Let’s Talk Killers… Back to Blog
Update: The winner is…Heidi Shafer-Wilson. Congrats, Heidi!
Okay, so today, I wanted to talk about a curious phenomenon…
I”m a Dexter fan. I thought the first season was awesome. I loved the idea of the series (it was similar to a plot in my old Idea File–I’d wanted to write a story about a serial killer who only killed other serial killers–cause it was more fun that way, but, whoops, I’m sliding off topic…).
Dexter is dark. He kills. He dismembers. He lies. He frames. He does any number of incredibly un-heroic things. He’s not the hero.
Um, is he?
The character of Dexter is the lead protagonist of the story, and he’s a villain, right–definitely. But I still rooted for him. I found myself hoping he wouldn’t get caught as the series progressed. He’s a killer. I should want him to get caught, but the writers managed to turn this bad guy into something else. Something different. Not a hero. Less. More?
And the first time I saw Silence of the Lambs, I thought Hannibal was horrible (you know, in a horrible, killer kind of way). He was to be feared. He was to be hunted. He was to be caged for the rest of his life so that he’d never hurt anyone else.
But then…
The movie Hannibal came out, and suddenly, there was more to learn about the Cannibal. You began to see a different side of him. People in the theaters were actually cheering for him.
When Hannibal Rising opened at the movies, I was there on opening night. I was very curious about the evolution of this character and I wanted to see how the script writers handled things.
In this movie, there was no denying it. Hannibal was supposed to be the killer. This was a young Hannibal, and the viewer saw the horror he endured in order to eventually become the Cannibal. That horror was supposed to make people understand Hannibal. Supposed to make folks care for him.
Judging by the reaction in that theater, it worked.
Two killers…turned into something more. Dark, disturbing, dangerous.
Do you know any other “killer” characters who have become more or less than you expected them to be? And how do you feel about killers who are the leads in stories or movies?
Leave me a comment–I’ll pick one random commenter to win his/ her choice of any Cynthia Eden book.
And have a good Monday!!
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I’m drawing a blank on the killer thing. I’m sure i have read a book where i wanted the killer to win…Oh! wait, in L.A. Bank’s werewolf series, in one of the books i wanted the bad werewolf to win, but for the life of me i can’t remember any more. I like the idea of killers or are the leads in movies and stories, it gives us a different point of view. I’m for happy endings though, so i always wish that the killer changes his ways, gets married and lives happily ever after. (ps- when are your other contests up and when will a winner be drawn?)
I’m going with Dracula. He is supposed to be the villain, but I always kind of had a soft spot for him.
Just a couple of weeks ago I reread Linda Howard’s Cover of Night. If you have read it, you may remember a secondary character go goes by the name of Goss.
He is a killer and became a killer in order to avenge the murder of his father–which in turn destroyed any hope of a relatively ‘normal’ life we could have had, when his mother killed herself shortly after.
He is not sympathetic, at all–but there are three scenes in the book from his point of view that have me, still, hoping for his story.
And yes, if he were to get his book, I would hope he’s not caught–only that he stops killing.
I love Dexter! Did you know his wife plays his sister, Debra, on the show? He also has (had) cancer.
The ‘Killers’ in Jenna Black’s books are awesome! They only kill bad people. Their stories are very interesting.
I enjoy stories about killers and the way they are protrayed in the books. You can rout for them, but in the movies I do not like them as heroes. The young people are so impressionable these days, they do not need any help or encouragement through life in these fields.
I’m a Star Wars nerd – so I have to go with Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Vader was such a bad-a**; he was ruthless, merciless, and instrumental in the genocide of the Jedi. But, there was something insanely charismatic and layered about the Sith Lord that while you booed and hissed when he appeared, you also wanted to follow, to see where his story goes.
Ok, I don’t know anything about Dexter. I do know about some of the villains mentioned here, I agree with Dracula. In Dracula 2000 I wanted the vampire to be redeemed…maybe because he was played by Gerard Butler? Hehe!!!
Then there is The Phantom of the Opera…I so wanted him to get Christina and live happily ever after…but maybe that had something to do with Gerard Butler again? Oh my!!
