Masked villain

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The Hooded Terror in the Pearl White serial The House of Hate, which defined the "masked mystery villain" type Hooded Terror.jpg
The Hooded Terror in the Pearl White serial The House of Hate , which defined the "masked mystery villain" type
Darth Vader, the masked villain from Star Wars Darth Vader - 2007 Disney Weekends.jpg
Darth Vader, the masked villain from Star Wars

A masked villain, also seen as masked mystery villain, [1] [2] is a stock character in genre fiction. It was developed and popularized in movie serials, beginning with The Hooded Terror in The House of Hate , (1918) the first fully-costumed mystery villain of the movies, and frequently used in the adventure stories of pulp magazines and sound-era movie serials in the early twentieth century, [3] [4] as well as postmodern horror films [5] where the character "hides in order to claim unsuspecting victims". [6] They can also appear in crime fiction to add to the atmosphere of suspense and suspicion. It is used to engage the readers or viewers by keeping them guessing just as the characters are, [3] and suspension by drawing on the fear of the unknown. [7] : 135  The "Mask" need not be literal (although it often is), referring more to the subterfuge involved.

Contents

He or she is the often main antagonist of the story, often acting behind the scenes with henchmen confronting the protagonists directly. [3] Usually, the protagonists must discover the villain's true identity before they can be defeated. [8] Often, the villain will turn out to be either one of the protagonists themselves, or a significant supporting character. The author may give the viewer or reader clues, with many red herrings, as to the villain's identity - sometime as the characters find them and sometimes for the audience alone. However, the identity is not usually revealed to the audience before it is revealed to the characters of the story. [8]

Examples

Serials

The following villains were not actually "masked" but remained hidden from view:


Television

Films

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<i>The Crimson Ghost</i> 1946 American film serial directed by Fred C. Brannon and William Witney

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<i>Adventures of Captain Marvel</i> 1941 serial by William Witney, John English

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<i>Mysterious Doctor Satan</i> 1940 film by John English, William Witney

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<i>The Great Alaskan Mystery</i> 1944 film by Ray Taylor, Lewis D. Collins

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<i>The Fighting Devil Dogs</i> 1938 American film

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<i>Zorro Rides Again</i> 1937 film by John English, William Witney

Zorro Rides Again (1937) is a 12-chapter Republic Pictures film serial. It was the eighth of the sixty-six Republic serials, the third with a Western theme and the last produced in 1937. The serial was directed by William Witney & John English in their first collaboration. The serial starred John Carroll who also sang the title song as a modern descendant of the original Zorro with Carroll stunt doubled by Yakima Canutt. The plot is a fairly standard western storyline about a villain attempting to illicitly take valuable land. The setting is a hybrid of modern (1930s) and western elements that was used occasionally in B-Westerns. It was also the first in a series of five Zorro serials, followed by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), Zorro's Black Whip (1944), Son of Zorro (1947) and Ghost of Zorro (1949).

<i>Dick Tracy</i> (serial) 1937 American film

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<i>Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.</i> 1941 film by John English, William Witney

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<i>The Spiders Web</i> (serial) 1938 film by James W. Horne, Ray Taylor

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<i>Flying G-Men</i> 1939 film by Ray Taylor, James W. Horne

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<i>Mandrake the Magician</i> (serial) 1939 film

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<i>The Shadow</i> (serial) 1940 film by James W. Horne

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<i>The Iron Claw</i> (1941 serial) 1941 film by James W. Horne

The Iron Claw (1941) was the 15th serial released by Columbia Pictures.

<i>Whos Guilty?</i> 1945 film by Wallace Grissell, Howard Bretherton

Who's Guilty? is a 1945 American film serial. It was the 28th of 57 serials released by Columbia Pictures. Who's Guilty? was a rare attempt at a whodunit mystery film in serial form. The serial's villain was designed to look like The Shadow on the poster. The film co-starred some well-known character actors, such as Charles Middleton, Wheeler Oakman, and Minerva Urecal. Robert Kent played the lead role of Detective Bob Stewart.

<i>The House of Hate</i> 1918 film serial

The House of Hate is a 1918 American film serial directed by George B. Seitz, produced when many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serial film</span> Series of short subject films

A serial film,film serial, movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, generally advancing weekly, until the series is completed. Usually, each serial involves a single set of characters, protagonistic and antagonistic, involved in a single story, which has been edited into chapters after the fashion of serial fiction and the episodes cannot be shown out of order or as a single or a random collection of short subjects.

References

  1. ↑ Van Hise, James (1990). Serial Adventures. Pioneer Books. p. 46. ISBN   9781556982361.
  2. 1 2 Lupoff, Richard A.; Thompson, Don, eds. (1970). All in color for a dime. Arlington House. p. 92. ISBN   9780870000621.
  3. 1 2 3 Brasch, Ilka (October 12, 2018). "4. Detectives, Traces, and Repetition in The Exploits of Elaine". Film Serials and the American Cinema, 1910-1940. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 145–182. doi:10.1515/9789048537808-005. ISBN   9789048537808. S2CID   239227958 – via www.degruyter.com.
  4. ↑ Brasch, I., & Mayer, R. (2016). Modernity management: 1920s cinema, mass culture and the film serial. Screen, 57(3), 302-315.
  5. 1 2 Heller-Nicholas, Alexandra (2019). Masks in Horror Cinema: Eyes Without Faces. University of Wales Press. pp. 52, 68, ?. ISBN   978-1-78683-496-6.
  6. ↑ Jess-Cooke, Carolyn (2009). Film Sequels: Theory and Practice from Hollywood to Bollywood. Edingburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 56. ISBN   978-0-7486-2603-8.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cline, William C. (2000). Serials-ly Speaking: Essays on Cliffhangers. McFarland. ISBN   9780786409181.
  8. 1 2 Bah, Aisha (2018). "Cultural Transgression and Subversion: The Abject Slasher Subgenre". The Mall. 2 (1): 72–83. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  9. 1 2 Benson, Michael (2000). Vintage Science Fiction Films, 1896-1949. McFarland. ISBN   9780786409365.
  10. ↑ Milligan, Cindy Ann (2015). Sonic Vocality: A Theory on the Use of Voice in Character Portrayal (PhD). Georgia State University. p. 5. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  11. ↑ Rutherford, Paul (1994). "The Cannes Lions, Etc. (1984-92)". The New Icons? - The Art of Television Advertising. University of Toronto Press. p. 142. ISBN   0-8020-2928-0.
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