AlphaGazette #08: Perseverance Pays Off | SC08 – Mila Entropy

Cinematic villains really have so few interests. It's usually money, of course, hopefully in amounts large enough to finance expatriation to some tropical paradise if empire building isn't the primary goal. They are often ruthless businessman, with complex motivations regarding family, legacy, world domination, and so on, but in the end it all comes down to money, which means power. They gamble, they play games, they entertain their audience, but most importantly they entertain themselves.

Then there are the mad scientists, often motivated by more noble causes which have been twisted to suit their nefarious intent. Personal ambition filtered through any number of lenses-- political, sociological, scientific-- to conquer, control, and create in their own image, a new version of reality. These ambitions are often larger than their capabilities, a fatal flaw which will almost always lead to their downfall when left unchecked. 

The most complex and empathetic villains are often good-guys-gone-bad due to some personal tragedy which scarred them for life. They usually don't radiate evil and as a result can be hard to pin down. They are often motivated by revenge over the death of someone close, which usually becomes an all-consuming obsession leading straight to a do-or-die proposition.

As a good guy motivator, revenge is handled a bit differently, often as the impetus to set the hero on their journey which will serve as a therapist’s couch for coming to terms with their issues. Then, when they eventually do reach their destination, inner peace will have been achieved, and forgiveness made the order of the day.

I would imagine that on a homicide justifiability scale (if such a thing exists), revenge for killing a parent is quite high, if it is immediate and can be seen as an emotional response. The longer one waits, however, the more likely it is viewed as good old-fashioned premeditated murder. An emotionless act that is the territory of sociopaths and villains, not good guys. 

Of course, one should never assume the extreme act of murder as a foregone conclusion, especially when your hero is young and ambitious, but it's a helpful motivator in getting a hero over the line.

Mila has spent her whole life working up to the moment when she will finally confront whomever took her father. The fact that they are aliens has never deterred her and only helped her to choose xenobiology for her major, and not necessarily just to understand them, but to understand their weaknesses. As she prepares to launch, she still isn't quite sure what she intends to do when the big moment arrives, but she's pretty sure it isn't murder.