Valerie
valb0302@yahoo.com
in Germany
I remember Louis Renard from Linda Howard’s All The Queen’s Men – an international arms dealer and all round bad guy.
I am sure Ms Howard didn’t intentionally set out to write him so sympathetically – but I was rooting for the heroine to dump the hero and run off with him! 😀
Maybe its my dark and twisted mind (Ive been told I have one many many times) but I like this idea. Not only can you start seeing something from the prospective of a killer, but you begin to realize that ANYONE can become one. Through a sequence of unfortunate circumstances anyone can let go of that tiny voice called “reason”.
I tend to like those movies (and of course titles are escaping me now)where at the end you find out the person doing the killing and causing such mayhem is indeed the main character.
I always have a soft spot for the guys in books that are “supposed” to be hard, evil, merciless. But end up doing something that you would think they wouldn’t normally do. Like when the guy helps someone out but then turns around the kills the next demon, vampire, insert whatever the very next page. I love those guys!
Remember that Robin Williams movie..One Hour Photo…I LOVED that movie. I actually wouldn’t have minded if he would have killed the chick at the end. See…sick and twisted mind right here…lol
Dexter is great-love the books, and have enjoyed the conversion to series on TV. Although the books are definitely darker. And I love Anne Rice’s vampires-such a delicious mix of good and evil.
I read the Adams/Clamp Sazi series and Tony is/was a hired killer but he is a good guy! I love his character!
I love Dexter too..the show is so unique and well done. Season 4 comes out on DVD next month!! 🙂
hmm…this one is hard as picking a character to list but I love characters who are the leads I movies and books. I have to go with Dracula and other paranormal characters..I love a good paranormal book!
I’m sure there are some killers who become heroes, but I can’t think of any offhand.
Oh, wait! In Karin Harlow’s Enemy Lover, vampire and former sniper Marcus Cross is a former killer who makes no apologies for what he’s done.
What an interesting post. I’ve never thought about this much. I can’t think of any killer/heroes other than Jason Bourne.
What about the Winchester boys from Supernatural. They are stone cold killers but we love them because of what they kill. Monsters and vampires and demons. Sure that’s all well and good but there are several episodes when the monsters are proven to be “good” the one episode second season with the vampires who live on cow blood comes to mind, and the shifter in the black and white episode in the fourth season, where we see a misunderstood creature just looking for love, but doing it poorly. Of course there is that pesky demon killing thing, kill the demon, kill the human host.
But I love me some Winchester boys, I’d sell my soul for Dean…er I didn’t say that.
How about Adrian Phoenix’s series The Maker’s Song??? Because of the way Dante was raised (more like tortured) in Project Bad Seed if he is given the right “trigger” he can be made to go out and kill anyone and then not remember much about it. He was used like this many times in his childhood and doesn’t even remember.
With Heather’s help (among others’s) he is learning to resist those triggers and other urgers he has.
Sometimes it is hard to overlook the “killer” in them for the good in them and other times the “killer” doesn’t need to be overlooked. I guess it depends on the story. In Dante’s story I am rooting for him to move past his childhood experiences and become the great man I know he can be!
oh I love Dexter – he needs getting used to, but then you will love and feel for him 🙂
mh, Anne Stuarts heroes are kind of those type, aren’t they?
have a great day, Chris
I am reminded of the 1982 movie Blade Runner, in which Harrison Ford hunts down four renegade replicants (human-looking robots) who have gone bad. *** SPOILER *** Toward the end, Ford falls as he battles the lead replicant, Rutger Hauer. The killer replicant exhibits more humanity than many of the film’s human characters; he saves Ford, knowing that life is too precious to be wasted. Very neat bad guy!
I can’t think of the titles, but I have read a couple books where the hero was an assassin. They end up going after the people they work for who are the bad guys to begin with.
Anne Stuart’s heroes/assassins, always come to mind. Plus Tam, from the McCloud series by Shannon McKenna, slowly evolves from the dark world of an assassin, into a character deserving of love and friendship.
BTW, love Dexter too.
I haven’t really read any books with the killer as the hero but I definitely love Dexter and know what you mean about cheering him on. I think it’s possible for killers to be leads in stories, only if they’re told correctly.
