Jonas Cook: The Greatest Character Villain in the Realms

Jonas Cook: The Greatest Character Villain in the Realms

(An OOC look at the creation of Villains)

Disclaimer: I have written this opinion essay in a day as a way to relax from my intensive semester of academic writing so by no means is this a finished piece of writing. There are other topics on good villain creation that I wanted to touch on but my goal was to finish this essay before crunch time this semester.

I have made the effort to fact check but if something I wrote is not true, offensive, or flawed in any way it was not my intention and I am open to suggestions. I am also open to writing more of these. 

Special thank you to Dave Dolph for taking the time to give his personal insight on the character Jonas Cook. Dave’s performance this past summer helped inspire my ideas on villain creation. 

Key Terms: 

OOC/Out of Character,   IC/In Character,   Player/OOC Identity,   Character/IC Identity

You will often find that TV shows will have a “monster/villain of the week” to create a visible opponent that keeps the protagonists engaged as well as the audience. While these one-shot villains are fun and sometimes very challenging opponents, the novelty of a different opponent losses it’s spark and makes to repetitive storytelling. The overarching season villain is also interesting but sometimes are not relatable enough to really stick emotionally. Everything changes though when the “villain of the week” is a former allies as the protagonist must deal with an opponent who is far more personal than anything they have faced.  

Jonas Cook had the Realms feeling the same way. Jonas Cook for two years spent time in the Realms expanding his presence and tried to create friends in many places. He attempted to join the Knights of Blackwood and Priesthood of Aurora, among others, to become part of the orders we as players and characters know and respect. He was also a naïve character and expressed in different ways his need for acceptance with some even going as far as saying he was a man-child. In many ways Jonas represents the unspoken need for all players in the Realms to gain some sort of recognition or acknowledgment that they exist. After all, the Realms is a social game.

Through different means, Jonas then slowly develops through the interactions with players and eventually gains control of the Shades because of his sister Nadia. Arguably Nadia is the cause of the downfall of Jonas Cook as she enables him to gain the power that will eventually become the Shadow King. In doing so, Jonas tries to become recognized through power which some player characters in the Realms have tried to do as well. The Realms as a whole did not truly understand the changes that Jonas Cook was going through until it was too late and the theft of the Chimronian Crown. After this point most adventures know of what happened (If not, then make sure to ask someone who was involved. I am sure they will more than willing to tell of their adventures). 

Now I want to focus on why Jonas is one of the best villain characters whose presence has graced the Realms. 

First is the fact that two years were devoted solely to the creation of a character. Two years is a lot of Realms time devoted to just developing the background of a character. Two years is more time than I have been playing the Realms and in that time I have made some great friends and many acquaintances. 

Second is the relatability of Jonas to the average player. Jonas went through as similar process as I (the player) did trying to find my place and where I can fit it. And what scares me the most is that I (the player) can see myself and others in a similar position of becoming a Jonas-like character just by changing my first few interactions. While Jonas is a caricature of my first year insecurities, he nevertheless creates sympathy because we all as players went through this process at some point or another. 

Third is our inherent laziness (or fear of laziness) as people. Jonas tried to have it all without trying and was entitled by his sister. These flaws make for a deadly combination of man-child that had superpowers who just wants to be recognized for who he is. Jonas once again demonstrates what happens when these flaws are taken to an extreme by creating a caricature of laziness and entitlement which resonates with the players. Those who already fear laziness are revolted by the abuse of power from one who should not have it. Others who are lazy take a moment to think “I am not that lazy” and sub-conscientiously make the effort to never sink to the level of laziness that Jonas Cook thrived at. 

No recent villain character in the Realms as far as I know can match Jonas Cook. Other large scale plots have used a powerful being whose goal is just to destroy or wreck their surroundings. These villains are also not from this world which makes it more acceptable that they would want to destroy. What is created then is a prefect black and white conflict; bad villain is bad, Realms is good. When a story has only two sides the story then becomes stale. 

Jonas breaks the villain mold as a grey villain. He is relatable in many respects and creates caricatures of the flaws that Realms players will encounter at some point playing the game. He also changed and evolved through his interactions with the Realms like a normal character. If anything, Jonas will remind us how we should be and will make us double check our actions. When someone asks you “Is that something that Jonas would do?” you will immediately think more critically about the next action you will take. To be able to change the way someone thinks is a great achievement in storytelling and which no ordinary villain of the Realms can do. While he may be gone his impact on the way others think makes Jonas Cook, in my opinion, the Greatest Character Villain in the Realms. 

Michel Venne

Jace Moonshadow of Eagle’s Rook