Villains Are Humans Too

A Game of Thrones is a series that has plenty of villains, both to love and to hate. One of the top-ranking bastards, quite literally, is Joffrey Baratheon. He is my personal favorite villain to both love and hate. He is evil and sadistic in every way possible and nothing brings me greater joy than his death, but is that how I should feel? I didn’t enjoy reading his death nor watching it in the show, I’m a little too queasy for that, but at the same time I was extremely happy that he was finally dead. Not only was he dead, he was murdered by way of poison... at his own wedding. Honestly, I loved it and the irony that was there. I mean, seeing him in true royal colors was pleasing.

Now, let’s look a little further north to another villain, Theon Greyjoy. Here, we see another villain that people love to hate... in the beginning. When Theon is taken captive, it is a time of celebration. Personally, I was excited to see what was going to happen to him, and then I began reading the horrible things and I instantly felt as if I were the villain in this situation. I remember thinking to myself, “Why? Why do I feel so much joy watching him get hurt? It wasn’t truly his fault, he was just a victim like the people he had hurt, he’s just a dumb boy who didn’t know better,” and then I realized that I was feeling pity for him. In that moment, I refused to hate him. I was hoping against all odds that Theon was able to redeem himself and become a lovable character again.

Two characters. Both still children in truth. Both having done horrible things finally getting served justice, and yet I regret feeling happy for only one to be punished. In truth I’ve never really sat down to think about how similar the two characters are. Reflecting on this now, it amazes me that I still feel the same way. I am very happy that Joffrey is dead, and I am very enthusiastic to see how Theon’s story ends (I haven’t finished the show yet, but I’m told that he does redeem himself). Now I’m just wondering how many people felt the same, or at least similarly, about these two particular characters. I’m also questioning if it is even reasonable for me to feel this way.

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In the eyes of the author, George R. R. Martin, he made it clear in an interview that he wanted the audience to pause before cheering by saying, “but Joffrey in the books is still a 13-year-old kid. And there’s kind of a moment there where he knows that he’s dying and he can’t get a breath and he’s kind of looking at Tyrion and at his mother and at the other people in the hall with just terror and appeal in his eyes—you know, “Help me mommy, I’m dying.” And in that moment, I think even Tyrion sees a 13-year-old boy dying before him.” Now I’ve never looked at Joffrey like this, and I know some of my fellow fans haven’t either, but boy does it smack me in the face when I do remember his age.

I have two thirteen-year-old brothers, and realizing that Joffrey, as horrible as he was, is that much of a baby, my heart breaks. I am slightly disgusted with myself for laughing when I read his death scene. Would other people feel the same if they took a step back and processed that Joffrey was a child? Would you? He couldn’t beg for help because he could not breathe, but if he had been able to talk, would we have paused and hoped for him to be spared? I don’t think I would have, because he truly was a vile little monster, but I don’t believe his death brings me the same level of satisfaction anymore.

Yeah, he’s a fictional character and doesn’t truly exist, but there have been studies showing that we as humans become attached to these characters. In an article Eleanor Cummins wrote, she says that a person feeling the loss of a character need others to recognize it so that they can process the grief properly. Now this is all nice and I agree with her, but does this mean that we also have the right to celebrate a character’s death? Or do we process the joy rather than the grief? I’m unsure of this, but I assume that’s how it works. Almost like celebrating a bad person’s downfall in real life I presume. But even then, I find myself feeling sad because someone has died, if the result is death, because, as unrealistic as it is, I feel that everyone can be saved or at the least redeemed.

Art by Timburtongot on deviantart

Moving on to Theon for a moment, he is not murdered. No, Martin is much more creative with this villain. He introduces a bigger a**hole who takes Theo- no, Reek, his name is Reek we must not forget that, and makes him nothing. Through the process of Reek's pain, he is stripped bare and I think this is why we want him to have a happier ending than Joffrey. Actually, watching someone be tortured is not as enjoyable and simply having justice served on a silver platter, I guess a King will always have it better, even in death. We get to watch and read about Theon becoming Reek and quite frankly it hurts. Reek is older, I believe he’s in his early twenties at this point, but he is still a child in some ways. The thoughts that go through his head, wishing himself dead, hits a little different. During this long process in which Theon had, as Dominic LeRose says, “completely lost his identity,” I want better for him. Rather than hoping he dies and has a taste of his own medicine, I began to root for him. I want him to live, to fight, to escape, I just don’t want him dead anymore. But, why? Why do I root for him, but not Joffrey?

I believe that there are a few reasons for hoping that Theon lives and not Joffrey. To begin with, they had very different lives. Joffrey was the true definition of a spoiled brat who had everything and anything he ever wanted, where Theon was sent away from home at a young age and forced to search for somewhere to belong, never quite finding it. Because of this, I think it’s easier to feel empathy for Theon. He’s more human and realistic because of these things, where Joffrey is the mean kid who bullied you all the time. Towards the end, I think that anyone would begin to feel sorry for Theon. He becomes this beaten-down thing and it’s hard not to pity him. In addition to this, Theon is arguably better than Joffrey was. Not in the sense that he was a better villain, but in the sense that he was a better person.

All Joffrey wanted to do was to hurt people. He was truly a sadist. He got off on harming others and making them suffer. Theon acted on what he believed would make him belong. A lot of it was him trying to make his father see him as a son again. After being away for so long as a ward of Winterfell, he wasn’t really part of his people anymore and it killed him. Theon also threatened a lot, where Joffrey acted. Theon lied about killing the Stark boys, Joffrey straight up had Ned beheaded in front of the girl he was supposed to marry, oh yeah, she just happened to be Ned’s daughter. Not to mention he also made her look at the heads, her fathers and her septas, after they were displayed on spikes. Truly, Theon was a much better person than Joffrey. He deserves our hopes of redemption. Joffrey doesn’t. 

All of this being said though, I still feel a twang of grief for Joffrey. Yeah, he’s horrible. I hate him. I want him dead, but I don’t think it’s all white or all black. It’s a pretty dark shade of grey though. I feel sorrow for finding joy in a child’s life being taken, but I don’t want him back. Theon on the other hand, I want him to live even though I highly doubt he does. These two characters are both villains. Great villains actually. The perfect amount of ‘love to watch them be the horrid people they are’ with just a dash of ‘hopefully they die but not in such a bad way’ type of villains. Is it bad that I think this way? Maybe, I’m not sure. But at the same time, I shouldn’t wish them dead, that almost makes me a villain from a different world. After all, villains are humans too.