I reading the Jenna Balck series, Devil Inside,Devil You Know,Speak of the Devil, etc, and the demons are the bad guys but they are the good guys also. It’s really nice to read. I am really enjoying the way it twist and turns. Who you think is a good guy can turn out to be a bad guy to find out he really is good. It is really a good series that shows that the killers can lead a story.. I’ve not read one like it before.
this was the only killers I could think of because they are so fresh in my mind.
Thanks
Heidi
I’m not a killer fan. I do like a worthy bad guy, but I always want the good guy hero to win (and get the girl).
Hannibal is really the best example I can think of. I read the books before seeing the movies and really especially in Hannibal Rising, while you still dont like what he becomes its a bit easier to see how he got there. Although I still have to say, eww.
I have only read books with heroes as military or rogue agents… no killers as the hero… do enjoy it when I can not figure out who the bad guy is…
i’ve seen those movies and I don’t think that the ends justfy the means. I understand that Hannibel’s childhood was horrible but he choose his outcome. And there are plenty of folks with as horrible childhoods who didn’t turn into cannibalistic monsters. If the killing is justifiable the I’m for it. In books like Lora Leigh breeds they kill the people who made, tortured, and killed the breeds. Those folks needed killing. Or if it’s a war then they kinda have to but just killing for killing’s sake then no I don’t agree with it.
Love your books and would love to win but the only one I don’t have is I’ll be slaying you lol.
I love watching Dexter and I’m waiting for the dvds coming out soon.
Killers as the hero? I can’t say I know any.
Can’t think of any movie but definitely can think of a character in a book and that would be Niol. In HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT I wasn’t so sure about him but by the time his book was written I was all about him 🙂
I just saw Predators and Adrian Brody’s character is this mercyless murderer who feels no compassion for anyone. Yet, he was my favorite character of all.
There are some stories in which the hero and/or heroine is an assassin. Does that count? Like “You Only Live Once” by Caroline Linden?
I’m going to say Damon from The Vampire Diaries 8)
I have to admit that the first one that comes to mind is Hannibal but a lot of that comes from Anthony Hopkins I think. Of course if you are going that way you can argue Anthony Perkins in Psycho. 🙂
I can’t think of one right off the top of my head. As far as going to see a movie with the killer as the lead, probably not. I’ve heard a lot about Dexter, but I haven’t watched it yet.
I have to admit I never actually got around to watching a full episode of Dexter. Shame on me, I know!
But the Hannibal saga got to me and I can understand where your inquiry is going.
The ones that come to mind are Daemon from The Vampire Diaries tvshow and the Winchester boys from Suernatural (love them even when they end up killing the wrong supernatural creature).
I know I’ve recently watched something that made me think “I shouldn’t be rooting for him. He’s a mass murderer”), but I can’t remember what it was. Can’t seem to even recall if it was a tvshow or a movie. Weird!
But I’m now reading a book “Venom” by Jaon Brady, which is making me feel pity for a muderer. I’m still not finished, so I can’t tell if that’ll change.
I really should dislike Dexter, but he is just so so..evil really, but he does kill only bad men, liek that’s any better.
I love Dexter. I found myself feeling for his character too. Eric in True Blood ther is just something about him too. I agree with others too on Damon from Vampire Diaries and Anthony Perkins in Psycho. I really think it depends on how the author plays that character.
I like Dexter but not Hannibal. I was thinking that you don’t need a knife or gun to kill somebody. Example the teen who committed suicide because of the text messages from a classmate’s mother! Dexter would have never done something like that!
Death Angel by Linda Howard features an assassin who actually tries to kill the heroine, reasoning that if he doesn’t do it, someone else will. She survives, he ends up seeking her out…. well, anyway, it’s a typical Linda Howard book, but I loved it. I’ve always had a soft spot for the really bad boys. Plus, just about every vampire is or was a killer at some point in their lives and that doesn’t stop anyone from rooting for them.
death wish movies
he was a vigilante and the system failed him
Was a winner chosen for this post?
Sorry for the delay!! The winner is…Heidi Shafer-Wilson. Congrats, Heidi!