Police inspector
36-415: " Villain of the week " (or, depending on genre, " monster of the week ", " freak of the week ", " alien of the week ", or "dinosaur of the week ") is an antagonist that only appears in one episode of a multi-episode work of fiction, commonly British, American, and Japanese genre-based television series . As many shows of this type air episodes weekly at a rate of ten to twenty new episodes per year, there
72-463: A policeman and denounces him. They find on him a little round card pasted between two pieces of glass, and bearing on one side the arms of France, engraved, and with this motto: Supervision and vigilance, and on the other this note: "JAVERT, inspector of police, aged fifty-two," and the signature of the Prefect of Police of that day, M. Gisquet. The revolutionaries imprison him. When Valjean appears at
108-416: A true opponent not only wants to prevent the hero from achieving his desire but is competing with the hero for the same goal. According to John Truby, "It is only by competing for the same goal that the hero and the opponent are forced to come into direct conflict and to do so again and again throughout the story." Javert Javert ( French pronunciation: [ʒavɛʁ] ), no first name given in
144-488: Is considered a bass-baritone or baritone role. He wears a standard costume designed to look like a mid-19th century French policeman. He was portrayed by Roger Allam in the Original London Production and Terrence Mann in the original Broadway cast of Les Misérables. Ethan Freeman was notable for highlighting Javert's inner pain and his more emotional connection to Valjean. Philip Quast played
180-620: Is honorable. I have failed in my duty; I ought to be punished; I must be turned out." He condemns himself at length—"if I were not severe towards myself, all the justice that I have done would become injustice"—and begs to be dismissed. Madeleine/Valjean travels to the court in Arras, discloses his identity, and saves Champmathieu. He returns to Montreuil-sur-Mer, where Javert arrests him the next morning at Fantine's hospital bedside. Valjean asks for three days to bring Fantine's daughter Cosette to her, but Javert denies his request. Valjean escapes from
216-429: Is observed by a tall figure, which is revealed to be Javert. Valjean repeats that he is ready to surrender, but he asks for Javert's help in delivering the wounded boy to safety. They travel to Valjean's house, and Javert says that he will wait for Valjean to come back downstairs. However, when Valjean looks out of the window, Javert is gone. Javert wanders the streets in emotional turmoil: his mind simply cannot reconcile
252-478: Is often a new antagonist in the plot of each week's episode. The main characters usually confront and vanquish these characters, often never encountering them again. Shows that use such characters include Doctor Who , Supernatural , Primeval , Grimm , Charmed , Smallville , and Scooby-Doo . Some series alternate between using such antagonists and furthering the series' ongoing plotlines (as in Buffy
288-511: Is really Valjean and whom several former convicts have already identified as Valjean. Unsure, Javert goes to Arras to see Champmathieu and satisfies himself that this is the real Valjean. He returns and visits Madeleine and asks him to dismiss him from the police because he "has failed in respect, and in the gravest manner, towards a magistrate" by suspecting Madeleine. He tells Madeleine: "You will say that I might have handed in my resignation, but that does not suffice. Handing in one's resignation
324-487: Is reversed can be seen in the character Macduff from Macbeth , who is arguably morally correct in his desire to fight the tyrant Macbeth , the protagonist. Examples from television include J.R. Ewing ( Larry Hagman ) from Dallas and Alexis Colby ( Joan Collins ) from Dynasty . Both became breakout characters used as a device to increase their shows' ratings. Characters may be antagonists without being evil – they may simply be injudicious and unlikeable for
360-465: Is used as a plot device, to set up conflicts, obstacles, or challenges for the protagonist. Though not every story requires an antagonist, it often is used in plays to increase the level of drama. In tragedies, antagonists are often the cause of the protagonist's main problem, or lead a group of characters against the protagonist; in comedies, they are usually responsible for involving the protagonist in comedic situations. Author John Truby argues that
396-485: Is without vices, but upon occasion will take a pinch of snuff . His life is one "of privations, isolation, self-denial, and chastity—never any amusement". Javert has been described as a legalist: His "moral foundation... is built strictly on legalism"; he is "one of the most tragic legalists in Western literature" and "the consummate legalist". Born in a prison (his mother a fortune-teller and his father serving in
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#1732783817023432-534: The Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – antagonistēs , "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, rival," which is derived from anti- ("against") and agonizesthai ("to contend for a prize"). The antagonist is commonly positioned against the protagonist and their world order. While narratives often portray the protagonist as a hero and the antagonist as a villain , like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter ,
