This evening, though, I figure I would discuss a topic at the forefront of my thoughts following last night's episode of MTV's Teen Wolf, "Silverfinger." It was a good episode to say the least, and of course, there will be spoilers for it, as well as for season 1 of the CW's Arrow, so, I'll let you guys know when they start and when they end.
I don't want to sound cynical by saying this, but, betrayal is great. Not in real life, of course, that sucks, but, from a literary and artistic standpoint, traitors are great. Most of the time, you never see them coming (HANS). The best kinds of traitors are the ones, though, that do not outright or blatantly betray a protagonist or the heroic group, it is more of a subtle thing, like betraying their trust, or even sometimes, perform acts unbeknownst to even themselves. Also, the best kinds of traitors are those closest to the main character: his best friend.
*Spoiler alert for Teen Wolf and Arrow now*
I know that not many people watch Teen Wolf compared to other TV shows like AMC's The Walking Dead, but, still, it's got a great premise and is really, I believe, finding its place and will hopefully be able to expand upon it's sci-fi-horror genre one day. But, I just need you to follow me with this. I'll recap what's been happening so you aren't thinking "what's a Stiles?"
Basically, Scott McCall, the main character, and his pseudo-wolfpack have been hunted by demons from Japanese lore, Oni, and are apparently looking for a dark spirit. As we come to find out, it is one of four characters: Scott, Allison Argent (ugh), Stiles Stilinski (boo-yah), or Kira (a kitsune--yes, NARUTO). Much to my disbelief, the dark spirit did not belong to Kira, but rather, it turned out that Stiles was the one who possessed the dark spirit; however, he is in a trance-like state when he uses this power, unable to remember anything that happened.
For the longest time, I thought Stiles would make a great supernatural character, and it appears that now, I'm getting more than I wished for and I could not be happier. Stiles, the lovable, funny, unknown-real-name character, has been the comic relief for the series since its inception. And now? We have our scariest bad-guy to date. The Oni were supposedly invincible, yet with one swing Stiles took three out. Scott, a True Alpha, has proven to do some pretty impressive things beyond the normal limits--much like Kirito in Sword Art Online in the final battle in Aincrad (if you know SAO you know who I'm talking about).
So for those of you who don't comprehend Teen Wolf, let me put it to you this way: imagine if Ron Weasley was a servant of Voldemort but had no idea about it, so around Harry he acted normal, but in the shadows he was really a Death Eater. Basically, it's like that.
Where's the betrayal lie, then? Well, Scott and Stiles are essentially lying to each other about knowledge. Scott has been putting off telling Stiles about Kira and now Stiles is, unknowingly, hording a great secret from him. In Arrow, this secret is not put off--Tommy finds out who Oliver is in a dire situation that saves, ironically, the villain of the show.
Every one of these has something in common: the traitor is the best friend. This will ultimately lead to a tragic ending. Had Ron turned out to be a Death Eater, Harry might have had to kill him before the final duel with Voldemort. Tommy does die, though Oliver does not kill him, and we are left to assume he felt betrayed by Oliver to the end. With Teen Wolf, the ultimate battle is now set up to be Scott versus Stiles (personally I think the writers have gotten into a jam because someone has to die otherwise it's a lame cop-out, but, they can't kill either character due to the fan backlash to occur).
*Spoilers are over, join me in analysis!*
I've fallen under the spell of wanting to pit best friends together in my own story. But there is a catch to that. As tragic as it is, it may also be unnecessary. Is the best friend really the right villain for this battle? In my situation, no, it was not. There was nothing there to advance the story, the best friend actually lost weight in the grand scheme of things by becoming the villain.
I read a quote on the fantastic fantasy author Brent Weeks's website while looking for how to get my book published: "What is the one thing your main character would never do?...What happens to your novel if your main character does that?" Obviously this could apply to anything, it does not have to be a novel. But the point is: how far can the main character go? I feel that having to pit two best friends against each other really does beg that question. Weeks does so in his "Night Angel trilogy" (which I highly recommend) and is truly a tragic moment, but, it ultimately advances the story forward.
Personally, I feel that best friends come in two different packages: a hindrance and a help. On the one hand you can have a best friend like Ron Weasley to advance plot points and help out the story. On the other hand you can have a best friend like Tommy Merlyn, who can hold back the main character from doing what must be done. Does that require the character to die? Possibly. The question remains: does the best friend advance the story?
I'm not professional writer or anything, like I've never been published, and I'm not trying to make it sound like I know a whole lot, but, still, subjective stuff. All I'm really saying is that the betrayal of the best friend should be taken as something of a good thing. People will freak out and ask why this is happening, and often, I won't need to wonder it.
A peculiar thing I've come to realize is that in some recent stories, the best friend often evolves from a rival or even an enemy (Goku and Vegeta, Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas, etc). To be honest, though, I would rather see the best friend become the enemy. It adds an extra element to the story. True, it can be sad, but it's also marvelous to watch. There's more anticipation to it rather than just waiting for these two characters to obviously become friends in the end and fight the bad guy. I think that the best friend conundrum is headed this way: it's now become the process of "established best friend" to "has dark secret" to "reveals dark secret" and finally "battle of brothers/ sisters/ what have you." Tragedy works, it always has (Shakespeare, duh).
See you next time!
Link to Brent Weeks quote source/ his publishing tips: http://www.brentweeks.com/extras/writing-advice/3-understanding-the-business-of-publishing/
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