Beautiful People #4: da Vale (Again!)

I am stealing away some precious homework time to bring to you my fourth Beautiful People post (or should it be #3.5?). The reason why I'm doing Angelo da Vale yet again is because the theme this month is Villains. And he is my favorite (and most current) villain. So he gets a double treatment.

(If you want to read da Vale Part One, or need a reminder about who he is, you can read this. It also has a picture of him there, if you're a visual sort of person.)

Here we go:

1. What is their motive?

You know, I really should have expected this question, given that "all villains must have a motive," and yet my one big question mark with da Vale is his motive. So.

Da Vale wants power. Why does he want power? He's lost so much to his efforts to getting that power - there has to be something pushing him.

That thing - that motive - it has something to do with his father and the family honor and proving himself and raining down Justice.

What it is exactly, I have yet to find out. Da Vale is a man of many mysteries.

2. What do they want, and what are they prepared to do to get it?

As I said, da Vale wants power. Power over his enemies, power over the ones he loves, and, ultimately, power over all of Venice. And goodness, he is prepared to do ever so much to get it. He's already lost his mother, his sister, and the love of his life to his ever-present ambition, so now he feels like he can't turn back.

3. How do they deal with conflict?

Da Vale is an expert at dealing with conflict. He can judge the fluctuations and direction of an argument and intercept it just when his voice will make the most impact. He knows the right words to calm the right kinds of people, and is most definitely willing to straight-out lie if it will make people come over to his side. He's a very convincing liar.

4. Describe their current place of residence.

As a member of the Council of Ten, da Vale has his own private quarters in the Doge's Palace. They are elegantly and luxuriously simple.

5. If they were writing this story, how would it end?

With him as the leading power in Venice, of course. Being Doge would be nice.

He would be loved, feared, hated, and adored all at the same time. (You know, like God is loved, feared, hated, and adored all at the same time?) And that blasted steward would rot in prison, with all his coconspirators.

6. What habits, speech patterns, etc. are unique to them?

Well, I mentioned in the last BP post that he does have an affinity for the phrase, "Now then, let's not lose our heads." But in addition, he also enjoys occasionally injecting a touch of timely and significant sarcasm into his speech.

7. How do they show love? What do they like to do with/for people they love?

Da Vale's ultimate gift of love is his time. Because his work and ambition are, it seems, his first love, it is very rare that he takes time out of his day to spend with special people. When he does - it means a lot.

(This is also why his fiancee left him. She said his work was taking him too much away from her.)

8. Do they have any pets?

No. Da Vale does not believe in "pets". "Pets" are for noblewomen with too much time on their hands who need a little lapdog to coddle.

9. Where would they go to relax/think?

He likes to get to the councilchamber early, to go through the cases of the day and gaze up at the painted ceiling, on which gods and angels enact Justice.

10. What is their weapon of choice?

Words. And his smile. Ideally, the two combined.

I really like where da Vale is going! After taking a break from this story after Camp NaNo, I think I'm ready to dive back into it. I might even start all over with the plot and use it as my NaNovel this November!

~Sophia

P.S. See all my Beautiful People posts HERE!