My Favorite Villain Trope

I watched The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. I don't think its a very good movie. To paraphrase my friend Veronica, its emotional beats rely on you having fond memories of the Peter Jackson films while not really having interrogated them as pieces of art. The movie is at its best when it isn't trying to be that and is instead its own thing, and I'd like to share my favorite part of that: the dynamic between our main villain and his subordinates. Full spoilers for War of the Rohirrim from here on out. It's on Max if you want to watch it. 

I'd kill for this popcorn bucket though

The main bad guy of War of the Rohirrim is Wulf, a half-Rohirrim half-Dunlending nobleman seeking two things: revenge against king Helm Hammerhand for the death of his father, and the hand of Helm's daughter (the protagonist, Hera). Through a mix of clever espionage, personal charisma, and terrible tactical decisions on the part of Helm's army, Wulf manages to essentially checkmates the Rohirrim. He kills one of Helm's sons, captures the other, takes the capital of Edoras, and forces what remains of the army and populace to take shelter in the Hornburg (a castle that will by the end of the movie be named Helm's Deep, in what is clearly supposed to be a moment for the audience to pog). Wulf has won, and the Rohirrim know it, with King Helm offering his crown and his life in place of his son.

It is at this point the focus of today's post shows up. General Targg has been lurking in the background of the story up until now, as one of Wulf's advisors and associates, but now it's his time to shine. Standing next to Wulf, Targg advises him to do the smart thing: take the deal.

Wulf, blinded by hatred, refuses, killing the last Prince of Rohan and steeling the defenders' resolve. This pattern continues throughout the rest of the movie: when Targg brings up that their men are getting desperate for pay, Wulf gives them promises of a prize inside the Hornburg he knows doesn't exist (one imagines that he doesn't care about a future beyond killing as many Rohirrim as he can.) When the besieged army loses, Targg counsels surrender, and Wulf kills him for it. 

There's other evidence of Targg being potentially the smartest man in the room. Feeding an army is hard, really hard, especially in the winter. Getting the resources for the creation of the stupidest ramp in the world is hard. Given that Wulf was content to squat in the ruins of Isengard, I doubt he was overseeing any engineering projects. The only real black marks against him are a failure to fortify his rear (which I blame on the filmmakers wanting to do Helm's Deep) and his continued loyalty to Wulf.

Wait, I thought this was an RPG blog?

You, the reader, probably know what it is like to work under a really bad boss. Someone convinced they're right, or looking to shirk blame, or just generally dismissive of what people they deem as lesser have to say. History and fantasy are rife with these kinds of guys, from Bobby B to a decent chunk of Rome’s Emperors. Heck, even Sun Tzu has a pithy quote about not micromanaging your subordinates too much.

To my mind, this is a rich vein of stuff to exploit, particularly in the OSR context of faction-based play. After all, a goblin tribe united in purpose is much less interesting than one with resentment between its own subfactions. With that in mind, here are just some examples:

A conquering army threatens to take the realm by storm, but the two generals bitterly hate each other. Could you potentially drive a further wedge into their relationship?

The woman leading the resistance against the army has been condemned by the king to cover up his own mistakes. Can you bust her out of prison and help her once again take the field?

The dungeon’s mad architect was obsessed with grandeur. He starved his people to build his elaborate tomb, which, too big to maintain, has been functionally taken over by the ghouls who tunneled in.

In conclusion, Targg is everything, I adore him, and I’d like to see more of him in rpgs. 

The producer of the movie liked this btw