#axel mortmain

[rhiannons-bird]

tsc is actually just about fighting evil old men (most of whom are also terrible fathers)

[culiehua]

part 1 — part 2 — part 3 — part 4 —

part 5 (jem!edition) — part 6

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

The way this format can apply to the villains in each trilogy means a lot to me:

[herondaleminds]

Belial originally wanted to take possession of Tessa, but because of the clockwork angel, he was unable to do so. After Elizabeth and her husband died, why didn't he and Mortmain kill Harriet? Why didn't the two of them work together and raise Tessa so that Belial could take possession of her and thus destroy the shadowhunters? That would have been much easier and would have saved them a lot of drama and stress.

[kaitcreates]

Mortmain

Thais

[thousand-winters]

Rereading TID I have realized I forgot a LOT, mostly because I haven't read these books in many years, but that's sort of fun, I'm delighted at finding details I had forgotten about.

But you know what, I don't think we talk enough about that one Tessa-Mortmain confrontation at the end of Clockwork Angel. No matter how much I forgot, now that I remembered so clearly.

It's just a very clever and fun scene. Crafty ways to temporarily win a fight when you're not a warrior. Also delightful historic reference.

[caterpillarinacave]

Anyone else remember that part in Clockwork Princess where Mortmain thinks he’s winning and tells Tessa that he isn’t just gonna hurt any of the TID gang, but he’s gonna keep them in the mountain and kill them if Tessa ever misbehaves? Because I do.

[dailyjemma]

Why do people hate Julian Blackthorn from The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare? Can you tell me the reasons he is a bad character and reasons that he is good?

Janhavi answered:

I think one of the reasons Julian Blackthorn is so hated is because he is not an angsty bad boy like Jace or Will Herondale. He doesn’t have the appeal that these types of characters have to the target demographic. It’s unfortunate, because I actually think Julian is one of the few Cassandra Clare characters that has depth. He’s got flaws that don’t include being brooding and moody. His backstory actually makes you feel sympathy for the character rather than roll your eyes. He can be ruthless and will go to any lengths to protect his family. And that flaw actually makes him pretty great too. He’s a character that seems to care about something other than romance, which is very refreshing. He’s probably the most unique character in the Shadowhunter series.

Maria Lightwood Chase answered:

Unless there is some far-off corner of the fandom, Julian Blackthorn is FaR from being hated. We hate Charles Fairchild, Axel Mortmain, Valentine Morgenstern, and Zara Dearborn.

Julian?

He’s a HERO

At The age of 12, he taught himself how to care for his four younger siblings, the youngest being two because he was to young to properly have a voice in the government

When he was 14, he became parabatai with the girl he was in love with so she would have familiarity and not be shipped off to Alicante when her parents died

He learned how to run the institute so that his family would stay toget her.

He’s AWESOME, and I can think of something that happens, when we have cast or ensemble series. Julian is overshadowed by his siblings. Ty, Livvy and Dru are far more popular than he is. Mark follows after him. It’s not that he is disliked, it’s just that the fandom does not find him as asppealing as say, two 15-year-old twins who love science and are basically in love with the same guy…..

Trust me, When someone in The Shadwohunter Chronicles is Hated. They are Hated. I tis clear exactly WHY and Their perferable method of death..Personally, Zara can be killed by Demons or Downworlders.

[rebelumbrella46]

I think the Morgensterns are the best villains. The Seelie Queen is an ongoing pain in the ass (but i enjoy this bitch)

Even if The Infernal Devices has a better writing the villains are mediocre compare to the main saga ( I’m talking about Axel and Nate. We already had an evil brother as a main villain and there is no comparison)

Malcolm and Annabel are way too tragic for me to hate them or really enjoy them

Lilith was okay in CoFA. Still haven’t finish the Last Hours

Belial and Asmodeus are not that great (for two Princes of Hell)

And Tatiana and Zara think they are villains but they are just annoying and pathetic as fuck

And I forgot to mention Shinyun and Sammael because whatever

[thevagabondexpress]

gregor mendel vs. axel mortmain: a hobby scientist vents

Axel Mortmain really never studied biology, did he. I bet he never talked to anybody who needed to know anything about genetics, either. Like, your average dog owner knows more than he does. Honey, I'm sorry, but your plan isn't going to work. To get more angelic warlocks you're going to need two of them to start with, and not one and a mundane. Or did the boy you had for this grand plan of yours die or go into witness protection or something and leave you hanging?

[ladyhindsight]

Maybe it's just me, but I never found TSC villains compelling.

Most of them were either Cartoonish or uninteresting. Some of them were interesting at the beginning and lost the spark because of the pathetic job CC did in providing them proper page time.

My problem with her characters is not about them being the typical comic villains. Instead, they are soo poorly written and are only considered cunning because CC is dumb....ahem... What I mean is that they do not have enough brain cells to be considered cunning, definitely not as crafty as the writing suggests (they are vicious, yes. But that's a fundamental quality of a villain).

