Rodent Spotlight: Rat (Redux)

Rats have always been filed under "Detestable Vermin" since the beginning of time. The reasons should be obvious. Think about where we always find them: a trashcan, a swamp, the sewer, and even a dump. They live in all the places that humans don't really want to deal with, yet they seem perfectly pleased to be there.

Our dark perception of the rodent has since led us to generally categorize them as villains in fiction. It is a common occurrence that I very much agree with. I like rats as villains. Here is a creature that loves everything rotten and disgusting about the world. Why wouldn't we expect them to be against us?

Now, where I understand that all species of rodents can be portrayed as good or evil in their own way, I believe I covered that well enough in my first rat blog. So I am going to focus on the evil of rats this time. Try not to get too uncomfortable; although, it should come with the territory.

In the movie "The Tale of Despereaux" (2008) rats were most certainly the villains of the story. Yes, there was ONE--kind of, sorta of--good rat, but it was very clear that the world was filled with a majority of nasty ones. Quite a daunting little army to overcome. The problem with rats is that they eat anything--even each other when given the opportunity. Can you imagine being a tiny, little mouse trying to sneak past all those savage creatures? It also did not help that their great rat leader was one of the smart ones!

My absolute favorite animated film was called "The Mouse and his Child." (1977) It is based on a novel by Russell Hoban. I have completely reviewed them both, and I must say that they do well to capture the society of ratkind within fiction. I was happily disgusted to see the main antagonist, Manny Rat, feeding off the corpses of fallen soldiers in a recent shrew war. The movie and book showed rats to be party animals with absolutely no shame. They ate anything, drank anything, and played in garbage to their heart's content. And as we have come to expect, they were really quite evil.

In my former rat spotlight, I mentioned a movie called "Heidi's Song." (1982) Well, I'm mentioning it again because it really is quite relevant. You see, I read the actual book "Heidi" by Johanna Spyri, There are no rats in that book; although, the girl was somewhat concerned about running into them. In the animated film, Paramount Pictures decided to go ahead and give the girl to the evil rats lurking around in the cellar. Their leader--voiced by none other than Sammy Davis Jr.--did this amazing song and dance routine that was all about how evil rats were. I still love that scene more than anything else in that movie.

In my own fiction, I have ventured into the realm of evil concerning rats. My very first novel (currently unpublished) was called "Rat," and it was about a very evil example of the rodent named Cornelius Wolfington the Third. Greatly inspired by "The Mouse and his Child," I likewise portrayed the rats as party animals but also included their more vicious side.

Lately, I have been working on a new breed of evil rat which I have simply called the "Voodoo Rat." It is a major work in progress, and I have yet to write any story for them. But you may be sure that they will be very dark and mischievous creatures when they are complete.

So there you have it: some marvelous examples of dark and terrifying rats! I don't believe this trend will ever end, and why should it? Nothing makes a story more interesting than a vile villain for the reader to despise, and the rat fits the bill in many ways. I am sure we will see more of those guys crawling out of the sewers to wreak havoc on our peaceful civilization for many generations to come.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, please comment below, or you can email me at tooie@tooiekangaroo.com. Hisssssss!