Interesting storytelling

I recently watched a show, “Orb: On the Movements of the Earth,” in which I have seen something that I haven’t consciously seen anywhere else. This will contain major spoilers for the show, so this is your chance to turn away and watch it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orb:_On_the_Movements_of_the_Earth

The main character, i.e., the only stable character throughout the entire series, was basically the villain/antagonist of whoever at the time was the protagonist. So we do not really see the story from his point of view; he only comes in as an obstacle for the protagonist, who is trying to reach a goal.

This was further made clear by the character having a moment of catharsis at the end, where he realizes that he indeed was the villain of the story. I do think it’s interesting to tell a story via its villains, but keep them as the villains. A lot of the time, especially when the villain represents some type of institution, they are just one of the many faces of an unfair system that deals out a lot of pain to different people. One could make a lot of comparisons; let me make this one: It would be like telling a story about Black America via a policeman but then keeping him consistent and switching out the different people that you tell different stories through.

It also combines the pain the people have experienced inside of this person that represents the institution. It can also show how people through time have struggled against the same forces.

In comparison to stories where the main character is just the villain or an anti-hero, e.g., a Tony Soprano or a Walter White. Because they are also the protagonist, people will empathize with them, and people can also do this with you, the villain main character, though the audience isn’t privy to the pathological reasoning these characters employ when they are written well. In our current day and age the audience will just like the character in their badass persona so much that they will miss the point:

Don’t get me wrong, I do like a good antihero.

Still I think it’s very cringe to think you are like them.

Well, this trope hasn’t been overused, so if I send you this because you are writing something or as an inspiration, I hope this helped.