Every Villain is a Hero in their own Story

2022, April 6. Wednesday. @zheanders

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing fine! I just want to share you something that's troubling my mind lately. And it is all about villains.

Before there was a hero, there was a villain. Before there was a villain, there was a hero. In every story of a villain, there is a hero. And in every story of a hero, there is a villain.

When we think of heroes, we probably think of someone who's strong and brave, someone who protects others and always sees the good in people.

And when we think of villains, we probably think of someone who's selfish or greedy—someone who would do anything to achieve their goal, even if that means hurting others.

But what if you've got it all wrong? What if a hero is actually a villain, and a villain is actually a hero?

I've always loved villains. I think it's because even though they're the bad guys, I'm always rooting for them to win in my head. Don't get me wrong, superheroes are awesome. But I guess it's just easier to relate to someone who is doing something you don't agree with than to someone who is going on a grand adventure to save the world.

Why is that? Is it because no one lives life in black and white? No one is purely good or purely bad? Or maybe it's because the villain has their side of the story to tell. They don't always think that they are doing something wrong. Even if you don't like what they are doing, understand that it comes from someplace GOOD. It's easy to think of villains like this as being purely evil, but it's important to keep in mind that their motivations for their villainous deeds aren't always bad.

A villain has as much brilliant logic as the hero does to make them come to the conclusion to do what they do. The villain and hero share the same goals at least one level deep. Heroes try to achieve their goal versus the villain trying to stop them from achieving that goal. “Bad guys” don’t know they are bad guys because humans only see things as right or wrong; black or white; good or bad based on our own personal experiences and beliefs.

The thing about villains is that they have their side of the story—and it doesn't always make sense to us, but it does (to them). They're not always trying to be bad guys; they're just trying to achieve their goals and believe in themselves. Isn't that what we're all trying to do? We don't always agree with their methods, but there are always reasons for those methods, even if we don't know them yet.

And if you really think about it, these villains aren't all that different from us—they're just following a different path and making different decisions about how best to achieve their goals. But sometimes it's tough to understand how someone can be so wrong! How can you relate to someone who is making such terrible choices? And what does it say about us when we can relate to someone who has done so much wrong?

The truth is, heroes and villains share more than we might realize. In fact, they probably have more in common than they'd care to admit! They both want something, and they're both willing to do anything necessary in order to achieve those.

Think about your favorite villains – why you like them! They're probably not entirely bad. And even if they are, maybe you like them because you sympathize with the parts of their personality you do NOT have in common with them. Maybe you see a part of yourself in those "bad guys". I mean, let's be honest—they don't know they're bad guys anyway! We're all just trying to figure life out for ourselves.

This gives you insight into yourself and your values in life because every character has a story; it's up to us to decide which side we believe in when we read it. And so you realized that maybe, just maybe, you’re not a bad person. Maybe it's okay to be angry when someone cuts you off in traffic, or leaves a mess on the subway. Maybe we all have a difficult time chasing down our personal demons, and that's what makes us different. And maybe, other people aren't out to get me—in fact, they're going through their own storm and they need my empathy. If we keep our hearts open and extend some compassion, maybe they can do the same for us. Perhaps there is something larger at work here; perhaps our similarities are more profound than the differences between us; perhaps if we can see our shared humanity we can live peacefully with one another despite our surface-level disagreements.

That's all for today! Thank you for reading my article! Keep safe always!