Hi everyone. Considering I've now removed two characters from my favorite YA book series from when I was younger, it's only fair I bring in at least one character to replace them.
What is the Work?
The Gone series is a collection of novels by Michael Grant set in the California town of Perdido Beach. It follows the aftermath of an event known as the FAYZ, where a massive dome surrounded the town and anyone over 15 suddenly vanished. A handful of those that remained started to mutate and develop powers, as did some of the animals.
Who is the Character and What Has He Done?
| “ | "As early as Penny could remember their father had loved Dahlia. He had dressed Dahlia up in all kinds of outfits … feathers, silky underwear … and taken hundreds of pictures of her. Right up until Dahlia started to develop.And then, when their father lost interest in Dahlia, Penny had naturally assumed she would be the one, the beloved, the admired one. She assumed she would be the one posing, bending this way and that, showing and concealing, making little coy faces or scared faces, depending on what her father needed.But her father had barely noticed Penny. Instead he’d moved past her to pretty little Rose.And soon it was Rose starring in the pictures her father uploaded to the internet.It was a few years before Penny came to understand that what her father did was against the law.” | „ |
| ~ Yikes... as messed up as Penny is, I can't help but feel bad for her having such a twisted man as a dad |
Unlike most of the Gone series villains (including his daughter), Penny’s father is an adult. He also left his mark long before the FAYZ even began and is quite possibly the most revolting character in the series (and considering Drake Merwin also exists in this, that’s saying a lot).
We hearing about him when Penny monologues about her backstory. Apparently, her father would take inappropriate pictures of her sister Dahlia before she even went through puberty, and would post them online, basically creating and distributing CP of his own daughter.
After Dahlia went through puberty, he skipped his second oldest (Penny) and moved on to his youngest daughter Rose. Penny, not understand how much of a sick creep her father was, got jealous that he skipped her and tried to get revenge by taking her father’s computer to school and showing all her classmates the pictures. This got her father arrested, and he eventually hung himself in jail due to how much he was getting beaten up by his fellow inmates.
Heinous Standards
The heinous standards of the Gone series are no joke, with characters like Drake Merwin, Penny, Zil Sperry, Caine Soren and Mary Terafino committing/attempting acts of mass murder and torture in some cases. Even with just sexual crimes, Drake Merwin is a serial rapist who spent years living in a cave where he would rape and torture 18 people to death.
However, even with this, Penny’s father still stands out. For starters, he’s a pedophile, which already makes him pretty unique as far as villains in the series go. I believe the only other case would be with Diana Ladris’s stepfathers, but that was just a throwaway line and they were only have stated to attempted vouyerism, which while messed up, is still a step down from what Penny’s dad, who was outright stated to have taken "hundereds" of inappropriate pictures of his daughters. Secondly, there’s the fact that he did this to his own daughters, adding a massive amount of family cruelty to his crime. He’s also got a lot of personal villainy considering his actions influenced Penny into becoming the monster she is by the time of the Gone series as he warped her worldview so severely. Overall, I don’t see an issue here.
Redeeming Qualities
Nada. This guy is a sick scumbag, through and through. There’s no evidence he cares for his wife/partner, who is a severe alcoholic. He definitely doesn’t care about his daughters, two of whom he uses for his perverted crimes, and one who he completely neglected because he didn’t think she was pretty enough. While he committed suicide in jail because of how much he was getting beat up by other inmates, I don’t think I need to elaborate much on why this doesn’t make him a Scapegoat or even slightly sympathetic.
What Prevents Him From Being Pure Evil?
He’s insufficiently characterised, as the quote I listed above is all we know of him. His personality and motives are quite vague. However, I don’t think it’s too bad of a prevention as it’s stated he would have his daughters make “coy” or “frightened” faces, indicating he’s both a pervert and a sadist. Honestly, I’m kind of glad he isn’t characterised further as I feel uncomfortable just thinking about this sick bastard.
Verdict
Yes