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Evil Abounds

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Today’s photo credit: Justin Lim

You’re a minion.  You work for an evil warlord.  For years you have cheated, stolen and even killed for him.  He pays really well and the benefits package seems great. 

One day the malevolent machinations of your boss are uncovered.  He decides to blow up his solar energy plant to cover his tracks and he heads to the helicopter pad with the damsel in distress to head away from the mess he’s made.  He closes the door of the helicopter, leaving you standing on the helipad.  Right then, as your boss flies away from his bomb-ridden plant, one of the good guys shows up.  You fight him and fight him, even though it’s just a few minutes to the big boom.

You are part of a long-standing tradition.  A truly loyal evil minion – you continue to plague good guys and fight until the bitter end, often for a boss who clearly kills off your peers rather than pay retirement and who always abandons you when the going gets tough.

Can you tell me why?

21 thoughts on “Evil Abounds”

    1. Henchman in the 2005 Sahara movie. I’ve seen movie more than is necessary in life and not only do I now know if the character has a name, 10 minutes of online googling hasn’t turned it up.

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  4. There are likely many elements that are part of being a mindless or even a semi-mindless minion. A human desire to obey authority.
    Nationalistic or religious fervor.
    Tradition.
    Self-deception.
    Ulterior motives.
    For example, a person can tell 30,573 documented lies (both big and little) within a span of four years yet be among the most powerful humans alive.

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    1. Rather than a desire to obey authority, I suspect it’s a desire to align with authority, as a surrogate to, and maybe a prelude to becoming, authority.

      I see both religious and nationalistic fervor as being an offshoot of toxic masculinity. Consider the language—patriarchy and patriotism—and the extent to which the extreme factions of both emphasize male control.

      Tradition as a justification supports the cultures most steeped in the authority bestowed upon religion and government.

      Self deception is the love child of ego, ignorance and insecurity, prompted by greed and fear.

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  5. Because I am a character in a cartoon in which there must be a concrete evil character to drive a shallow, weak plot (as in HeMan Master of the universe).

    Or I work for tfg and I believe somehow I will escape the same fate that has befallen every other person before me who has worked for him—some combination of denial and being vainglorious.

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  6. Because sometimes loyalty is taken over by blind devotion. […gives sideglance toward cubemate next door and whistles innocently…]

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      1. His loyalty to our boss has reached, what I think is, too much. For years, he’s been planning to retire this September. Our boss talked him out of it.

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  7. Minion has decided upon a certain belief, and for whatever reasons this decision has become the most important one of his life. To change course at any point, including facing death, would cause him/her to lose their identity, they would become unrecognizable to theirself (new pronoun).

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  11. This is very interesting. Blind devotion is one thing…but geez. How would a person forego everything else they may have in their life, to give in to the devotion?

    Typically, the bad guys are more fun to act out than the good guys.
    My henchman needs to get a life.

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