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Opposites, part 2.
Sergeant Preston's opposite isn't quite as clear-cut as John Constantine's, but I've thought it over a bit and come up with the characteristics. I don't really have a candidate, but if you can think of one after reading this, let me know.
Begin with this: Sergeant Preston's opposite is a complete and utter sociopath. As far as Preston's opposite is concerned, there is nothing worth bothering about in this world beyond that which is of immediate importance to himself or herself. Preston's opposite would, consequently, have no conscience worth mentioning. A sense of right and wrong that went dead a long time ago, perhaps. Or, possibly, it might be that no such sense ever formed at all. Either way there would be no underlying moral structure to Preston's opposite's actions.
Preston's opposite would have no respect for anyone, including himself or herself. Canonically, Preston is equally polite and helpful to an English-accented bishop (I'm assuming he was C of E), an Irish-accented Catholic priest, and a religious fellow who was repeatedly called 'padre'. He is just as willing to assist a small girl in finding her lost puppy as he is willing to assist in tracking down criminals- on the stated grounds that 'she's a citizen too'. He has approached and worked with extremely vicious dogs on several occasions, but never once used excessive or gratuitous force; aside from muzzling a pup that bit his hand all the way down to the bone, I don't believe he's ever been unpleasant to the animals he's worked with. I consider these signs of strong respect for others, which rarely (if ever) exists without a sense of self-respect at its core. Preston's opposite wouldn't give two hoots about other people, and would probably not care much about himself or herself either.
This does not mean Preston's opposite would not want other people to care. Preston's opposite would insist on respect from people he or she met, and be very angry when none was forthcoming. "Don't you know who I am?" would be a fairly common phrase in his or her vocabulary. Picture the sort of thug who shoots other thugs for perceived acts of 'dissing', and you would have the right general idea.
Preston's opposite would have no qualms about indulging in unsavoury appetites. Preston has never once in radio canon consumed alcohol- in one episode, he tells a bartender who offers it to him that he doesn't drink while on duty. The barman laughs and responds with, "I know, I know- and a Mountie's on duty twenty four hours a day. . . here's your milk." I do not recall hearing any references to anyone smoking or chewing tobacco in the radio series (unusual for a series that ran from 1938-1950something!), but I have little doubt that he'd avoid either habit, if only because they're messy and a discredit to the uniform. His opposite would probably smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, and swear like John Constantine.
Preston's opposite would hold the not-too-uncommon view of his or her day that animals, all animals, were nothing more than stimulus-response automata. This would be grounds for kicking, beating, and overloading any dogs he or she might own, as well as inconvenient dogs belonging to other people. Wild animals would be spoken of disparagingly if at all, but credited with immense cunning and wit when they eluded his or her trap or gun.
Preston's opposite's view and treatment of women would not be terribly different from his or her view and treatment of animals. I would say Preston's opposite would go out of his or her way not to talk to women, but I don't think that's really the case. More likely, he or she would simply not see women, because they couldn't possibly be of importance.
There would be an exception to this, of course. To the invisibility bit, at least- Preston's opposite would shag anything that moved. The radio series includes at least one example of Preston very carefully sidestepping a woman's interest in him, the episode "Belle Brady's Gesture". Belle was an older single woman who operated her own 'café' (I believe most of the places called cafés in the series were saloons, their names changed for the sake of family hour standards). She made a deliberate effort to dress up and look impressive whenever Preston was going to be around, and subtly hinted at the idea that she wouldn't be averse to his company. At one point she tried to win his approval by taking a chunk of her money and using it to pay for supply caches along local trails, knowing that he'd appreciate her kindness towards strangers. None of her gambits worked. I believe that this is because the minds behind the radio series were a) playing to the twelve-year-old boy segment of the audience, b) facing the popular assumption that the Shining Hero had to be Married To His Job, and possibly c) looking at a biography of Superintendent Sam Steele and asking 'how long did it take him to get married?', rather than for slashy reasons. It's not as if he had a close male companion, after all. There wasn't even a recurring male role for anyone but Preston unless you count his dog, Yukon King. In the end the result is the same: his opposite would have to be willing to get down and dirty with pretty nearly anything that moved.
Mind you, this would generally require payment in advance. Preston had friends all over the Yukon and was able to reach cordial interaction with strangers very quickly indeed. His opposite would have to have Nobby Nobbs-like charisn'tma. If people paid attention to his opposite at all, it would be more out of horrified fascination than anything else. (Nobby has been suggested as Preston's opposite because of the charisn'tma, corruption, and odious bodily habits, but Nobby has the sense to respect Sam Vimes. Also, Nobby did the right thing in Hogfather, which would be rather beyond Preston's opposite's ability to comprehend.)
