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This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
| “ | Nonsense! Who forces you to die? You're a human after all. Drunk again, right? | „ |
| ~ Bá Kiến beginning to manipulate Chí Phèo. |
| “ | You have to be tough and soft at times when working as an government official. | „ |
| ~ Bá Kiến to Village Mayor Cường; one of his most famous quotes. |
Bá Kiến is the main antagonist of Nam Cao's short story Chí Phèo as well as the film Once Upon a Time in Vũ Đại Village, a composite adaptation of Nam Cao's stories. He is the canton chief of the Vũ Đại Village who is responsible for the titular Chí's descend into villainy. He is also the arch-nemesis of the Vũ Đại Village, Teacher Thứ, Old Man Hạc and Chí Phèo.
In Once Upon a Time in Vũ Đại Village, he was portrayed by Mạnh Sinh.
Personality[]
| “ | First he feared heroes, second he feared daredevils. | „ |
| ~ Bá Kiến's fears. |
| “ | He thought, shouldn't the thugs needed too? Without the thugs, who would take care of the thugs? | „ |
| ~ Bá Kiến's mindset. |
Bá Kiến is a very manipulative man, who can bribes a chaotic person like Chí Phèo into doing his bidding. The representation of Vietnamese elitists at the time, he considers his wealth and position mean he can do whatever he wants, and seeks to destroy anyone who stands against him. Worse yet, Bá Kiến knows to destroy a person's life and then offer them a hand so they would serve him, and use thugs to fight other thugs, making him so fearsome that not only the villagers but also the village's other nobles fear him. However, beneath this manipulative facade, he is nothing more than a coward, fearing heroes first and daredevils second.
He's also very envious and petty, as shown when he framed Chí because his third wife tried to seduce him, and contemplates framing more boys for imprisonment merely because they pay attention to his fourth wife's beauty. In addition, he also can't stand anyone rivaling him, ordering Chí to eliminate them all.
It's implied that he doesn't see his wives and son as family either, but as objects he's entitled to possess. Furthermore, despite being jealous of Chí, he secretly has an affair with Binh Chức's wife, making him a hypocrite. Whenever Binh Chức gives his wife money he receives from his soldier career, she would give it to Bá Kiến, thus Kiến secretly feeds on Binh Chức's hard work. At the same time, Bá Kiến also fears his wives, shrinking before their criticisms.
Bá Kiến also doesn't tolerate failure, as when his servant Nhỡ fails to convince Old Man Hạc to sell his garden for Kiến, Kiến calls him useless and throws wine at him before demanding him to go away, demonstrating a more wrathful side beneath Kiến's calm facade. When Old Man Hạc commits suicide, which is also due to Bá Kiến's fault to begin with, Bá Kiến heartlessly tells everyone who is visiting him to go home and takes advantage of his death to extort money to allow burying him, further showing his lack of empathy.
Overall, Bá Kiến is an irredeemable monster who cares about nothing and no one but himself, and is among the most vile figures in Vietnamese fiction as well as fiction in general.
Biography[]
Chí Phèo[]
Bá Kiến was originally Village Mayor Kiến, the village mayor of the Vũ Đại village. He had three wives and once Chí worked for him. When his third wife was trying to seduce Chí, Kiến was jealous and framed Chí, forcing the latter to be imprisoned.
When Chí is released, he has completely changed in both appearance and personality: He has multiple scars on his face, and likes to drink wine, swear and cause troubles. Chí then throws tantrums at Kiến's yard, much to the latter's son and the new village mayor Cường's dismay. Kiến, now the canton chief, has just returned in time and bribes Chí into silence. Ever since, Kiến manipulates Chí into eliminating his rivals, effectively turning Chí into his enforcer.
After being rejected by Thị Nở, Chí attempts to kill her aunt who forced her to reject him. However due to being drunk and habit, he goes to Kiến's house. At the time, Kiến is thinking about his jealousy at the village's boys' attention at his fourth wife and contemplating framing them for imprisonment just like he has done with Chí, repeating history all over again. As Chí enters and tells Kiến that he wants to be a good person, Kiến laughs and tells him that it will benefit everyone. However, Chí says that no one allows him to be a good person and stabs Kiến to death, before committing suicide.
Once Upon a Time in Vũ Đại Village[]
Like in the short story, Bá Kiến was originally Village Mayor Kiến, and framed Chí for imprisonment out of jealousy when his third wife was trying to seduce Chí, which turned Chí into a different person. When Chí returns and throws tantrums in his yard, the now-canton chief Kiến bribes Chí with money to buy wine and subtly turns the latter into his enforcer. At the same time, he learns that the Teacher Thứ is exposing his and his son Cường's shady activities on newspaper, and wants to silence him. Kiến also expresses his desire of wanting to buy Old Man Hạc's garden and dog Vàng, much to the old man's displeasure.
Later on, when Old Man Hạc commits suicide due to unable to live with the guilt of selling his beloved Vàng, Bá Kiến and Lý Cường tell everyone who are visiting him to go home. Chí tells the villagers that Kiến and Cường are extorting money to allow burying Hạc, much to Kiến's anger as he tells Chí to watch his mouth. After Old Man Hạc's funeral, and due to being rejected by Thị Nở, Chí contemplates his life before coming to Kiến's house. At the time Kiến is going to go out, and Chí tells Kiến that he wants to be a good person but no one allows him to be, before stabbing Kiến to death and committing suicide.
Despite Bá Kiến's death, his legacy still haunts the Vũ Đại village as Cường becomes the new canton chief and continues his father's evil work.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Bá Kiến was based on the real life figure Bá Bính.
- Like Chí Phèo, Bá Kiến is considered to be an iconic figure in Vietnamese literature and fiction in general. He has since been considered a staple for a master manipulator, similar to Emperor Palpatine in America.
External Links[]
- Bá Kiến on the Pure Evil Wiki