Tuesday, April 15, 2014

M: Moriarty x 2

Andrew Scott - Moriarty
Yes, I have one more Sherlock post, but it can't be helped. I refuse to write about villains on "V" day, because everyone will be expecting it. Villains fascinate me. The typical creepy, no-good, bank robber, serial killer, masked-man kind of a bad buy, you ask? No. Simply put, they are too obvious, too overworked and too overdone. This post is more than just writing on villains. It's a post worthy of discussing Sherlock's and Elementary's Moriartys. If you are part of the Sherlock fandom, then Moriarty played by Andrew Scott is no secret. Moriarty is introduced in the show as an insignificant character, a mere innocent bystander. This scene came across as a fleeting moment that I mistook for a filler scene. Never underestimate the bad guy. The pool scene, Moriarty's defining moment, shows us the malice that lurks behind those eyes. To watch Moriarty at work playing the villain is a truly terrifying experience that I found not boring at all;-) 

(Elementary Spoiler! If you haven't seen the first season, don't read:)
In Elementary, once again, I was well pleased with such a stunning plot twist. Creating Sherlock's love interest, Irene Adler, and his greatest enemy, Moriarty, as one and the same was pure genius! What better way to pit the protagonist against the antagonist by making their lives intertwined in an eternal love/hate relationship. The inner battle torments Sherlock as he now must end his greatest addiction--M--the love of his life, played by Natalie Dormer.

In my new found writing career, I have spent dozens of hours crafting the perfect protagonist. One day I woke up and realized I needed to put the same amount of effort into the antagonist. So, the next time you are tempted to write a typical villain, think of these two Moriartys and think outside the basic bad guy image. 

Do you have a favorite villain you created or one from a t.v. series or a movie? My favorite villain from my upper MG mystery (WIP) is a 13 year old green-eyed girl nicknamed Snake Eyes.

#atozchallenge #amwriting #Sherlock #Elementary #Moriarty
Natalie Dormer - Moriarty
(Photos: courtesy of free images)

17 comments:

  1. Both shows have presented Moriarty well.
    And it's probably odd, but there are no real villains in my books. Close though...

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  2. I love all things Sherlock, and I'm a huge fan of the PBS show :) Great post for the letter 'M'!

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  3. Oh I'm such a Sherlock fan! I thought Elementary's choice to make Moriarty a woman, AND Irene Adler, was brilliant.

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    1. I wish I would have thought of that:) Amazing writers.

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  4. I LOVE thriving antagonists. They should be every bit as complicated and real as the MC, and seriously, if you can't love your antagonist, you have no business writing. I've written one that only my mother seems to hate. Everyone else has this fascination with her wicked and malicious ways. In fact, she's going to get her own series. Ooh!

    True Heroes from A to Z

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    1. Sounds, wickedly fun--her own series! I find a little bit of myself in each of my antagonists. AHHH!!!

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  5. I love wicked antagonists, then they are a good match for the protagonist. I agree that one should never underestimate the bad guy, they can have many aces up their sleeve.

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  6. David Robert Jones the villain in Fringe is a good one.

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  7. Scott reminds me of Mark Ruffalo. I loved the ending to season two when he, basically, calls Sherlock an idiot for thinking there was a master computer code.

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    1. I love Mark Ruffalo! Great actor. And the Sherlock/Moriarty game Benedict/Scott play is insanely fun to watch:)

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  8. I'm thinking hard and I don't have a favorite villain. They do make a story more interesting.
    Nana Prah

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  9. I liked the whole twist in Elementary. It also explains a bit of his aversion to serious relationships. Well done.

    Liz A. from Laws of Gravity

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  10. Natalie up there has a very intriguing face! Favorite villain...hmmm...I'm watching Mad Men right now, so my brain is fogged up with that...I do love January Jones. She's such an interesting character--a cold mother and ex-wife who you still find a way to love. But I'm not sure this show has any true villains...everyone's both good and bad, interestingly.

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  11. Villains are super important. Alfred Hitchcock said, "The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture.” And Russell Crowe said, “I like villains because there’s something so attractive about a committed person -- they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. They’re motivated.”

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  12. Villains can be such fun. I'm a Captain Hook fan myself. He's a hot mess in every incarnation and in ONCE UPON A TIME he's just plain hot.

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  13. I love the antagonist in one of my to-be-released books. It flexed my writing muscles to write such an evil character.

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  14. Moriarty on BBC's Sherlock is THE best villain ever. Hands down. Every scene he was in captivated me and I liked him, even knowing I should hate him.

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