Plots and Knots: A Tale of Revenge
(why this header? This was the single best revenge moment of the decade, perhaps the century. That's why)
Revenge. A sweet, sour, complex and simple goal of any character or any story. Revenge can be chalked down to the bare bones of a character retaliating against another for a perceived insult of crime, of which the character cannot forget or forgive. So how do we write an effective revenge story? In this post we will be looking at 4 of my favourite revenge stories: Batman, Six of Crows, Revenge (TV series) and Game of Thrones.
The audience needs to understand why your characters are going down this path. Your character must face a wrong, either onto somebody close to them or onto themselves. But usually, for the audience to feel root for your character, the character in question usually has to be innocent. They have to be the innocent party in the entire mess.
Batman: Bruce Wayne watches his parents get murdered in front of him in a mugging home wrong.
Six Of Crows: Kaz Brekker watches his brother die and almost dies himself due to them being fleeced by a conartist out their last money.
Revenge: Amanda Clarke is torn apart from her father after he's falsely accused of a terrorist act which leaves her shunned by society
Game of Thrones: Elia Martell and her children are violently murdered by the Mountain.
The heart of a revenge story is how your character wants to pay the villain back for their doings. The audience will need to understand your character's motives and what they want out of their plans. This is also a great way to show your character's traits and how they think. A character's blueprint for revenge doesn't necessarily have to be a long winded one or even complicated.
Batman: Bruce wants to clean up Gotham and prevent crime. To do this, he becomes the madked vigilante Batman.
Six Of Crows: Kaz wants to make Pekka understand how losing everything feels. To do this, he plans to methodically strip away everything that Pekka holds near and dear.
Revenge: Amanda wants the people who framed her father to pay for their role in his downfall and her subsequent terrible childhood. To do this she follows an elaborate plan to target every single one of the conspirators on detailed personal revenges.
Game of Thrones: The Martells want justice for their Princess and her children. To do this, the Martells want to overthrow the current Lannister regime and watch Tywin Lannister die.
The Justice Vs Vengeance Dichotomy
How far is too far? While taking revenge is frowned upon by many religions or moral communities or society it still remains one of the most desired things of all mankind. We carve an ending to things but most of us believe in balance. If your character is to be the hero of their story, they need to understand where the line between justice and vengeance stands. Beyond that line, and the hero and villain may not seem as different as they ought to be.
Batman: Bruce has a strict no killing policy. He doesn't ever kill Joe Chill (the guy who actually shot the Waynes) nor Lew Moxon (the guy behind the murder). He pays back their crimes by trying to rid Gotham of crime.
Six Of Crows: Kaz manages to disarm Pekka Rollins, taking away his status, his money, his businesses and all the while, not harming anybody Pekka cares about (he does make Pekka think he did, but in the end its a ploy)
Revenge: Amanda manages to clear her father's name yet however she does end up doing too far on multiple occasions. Frankly, how she treats Daniel and Charlotte is appalling despite them being as innocent as herself.
Game of Thrones: Years after the death of Elia, her brother Oberyn faces the Mountain in a duel which he loses. Oberyn's daughters, the Sand Snakes each want a different revenge. Obara wants to burn Oltown. Nymeria wants to kill the man who ordered the death of her aunt (which in turn led to her father's death) Tywin, his children and grandchildren. Tyene wants to spark a war between Dorne and the Iron Throne which would cost thousands of lives. Thankfully, their Uncle Doran has a better plan.
Revenge begets Revenge. One wrong doesn't make a right. No revenge tale can truly end until the hero understands that the best revenge is to let the grudge die. Revenge, though cathardic, can harm a character and those around them. There has to be a human cost to revenge, a price to pay for the vendetta.
Batman: Bruce foisted his lifestyle upon on his adopted children which leads to some rifts between he and them.
Six of Crows: Kaz had a tunnel view of his revenge for quite a while which has distanced himself from his friends and love interest, he's slowly building up those relations now.
Revenge: Amanda's plans effectively ruin the lives of everyone who comes in contact with them, from the Graysons to their staff and even Amanda's own friends and family.
Game of Thrones: Ellaria Sand highlights this in her last scene in ADWD, asking whether the Sand Snakes and Doran are ready to pay the price for their plans in the blood of her children and Dorne. She reminds them that if they die, her children will feel obligated to take vengeance which could kill them too.