468-478: The June Rebellion , in which he is first spared by Valjean and, later, spares him arrest, Javert experiences a deep torment caused by the compromise of his previous worldview. Where previously he has "never in his life known anything but one straight line", Jean Valjean's behavior compels him to see two: "both equally straight", and "contradictory." The profound confusion caused by this—by the realization that
504-660: The prison galleys ), Javert sees himself as excluded from a society that "irrevocably closes its doors on two classes of men, those who attack it and those who guard it." He becomes a law officer on the basis of "an irrepressible hatred for that bohemian race to which he belong[s]" and a personal foundation of "rectitude, order, and honesty." So devoted is he to this choice that, Hugo writes, "[h]e would have arrested his own father if he escaped from prison and turned in his own mother for breaking parole. And he would have done it with that sort of interior satisfaction that springs from virtue." Following his encounters with Jean Valjean during
540-575: The Vampire Slayer , Supernatural , Fringe , and The X-Files ), while others use these one-time foes as pawns of the recurring adversaries (as in Kamen Rider , Sailor Moon , the Ultra series and Super Sentai and its American equivalent, Power Rangers ). In some cases, these villains return reformed in later episodes, becoming invaluable allies or gaining a larger role in
576-493: The antagonist does not always appear as the villain. In some narratives, like Light Yagami and L in Death Note , the protagonist is a villain and the antagonist is an opposing hero. Antagonists are conventionally presented as making moral choices less savory than those of protagonists. This condition is often used by an author to create conflict within a story. This is merely a convention, however. An example in which this
612-532: The audience. In some stories, such as The Catcher in the Rye , almost every character other than the protagonist may be an antagonist. Another example of this occurring is through Javert in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables , in which Javert displays no malicious intent, but instead represents the rigid and inflexible application of the law, even when it leads to moral and ethical dilemmas. An aspect or trait of
648-522: The barricade with the intent of finding Marius , the beloved of his adopted daughter, he and Javert recognize one another. Valjean requests, as reward for protecting the barricade from soldiers and national guardsmen, that he be allowed to execute Javert. Enjolras, the leader of the insurrection, acquiesces, and Valjean leads Javert away from the barricade and into a side street. There, instead of killing Javert, Valjean cuts his bonds and implores him to run and save himself. He also gives Javert his address, in
684-645: The character in the 10th Anniversary Concert in 1995. He has also been played by notable broadway actor Norm Lewis in the 2010 25th anniversary concert . Russell Crowe played the policeman in the 2012 movie of Les Misérables . Other people who have played the character include Bradley Jaden , Michael Ball , Earl Carpenter , Clive Carter , Robert Cuccioli , Anthony Crivello , Hadley Fraser , Shuler Hensley , Brian Stokes Mitchell , Geoffrey Rush , Will Swenson , Hayden Tee , David Thaxton , Chuck Wagner , and Robert Westenberg . Inspector Franklin Jalbert,
720-576: The character of Valjean. In the novel, Hugo describes Javert as "a marble informer, Brutus in Vidocq". Javert first becomes familiar with the convict Jean Valjean as an assistant guard in the Bagne of Toulon . Years later, in 1823, the fugitive Valjean is living under the name Monsieur Madeleine and serving as the mayor of a small town identified as Montreuil-sur-Mer , where he is a successful manufacturer. Javert arrives in 1820 to serve as an inspector with
756-530: The child Petit Gervais. Hugo writes that Javert is composed of two "simple" sentiments, which are "respect for authority" and "hatred of rebellion." In Javert's eyes, "murder, robbery, all crimes, are only forms of rebellion." He also "(envelops) in a blind and profound faith everyone who had a function in the state, from the prime minister to the rural policeman." Reflective thought is "an uncommon thing for him, and singularly painful" because thought inevitably contains "a certain amount of internal rebellion." He
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#1732783817023792-414: The city jail, is later recaptured and returned to the galleys, and escapes a few months later, though the authorities think he has drowned. Javert is recruited to be an inspector in the capital. Javert is informed of Valjean's presumed death (which the latter had feigned during his last escape) not long after it happens. Early in the year 1824, Javert hears of an alleged kidnapping: a foster child taken from
828-579: The couple that kept her. When he hears that this is supposed to have taken place in Montfermeil (Valjean was captured just as he was trying to get there), he visits the Thénardiers. Thénardier, however, does not want to become involved with the police, and tells Javert that the girl was fetched by her grandfather, and that he saw the man's passport. In March of the same year, Javert hears of a man nicknamed "the beggar who gives alms." Curious, he tracks
864-441: The dark and muck of the sewer, does not recognise him. Thénardier assumes that Valjean is a robber who had just killed a well-to-do young man, and he offers to let Valjean out of the sewer if Valjean splits the loot found on Marius' person in half. Valjean pays him, and Thénardier opens for him a sewer grate with a stolen government-issued key. Valjean's joy at finally being out of the sewer does not last long. Valjean notices that he
