The Art of the Inner Villain: New Prompt

“No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens? It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices, for what might be very good reasons. They make choice after choice, and none of them is slaughtering roomfuls of saints, or murdering hundreds of baby seals, or rubber-room irrational. But it adds up. And then one day they look around and realized that they're so far over the line that they can't remember where it was.”
― Jim Butcher, Cold Days

The Characters in Our Story: Hero, Villain, Victim

When we were very young, fairytales taught us about good and evil. These stories matched our level of development: there's no ambiguity. There are good and bad, heroes and villains. We use these stories to build up our moral muscles so we can identify with heroic morality and steer away from the basics of evil. The villain is bad, the hero is good and the world is cut up in those two simple options.

When we get a little older, we are confronted with ambiguity. We begin to see ourselves differently, we begin to notice our inner complexity. Our inherent nature, traumas, exposures to neglect, abuse, violence, loss, hate, and so on expand our consciousness of good and evil in new directions.

Those we love become more nuanced; our parents who were once heroes might also be seen as those who have hurt us. Our pastors and politicians, our favorite teachers, and celebrities turn out to also have done wrong, disappointed us, and in some cases, turned out to be villains.

As life moves on and we're much older, we start going down the rabbit holes. These rabbit holes turn the world on its head once more. Nothing is what it seems. Some characters we were taught to be villains are heroes. Some we thought were heroes were disappointingly villains. And the ambiguity grows.

Now, we live in the strange times of absurdity. Villains and Heroes are mixed up, victims are heroes AND villains.

“The role of the villain is only determined by who's telling the story”
― Penelope Douglas, Nightfall

We the Storytellers, are quick to label these archetypal characters now. Opposing political party? Villain. Disagree with my views on xyz? Villain. Don't support my ideology? Villain. Simply post the symbols or people I agree with online? Hero. Agree with my religious views? Hero. Fight the same people I fight? Hero.

Our perspectives of heroes, victims, and villains have come a long way from our childhood fairytales. We're all a bit exhausted and confused.

If we keep going in our development, the villain/hero continuum turns from the outer world to the inner world.

I talk a lot about how important it is to understand the Story and to know our role in it. This is true of the Great Story we're all in together and it's true of the personal story unfolding inside each of us. What's amazing, is that those two will inevitably intertwine beautifully when we seek the truth of both.

Understanding the story and the characters makes a massive difference in how we experience our lives and create our future.

When it comes to the inner world characters, we've talked a lot about the Hero; this is the Game Changer. All the Performance work and character development, the process and inner world expansion- this is all for the Hero- the Game Changer.

We have also talked about the Victim. Our Game Changer Mantra for 2024 was all about an exploration of the inner victim and our relationship with it.

So now, we must look at the villain.

The Question

Most of us are hard-wired to want to see ourselves as good, as the archetypal hero.

Over the years I've sat with child molesters, rapists, liars, gang members, drug dealers, murders, white-collar criminals, blue-collar criminals, thieves, and people who have lied and sued and ruined others' reputations, I've sat with all sorts of 'villains' in the most intimate of contexts (as a therapist or coach) and let me tell you something- none of them see themselves as villains.

They know what they did but they do not see themselves as villains.

Over the years I've played with this question with anyone who will answer:

'if you had to be a villain from any story or movie, who would you be and why?'

I've brought that little game back and the answers are always interesting.

Take a moment before moving on. How would you answer the question? There's no right or wrong way to do it, it's an exploration.

What Does Your Answer Reveal?

Some people have a difficult time identifying as anything "bad". They won't choose a villain, or they'll choose a character that's not really a villain but rather a side character who was a little difficult at one point and then learned their lesson. For this group of people, the 'badness' is outside of them. There are 'bad' people 'out there' and they aren't one of them.

• Disclaimer: Some people who have a hard time coming up with an answer also struggle because they're not ready and can't think of one off the top of their head, or haven't been exposed to many movies or videos, or simply haven't thought in these terms before. So if you struggled with this question, take a moment to think about it or have fun with it, it may just be because you've never thought of yourself or villains in this way.