Preston's opposite would be gratuitously violent, but would not be any good at it. Preston himself was no pacifist: he carried (and used) a gun, got into the occasional fistfight with criminals, and at one point demonstrated an interest in learning wrestling holds. I don't know how he was at wrestling (it was mentioned in the context of 'oh, King's just mad 'cos he thought I was trying to hurt you when I taught you that one wrestling hold'), but his fistfights generally went well. Regarding the gun skill, at one point a character said 'everyone in the Yukon knows you never miss'. I am choosing to believe that this is a matter of the man's legend rather than necessarily fact. Still, it seems to indicate that he's at least reasonably good with a gun- and that, therefore, his opposite would not be. His opposite would be gratuitously violent because Preston generally did everything he reasonably could to resolve problems by peaceful means.
Preston's opposite would take bribes, lose evidence, commit petty extortion, and otherwise exhibit all the common flaws and failings of the stereotypical Bad Cop. Probably Preston's opposite would get most of his or her sexual action from people of the opposite sex who were absolutely desperate to get out of police clutches. This might be the case even if Preston's opposite weren't police. Preston, in my opinion, wears his uniform underneath the skin- it would be part of him even if he were struck amnesiac, stripped naked, and left outside Mexico City or somewhere else not-at-all-Canadian. (There is a radio episode where he apparently comes down with amnesia after a head injury but I haven't listened to it and have no intention of doing so. 's from the tail end of the series, when they started getting very silly indeed.) Preston's opposite would think nothing whatsoever of getting what he or she wanted by impersonating a cop, and would do so largely out of contempt for 'the pigs'.
Preston's opposite would work with groups of other people, but claim all credit for the group's action wherever possible.
Preston's opposite would be riddled with superstition. Offhand, I can think of two episodes where Preston debunked local beliefs in supernatural power- one involving 'Yokko, the God of the Mountain' and one involving a shamaness. Yokko's howling voice turned out to be the wind over a recently rearranged cave mouth, and the shamaness' ability to kill with her shadow turned out to be her brother quietly slipping arsenic to her chosen victims when no one was looking. At no point in either episode, or anywhere else in the series, did Preston exhibit any kind of belief in the spirits, magic, or good/bad luck. His opposite would carry more good-luck charms than a Vegas gambler and secretly fear that none of them were enough. His opposite would also be a raving coward with no dignity under pressure. So, really, not that far from a classic Batman petty criminal.
There may be more to Preston's opposite, but I haven't felt well all day and am not digging any further right now. I need the oxygen for other things. It would not be too far amiss to point to Benny, in the Mummy movie starring Brendan Fraser, as a candidate for Preston's opposite.
Begin with this: Sergeant Preston's opposite is a complete and utter sociopath. As far as Preston's opposite is concerned, there is nothing worth bothering about in this world beyond that which is of immediate importance to himself or herself. Preston's opposite would, consequently, have no conscience worth mentioning. A sense of right and wrong that went dead a long time ago, perhaps. Or, possibly, it might be that no such sense ever formed at all. Either way there would be no underlying moral structure to Preston's opposite's actions.
Preston's opposite would have no respect for anyone, including himself or herself. Canonically, Preston is equally polite and helpful to an English-accented bishop (I'm assuming he was C of E), an Irish-accented Catholic priest, and a religious fellow who was repeatedly called 'padre'. He is just as willing to assist a small girl in finding her lost puppy as he is willing to assist in tracking down criminals- on the stated grounds that 'she's a citizen too'. He has approached and worked with extremely vicious dogs on several occasions, but never once used excessive or gratuitous force; aside from muzzling a pup that bit his hand all the way down to the bone, I don't believe he's ever been unpleasant to the animals he's worked with. I consider these signs of strong respect for others, which rarely (if ever) exists without a sense of self-respect at its core. Preston's opposite wouldn't give two hoots about other people, and would probably not care much about himself or herself either.
This does not mean Preston's opposite would not want other people to care. Preston's opposite would insist on respect from people he or she met, and be very angry when none was forthcoming. "Don't you know who I am?" would be a fairly common phrase in his or her vocabulary. Picture the sort of thug who shoots other thugs for perceived acts of 'dissing', and you would have the right general idea.
Preston's opposite would have no qualms about indulging in unsavoury appetites. Preston has never once in radio canon consumed alcohol- in one episode, he tells a bartender who offers it to him that he doesn't drink while on duty. The barman laughs and responds with, "I know, I know- and a Mountie's on duty twenty four hours a day. . . here's your milk." I do not recall hearing any references to anyone smoking or chewing tobacco in the radio series (unusual for a series that ran from 1938-1950something!), but I have little doubt that he'd avoid either habit, if only because they're messy and a discredit to the uniform. His opposite would probably smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, and swear like John Constantine.
