The relationship between heroes and villains has always fascinated me, even before I became a writer. I remember growing up watching the Doctor battling his mortal enemies, The Daleks on TV (in the Baker/Davidson era), watching Kirk repelling Klingons from the starboard bow, and Bond doing battle with Blofeld (so nice to see him back this year in Spectre!). Blake had Servalan, Obi Wan and co. had Darth Vader, Sherlock Holmes had Moriarty, Batman the Joker, Judge Dredd – Judge Death and Robin had his Sheriff of Nottingham in my favourite take on the mythos, Richard Carpenter’s Robin of Sherwood from the ‘80s… but more on those guys later.
There was just something about it all, the two sides of the same coin thing, but also the notion that one can’t exist without the other – in fact in certain cases one creates the other. It’s the age-old struggle of good vs evil, and these characters symbolise it perfectly. Sometimes one side wins, sometimes the other: but it’s always entertaining to watch how things pan out. Continue reading