900-453: The gang. Unbeknownst to Javert, the venerable elderly gentleman whom the Thénardiers and Patron-Minette intend to extort is Jean Valjean. When Marius overhears the plans for capturing Valjean, he informs the police of the imminent crime, and is introduced to inspector Javert, who gives him two pistols to fire a signal for when he and his team should enter the building. Javert does not have the opportunity to recognize Valjean upon saving him from
936-403: The gang; however, Valjean recognizes Javert almost immediately and makes a quick escape out the window of the attic where the confrontation was taking place. During the 1832 June Rebellion , Javert, working undercover to gather information about the revolutionaries, joins a group of them at the barricade they have erected in the rue de la Chanvrerie. Gavroche , a street urchin, recognizes him as
972-414: The image he had carried through the years of Valjean as a brutal ex-convict with his acts of kindness on the barricades. Now, Javert can be justified neither in letting Valjean go nor in arresting him. For the first time in his life, Javert is faced with the situation where he cannot act lawfully without acting immorally , and vice versa. Javert is unable to find a solution to this dilemma, and horrified at
1008-452: The law is not infallible, that he himself is not irreproachable, and that there exists a superior force (identified by Hugo with God) to what he has known—plunges him into such a despair that he commits suicide. The character of Javert is loosely based on Eugène François Vidocq , a criminal and adventurer who became a police official (though Vidocq wrote that he never arrested anyone who stole out of need). Hugo also drew on Vidocq's life for
1044-534: The local police. Javert suspects Madeleine's true identity and becomes convinced of it when he watches Madeleine demonstrate extraordinary strength by lifting a loaded cart off of a man trapped beneath it. Madeleine also antagonizes Javert by dismissing his attempt to arrest Fantine , a prostitute detained for having a violent row with a street idler. Javert decides to denounce Valjean as an ex-convict, but learns from Parisian authorities that they have already arrested someone who calls himself Champmathieu whom they believe
1080-608: The man to the Gorbeau House tenement, and recognizes Jean Valjean. When Valjean attempts to escape with Cosette, Javert chases them into what seems to him a dead end. Valjean evades capture by climbing over the stone wall of a convent and pulling Cosette up over the wall on a rope. In 1832, Javert chances to meet Valjean again while leading a squad of policemen in the capture of a gang which had been terrorizing Paris for years: Patron-Minette . The Thénardiers, who have lost their inn, now live at Gorbeau House and are associated with
1116-424: The original publication of Les Misérables in 1862, the character of Javert has appeared in a large number of adaptations in numerous types of media based on the novel, including books , films , musicals , plays , games , and web-comics. In the stage musical of the same name , Javert is a central character. His character, and his role in the plot, is largely unchanged and he remains the primary antagonist. His
Villain of the week - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-466: The protagonist may be considered an antagonist, such as morality or indecisiveness. An antagonist is not always a person or people. In some cases, an antagonist may be a force, such as a tidal wave that destroys a city; a storm that causes havoc; or even a certain area's conditions that are the root cause of a problem. An antagonist may or may not create obstacles for the protagonist. Societal norms or other rules may also be antagonists. An antagonist
1188-465: The source novel, is a fictional character and a main antagonist of Victor Hugo 's 1862 novel Les Misérables . He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a police inspector, his character is defined by his legalist tendencies, authoritarian worldview, and lack of empathy for criminals of all forms. In the novel, he persecutes the protagonist Jean Valjean after his violation of parole and theft from
1224-401: The story. "Villain of the week" plotlines are attractive to syndicators , as it means that episodes can be rerun in any order and do not need to be aired in sequence as serials with continuing storylines do. Antagonist (literature) An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist . The English word antagonist comes from
1260-484: The sudden realization that Valjean was simultaneously a criminal and a good person — a conundrum which reveals deep flaws in his ethical system, and suggests to him the existence of a superior moral system. He feels that the only possible resolution for himself is in death, and—after leaving for the prefect of police a brief letter addressing lapses in the Conciergerie — he drowns himself in the river Seine . Since
1296-424: The unlikely case that he survives the uprising. Valjean then fires a shot into the air and returns to the barricade, where he tells everyone that the policeman is dead. As the army storms the barricade, Valjean manages to grab the badly wounded Marius and dives into a sewer, where he wanders with Marius on his shoulders, despairing of finding an exit. A stroke of luck brings him face to face with Thénardier , who, in
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