Others look at it more creatively, like a personality test, as if they were asked to choose any other character type (hero, dog, flower) that represented them and they simply look for their personality traits but 'gone bad' and will happily offer it up. *I've noticed this more in the younger generations. They seem to have a creative fluidity, a deep interest in understanding their 'character type' and they've grown up on a different kind of fairytale (more pixar, marvel, fantasy-based kind of hero/villain stories).

There's a third group of people who will look inside themselves more soberly. They're aware that they have the capability of being evil, they do not think the 'badness' is outside of them. They are aware that if they are not careful, they could be capable of being the worst version of themselves. They know how to recognize that inside their own heart. From there, it's not that hard to see a character outside of themselves in some movie or book.

After my experiences with all types of people- those who are considered good, those who are considered bad, and everything in between- the people I trust the most and would consider the most 'awake' or 'aware' and therefore probably the safest people in terms of not actually becoming a villain, are the ones who know they are capable of it on some level.

Virtue untested is no virtue at all. If all you're capable of is good, there's nothing good about it. It's like a frog only being able to hop or a bird only being able to chirp- there's no good or bad about it. It's all they can do, there's no other choice or capability. But if there's a choice, and you know you're capable of being evil or good, and you still choose good, well then that's something far more virtuous, and interesting.

Those who cannot see in themselves the potential for 'bad' have more in common with real-life 'villains' than those who can spot it within themselves.

“The fact is that we have no way of knowing if the person who we think we are is at the core of our being. Are you a decent girl with the potential to someday become an evil monster, or are you an evil monster that thinks it's a decent girl?"

"Wouldn't I know which one I was?"

"Good God, no. The lies we tell other people are nothing to the lies we tell ourselves.”
― Derek Landy, Death Bringer

The Irony of Heroes and Villains

Here's the deep irony to the villain/hero/victim character selection. We all want to be heroes. We're living in a time where you may not be able to escape one of the three labels: Hero, Villain, Victim.

The irony is, to truly be good, to be 'the hero', means you'll likely be seen as the villain at some point. True goodness, truth, 'the light'- it is not a fairytale path. It's not all flowers and butterflies and forest animals (although we do try). It's unfair, difficult, and not for the faint of heart. And in these times, there's less and less room for innocent bystanders (also a nice role when available).

If you're awake and a truth-seeker, if you're a Game Changer, then you best get comfortable with your villain archetype. This will help you avoid the traps of being a victim, being blind to your own evil, and will prepare you for the inevitable stage of growth where you will be accused of being the very thing you are not: a villain.

“We always vilify what we don't understand.”
― Nenia Campbell, Horrorscape

That's why the villain question and the villain art prompt are so profound; it's a simple but intimate internal exploration. This unique concept can:

• illuminate where we're at in our own inner development
• highlight our gifts from a new perspective
• protect us from our own worst enemy; ourselves
• and if engaged, can be extremely empowering in the toughest of seasons

The Prompt:

I think all of us have a hero and a villain in us. -Anson Mount

First, know that all prompts, all stories, all characters, all the themes we play with- it's all art. It's all creative. It's all fun. While it is incredibly powerful, life-altering, and perhaps one of the most profound things we can do with our energy right now- it's important to not take it too seriously. Have fun. Play. Get to know yourself. Let the story reveal itself to you. Be light and easy with it.

Second, answer the question: if you had to choose a villain from any book or movie, who would you choose and why? Perhaps bring in a safe friend and do it together. Get their feedback. Play around with it. Notice what comes up.

Three, use collage, book pages, words and other collage-like materials and build out your 'villain art'. Choose images, words, colors, shapes,-anything you include in your art- that you feel an intuitive and strong connection to. Practice creating without judgment. No judgment: on what it looks like, what it says about you, what someone else would think if they saw it, no judgement of any kind. Play like a child and have a ball.

While you're at it, this is a great arena to practice Performance and the Three C's.

Lastly, email me your final creation. I'm re-extending the Art Processing offer. Get your villain art completed anytime in the next two weeks and schedule a free art processing consult with me here. If you haven't experienced the art processing experience before, you won't want to miss this.

In the meantime, catch up on the latest series about the Movement: A Quiet (r)evolution, we'll be getting back to that next week!

Enjoy your weekend, my sweet Villains

Just kidding. I know you're all heroes...