Who is the BATB villain?

Polls and games that do not call for discussion.

Who is the villain in Beauty and the Beast

Gaston
44
71%
Beast
6
10%
Both
9
15%
Neither / There is no villain
3
5%
 
Total votes: 62

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AwallaceUNC
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Who is the BATB villain?

Post by AwallaceUNC »

I think it's Gaston. Everyone always seems to have a lot to say about this, so what do you guys think?

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Re: Who is the BATB villain?

Post by The Lizard King »

awallaceunc wrote:I think it's Gaston.
I didn't think that there was any debate about this...

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Post by AwallaceUNC »

Maybe it's only with my friends... but I brought it up on accident (believe it or not, we don't sit around and talk about Disney, lol. I wish we did! haha), and it turned in to a huge debate b/w like 8 people, and we all took different sides. Maybe it's just them, though.

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Post by Joshua Clinard »

I think it's Cogsworth. Just kidding. I can't believe that someone would actually think that the Beast is the villan!
Last edited by Joshua Clinard on Mon Apr 05, 2004 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by AwallaceUNC »

Oh, believe me, they harped on and on and on about how he was, and were equally apalled that I DIDN'T think he was. Glad to know that it seems (so far) that I'm not alone in thinking they're crazy! lol

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Post by Prince Adam »

A villian is supposed to be an obstacle that the hero must overcome on his journey. That would make Gaston a villian, although not necessarily the villian.

I think the biggest obstacle that Belle and the Beast must overcome is the Beast himself-

"But if the Master doesn't learn to control that temper..."

There are a dozen quotes like that in the film, and they all support the fact that it's the Beast's personality and mindset that the two have to overcome.
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Post by AwallaceUNC »

Well using that argument, you could say that Belle is the villain, or even society, because they also had to overcome an inability to love a beast based on how he looks.

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Post by Tangela »

Definately Gaston, he was the only one who would do anything just to marry Belle, even kill the beast. The Beast however didn't really want to kill or hurt anyone, he didn't even want to hurt Gaston, as you can see when he's hanging him high up in the castle towers, the only thing is that he was selfish at first, which kind of started the whole story.

:)
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Post by Yuki »

I've read somewhere that if a character, even if they only performed a single villian like act(not something like stealing a flower from a bouquet), they are condsidered a villian. Iago, for example, is condsidered a villian.

However, I think that Gaston is the villian. Beast, if you think about it, hasn't really done that much wrong.
That's just my point of view, however... :P
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Post by MickeyMousePal »

I voted for Gaston.
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Post by AwallaceUNC »

Ok, now that I've knocked out SB DVD, I'm starting on BATB :lol: . On Disc 2, the "Strength of Character" addresses this whole topic. Beast is labeled as bot "hero and villain" and "victor and victim," a little of all of them. Gaston is called "a real villain" who was intended to be a true faux pas at the beginning, but ended up being a comic relief villain, which is best illustrated in his song. But that is after all the beauty of the movie, the multiple dimensions of each character. I still say Gaston is the villain, though. The Beast is a protagonist (also acknolwedged in the featurette).

Gaston and Beast are each other's antithesis... ugly on the outside and golden on the inside, or vice-versa... again, from the featurette.

I know I'm not stating anything new or profound here, lol, but it kind of gels with this whole thread. :)

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Post by Grunches »

I voted for Gaston. He is the one who trys to kill the beast just for belle :cry: I'm glad he died :lol:
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Post by MickeyMousePal »

The Beast was a villian in the beginning but he change his heart for Bell.
The Beast became a different person in the inside.
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Post by AwallaceUNC »

MickeyMousePal wrote:The Beast was a villian in the beginning but he change his heart for Bell.
The Beast became a different person in the inside.
Makes sense, but I don't even know if I'd go so far as to say he's a villain in the beginning. A bit unlikable, yeah, but villainous? Hmmm.

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Re: Who is the BATB villain?

Post by Loomis »

The Lizard King wrote:
awallaceunc wrote:I think it's Gaston.
I didn't think that there was any debate about this...
Nor do I...

Despite how the Beast is viewed at the start of the film, we KNOW it is ultimately going to be a love story between the two, and Gaston is the one trying to stop that love.

So Gaston is unquestionably the villain (or maybe the talking cupboard. A bit shifty if you ask me...).
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Post by Disney Villain »


In the book "The Disney Villain" it says that both the Beast and Gaston are villains. :twisted:
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Post by Loomis »

Disney Villain wrote: In the book "The Disney Villain" it says that both the Beast and Gaston are villains. :twisted:
As I said, there is an argument for Beast being the initial villain. His behaviour at the start is consistent with this.

But as I said, we all go there KNOWING it is going to be a love story, but it will just have to get over a few hurdles. Gaston is one of those hurdles, and thus he is the villain.
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Post by Grunches »

Loomis wrote:
Disney Villain wrote: In the book "The Disney Villain" it says that both the Beast and Gaston are villains. :twisted:
As I said, there is an argument for Beast being the initial villain. His behaviour at the start is consistent with this.

But as I said, we all go there KNOWING it is going to be a love story, but it will just have to get over a few hurdles. Gaston is one of those hurdles, and thus he is the villain.
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Post by TheSequelOfDisney »

I picked both because, well, they both are an obstacle in which the other characters must overcome.
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Post by lord-of-sith »

Definitley Gaston. In the behind the scenes interviews on the DVD, Alan Menken states "the beast is really a protagonist"
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