In 1919, Robert Weines' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari portrayed one of the first villains of gothic film with Cesare the somnambulist. Portrayed more as an "it" than a "he", a creature as opposed to a human being, this early version of the gothic villain was one of mystery and inexplicability. This characterization of the 'evil' or supernatural figure, reflects the occurrences in the world during the time of the film's production. 1919, the year after the end of World War One, war was extremely impersonal, individuals in society knew nothing about 'the other side' except that their country was fighting them.

Cesare is Dr. Caligari's puppet, the "thing" he creates into a murderer. Nothing is known about this character except that he has been asleep for many years; his individuality is unknown, his past is non-existent. The viewer is only given one image of Cesare, that of a creature, a "thing" that kills.

At the beginnings of gothic film, the villain was the representation of the mysterious and evil, since that was society's perspective on the 'bad guy'. As the twentieth century comes to its end, this mysterious, solitary classic gothic villain becomes a representation of modern society's version and entanglement of the characteristics in the villain, hero, and heroine.

Jelena Momirov