Is Everyone Really the Hero of Their Own Story?

There is a saying out there that goes something like, “Everyone is the hero of their own story.” I’m not sure who originally said it. However, it often has made me step back and think. Do I feel like the hero in my own story? Sometimes. Not always. Have I ever been the villain in somebody else’s story? Probably unintentionally. Even though I try to be good and nice to everyone, I’m not perfect. Perhaps the biggest question of all might be, are there people who don’t want to be a hero and view themselves as the bad guy instead?

This is a much harder question to answer. I’ve never actually met someone who would want to think of his or herself as the villain. If there really are people like that out there, they are few and far between. However, I have come across some characters who don’t seem to care at all if they are the bad-guy. They don’t care about being the hero. All they care about is getting or doing what they want. If that means becoming the villain, they are fine with that. These are the worst (or maybe best, depending on your point of view) kind of villains. They’re the type who will never see the error of their ways and turn their lives around because they already know what they are doing is wrong. They just don’t care. They aren’t doing it for a noble “greater good.” They are’t doing it because they believe it’s right. They have purely selfish motives.

Perhaps my favorite example is from Les Misérables. There are two different kinds of antagonists in this book. Javert is the sort who may not be right, and you don’t really like him, but he’s doing what he does because he believes it is right. He could be considered the hero in his own story. On the other hand, Monseiur Thénardier is one hundred percent doing whatever he does for himself. He has no noble motives whatsoever. He has no issues with being considered bad so long as he is filling his own pockets. He’s not even doing it for his children since he lets them fend for themselves. It’s completely selfish.

Star Wars has other examples like that. Darth Vader is pretty bad, but he at least started out with understandable motives. Emperor Palpatine, on the other hand, mostly does what he does for selfish power. Some might argue and say he is trying to bring order to the galaxy in the way he thinks best, or that he’s trying to protect it from an outside threat, but does that really sound very Sith-like? Not really. True Sith pretty much do what they do for their own personal gain.

The last examples are from my books. So far I’ve introduced two primary antagonists. The first, Gallis, sees himself as the hero in his story. At least at first, he does believe he is doing what is best for Aviandria. Whether it’s true or not, he believes it. In contrast, Bartowe just likes being bad. He enjoys causing others pain, and he couldn’t care less about what is right or wrong. He would probably wear the title of “villain” as a badge of honor.

Of course, these are just my thoughts on the subject. Perhaps some might disagree, but in all my muddled musings, I have seen that there are bad-guys, and there are BAD guys. Bad guys may be the heroes of their own stories, but BAD guys have accepted the title in every fiber of their beings.

Have you noticed this? What examples can you think of?