V For Villain

A future history series is not about particular heroes and villains but about all of mankind, also alien-kind. However, an individual instalment or sub-series may feature a villain if it is that kind of narrative. The second instalment of Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History, "Un-Man," displays a long list but the "protean enemy" behind them all is man himself. In The Prisoner TV series, when the title character unmasks the ultimate villain, Number One, he sees his own face. Thus, "Un-Man" and The Prisoner make the same point. At the climax of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, Evy does not unmask and identify the dead V but dons one of his masks. She is the hero.

One kind of villain wants to conquer the world, thus to unite it under him. However, in "Un-Man," the UN has united the world and the villains aim to re-divide it. Heroes often race against time to save the world and succeed. In Moore's Watchmen, they race against time to prevent the world from being saved and fail. In James Blish's Black Easter, demons win Armageddon. In the sequel, Satan becomes God. Insightful authors reverse stereotypes and examine the consequences. In Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, Lucifer Morningstar retires as Lord of Hell, thus generating new problems. In Anderson's Technic History, the Merseian Roidhunate aims to conquer the galaxy but we learn that there would be autonomous realms, not a unified state. Other intelligent races and Merseians from outside the Roidhunate have no such ambition. Thus, a future history is more than a heroes and villains routine. Indeed, Dominic Flandry prevents Hugh McCormac from seizing the Imperial Throne by force but later works for the successful usurper, Hans Molitor. Fiction reflects complex reality.