Even the monsters were young once...

Baby Balrog by Merc




I vaguely recalled director Peter Jackson saying something about the cave troll being a kid once (and going home to his mom for milk and cookies) in one of those "extras" on the Fellowship of the Ring DVD. Can't recall exactly what he said (will have to go watch it again; good excuse, huh? O:))... but the point is, monsters were babies once, too.

Too often in fantasy, we have Slavering Ugly Monsters (or flaming spawn of Morgoth, or the generic equivalents) that get slaughtered needlessly. No one considers that, hey, maybe they have lives outside rampaging the world and leaving a trail of destruction behind them. (Everyone has a day job, after all.) Or that they have a history and they were kids once, too.

Like minions, monsters are often stereotyped as Evil and Hero Weapon Fodder and never given any thought beyond how many expendables (and the occasional Secondary who must die for Plot Purposes or Hero Angst) they can take out before they're destroyed. Who mourns the monsters?

So along with the Minion Union and League for Evil Minion Rights, us here at Evil Overlord Central have now opened the Center for Misunderstood Monsters. There's a therapy group every Thursday, a gallery for baby pictures (see above), and we even have nifty little pins. The mission is to make the world aware that, "Yo! Monsters have feelings too!"

Do your evil civic duty and support a lonely, misunderstood monster today (blood and soul sacrifices gleefully accepted). %-) Share the love. Hug a Balrog.

~Merc