Throughout literature, there have been villain's that influence the narrative of each story they’re a part of. Villain’s impact to the main hero's, leaving their own unique mark. This acts as a foil to the main protagonist throughout the adventure, to overall help create the impacting conflict of the story. So, how do villains affect the hero’s on their journey? One example is King Neter-Khet, from the novel Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander, a story where a Jason and his cat, Gareth, travel through nine different time periods together, with the acceptation that Jason will be lost forever in time if ever taken from Gareth. KIng Neter-Khet is the first villain Jason and Gareth encounter on their exploit, and does not disappoint on leaving a lasting impact on Jason, revealing more to the audience on who Jason is. When upon first meeting King Neter-Khet, Jason describes a massive dark, angry figure. Describing the Pharaoh as “look[ing] as though he never stopped being angry” …show more content…
Trapping Jason in the dungeon, almost feeding him to alligators, and taking away Gareth from Jason all showed signs that Neter-Khet could have ended the journey at an early state in the telling. This could have left Jason in Ancient Egypt forever, separated from his beloved cat forever. Unknowing this to the King, but to the readers, impacts more as to how villainous and terrifying Neter-Khet was. However, when revealed what the King wanted all along, and the help he gets from Jason reveals a more fair side to him, instead of just giving orders around. This makes it so King Neter-Khet becomes a friend to Jason, and Jason learns more about himself through the Kings actions, not to expect and get everything wanted in one go, to be patient and not frighten anybody. This is an important lesson for Jason in the story to learn, and is why King Neter-Khet is an impactful villain in the