BEHIND THE CHARACTERS - EPISODE 09
BEHIND THE CHARACTERS - EPISODE 09
Ebenezer Halley: The Evil Genius Who Had No Sense of the Ridiculous
Ambitious, vindictive, megalomaniacal, and absolutely convinced he's the smartest person in any room. Ebenezer Halley is one of the most disturbing characters in The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs. Unfortunately for an aspiring world conqueror, he also has spectacularly bad taste. And to capture his outrageous ambitions, I chose a song whose title says it all: We're Gonna Rule This World.
Imagine walking into the office of a man who considers himself a genius.
You expect something imposing. High-tech equipment, perhaps. A massive glass desk, glowing monitors, and minimalist furniture. Something that communicates power, intelligence, and absolute control.
Ebenezer Halley's office, on the other hand, welcomes you with a pink carpet covered in purple polka dots, yellow plastic egg-shaped chairs, walls decorated with apple-green optical swirls, and bamboo furniture that looks as though it was rescued from a particularly unfortunate Hawaiian vacation resort.
A crime against interior design.
And yet, surrounded by this chromatic catastrophe, Ebenezer feels perfectly at home.
It's his kingdom. His sanctuary. The place where he cultivates ambitions wildly disproportionate to his ability to choose wallpaper.
I've always enjoyed this contradiction: a man determined to impose his vision upon the entire world, who probably shouldn't be trusted to pick out living room curtains.
The Man Who Wanted to Be Somebody
When I created Ebenezer Halley, I didn't want another conventional fantasy villain. You know the type: permanently seated on a dark throne, stroking a snake and waiting for the perfect opportunity to deliver a threatening speech.
I wanted someone more recognizable.
Ebenezer belongs to that category of people who are convinced the world has made one unforgivable mistake: failing to recognize their greatness soon enough.
Is he intelligent? Certainly, he possesses considerable cunning. He's resourceful, knows how to seize an opportunity, and never allows moral considerations to interfere with his ambitions.
Qualities that, properly directed, might have made him a successful entrepreneur.
Unfortunately, there's that last little detail.
Moral considerations.
Ebenezer regards them the way a driver regards a road closed for construction: an irritating inconvenience to be bypassed.
But his real problem isn't ambition. It's resentment. That stubborn belief that somebody else's success represents a personal insult, and that every injustice, real or imagined, must eventually be repaid.
Preferably with interest.
I won't tell you exactly what events turned Ebenezer into the man he is. That would be like explaining a magician's trick before he even pulls the rabbit out of his hat.
Let's just say his past has left a considerable number of unsettled accounts.
And Johnas Blackrain certainly doesn't remember Ebenezer with any particular affection.
The Irresistible Appeal of Power
There's another side of Ebenezer I wanted to explore: his desperate need to be admired.
Being in charge isn't enough for him. He wants everyone to acknowledge just how extraordinary it is that he happens to be in charge.
There's a substantial difference.
For Ebenezer, power isn't merely a tool. It's revenge. Emotional compensation. Every order he gives, every demonstration of superiority, every theatrical gesture reinforces the magnificent image he has constructed of himself.
And like all great megalomaniacs, he has a rather complicated relationship with reality.
If something works, it's because of his genius.
If something goes wrong, he's obviously surrounded by idiots.
In the novel, I deliberately surrounded him with grotesque characters, absurd situations, and an aesthetic inspired by the science-fiction movies of the 1950s and 1960s. A universe where the terrifying and the ridiculous frequently occupy the same room.
But don't make the mistake of assuming that because Ebenezer can be funny, he's harmless.
Quite the opposite.
People capable of committing the worst atrocities don't necessarily walk around looking menacing.
Sometimes they smile, tell jokes, listen to loud music, and genuinely believe they're doing the right thing.
That's what makes them dangerous.
We're Gonna Rule This World: A Duet for Two Monumental Egos
To represent Ebenezer musically, I wanted something theatrical, energetic, and gloriously arrogant. A song that sounded less like a performance and more like a declaration of intent.
We're Gonna Rule This World is a duet with Mala, another character you'll encounter in the novel.
And choosing a duet was no accident.
I wanted the song to feel like a competition between two oversized personalities. On one side, Ebenezer's calculating arrogance. On the other, a more instinctive, aggressive, and unpredictable energy.
He gives the orders.
She kicks down the doors.
Naturally, both consider themselves indispensable.
Musically, the track draws on theatrical rock, with a driving rhythm, an explosive sing-along chorus, and the kind of overblown grandeur that turns every declaration into a proclamation.
We're gonna rule this world!
We're going to take over the world!
Not exactly your typical love song.
And yet, I imagined Ebenezer and Mala performing it with the same enthusiasm as a couple announcing to their friends that they've finally bought their dream home.
The only problem is that their real estate ambitions are slightly excessive.
What interests me most about the song is the contrast between the absolute confidence of their voices and the possibility that something profoundly fragile lies beneath all that arrogance.
That's what makes Ebenezer more interesting to me than a simple cartoon villain.
A man who wants everything, perhaps because he never learned how to be satisfied with anything.
A man who dreams of being admired without ever asking himself whether he's done anything to deserve anyone's admiration.
And who, in the meantime, continues to regard his own interior decorating as an unquestionable triumph of good taste.
If you read The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs, you'll discover just how dangerous it can be to underestimate Ebenezer Halley.
But I do have one piece of advice.
If he ever invites you into his office, bring sunglasses.
Listen to Ebenezer Halley & Mala — We're Gonna Rule This World
An outrageously theatrical rock duet dedicated to the monumental ambitions of Ebenezer Halley and Mala, from The Blackrain Session by GNOME RECORDS.
Discover The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs on Amazon
Behind the Characters — Exploring the stories, personalities, and music of the characters from The Seven Magnificent Dwarfs.
Andrea Bigiarini