Preston's opposite would hold the not-too-uncommon view of his or her day that animals, all animals, were nothing more than stimulus-response automata. This would be grounds for kicking, beating, and overloading any dogs he or she might own, as well as inconvenient dogs belonging to other people. Wild animals would be spoken of disparagingly if at all, but credited with immense cunning and wit when they eluded his or her trap or gun.
Preston's opposite's view and treatment of women would not be terribly different from his or her view and treatment of animals. I would say Preston's opposite would go out of his or her way not to talk to women, but I don't think that's really the case. More likely, he or she would simply not see women, because they couldn't possibly be of importance.
There would be an exception to this, of course. To the invisibility bit, at least- Preston's opposite would shag anything that moved. The radio series includes at least one example of Preston very carefully sidestepping a woman's interest in him, the episode "Belle Brady's Gesture". Belle was an older single woman who operated her own 'café' (I believe most of the places called cafés in the series were saloons, their names changed for the sake of family hour standards). She made a deliberate effort to dress up and look impressive whenever Preston was going to be around, and subtly hinted at the idea that she wouldn't be averse to his company. At one point she tried to win his approval by taking a chunk of her money and using it to pay for supply caches along local trails, knowing that he'd appreciate her kindness towards strangers. None of her gambits worked. I believe that this is because the minds behind the radio series were a) playing to the twelve-year-old boy segment of the audience, b) facing the popular assumption that the Shining Hero had to be Married To His Job, and possibly c) looking at a biography of Superintendent Sam Steele and asking 'how long did it take him to get married?', rather than for slashy reasons. It's not as if he had a close male companion, after all. There wasn't even a recurring male role for anyone but Preston unless you count his dog, Yukon King. In the end the result is the same: his opposite would have to be willing to get down and dirty with pretty nearly anything that moved.
Mind you, this would generally require payment in advance. Preston had friends all over the Yukon and was able to reach cordial interaction with strangers very quickly indeed. His opposite would have to have Nobby Nobbs-like charisn'tma. If people paid attention to his opposite at all, it would be more out of horrified fascination than anything else. (Nobby has been suggested as Preston's opposite because of the charisn'tma, corruption, and odious bodily habits, but Nobby has the sense to respect Sam Vimes. Also, Nobby did the right thing in Hogfather, which would be rather beyond Preston's opposite's ability to comprehend.)
Preston's opposite would be gratuitously violent, but would not be any good at it. Preston himself was no pacifist: he carried (and used) a gun, got into the occasional fistfight with criminals, and at one point demonstrated an interest in learning wrestling holds. I don't know how he was at wrestling (it was mentioned in the context of 'oh, King's just mad 'cos he thought I was trying to hurt you when I taught you that one wrestling hold'), but his fistfights generally went well. Regarding the gun skill, at one point a character said 'everyone in the Yukon knows you never miss'. I am choosing to believe that this is a matter of the man's legend rather than necessarily fact. Still, it seems to indicate that he's at least reasonably good with a gun- and that, therefore, his opposite would not be. His opposite would be gratuitously violent because Preston generally did everything he reasonably could to resolve problems by peaceful means.
Preston's opposite would take bribes, lose evidence, commit petty extortion, and otherwise exhibit all the common flaws and failings of the stereotypical Bad Cop. Probably Preston's opposite would get most of his or her sexual action from people of the opposite sex who were absolutely desperate to get out of police clutches. This might be the case even if Preston's opposite weren't police. Preston, in my opinion, wears his uniform underneath the skin- it would be part of him even if he were struck amnesiac, stripped naked, and left outside Mexico City or somewhere else not-at-all-Canadian. (There is a radio episode where he apparently comes down with amnesia after a head injury but I haven't listened to it and have no intention of doing so. 's from the tail end of the series, when they started getting very silly indeed.) Preston's opposite would think nothing whatsoever of getting what he or she wanted by impersonating a cop, and would do so largely out of contempt for 'the pigs'.
Preston's opposite would work with groups of other people, but claim all credit for the group's action wherever possible.
Preston's opposite would be riddled with superstition. Offhand, I can think of two episodes where Preston debunked local beliefs in supernatural power- one involving 'Yokko, the God of the Mountain' and one involving a shamaness. Yokko's howling voice turned out to be the wind over a recently rearranged cave mouth, and the shamaness' ability to kill with her shadow turned out to be her brother quietly slipping arsenic to her chosen victims when no one was looking. At no point in either episode, or anywhere else in the series, did Preston exhibit any kind of belief in the spirits, magic, or good/bad luck. His opposite would carry more good-luck charms than a Vegas gambler and secretly fear that none of them were enough. His opposite would also be a raving coward with no dignity under pressure. So, really, not that far from a classic Batman petty criminal.
There may be more to Preston's opposite, but I haven't felt well all day and am not digging any further right now. I need the oxygen for other things. It would not be too far amiss to point to Benny, in the Mummy movie starring Brendan Fraser, as a candidate for Preston's opposite.