Gaston is one of my favorite villains.  And no, not because of the song, though that certainly doesn’t hurt.

It’s partly because he completely inverts most villainous archetypes — he’s already well-loved, he’s powerful and not seeking more (physical) power, and he generally doesn’t align with Disney’s, ah, usual tropes.  I always like villains who aren’t just kind of handwaved as inherently evil; that’s ridiculous and lazy.

But what really sets Gaston apart for me is the sheer genius in what he does near the climax of the movie.  His whole character is based around oozing charisma, and he delivers on it, by changing the game with a single sentence.

Let’s follow along with this transcript.  About ⅚ of the way through the movie, Gaston springs his trap: he has riled the townspeople into sending Belle’s father to an asylum (based on his claims of having seen a beast-man), and is using this to blackmail Belle into agreeing to marry him.

Belle will be having none of this, and rightly tells him to fuck off.

BELLE: Never!
GASTON: Have it your way. (Turns and walks away slowly, playing hard to get.)
MAURICE: (Being thrown into the wagon.) Belle?
    (She runs back into the house.) Let go of me!
BELLE: (Comes back out with MAGIC MIRROR. She yells to the crowd.) My father’s not crazy and I can prove it!  (To MIRROR) Show me the beast! (MAGIC MIRROR again shines, then produces the image of the still depressed BEAST.  The crowd oohs and aahs at it.)

This completely destroys Gaston’s plan, which hinged on having an excuse to put Belle’s father in an asylum.  Looks like he’s been defeated.

WOMAN 1:  Is it dangerous?
BELLE: (Trying to reassure her) Oh, no.  He’d never hurt anyone. Please, I know he looks vicious, but he’s really kind and gentle.  He’s my friend.
GASTON: If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had feelings for this monster.
BELLE: He’s no monster, Gaston. You are!

Belle makes a fatal mistake here.  In Gaston’s mind, she has confirmed that the Beast is the reason Belle won’t marry him.  After all, every other woman in town fawns over Gaston constantly; there must be some reason Belle doesn’t, and now Gaston has reason to believe he’s finally found it.

Now watch this because it’s fucking brilliant.

GASTON: She’s as crazy as the old man.

That’s the kicker.  She’s as crazy as the old man.

Remember, the mob just found out that Belle’s father is not actually “crazy”.  Belle has proven that the Beast is real.  Everyone saw it, five seconds ago!

Gaston pounces onto this brief window of cognitive dissonance without missing a beat.  Not only does he reassert his original motive as if it were still true — to keep the mob from doubting his word — but he uses it as a segue into why the mob should now go along with his new plan: killing the man Gaston believes is cockblocking him.  His very next words are:

GASTON: (He grabs the MIRROR from her hand.) The beast will make off with your children! He’ll come after them in the night.
BELLE: No!
GASTON: We’re not safe ‘til his head is mounted on my wall! I say we kill the beast!
(MOB cheers him and repeats the words 'kill him’.)

He spins a story off the top of his head, based on absolutely nothing except the knowledge that the mob is likely to believe it and it will serve his goals.  He fuels the fears of the townspeople, and links it back to the reasons they respect him in the first place — note that he explicitly says the Beast should be a trophy for his wall.

Gaston was revealed to be completely, objectively, 100% wrong — both in what he thought his goals were, and what he’d used to rouse the townspeople.  Yet before anyone actually realized this and thought to doubt him, in a mere matter of seconds, he found a new lie to tell — and even used the old lie to sell it.

She’s as crazy as the old man.

If the old man is crazy, then there’s no Beast to be afraid of!  And we know that Gaston himself believes Belle instantly, or he wouldn’t feel romantically threatened, and none of his subsequent actions make sense.  When Gaston encounters the Beast and sees for himself that the Beast is no threat, rather than being taken aback, he tries to goad the Beast into fighting him, so he can have the satisfaction of beating his “competition”.   He even talks to the Beast like he might to another human, despite never having heard the Beast speak.

And yet despite what a complete and utter lie this line is, it works.  It works so well that I bet it even worked on you.  Did you ever question it?  I’ve seen this movie dozens of times and didn’t give it a second thought until fairly recently.  It seemed like a perfectly natural thing to say.  Gaston‘s charisma is so great that it can charm even an audience that already knows he’s the villain.

The old man isn’t crazy, was never crazy, but that doesn’t matter.  Everyone believes Gaston, because everyone wants to believe Gaston.  Even when he’s contradicting himself within the same sentence.

Gaston is a mastermind.  But what makes him truly terrifying is that he’s real.  There are a lot of Gastons in real communities large and small, well-known and well-respected and seemingly flawless, who deftly wield their charisma to direct a mob even when they’re completely wrong.  And they are nigh immune to being corrected or called out, because they can change their tactics and change the truth just as fluidly as Gaston.  Unlike most cartoonish antagonists, Gaston is someone we all know, someone who may have even played the villain for us.

And if you’re not Gaston, and you’re not Belle, well, chances are you’re the townspeople.

Gaston is ruthless, charming, perfect at what he does, and frighteningly familiar.  Great formula for a great villain.