Tag: character development

The Greatest Dwarf Known to Man

I think we can all agree that one of the most loved characters in Game of Thrones is the dwarf, Tyrion Lannister.  The dwarf, second son of Tywin Lannister, has advanced greatly as a character in the show.  He’s gone from being a wanton little drunk, to being a wise Hand of the Queen.

The journey that Tyrion has taken has been one of trial and error and controversy.  When we meet him in Season 1, he’s plying his ‘trade’ in a brothel in Winterfell upon arrival in the pilot episode of the series.  He’s the black sheep of the Lannister family; having bad relations with his father and sister.  However, he is very close with his elder brother, Jaime Lannister, and his niece and nephew, Myrcella and Tommen Baratheon.  Nobody can fault Tyrion for not thinking of his family and putting them first.  He just also has to think of himself every once in a while.

In the first season, Tyrion is a little drunk runaround with no power, and he knew it.  That’s why he had all the time in the world to drink and sleep about.  In the second season, he is given power by Tywin Lannister, his father, to act as Hand of the King in his stead during the war.  Tyrion comes into Kings Landing with fire and brimstone; basically to clean house and control the temperamental and impulsive behavior of his nephew, Joffrey Baratheon.  Joffrey immediately takes an even greater dislike to him because Tyrion is challenging him every step of the way and basically calling him an idiot.  Tyrion takes control of Kings Landing when Stannis Baratheon lays siege to it.  They ‘win’ because of the timely arrival of Tywin and the Tyrell forces, but they really won because of Tyrion’s ingenuity.  At the end of the second season, Tyrion has been pushed to the side by his family.

In the third season, Tyrion still has a position on the small council, but it is now a minor role as Tywin is Hand of the King.  He is merely a pawn in the clutches of his family, forced to marry Sansa Stark so as to get an heir to Winterfell.  However, Tyrion takes pity on her in light of all she suffered at the hands of Joffrey previously.  He does not consummate their marriage and instead does everything he can to protect her.  However, that all changes when Joffrey is mysteriously poisoned at his wedding in the fourth season and he is accused of the crime.  Near the end of the fourth season presents Tyrion with a great betrayal: the companion, Shae, whom he was very fond of, lied about him at his trial and was in fact, sleeping with his own father.  Needless to say, the end of season three was very emotional for Tyrion.

Season 5 sees him being escorted by Varys to Slaver’s Bay, where Daenerys has taken up residence and is freeing the slaves.  However, he gets drunk and separated and is kidnapped by a banished Ser Jorah Mormont.  They journey together and run afoul of dragon scale diseased people and slavers.  That is how Tyrion eventually meets Daenerys Targaryen.  At first, they are suspicious of each other: he’s the brother of the man who killed her father; and she’s the daughter of the Mad King, who wanted to burn everyone.  They start off on rocky ground and have to work their way up to a level of respect and trust that we find them at in the latest season.  Of course, they don’t like ways the other does certain things, and they have to talk it out.  But, that’s when Drogon lands and flies off with Daenerys, leaving Tyrion in charge of a(nother) battle torn city.

And… Season 6, Tyrion is dealing with Missandei and Greyworm, both of whom think his more diplomatic approach to, well… everything, is not how Daenerys would want it.  Tyrion gets frustrated that nobody sees the benefit of his plans.  Nobody except Varys.  The Master of Whispers works with Tyrion to get sh*t done around the city in Daenerys’ absence.  And then, she returns with a hoard of Dothraki at her back and an awesome Season 6 battle finale (for Daenerys) takes place.  She now she has an armada and an army.  She also now has a Hand.  Daenerys asks Tyrion to be her top adviser and he accepts.  We don’t know his reasons until the next season.

