The Year of the Villain #7 -- The Evilest of Them All!

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Ya can't talk villains in Fantasy fiction without talking A Game of Thrones (GoT) -- and for quite some time now I've thought Peter Baelish, aka Littlefinger, is among the most evil. And maybe, just maybe, the evilest of them all.

Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger

Spoiler Alert
It' s impossible to tell you why I think this without revelations, aka spoilers, about the GoT story, but after five books and an eight-season TV show, I think the plot is well known enough to survive it. If, however, you have not yet experienced either but intend doing so, then you may prefer not to read on. 

Returning to the matter at hand, you may be thinking, "What's Helen sipping in her tea lately, to think Littlefinger's the worst villain? What about Joffrey and Cersei, Roose and Ramsay Bolton, and that ultimate in brutality, Gregor Clegane, The Mountain That Rides"? Aren't they far more evil?"

Gregor Clegane, The Mountain That Rides

On the surface, the answer appears to be yes -- although even if we stay only on that surface, Littlefinger betrays Ned Stark to his death, seeks to seduce the barely-more-than-a-child Sansa Stark while still married, then murders his wife. Still, arguably nowhere near as sadistic and brutal as many others in the books* -- but let's look beneath that surface.

Littlefinger Betrays Ned Stark

One of the things I love most about the A Game of Thrones series (officially titled "A Song of Ice and Fire", or ASOIAF) is its multilayered storytelling, in which a multiplicity of characters have indepth backstories, often with nefarious motivations concealed.

As I read, I gradually became aware there was considerably more to Littlefinger than met the eye. In particular, that his unrequited love for Catelyn Stark, nee Tully, almost certainly led him to engineer the brutal deaths of her fiance, Brandon Stark, and his father, Lord Rickard. As a result she marries Ned Stark, whom Littlefinger also later betrays, resulting in his execution. 

Catelyn Stark

It's a tale of entitlement and vengeance, as well as ambition, all manipulated and masterminded from the shadows -- because Littlefinger is not an enemy his opponents will see coming. He's certainly not one to confront his enemies, and victims, openly. Yet if it stopped there, we might agree that he's a villain, sure, but maybe not the worst of them all.

Here's the thing, though. In both cases where Littlefinger pursues his personal vengeance against the Starks, the consequence of their deaths is civil war in Westeros. The first of these is the Usurper's War, which ends Targaryen rule and sees Robert Baratheon become king. 

The young Robert Baratheon

The second is the War of the Five Kings that dangerously weakens Westeros, rendering it vulnerable to the Night King, and very nearly bringing its destruction. In both cases, the civil war also gives free rein to the extremities of those like the Boltons and Gregor Clegane, resulting in widespread misery and terror.

Robb Stark - 1 of the 5 contending kings

Plus, on a far more personal level, although Littlefinger's vengeance motivation is supposedly driven by unrequited love for Catelyn, he's completely comfortable switching his "affections" (heavy use of quote marks, here) to her daughter, Sansa. "Welp, a man's gotta change with the times": that's one explanation. The other is: "What a scumbag."

Sansa Stark

All of which, weighing deeds and their consequences, is why I consider Littlefinger to be one of the greatest villains in Fantasy fiction. Feel free, though, to let me know I've gotten it completely wrong. :D

*Note: I have only read the books, not seen the HBO series, so this post is books-centric.;-)

© Helen Lowe

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About the Author

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.
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Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.

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Previous “Year of the Villain” Posts:

January:      Ushering in 2024 -- & the Year of the Villain

February:    The Year of the Villain #1: The Lord of The Rings Pantheon

March: The Year of the Villain #2: Ursula Le Guin & “Earthsea”

April: The Year of the Villain #3: Tigana and Brandin of Ygrath

May: The Year of the Villain #4: Elidor and Formless Evil 

June: The Year of the Villain #5: When the Hero Is Really A Villain

July: The Year of the Villain #6: When the Author Messes With Your Mind

Origins of Dragons

A dragon statue in Ljubljana, Slovenia (Wikicommons)

I can't leave the theme of mythical creatures and paranormal others behind without discussing the bedrock of some of the best fantasy series ever written -- enter the dragon!

From Tolkien's Smaug the Calamitous to McCaffery's Mnementh, a bronze dragon in the Benden Weyr, Eon's mirror dragon to the Hungarian Horntail faced by Harry Potter, some of the best stories feature the mythologies and histories of dragons. 

Friend or foe, dragons are usually ancient, sentient and wise, but also dangerous, a deadly beast of enormous strength and power. Some have a penchant for gold or young maidens, others a telepathic link to a bond mate or extraordinary powers of luck. No matter the role they play, you have to wonder where in the world they all came from. 

I mean, what corner of our ancestors' minds created dragons? Or, were they once real?

The Archetypes

According to Jung, the notion of dragons is archetypal, ie. it appears in all places, all peoples, and all times.  

Archaeopteryx fossils

For example, we have the European dragon, derived from folk traditions that filtered down from Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies. Then there's the Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan, Korea and other East Asian countries. 

Of course, the Americas have their feathered, winged serpents, Australia the Rainbow Serpent. Dragons of Africa include the Great Healing Serpent Masingi to the dangerous Wadjet, who ate the souls of the unjust. It's hard to imagine every culture in the world thinking up these creatures long before there was any kind of trade, exchange or internet to share ideas.

The Theories

One theory behind the global myth of dragons is based on dinosaur remains. If an ancient shaman or storyteller came upon the fossil of, say Qijianglong, they could have understandably mistaken them for dragon bones. 

Another theory, detailed in the book An Instinct for Dragons, by anthropologist David E. Jones, states evolution "embedded an innate fear of predators in the human mind." Just as monkeys exhibit a fear of snakes and large cats, Jones thinks that fearing large predators—such as pythons, birds of prey and elephants—has been selected for in hominids." 

"These universal fears have been frequently combined in folklore and created the myth of the dragon. "

Maybe, but that doesn't explain why many stories, especially from the Eastern myths, are of dragon companions, dragons as healers, or the luck and benevolence one receives from befriending one.

Our stories

Whatever the origins, dragon stories are some of our richest in the speculative fiction genre, including films like How to Train Your Dragon to Game of Thrones, and many other narratives we know and love.

Do you have a favorite dragon story? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. I think mine has to be The Dragonriders of Pern. 

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Kim Falconer's latest release comes out in 2019 - The Bone Throwers, book one in the Amassia series, writing as A K Wilder. Find her new page on Facebook - AKWilder Author and on Twitter as AKWilder.

Her latest novel is out now - The Blood in the Beginning - and Ava Sykes Novel.

Learn more about Kim on Facebook and chat with her on Twitter. Check out her pen name, @a.k.wilder on Instagram, or visitAKWilder on FB and website.

Kim also runs GoodVibeAstrology.com where she teaches the law of attraction and astrology. 

Kim posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month, hosts Save the Day Writer's Community on FB and posts a daily astrology weather report on Facebook.