Five notable villains who see themselves as heroes

Jenn Lyons was a graphic artist and illustrator for twenty years and has worked in video games for over a decade. She previously worked on The Saboteur and Lord of the Rings: Conquest at EA Games. She is based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Her epic fantasy series A Chorus of Dragons includes A Chorus of Dragons and (coming soon) The Name of All Things.

At Tor.com, Lyons tagged five notable villains who see themselves as heroes, including:

Cardinal Richelieu, Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers

Having been first introduced to this swashbuckling story via movies like the 1993 version starring Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, and Chris O’Donnell, I was more than a little shocked the first time I read the book. Dumas makes it bluntly clear that Richelieu’s main motivation is a strong desire to do what he thinks is best for France, not exactly the carpet-chewing ambition I’d so often seen in the movies (you know I love you, Tim Curry, but…) He doesn’t necessarily hold a grudge either (indeed, he’s the one who suggests to the king that Louis really should just go ahead and make that D’Artagnan kid a musketeer.) Unfortunately, there’s a lot of wiggle room in ‘what is best for France’ and Richelieu takes it to ruthless extremes. Sure, his feud with the Queen does stem from her unwillingness to sleep with him, but is he really wrong to point out that just maybe her having an affair with an English Duke is even more ill-advised? To my mind, he will always be the quintessential mastermind villain willing to make the ‘hard decisions’ that others can’t or won’t. (I’ll admit my own Relos Var and Senera owe more than a passing nod to Richelieu and his favorite ‘problem-solver’ Milady DeWinter.)

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Three Musketeers is among Becky Ferreira's top seven bromances in literature and John Mullan's ten best cardinals in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue