Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown
There is a fine line, you know, between what is bad and what is evil. At first it's very easy to confuse the two, if you don't know what to look for; they're both doing the wrong thing.
The difference is that one does the wrong thing intentionally and the other does not. They're not necessarily the same way round that you imagine they might be.
He who is bad does what he does intentionally, for effect or for a reaction or whatever motive the individual has. He knows all along that what he's doing is wrong and that is precisely why he does it; if it was acceptable then it would be no fun. The bad one is always the thrill seeker, the rebel - he thrives on these titles. He understands the difference between right and wrong and knowingly selects his choice.
He who is evil does what he does because his mind has become so twisted and self absorbed that what he is doing has become the right thing. He might know that it's technically categorised as 'wrong', but he does not care because he can only see it as being right. This may be difficult to understand; if not, then it should be. But he truly believes that he is doing the right thing, even when the world around him crumbles and shuns him and tells him that he is wrong. He will not listen, will not stop.
In the world of the Heylin, both types of people exist. The Xiaolin monks may call them all evil but that's like calling every holiday Christmas. Yes, Christmas does exist, but what about Easter or Halloween? It's a stereotype, in some ways.
Most of the Heylin are not evil at all, just bad. They do what they do because it's bad, because they get a kick out of fighting against good and coveting the rewards of their wrong-doings. Ruling the world is the greatest of these rewards and so it becomes their mutual aspiration, something to compete over, something that will stop them from becoming a team. However, those who are truly evil do not have this as a mere aspiration; they see world domination as an actual goal, an achieve that they will not simply dream of but actually seize someday. See the difference? You might be able to see it but it's doubtful that you'd ever understand it. Even after all my years of training to become a Xiaolin Dragon, I barely understand it.
The 'evil' of today is mostly bad: Katnappe, Tubbimura, Pandabubba, they're all the same. Bad. There is little genuine evil left in existence, even though it is still there in the form of Wuya, Hannibal Roy Bean and Chase Young. Evil and bad, the two types of opposition to the Xiaolin.
And then there is what is in between the two - this is where it really starts to get complicated.
Those who fall between 'evil' and 'bad' are even rarer than those who are truly evil. The fine line between the two is so slim that it can contain only a select few, and each generation will have one, maybe two of three, who can actually be somewhere in between the two. The dragons-in-training right now have only ever faced one such person. Ironically enough, he was their first enemy and even now continues to fight, when he has become more of an annoyance to them than a threat.
I speak, of course, of Jack Spicer.
The monks have always made the mistake of thinking he was closer to good than he claimed; I believe Hannibal Bean also came to this uninformed conclusion.
Jack Spicer is, to the inexperienced eye, simply bad - a nasty teenager with a big mouth who got himself into trouble that he should have stayed well out of, going around hurting people for the fun of it and claiming that he wants to rule the world even though it's a laughable idea. But then you have to look closer and closer and closer still, and then you see it: the part of him that is not bad, but pure evil.
This part of him is what people sometimes call insecurity and they are wrong; it is not insecurity, it is brewing evil. That little part of him that 'just wants him to prove himself' has far more to it than meets the eye. Yes, at first it may have simply been that, but now it is so much more. Now it is evil. It has morphed into a deep desire to prove himself but not temporarily, with some big deed that says 'look at me and how clever and bad I am!' - now it is a thirst to genuinely take power and hang onto it forever.
I know what young Omi and the other monks saw when he froze himself for a quest and destroyed the future, when he awoke to find the world under the control of Jack Spicer. This was the wake-up call I needed to realise the true potential of the albino teenager; I only wish that everyone else could have seen it, too, but I suppose I have only noticed because I am a very old, very experienced Xiaolin Dragon.
That's one of the most interesting things about those who are simply bad, you know - they can never get what they really want. None of them would ever be able to achieve world domination, no matter how much they might preach about it. It takes true evil to achieve that, it always has. And had it been Chase Young or Wuya, nobody would have been surprised. That it was Jack Spicer was an eye-opener.
It proved that he has true evil in him, even if it is unintentionally disguised by a thick veil of 'bad'. He falls into both categories; he walks that fine line, one foot in each world and never knowing it so never able to make the decision of which foot to lift away.
The only hope I have is that the Xiaolin monks realise this and do something about it, before someone else does. With the way the evil boy genius attaches himself to the dragon warlord, it would be so easy for Chase Young to corrupt the boy into true and complete evil if he realised Spicer's potential. It would be nice to think that Spicer would tell him where to go, but alas that is illogical and wrong; if Chase Young whistled, he would come running, straight into the evil he could one day become. It's possible that even Hannibal Bean could do it, though I think past treachery of the Heylin witch will prevent him from ever properly trusting Wuya that much again.
Then again, maybe the Xiaolin monks will influence him first. There are endless possibilities.
Because there is also a fine line between what is good and what is evil, but that's another story.
Any guesses as to whose POV this was in? If you write your guess in a review, I'll PM you to let you know the answer!
Please R&R