Traitors

Mr. Arnold

"Traitor!"  It is, perhaps, one of the worst crimes to be branded with. In Dante's epic poem Inferno, the ninth and deepest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors. The term is given to anyone who turns against their friends, their country, or their cause. Throughout history, traitors have been reviled and scorned for their flaws of swinging loyalties and false convictions.

But in fiction, things work a bit differently. There is, after all, nothing like a good fictional traitor. A treacherous character can add conflict, drama, and high stakes to a story in a way few other plot devices can. I happen to love a good fictional betrayal in stories, myself; it makes things so deliciously personal.

So in celebration -- or perhaps condemnation -- of Benedict Arnold's 272nd birthday this Monday, let's take a look at some of the biggest and "best" traitors from the page and screen.


-- Iago

In Shakespeare's Othello, the title character is a general in the Venetian army. While Othello has a perfectly trustworthy officer in the form of his lieutenant, Cassio, Othello makes the terrible mistake of choosing the ensign Iago as his right-hand man.

Iago's still upset that Cassio got promoted over him, and quickly plots a way to get Cassio demoted. The plan quickly escalates, however, and Iago ends up destroying more than a few lives -- including his own. 

-- Mordred

Most people know the legend of King Arthur, the leader who set up the utopian kingdom of Camelot. He ruled over Camelot with the help of his Knights of the Round Table (including his right-hand man, Sir Lancelot) -- with his queen, Guinevere, at his side. Unfortunately, Guinevere and Lancelot got along a little too well, and their inadvertent treachery brought about the fall of Camelot and of Arthur himself.

I say "inadvertent," however, because Lancelot and Guinevere certainly never intended to fall in love and bring about the destruction of Arthur's utopian kingdom. In most versions of the legend, the real, intentional blame for that downfall lies instead in the hands of Mordred. Usually portrayed as Arthur's illegitimate son (from before his marriage to Guinevere), it is Mordred who orchestrates the discovery of Lancelot and Guinevere's secret affair -- and who turns the Knights of the Round Table, and the people of Camelot, against the unhappy couple, ushering in a civil war for control of the kingdom. Mordred's aim was always to take over as ruler of Camelot, but Arthur defeats him -- if at a price.

-- Lando Calrissian

The administrator of Cloud City, Lando Calrissian was first introduced in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back as an old friend of Han Solo's. Han and Princess Leia have traveled to the city looking for help from Lando -- only to have it revealed that Darth Vader had reached Cloud City first. Lando (out of desperation, rather than deception) had reluctantly agreed to help Vader lay a trap for the Rebellion duo, and their capture by Vader ultimately leads to Han Solo being so famously frozen in carbonite.

Fortunately, Lando goes on to have a change of heart after Vader goes back on his word about the fate of the prisoners. Lando not only helps to break free the very people he helped imprison; he eventually joins the Rebel Alliance and plays a part in the destruction of the second Death Star. Talk about redeeming yourself!



-- Dennis Nedry

I've been a Jurassic Park fan for twenty years -- ever since it was first released to theaters!  So, as a fan, I can't help but appreciate Dennis Nedry, without whose help the genetically recreated dinosaurs populating a theme park "zoo" would never have escaped. Which, y'know, was a great development for us viewers, as loose dinosaurs + resourceful humans = great popcorn flick.

Of course, for the characters of Jurassic Park themselves, Nedry did few favors. Furious with park owner John Hammond over the myriad responsibilities he faced as the park's primary computer programmer -- and the low pay that went with the job -- Nedry sabotaged the park by shutting down computer systems and electrical fencing. (He also stole some unhatched dino embryos on his way out.) 

However, one can't argue that Nedry didn't pay for his misdeeds: he was eaten by one of the very dinosaurs he'd set free. Let that be a lesson to us all that treacherous behavior rarely pays!

-- Captain Barbossa

If it's possible to have a "favorite" traitor, then Captain Barbossa is mine. Introduced in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film as the villainous pirate captain of the Black Pearl, he eventually is revealed to be more than a pirate: he's also a traitor. Previously the first mate on the Pearl, Barbossa led a mutiny against the ship's then-captain, leaving said captain marooned on a deserted island and taking the ship (and its crew) for his own.

The captain Barbossa betrayed was, of course, Jack Sparrow -- the piratical hero of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Jack swore revenge against his mutinous first mate (and even achieved that revenge for a time). But, as the films went on, the one-time friendship between the two pirates was eventually, if somewhat grudgingly, renewed. They eventually reached a point where the two could work together -- so long as their goals happened to coincide, that is.

-- Severus Snape

He seemed bad from the beginning. This Harry Potter character was a professor at Hogwarts, teaching Potions classes to the young witches and wizards who dared enter his classroom. Cruel, arrogant, and always smirking -- plus a former employee of the Big Bad himself, Voldemort -- Snape seemed destined to prove himself to be a bad apple. (Harry Potter himself suspected Snape of foul play from the beginning.) But it wasn't until the sixth book in the series, when Snape killed a major Good Guy and defected to join Voldemort once more, that Harry's six-year suspicions were proven.

Or -- were they?  Snape's full story isn't revealed until the end of the seventh and final book in the series, when we learn that things, as they so often are in Harry Potter, were more complicated than what they first appeared to be. Snape, I suppose, may be definitively branded a traitor ... but you might be surprised to see which side he ultimately betrayed.

-- Saruman

J.R.R. Tolkien's good-wizard-gone-bad may just tie with Mordred as Greatest Fictional Traitor of All Time, even if you're not particularly a fan of the high fantasy epic trilogy Lord of the Rings. 

It's hard to argue the case. Saruman started off as the chief of the wizards in Middle-earth, but eventually -- corrupted by the One Ring and by the Dark Lord Sauron himself -- betrayed his fellow wizards and his mission. He was instrumental in bringing about the war on Middle-earth, and, if that wasn't enough, would go on to turn against Sauron, too. (Not, mind you, because he was re-aligning himself with the good guys; rather, his plan was to take over from Sauron and rule Middle-earth himself.)

He is eventually overthrown and defeated, but not before proving himself to be on no one's side but his own. Which, much like Mordred, might be the very definition of the ultimate traitor.


(Luckily for us, such characters makes for great storytelling.)



-- Post by Ms. B