A Case Study of Evil In Fiction (World Building Notes)

The world-building community released another prompt, which asks us one question. A seemingly simple question, "What stops evil from taking over in your setting?" A simple question, without a simple answer. Here's A Link To The Post If You Would Like To Get Involved.

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What Is Evil?
Evil, as an idea is totally subjective. Someone can perceive something as good or bad, but sometimes in our own world, the lines can be skewed and we should realise that not everything is simply black and white, instead, there is a lot of grey in between.

I've always loved the saying. "Normal for the spider is chaos for the fly." One thing feeds the other.

In the world I'm writing about, I like to keep things morally ambiguous to a certain extent. I enjoy fiction that thinks out the world and makes it 3D.

Star Wars
Introduces the Empire right off the bat, as being evil, for evil's sake and throughout the three films they have no redeemable qualities, they are pure evil, led by someone who personifies the evil of their society. Darth Vader is redeemed by the end of the 3rd film, but, after everything he has done up until then, is it too late for him? Does his redemption mean anything to us, does it change our mind, or instead does it bolster the main character Luke Skywalker, as being a true hero who was able to turn the baddie into a "good guy."

Lord of the Rings
This introduces us to the idea of the One ring to rule them all, created in a volcano and wielded by a faceless figure who is pure evil. When we see that he has lost the ring, it is found by hobbits, which, by comparison, are pure good, they enjoy nothing more than living a peaceful life and just existing. But, they are sent on an epic journey to destroy the ring and bring peace to the world. This story, even though it has a 2D setting, is totally evil versus totally good.

The themes of friendship and the physically small and insignificant achieving great things does a great job of taking us on a journey and inspiring its readers and watchers, that among all else, good can exist in a bad world and small people can achieve great things, so long as they have the support of good friends.

Game of Throne
I prefer the tv show game of thrones, or the book series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Because, really, there are good people who do bad things and bad people who do good things. No one is purely evil for evil's sake and there are far fewer tropes than in your typical fantasy story. You can be a fan of the Lannister's and justify some of their actions, or put them down to a character's bad decision, as you can do with the Starks. The main, big bad, is a zombie-like army, who have no concerns for what's good or bad. The people of the story have to stop bickering amongst themselves to face this impending evil, but, the lines are blurred between who's fighting who and who believes what.

You can make the point that Ramsey Snow is pure evil, but, you can also justify his actions as a character. A bastard, who wants to win the respect of his father by being the most Bolton a Bolton can be, most likely having his young mind filled and corrupted by the stories of old. Can we justify Darth Vader or Sauron in the same way?

Off-World
Okay, so for now, Off-World is the title of the series I'm writing, I have no idea if it's been taken, I just like it and think it kind of fits the story... Because the characters are usually going Off-World.

The series I'm writing has a lot of lore built around it, offbeat characters and stories that will most likely never be seen in the mainline series. But, in my own mind, I think these stories are worth exploring and the wider lore is worth building. Even if it's for a planet that may not be visited by the main characters.

What stops evil from taking over? Nothing, there is no big bad, so to speak. There's the Confederation. Who dwell beyond the borders of Free Space. They committed atrocities in the recent past, which has led to much hatred in the hearts and minds of the Free Spacers. But, their initial invasion can be justified and in all fiction, justifications are a must, I think.

They had peace with Free Space when their two groups made first contact. The Confederation believed that they were the only intelligent life in the galaxy until they came face to face with not just one, but, an entire collective of Free Worlds.

The Confederation
In my mind, they are based on the Roman Empire. Before it split between East and West.

The Roman empire invaded England in 55-54 BC, led by Julius Caesar, he had just conquered Gaul in his previous campaign and the Gauls had asked for help against Germanic tribes across the Rhine, which, as a show of good faith, he had a bridge built in days flat, marched an army around their land and came back and burnt the bridge without coming into contact with a Germanic army. Because his mind was set on an invasion of Britannia he didn't look too hard.

There is an idea of an empire becoming too big, the Roman empire is the perfect example of this. They got to a point where they had to conquer in order to grow their wealth, they needed wars and campaigns to settle civil unrest and unify the people against a common enemy.

This idea is similar to the Confederation in my world. Because I love the idea of an Empire becoming far too big to sustain itself, needing to continue to expand in order to continue to thrive.

But, one thing the Roman people and senate demanded, was just war, this idea that they would never start a conflict, instead, they would always defend themselves. Even though they were the ones conquering, it was always posed as a defensive conflict to justify their campaigns and settle the idea of the enemy in the eyes of the public.

The Confederation Invasion
The invasion of Free Space started as the leaders of The Confederation realised their Empire was stagnating, then at the right time, A Gnosian raiding party attacked a colony world of the Confederation.

The Gnosian's always acted on their own accord and never asked permission from Free Space to raid, sometimes these independent groups would raid Free Space settlements too. Because they were not led on a government level. They were pirates essentially.

This didn't matter to The Confederation however, they were given a get-out-of-jail-free card and a way out of the problems their society was facing. So began the invasion, deplorable in the eyes of Free Space, but, also, justified in the hearts and minds of the people of The Confederation.

Advice For Writers
Don't read fiction to learn how to write or get inspired to do so, read history.