attempt to rise up to subdue them?
Makes you wonder how such a story could work.
