Join the Dark Side with Michael O’Connor as he ponders prequel villains and the glorification of evil.
This exploration of prequel villains is part of “Power to the Prequels,” an ongoing editorial column.
By Michael O’Connor // A good villain is hard to find. Unless you’re watching a Star Wars film, that is.
Since 1977, the Star Wars galaxy has been a rich breeding ground for memorable, iconic bad guys. The original trilogy featured Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Jabba the Hutt and Emperor Palpatine, but the prequels are similarly rife with baddies of all shapes and sizes, temperaments and behaviors. Prequel villains aren’t just cliched badasses with the ability to kill everyone without breaking a sweat; there’s also a plethora of cowardly creatures and greedy, conniving backstabbers, blue collar guns-for-hire and aristocratic schemers.
This breadth of villainous characters is instrumental in giving the saga its depth and color. Our heroes must contend with a diverse gang of misfits, each with their own agendas and evil machinations.
Darth Maul
If there’s one villain from the prequel trilogy who truly stands out, it’s Darth Maul. Strikingly designed, Maul is a living nightmare. He is a horned, demonic creature with a confident mastery of martial arts and powerful Sith abilities. Silent, merciless, and ruthless, Maul is pure evil with nary a hint of weakness or compassion… or personality.
Darth Maul is what many fans want more of in their Star Wars. And, I understand that sentiment to a certain extent. A villain without any compunctions and so expertly skilled makes for a truly challenging physical opponent. He adds a level of violence and horror to Star Wars that many adult fans of the saga crave.
But the point of a character like Maul is not as an ongoing threat. Badasses are interesting in short doses, not as primary antagonists for our heroes over a series of films. Maul is the hired gun, the disposable henchman or the heavy. He stands out precisely because of his relatively brief screen time rather than despite it. We get plenty of fanfare and build-up, a killer orchestral theme and jaw-dropping choreography and then, like a good villain should, he dies. His purpose in the story is to be the chess piece that Palpatine can casually sacrifice to further his larger scheme, not a recurring enemy on par with Darth Vader.
The Glorification of the Villain
Given Lucas’ penchant for introducing such iconic badasses and then disposing of them off-handedly, it’s worth considering whether Maul–or his corollary from the original trilogy, Boba Fett–are intentionally counter-intuitive antagonists. As audiences, we love to build up the invincibility of heroes and villains to the extent that they cease to be human characters. Online battle royale tournaments and heated arguments over which character wins in a fight are evidence of this penchant for glorifying power stats and fighting skills over characterization or personality.
Perhaps Lucas is manipulating us. He’s building up these god-like characters as the bullies of the Star Wars universe–cool, tough, and seemingly invincible–only to shock us with a scene that reveals their glass jaws and weak bellies. It’s as if he’s saying, “don’t worship power and evil; these guys only look impressive.”
Outside of those two characters, it’s possible Lucas feels uncomfortable with how villainy is glorified in most franchise films, including his earlier efforts. Consider the original films and how the majority of fan costuming groups adopted the Empire’s fashion. Those films made dressing up like space Nazis the cool thing to do, and it makes perfect sense when you compare the glamour and polish of the Empire with the raggedy hippies of the Rebellion. The Imperials dress better, design starships that are simultaneously sleeker and more intimidating, and construct massive and awe-inspiring bases. Of course, they’re also unrepentantly evil.
But in the prequels, you’ll notice that Lucas sheds some unflattering shade on prequel villains. With the exception of Maul, the prequel villains are a far more sordid, repulsive lot than their OT progenitors. The prequel good guys have all the coolest starships and costumes. Compare the Trade Federation fighters with the Naboo starfighter for instance. Or the Separatist tanks with the Republic gunship prominently featured in Attack of the Clones. And who wants to look like the coughing, gangly General Grievous or the frog faced Nute Gunray when you could be the dashing Obi-Wan, the fashionable Queen Amdiala, the stoic Mace Windu, or the idiosyncratic gnome Yoda?
The True Face of Evil
Outside of design work, Lucas also took pains to show his audience villainy’s true face. And it turns out it’s not cool or badass or enviable in the least. Instead it’s Darth Vader slaughtering innocent children, abusing his wife, attacking his best friend and mentor and then burning on a lava bank consumed by lonely, venomous hatred. It’s also the serpentine Palpatine, disfigured and pitiful one moment as he begs for mercy, cackling and boastful the next as he murders Mace Windu and proclaims that the Sith will rule again. Confident over his hold of young Anakin whom he has spent a decade manipulating and warping, Palpatine is a horrid, hideous creature once the veneer of respectability and charm is burned away by his Force lightning.
Unless you’re a sadist, it’s impossible to root for the prequel villains for the majority of the trilogy. Revenge of the Sith in particular delivers the most blistering counterpoint to antihero and villain worship. Those who anticipated cheering on Anakin as he turned to the Dark Side were in for a shock.
Instead, Lucas populated his prequel trilogy with compelling, flawed villains that you might pity, hate or laugh at, but never admire. Maul stands as the sole example of a vicarious avatar to our own dark impulses, but let’s consider his cohorts. As it turns out, there’s more than one way to be evil in a galaxy far, far away.
Nute Gunray
Here’s something to ponder. Compare Nute Gunray’s longevity in the trilogy to Sith assassin Darth Maul. Nute may not be much of a threat in a straight one-on-one fight with the Jedi, but he lingers for three films and stirs up far more trouble. Sure he’s a pawn of Sidious’, but then so is Maul.
