Comparing Bard and Gaston
I actually hadn’t heard of Luke's work before the Hobbit movies came out, so I mainly recognize him as Bard the Bowman and not Gaston. And a little while ago, Luke Evans made this post on his Instagram to wish Ian McKellen a happy birthday. I got a pretty good laugh out of it, but then I realized something really interesting: Bard and Gaston could not be more opposite each other.
I speak of Bard the Bowman, a human who helps give the Dwarves of Erebor safe passage into Esgaroth/Laketown, and the man who eventually kills the dragon. That guy.
And I don’t just mean that their personalities are opposite each other; I mean that they’re two completely different results of a similar situation. Long story short, Gaston embraces the glory while Bard hides from it.
So I’m going to be doing something that I’ve never done on this blog before, and that is compare two characters from two different franchises. Who are also played by the same actor. So we can marvel at his acting range. Anyway, Bard vs Gaston.
1. Bard comes from an old line of heroes but wants a small, quiet life in Laketown. Gaston’s bloodline could be blank for all we know, yet he wants to be the best hero and hunter ever. EVER.
Bard’s most well-known ancestor is Girion II of Dale, an archer who tried to shoot down the fire drake Smaug when he attacked Dale on his way to Erebor. He did not succeed in killing it, but he did manage to create a hole in Smaug’s impenetrable coat of scales, one that eventually leaves Smaug vulnerable to Bard’s attack. Bard is constantly blamed for his ancestor’s so-called “heroism” (in the movie, anyway) and Bard instinctively shrinks away from it, wanting nothing more than a quiet life with his wife, son, and daughters. When he finds out that he’s been housing the dwarves of Erebor, he stands against them and their quest, for fear that the dragon will come again. He wants no part in any of it.
Gaston, on the other hand, would do anything to gain the people’s favor. And seeing as how his backstory never mentions his parents or another kind of family, we must assume that Gaston is the first of his bloodline to be so heroic and glorified. And he loves it. Even wears some of his old war uniforms around to catch people’s eyes. Even before facing the Beast, he’s already slain multiple creatures, big and small.
2. Bard values the lives of his loved ones more than anything; Gaston only cares about himself.
Bard has a wife, a son, and two daughters. He has a small house and a boat. He leads an incredibly humble and simple life, yet it’s obvious that he cares for these things more than his own life. When Smaug attacks Laketown, the one thing he cares about is that his family gets out before Smaug kills them. He’s seen hugging his family more than once, or reassuring them that everything will be alright. But the biggest example of that was when his son, Bain, climbs up a burning watchtower to give Bard the last black arrow, the one thing that had a chance of killing Smaug. Bard almost breaks down, insisting that Bain should have left, that he was supposed to get out with the rest of the townspeople. But instead of weakening Bard, this love makes him stronger. This is almost literally shown when he uses Bain’s shoulder as a stand to rest the black arrow on. And of course, that arrow is the one that kills the dragon.
Gaston doesn’t care about anyone, just as long as he gets what he’s after in the end. It wasn’t hard for Gaston to completely throw Lefou under the bus--or in this case, the harpsichord--during the fight scene, and he took advantage of Lefou every time he could before that, even going so far as to mess with Lefou’s unrequited feelings while trying to convince the villagers of his innocence and Maurice’s lunacy. He would have never made a good husband for Belle, as it was obvious by the end that he was only in love with the idea of Belle, not her. He even has his own song in which he sings about himself in a bar that was named after him.
3. Bard kills the dragon but doesn’t do it for himself; Gaston (ultimately) doesn’t kill the Beast but really wants to for his own personal gain.
There may be a chance that Bard killed the dragon because he wanted to make up for his ancestors not finishing the job, but to me, it looked like he just wanted to stop Smaug from killing anyone else. In the movie, Bard is the only one who tries to kill the dragon (as opposed to the book, when he rallies a bunch of men to fight with him) and he realizes too late that he left the black arrow behind. He tries anyway, even though he knows it’s futile. So why does he do it? Because if there was the slightest chance that he could save the people of Laketown (the same people that berated him and looked down on him) he would take it. Because he’s just that good.
Gaston, on the other hand, can rally a mob like no one’s business, but he is not a team player. Upon encountering the staff in the castle, he ditches everyone and goes after the Beast himself. The only time he uses “us” or “our” or “we” is when he’s encouraging the villagers to accompany him to the castle. The only real reason Gaston decides to truly believe in the Beast is because of Belle’s growing affection for the Beast. And if she’s showing affection for someone else, then that someone needs to go. And fast.
4. Bard wears blue; Gaston wears red.
This is actually a legit thing.
Blue and red are considered the colors of good and bad in several different franchises, and there was even an experiment conducted to see whether someone was considered trustworthy if they wore said colors and talked to random strangers. Blue won.
And as you know, red is one of the colors worn by Disney villains. So if they weren’t opposites before, they definitely are now.
Also, interestingly enough, Bard fights something that is red in color, and Gaston fights something that wears mainly blue throughout the story.
5. Bard is a good man fighting something evil; Gaston is an evil man fighting something good.
6. Smaug puts up more of a fight and Bard ends up winning; Gaston puts up more of a fight and ends up losing.
7. Bard ends up getting the glory and honor he deserves even though he was ridiculed before, but Gaston is immediately forgotten after his death even though he was glorified and honored while he was alive.
8. Gaston really put in a lot of work to kill the Beast; Bard only needed one shot.
