Villains come in many various shapes and sizes, yet who can say exactly what a villain is? Are they the men robbing a local convenience store? Is the teenager downloading movies illegally from the Internet a villain? What about the girls who pick on and bully other girls? Is the boy who steals food from a supermarket to keep from starving a villain? Or are cultures that oppress minorities villainous? Not everyone in the world can agree on what exactly makes a villain. Numerous examples, or “criteria”, can be given to describe a villain, whether these criteria are considered necessary or optional, everyone has their own opinion. Yet, one character in history, Richard Kuklinski, or “The Iceman”, can be considered by almost all to be a heinous…show more content… Yet, unlike most youth, Kuklinski went far beyond the bounds of necessity in combatting these bullies, even to the point of murder. Although not decent, the murder of Charley Lane is not what makes Richard so villainous. This murder could have been seen as a mere accident. With time and the proper display of public repentance, this terrible mistake could have been forgiven. But Kuklinski, instead of realizing the gravity of what he has just done, continued to maul the other boys that had picked on him. This blatant display of indifference to the death of Mr. Lane and near deaths of his companions is what makes Kuklinski such a ruthless villain. Being able to commit such monstrous acts without…show more content… He would travel to Manhattan quite frequently to practice and perfect what he claimed to be “the art of killing”. Killing any person he felt “rubbed him the wrong way” (Carlo 45). Kuklinski would always use different methods of killing to mask his identity. With the Manhattan police department unable to identify the killer, public fear grew. Kuklinski relished in the mystery of his crimes and enjoyed the uproar he began to cause. In a personal interview, Richard stated, “By now you know what I liked most was the hunt, the challenge of what the thing was. The killing for me was secondary. I got no rise as such out of it…for the most part” (Carlo 251). Richard Kuklinski saw stalking, beating, and killing innocent people, as nothing more than a game, a game where he got to make up the rules as he went along. Few individuals, but the truly evil, are capable of such a cruel mindset. Later in Kuklinski’s life, beginning a career as a hitman, he was faced with a situation in which he needed to earn the respect of fellow mobster, DeMeo. DeMeo asked Richard to kill a passerby to prove himself “Without hesitating, Kuklinski got out, walked towards the man and shot him in the back of the head as he passed by” (Iceman Confessions). Richard Showed his true colors by murdering an innocent man in cold blood under broad daylight. The average person would be completely unable to perform
