| “ | You p-pathetic, self-important little man. Murder me? There's a m-mortal sin if ever there was. And then what? Suicide to escape the ignominy of hanging? Ah... your G-God will give you a hell of a time. All those years of piety, up in smoke because of me. Ah, ah, ah, monsieur, you c-can't go yet. You don't think I'd let you d-die on me, d-d-deprive me of my ultimate t-triumph? You see, if you d-don't succeed, I'm a free man. And even if you do, it will still be a v-victory of sorts, because in the eyes of the law, I would be innocent, whereas you and your reputation, your p-precious reputation... b-blown to bits. | „ |
| ~ Norton threatening Poirot. |
Stephen Norton (also known as Mr. X) is the main antagonist of Agatha Christie's last Hercule Poirot novel, Curtain: Poirot's Last Case.
He is one of the foremost antagonists of the whole novel series about Hercule Poirot. He disguised himself as an innocent man, but he is responsible for numerous murders Poirot investigates by manipulating innocent people to do dirty work for him while he himself escape justice.
What Makes Him A Shonen Villain?[]
- Villainous/Anti-Villainous: Successfully provokes people to kill other people out of pure spite.
- Powerful/Skillful: If you aren't Hercule Poirot, you won't realize WHAT and WHY he pushes you on.
- Power-Hungry: From the certain point of view.
- Pursues a Big-End Goal: To provoke people to kill other people, and ruin the reputation of Hercule Poirot and get away from his crimes.
- Arrogant: Definitely yes.
- Intelligent: Aside from knowing human psycology very well, he is also a skilled bird observer.
- Cold-Hearted/Ruthless: Never acts hot-heartedly.
- Short-Tempered: Only when his provokations fail.
- Is a Game Changer: He is a rare criminal, whose fault Poirot was never able to prove.
- Sadistic: His only motivation is pure spite.
- Serves as a Foil to the Hero/Protagonist: is something like that to Poirot.
- Bloodthirsty: Poirot mentions only 5 his murders with 3 unsuccessful attempts on-page, while there could be even more.
External Links[]
- Stephen Norton on the Villains Wiki