Gunray is an entertaining character. He’s usually petty and anxious, often fretting and fearful, and his frustrated outrage over Senator Amidala’s survival in the Geonosis Arena is telling of his entitlement complex. He carries himself like a king, but we see him for the lackey he truly is. Blubbering, flustered and cowed in the presence of Lord Sidious’ hologram, it’s amusing how he arrogantly blusters around Queen Amidala or Sio Bibble from atop his absurd spider-legged throne. That dismissive wave of his as he orders his battle droids to “Tuck him away” always reminds me of some flamboyant, fat, bored Roman emperor rejecting a silver platter of grapes.
He also gets all the best lines, whether it’s “This is getting out of hand! Now there are two of them!”, “Shoot her… or something!”, or “Lord Sidious promised us peace!” That last line in particular is a favorite of mine. Its pleading, pitiful delivery never fails to garner a pang of empathy for the greedy viceroy, despite his history of sleazy, spineless behavior. Or maybe because of it. Call me crazy, but I can’t get enough Gunray.
Watto
Far less well-to-do than the Viceroy, Watto is living proof that power and wealth don’t have a monopoly on evil in the Star Wars galaxy. It may be difficult to conceive of Watto as one of the prequel villains. But, let’s not forget the Toydarian is a slave owner and has implanted explosive devices into his “property” to prevent them from escaping. If that’s not bad enough, Watto delays our heroes on Tatooine by haggling for alternate payment of the ship parts and initially refuses to honor his deal with Qui-Gon until the threat of the Hutts is leveled at him.
An atrocious, vile sounding character on paper, Watto is strangely lovable in both Episodes I and II; he’s irascible and grouchy, but in that endearing old man Walter Matthau kind of way. He may be a greedy, sleazy creep, but at least he doesn’t pretend to be otherwise. It’s strange to feel pity and even a bit of grudging respect for a slave owner, but he proves to be more than the sum of his worst parts.
Jango Fett
On the opposite end of the villainy spectrum is Jango Fett, a humorless, menacing character with a no-nonsense, blue-collar fearlessness. As he puts it, he’s “a simple man trying to make [his] way in the universe.” His barely concealed hostility and gruff, clipped dialogue provide a jarring contrast to Obi-Wan’s eloquence, charm and wit. Even the amoral Kaminoans are polite and hospitable despite their sordid business practices. But Jango is prickly and protective and doesn’t care too much for manners. His interest in carving out a niche for himself separate from the rest of the galaxy is established briefly but memorably in his tense exchange with Obi-Wan.
As a combatant, he’s wily and clever, taking advantage of his weapons and tools to give himself a level playing field against enemies with far greater powers and abilities. And he may have the best death of any of the prequel villains. Trampled by a wild creature, his flamethrower exhausted, a blaster pistol lost, and a jetpack damaged, he still puts the beast down with a single shot and then turns his attention to Mace Windu. He may lose his head, but at least he goes down swinging.
General Grievous
Speaking of swinging, I have to admit a particular fondness for General Grievous and his multi-limbed lightsaber attacks. His mechanical saw blade spinning move and his gangly, brutish fighting style stand in stark contrast to the balletic moves of the Force-wielding Jedi and Sith. But the best thing about Grievous isn’t his ability to swing a lightsaber or escape inside a giant wheel. It’s his swashbuckling bravado when he thinks he has the advantage and his penchant for cowardly attacks from afar when the tables are turned.
He takes such mustache-stroking delight in being evil, which is all the more satisfying considering he doesn’t even have a face, let alone facial hair. Everything Grievous does is dishonorable and smarmy, and yet he boasts of his prowess and skills at every available opportunity. How can you not love to hate the guy? What a jerk!
Count Dooku
Far more cultured is the aristocratic Count Dooku. On the surface, he appears to be a man of principle and honor. But Dooku is as much the fork-tongued liar as Darth Sidious and as powerful as the flashier, more physical Darth Maul. When he cleans both Obi-Wan and Anakin’s clocks on Geonosis, he does so with a minimum of effort. He fights tactically and sparingly, his strikes precise and calculated.
Dooku evokes a certain feeling, perhaps even more so than Sidious, that you never know exactly where you stand. He might save your life or stab you in the back. His scene with Obi-Wan is a great example. He plays good cop to ingratiate himself with Kenobi by blaming the Jedi’s imprisonment on the Separatists and the Sith Lord in the Senate. But then, he drops all pretenses when Obi-Wan won’t join his cause. “It may be difficult to secure your release,” he states with a smirk.
The Wretched of the Wretched Hive
Favorite prequel villains? I could go on and on… and on. The Geonosians, all the different variety of battle droids, Sebulba, heck, even those wacky Separatist leaders and the corrupt politicians in the Senate. Villainy in the prequel era encroaches the heroes’ shaky ground on all sides. And of course, that’s not even counting the clones!
The larger point is that there’s so much to appreciate and enjoy in the stranger, more varied blends of villainy that we find exposed in the prequel era. And by largely avoiding villains in the more common tough guy, badass villain mold, Lucas actually broadens the scope and versatility of the Star Wars saga. The prequel villains provide a varied, unique and unconventional series of threats for our heroes to overcome.
About Power to the Prequels
Power to the Prequels is an ongoing column that aims to critique and analyze the Star Wars prequels and demonstrate their worth as individual films and also as components of a larger saga. The goal is neither to blindly praise these films nor condemn them. Rather, the aim is to specifically and respectfully consider the artistic decisions made by director George Lucas and draw conclusions that may differ from the mainstream consensus.
Hives of Scum and Villainy: the Prequel Villains Examined