Season 7 sees both the Queen and her Hand in difficult straights.  They land on Dragonstone easily enough, but it’s easy to take an abandoned castle.  However, doom follows them when they start to lose allies.  First, the Greyjoy fleet under Yara is destroyed by the one under Euron.  Then, the Sand Snakes are defeated and Ellaria Sand is imprisoned beneath the Red Keep per Cersei’s orders.  And… Greyworm and the Unsullied army are trapped at Casterly Rock (also Euron’s fault).  Because she was following Tyrion’s advice when all the sh*t went down, Daenerys blames him to an extent, and turns to the visiting Jon Snow.  Since Tyrion and Jon had a decent relationship when they met previously, Tyrion really doesn’t have a problem with it.  Or, does he?  He finagles the meeting between Cersei, Jon, and Daenerys.  He even convinces Cersei to join them in the fight against the Night King (even though we as the audience know that she’s really trying to stab them all in the back).  And then he sees Jon going into Daenerys’ cabin and he looks disappointed.

Disappointed because he loves her.  Daenerys seems to have that effect on men.  The only problem is, she seems to be oblivious to ones that will really make her happy.  Not saying Jon is a bad guy by any means; he’s just not the guy for her.  Both her and Tyrion are rulers, and I personally believe that they should rule together.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Female Villains: Best Written By Men

If you’ve read my title and aren’t offended, congratulations!  If you read it and are, get over it.  I’m a woman and I’m giving an honest opinion of what I’ve seen of female villains in movies and shows and how they are portrayed.  And I’ve discovered that the best female villains were written and scripted by men.  Here’s why.

A woman is going to write a female villain in terms of ‘how would I act if I was evil’.  All well and good, but she’s also not likely to be honest about it because she doesn’t want people to not be able to relate to her female villain.  In her attempt to make them relatable, she makes them too weak or nice in a way.  Not good!  When you make a female a villain, make them a conniving b*tch because that’s what a woman is when she’s angry, or has plans for world domination.  Now, not to say all men have female villains down pat.  They make mistakes too… why?  Because they’re human like us and nobody is infallible.

An example of a bad female ‘villain’ is Maleficent, as portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the 2014 movie of the same name.  It was written by a woman about one of Disney’s most iconic villains, and she made her good.  The mind positively boggles.  The movie had a low reception from moviegoers, with a score of 51% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Their critique was Jolie’s performance was good, but the script and the idea that Maleficent was the ‘heroine’ just didn’t fit.  And most loyal Disney fans would have preferred the traditional Sleeping Beauty story with Jolie playing the green-skinned villainess as she was supposed to be.  We all know that even though the movie was named Sleeping Beauty, Prince Philip, and Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather were the real heroes.

Now the example of a good female villain would be Hela, portrayed by Cate Blanchett in Thor: Ragnarok.  She was powerful, terrifying, eerily attractive, and above all: a cold-hearted b*tch.  Thank you, male writers!  I have tears in my eyes!  Hela was the perfect villain and Cate Blanchett did an excellent job with bringing her to life.  She was devious, vengeful, spiteful, and strong.  You hated her, but at the same time, you admired her.  She knew what she wanted from life, or, death as it were; and she knew how she was going to get it.  Things just conspired to get in her way, but she certainly wasn’t a villain who was a pushover.

Now, that’s not to say that women can’t do female villains, it’s just rare for them to be honest enough with their character to create a foe worthy of their protagonist.  When I created my main villain of my trilogy, I just stopped analyzing and let the character speak to me.  Princess Rae dan Kae of Capricorn, killed her mother when she was born because of the curse of a pair of horns that protrude from her temples cutting her open.  Her father blamed her for his wife’s demise, but never said anything directly to her.  Rae dan Kae is the unspoken heir to the throne, and is too terrifying for any man to approach to ask for her hand in marriage.  She is conniving and plans to subjugate the other nations to her whim and will.  Her father thinks he makes the plans, but she is really the influence over him and many others in her kingdom.  She kills because she can, and her moods are unpredictable.  Rae is incapable of love and the only true emotion she is possession of is contempt.  Everyone else and all other nations are beneath her and her idea of Capricorn.  She was the perfect opposition for Zodia in every way, and when I wrote their clashes, I really enjoyed myself.

Well, there you have it for that problem: the dilemma of worthy female villains.  Careful with humanizing them because you could possibly take away those traits that will make them truly despicable.

And on that note, it’s been real!