It is villains that make the best stories come alive. Most of society focuses on the great literary heroes in culture, praising them for standing up against evil and immorality. But what about the villain? Were they always evil? One must learn about the villain to ultimately understand the root of evil in great classics such as Beowulf and the Harry Potter Series. In both Beowulf and the Harry Potter books, the villains are constructed with a struggling family history, a dark outward appearance, and a final battle.
To begin with, each character struggles with a difficult, dark past. It is imperative to know the villains’ histories, in order to understand their evil and dark nature. Voldemort was born to a family descendent of Salazar Slytherin, one of the darkest wizards according to the realm of wizarding. His ancestry defines his path of evil, because he inherits parseltungue and opens the Chamber of Secrets when he first comes to Hogwarts. It was this defining moment that made him realize he was a pure blooded wizard. Grendel’s past is not so clearly defined, but his mother is revealed in the tale of Beowulf. She fights Beowulf beside Grendel. Both villains are characterized by a dark past that haunts their future.
The way in which each villain fights has startling similarities. For example, in the Sorcerer’s Stone, when Voldemort uses Professor Quirrel’s body to find the Stone, he falls to ash when Harry touches him. In comparison, Grendel falls to the same fate, when Beowulf grabs hold of his arm. Both villains are significantly weakened to the point in which their spirit is nearly all that is left of them. It is their soul that is their biggest enemy. Neither of them are strong enough to defeat the protagonist, yet they are consistent in their fighting. They each work extremely hard at resilience in their fighting. It seems like no matter how weak they are, their threat never dies down. Though their souls are weak, some dark magic keeps them alive in battle. However, even that is eventually compromised.
In addition, each character is constructed with dark attributes, as if their souls were non-existent. In Harry Potter, Voldemort uses Death Eater’s bodies as a safe haven for his soul, until he reaches full strength. In the Forbidden Forest, he appears as a floating figure in a black cloak. He uses unicorn blood and horcruxes to supplement the emptiness of his inner being. Similarly, Grendel is described a dark creature characterized by the torture and ruthlessness he has in battle. He ambushes villages by sneaking into them and killing the masses to inflict terror on the land.
In conclusion, their struggling family history, dark outward appearance, and final battle characterize both villains. The flaw they each share is their inability to be fully human. Their fragile-natured states prohibit them from becoming strong enough to conquer the protagonists, Harry and Beowulf. In the end, it is Voldemort’s horcruxes that ultimately lead to his failure. The villain ultimately shapes the classic stories of Beowulf and Harry Potter because without the villain, the protagonist would have nothing to fight for.