Valentine - the most intelligent, charming, manipulative, always 10 steps ahead - could not think that summoning an Angel (a heavenly being more powerful than he could ever be) and asking it a favour without offering any deal/ sacrifice or having a plan B was dumb? Why didn't he even think for a sec that even if Raziel doesn't know about Ithuriel's imprisonment and all, summoning an entity that can kill you easily could be risky? It's not even a last-minute plan, it's what he had been working for throughout the 1st, 2nd and 3rd books.

Also, if he has the power to capture Ithuriel, a powerful angel (as far as I know), then why not use that power to capture Raziel or why not use Ithuriel's blood to create a new race of half angels that he could control and use to wage war against other shadow hunters?

Sebastian: I never took him seriously. He was just...there obsessing over the main characters because that's what villains do. I did not feel sad (not even a little bit sad) when he died. I don't think he's as complex or as sympathetic as the fandom makes him to be.

Axel Mortmain: Seriously, do people even know TID has a Villain? I do. I'm not happy about it! Frankly speaking, Mortmain did spark my interest when he was revealed to be the bad guy at the end of the first book.

The reason for that: He's just a rich, immortal Mundane against Shadowhunters. He managed to manipulate powerful Downworlders like de Quincy. After reading all about how Mundanes are weak and inferior to the SH in TMI, I thought it would be nice to see a Mundane being a threat to the Shadowhunters. He was the only one with some level of intellect among all the villains in the TSC world. At least, that's what I thought when I finished CoA.

Of course, that interest died quickly when he was only used for causing more drama in a love triangle. CC didn't even pretend she cared about the plot or other characters.

Malcolm& Anabel are Ok-ish...I guess. Once again, neither left a strong impression on me, but I could see why someone else might like them. Or show sympathy for their backstory.

psttttt.........There's a villain called Shinyun...do you know that? Easily the most forgettable character I've ever read.

Tatiana: She had a sympathetic backstory but was a hilariously dumb villain. Once again, a character was established as cunning but only "cunning" because the other characters are stupid. The narration considers her cunning in the way Clave is considered Stupid.

Tatiana and Zara have something in common: both function as the "straw characters". Zara exists as a representation of people who criticize CC's romantic arcs. Tatiana had a motivation behind her hatred. However, from time to time, she was still used as a straw character. I never understood why she specifically said, "Herondales have dominated Shadowhunters history, there should've been more lightwoods". When she clearly hated Lightwoods too. That was oddly specific.

Belial: ugh.....where should I even begin...? Now, I didn't expect him to be a complex villain. But as THE PRINCE OF HELL, I expected a few brain cells from him. Turns out he's the dumbest Villain to ever exist. Now. I'm not going into details as you didn't finish ChoT.

It makes me wonder how TWP Villains are going to be? I'm assuming there would be a lot of Villains...I hope at least some of them are crafty, vicious and would feel like an actual threat to the characters.

Lmao, It's quite lengthy.

Anyway, Thanks for reading.

You’re definitely not alone in that. I agree 100 %. One of my favorite topics are the terrible cartoon villains that appear on the pages of these books. I once wrote in a post about Benedict Lightwood and Tatiana that the villains are characters who are reduced to few oversimplified evil traits and their villainy is over-exaggerated.

As characters they’ve essentially become a combination of both oversimplification and exaggeration, which makes them more caricatures of villains rather than believably motivated, individual characters. […] These character exhibit the degree of nastiness that primarily serves to enhance the goodness, moral superiority, and righteousness of the protagonists. Their lacking complexity is partly a result of this objective. Another part to this is the unwillingness in the narrative to accept the villain as wholly human person. They lack proper motivation or basis outside of being evil for the sake of being evil.  They have no inner life and all their time is dedicated to their evil deeds and self-serving purposes. Writing villains like these is also a result of overly simplistic understanding of certain characters for which the narrative then ignores the complexities inherent in each individual person—even the bad ones. The level of awfulness of these villains is something no sensible member of the Clave would deem as alright. They aren’t slick, charismatic, or suave enough for the readers or the Good Guys to be blinded by their malicious intentions, so why are the rest of the members of the Clave blind to it? These villains aren’t that intelligent and cunning. Their intelligence and cunning should be achieved through skillful use of literary devices, not dumbing down other characters. Having everyone go with their charisma that fools them only because the writing says so gives the other Nephilim bad contrast and is frustrating for readers to wait for them to catch up. They are villains, they are supposed to be awful doesn’t change the fact that what the writing has produced are walking talking mission statements only meant for spouting out obviously controversial and unacceptable ideologies. This comes from the habit of picking out only easy and surface level aspects to enhance their badness, like sexism, racial supremacy, and homophobia, which any sensible and empathetic reader would obviously strongly disagree with.

