Beautiful People: Growlbeard; Lord of the Night.

So this month's Beautiful People appears to be about villains. Aha aha. Well, I never did tell you much about Growlbeard, Lord of the Night from The Scarlet-Gypsy Song. I am afraid you won't understand much about this panther-chap unless I tell you. 

1. What is their motive?

Motive? Must the Lord of the Night have a motive to do what he wants? I suppose his motive in jumping Darby and Peter Quickenhelm was to gain their information for himself before they reached Fitz-Hughes with it.

2. What are they prepared to do to get what they want? 

Absolutely anything. Though, like any cat, Growlbeard tends to want to play with his capture before killing it.

3. Are they evil to the core, or simply misunderstood? 

Manipulative would be a better word. He is a loner and gets what he wants when he wants it. Usually it is through evil means, but Growlbeard can put on the purring charm if he wants to.

4. What was their past like? What about their childhood? Was there one defining moment that made them embrace their evil ways?

Ever since his kitten-hood (and that being a thousand years ago) Growlbeard has known nothing but what the Scarlet Gypsy taught him. It was she who taught him voice-changing so that he can sing like a bird or speak like a man. Now that she has been dead for so long he still walks in the paths she taught him. In that way he is tied to her.

5. Now that they’re evil, have they turned their back on everyone, or is there still someone in their life that they care for? (Brother? Daughter? Love interest? Mother? Someone who is just as evil as they are?)

Growlbeard is only attached to the memory of the Scarlet Gypsy, and to himself. He's rather narcissistic.

6. Do they like hugs?
Come again? I can't imagine Growlbeard getting a hug from anyone, even the Scarlet Gypsy herself.

7. Are they plagued by something? (Nightmares, terrible thoughts?)

Nothing concerns Growlbeard except the worry that someone else will eclipse him in spying on both sides and relaying information.

8. Who are they more similar to: Gollum or Maleficent?

Both. He's got Gollum's treachery and Maleficents...malice. :D

9. If your villain could have their choice of transportation what would it be?

His own four paws. They are more than adequate enough to take him all through the Stridings of Scarlettania.

10. If you met your villain in the street, how afraid would you be? Are they evil enough to kill their creator? 
I would be intrigued rather than afraid, I think. Growlbeard wouldn't kill me right off. He'd probably taunt me and tease me and then prick me with his frightening, moon-white claws. 

       "...my mistress loved me and I was greatest success--the most beautiful, gorrrgeous, and enchanted of all her creaturrres."        "You mean...there were more of you?" Darby whispered.

        "We were a legion." The hissed reply hung in the corners of the grotto and filled Darby's being with shadow-winged dread.                                                              -The Scarlet-Gypsy Song

Raven-Black and Serpent-Gold

Then the memory of her sixteenth birthday rose in her mind and blocked out the pleasant thoughts with a shadow dark as a raven’s eyes—and there was nothing blacker than that. For it was on that anniversary of her birth that Randolph Fitz-Hughes arrived, handsome and dark and coarse with his raven-black and serpent-gold raiment billowing about him. He had come to buy her freedom with a pledge: The princess of Scarlettania for the safety of her country.

Fitz-Hughes knew his own strength—he had set his sights on the Princess of Scarlettania, and he would make her the Queen of Gildnoir—of his own dark, wild, forested country—if not by her will, by the blood of her people.

~The Scarlet-Gypsy Song by Rachel Heffington 

(Yes, this is the working title of my newest story.) I wanted to introduce you to the villain of The Scarlet-Gypsy Song: Randolph Fitz-Hughes.He is handsome and powerful--the ruler of a dark kingdom bordering the homeland of Cecily Woodruff--her beloved Scarlettania. 

"...Fitz-Hughes began pillaging the outer reaches of Scarlettania, spiraling inward, slowly but surely like a python wrapping its coils around its prey."

Because Cecily would not marry him, Fitz-Hughes has declared war on her country. She will be his bride, or it will mean the death of her people. He is arrogant, ruthless, bold, and swaggering. Of course when concocting a villain, one must stop and consider "Why?"
"Why does he desire Cecily?"
"What is so unique about her?"
And my answer for Fitz-Hughes springs from a very simple cause--one that has been reenacted throughout our world's history time and again: He desires her because she is the one thing he does not have. His lust for power and prestige has been immersed in ruling the country of Gildnoir. There is nothing left for Fitz-Hughes to win there, and so his roving eye rests upon the beautiful Cecily, Princess of Scarlettania. When he has won her, he will have her country under his thumb as well.
I am looking forward to writing more scenes with Fitz-Hughes. As of yet he has just been introduced through Cecily's memories of the events that transported her here, to our world. I can't wait to write him as himself in all his horrible, leering beauty. Ah yes. My pen shall be busy indeed.