Dr. Wily: Madman or Savior?

Click to enlarge.

Some of you may have seen the above image passed around. It’s amusing, as well as interesting, in that it essentially takes what we all know of Dr. Thomas Light, and puts a unique and entertaining spin on it.

Over at Destructoid, Tony Ponce has gone in the exact opposite direction, taking what we know of the longstanding rivalry between Dr. Light and Dr. Albert Wily, and creating a scenario in which Wily is painted as a good guy.

In Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Superman’s greatest nemesis is painted as a man who desperately wants to rid the planet of a creature that could one day be Earth’s greatest threat. In the tenth anniversary episode of The Powerpuff Girls, Mojo Jojo succeeds in becoming ruler of the world and uses his knowledge and authority to end wars, eliminate hunger, and deliver free puppies to everyone. Are these cases of abrupt character transformation, or have these villains’ actions been misunderstood from the beginning?

In the world of fiction, particularly children’s entertainment and mainstream comics, the line separating right and wrong is often clearly defined. However, readjust the camera lens ever so slightly and suddenly events are cast in a whole new light. Sometimes, being a hero means accepting the people’s scorn and hatred.

The war between Dr. Thomas Light and Dr. Albert Wily has long been accepted as a struggle to prevent a jealous sociopath from achieving global conquest. But what if that’s not the whole story? What if it was, in fact, Dr. Light who was leading the world to ruin? What if one man saw a future of destruction but was shouted down for daring to prevent the march of “progress”? By what means would he try to save humanity?

It’s an interesting, abbreviated retelling of the Classic series lore (which dovetails into X, natch) which manages to be faithful to the source material, yet gives a new sense of depth and sympathetic perspective to Wily. And you can check it all out here.

Of course, this is probably far from the first time such an angle has been explored, what with all of the fanfiction out there, but what are you going to do? It’s still a good read, and might even make a few people fans of Wily for more than just being the nut who tries to wreck all of Dr. Light’s stuff.

LanceHeart