Valentine is only intelligent and a smooth talker because Clare just doesn’t write Clary being able to refute any of his arguments while I am doing it for her when reading. It’s all telling and showing, much like the rest of the books but it does a greater disservice to the villains. Here are some links to my other older answers about this topic if you wish to read more of the thoughts:

Sebastian’s potential at compelling villainy and him being EVIL

Thoughts on Sebastian being a villain

Thoughts on Zara being a villain

On Tatiana

A thought about Tatiana

[kaitcreates]

The Shadohunter Chronicles Character Showdown

First Round, Second Round

Rosemary Herondale vs Arthur Blackthorn, (Feb 23)

Celine Montclaire vs Diego Rocio-Rosales, (Feb 24)

Maureen Brown vs Anna Lightwood, (Feb 25)

Christopher Lightwood vs Ragnor Fell, (Feb 26)

Julian Blackthorn vs Livvy Blackthorn, (Feb 27)

Bridget Daly vs Jon Cartwright, (Feb 28)

Nate Grey vs Sona Carstairs, (Feb 29)

Gabriel Lightwood vs Madeleine Bellefleur, (Mar 1)

Paige Ashdown vs Rupert Blackthorn, (Mar 2)

Valentine Morgenstern vs Kraig, (Mar 3)

Andrew Blackthorn vs Irene, (Mar 4)

Axel Mortmain vs Thais Pedroso, (Mar 5)

Kit Herondale vs Ke Yi Tian, (Mar 6)

The Dark Sisters vs Filomina di Angelo, (Mar 7)

Lucie Herondale vs Simon Lovelace-Lewis, (Mar 8)

Shiyun Jung vs Cameron Ashdown, (Mar 9)

Elias Carstairs vs Tavvy Blackthorn, (Mar 10)

Luke Greymark vs Will Herondale, (Mar 11)

Ash Morgenstern vs Matthew Fairchild, (Mar 12)

Sophie Collins vs Jaime Rocio-Rosales, (Mar 13)

Catarina Loss vs Tessa Grey, (Mar 14)

Jessamine Lovelace vs Woolsey Scott, (Mar 15)

Diana Wrayburn vs Magnus Lightwood-Bane, (Mar 16)

James Herondale vs Jesse Blackthorn, (Mar 17)

Sebastian Morgesnstern vs Ty Blackthorn, (Mar 18)

Julie Beavul vs Tatiana Lightwood, (Mar 19)

Meliorn vs Helen Blackthorn, (Mar 20)

Alexander Lightwood vs Arawn, (Mar 21)

Jace Lightwood-Herondale vs Michael Wayland, (Mar 22)

Raphael Santiago vs Kieran Kingson, (Mar 23)

Marisol Garza vs Hypatia Vex, (Mar 24)

Dru Blackthorn vs Ari Bridgstock, (Mar 25)

Eugenia Lightwood vs Bat Velasquez, (Mar 26)

Eliza Rosewain vs Rafael Lightwood-Bane, (Mar 27)

Anush Joshi vs Seelie Queen, (Mar 28)

Church vs Cecily Herondale, (Mar 29)

Annabel Blackthorn vs Robert Lightwood, (Mar 30)

Beatriz Mendoza vs Malcolm Fade, (Mar 31)

Jocelyn Fairchild vs Max Lightwood-Bane, (Apr 1)

Imogen Whitlaw vs Jem Carstairs, (Apr 2)

Mother Hawthorn vs Chairman Meow, (Apr 3)

Manuel Casales-Villalobos vs Barbra Lightwood, (Apr 4)

Cordelia Carstairs vs Benedict Lightwood, (Apr 5)

Divya Joshi vs Lily Chen, (Apr 6)

Patrick Penhallow vs Alastair Carstairs, (Apr 7)

Isabelle Lightwood vs Mark Blackthorn, (Apr 8)

Amatis Greymark vs George Lovelace, (Apr 9)

Maryse Lightwood vs Elliott, (Apr 10)

Alexei de Quincey vs Elyas the Demon, (Apr 11)

Hodge Starkweather vs Henry Branwell, (Apr 12)

Camille Belcourt vs Auraline, (Apr 13)

Aline Penhallow vs Roland Loss, (Apr 14)

Johny Rook vs Stephen Herondale, (Apr 15)

Rayan Maduabuchi vs Alec Lightwood-Bane, (Apr 16)

Esme Hardcastle vs Jordan Kyle, (Apr 17)

Grace Blackthorn vs Evelyn Highsmith, (Apr 18)

Jia Penhallow vs Charles Fairchild, (Apr 19)

Horace Dearborn vs Max Lightwood, (Apr 20)

Emma Carstairs vs Mina Carstairs, (Apr 21)

Charlotte Fairchild vs Aloysius Starkweather, (Apr 22)

Janus Herondale vs Zachary Carstairs, (Apr 23)

Gwyn ap Nudd vs Clary Fairchild, (Apr 24)

Maia Roberts vs Gideon Lightwood, (Apr 25)

Thomas Lightwood vs Cristina Mendoza-Rosales, (Apr 26)

[thousand-winters]

My TID reread after (quite possibly) almost 10 years of not touching these books is being really Something.

Henry reminding me somewhat of Alador Blight was one thing but...

Of course I remembered Mortmain was human, and I found him so goddamn fascinating at the time. It's just immensely cool to have a human being a threat to a whole bunch of supernatural people. And frankly, the automatons, especially the somewhat finished ones in Clockwork Angel are so goddamn unsettling. I forgot they used actual human body parts for that...

But all of that aside, I'm a bit like "hang on, what do you mean Mortmain extended his lifespan through dark magic".

There sure is a type of villain I quite like in the media I consume, huh.