Gaston vs. the Beast: Who's really the villain?

I like the beast better than Gaston, but he is my least favorite Disney prince

Really? You compare the Beast with a sexist stupid person who is narcissistic? Also Belle doesn't have Stockholm Syndrome. She clearly hated him before he rescued her from the wolves and showed his soft side.

This comment is quite long, but I wanted to express my views on this. All of this is subjective, simply my opinion.

Gaston: Vain, selfish and doesn't really care about anyone else.
VS
Beast: Spoiled, selfish, cursed for not having any love in his heart.

Well.. The biggest difference is that the Beast realized the error of his ways. In the beginning, he was abusive, cruel and abusive, but he changed.

Gaston: Only wants Belle because she's beautiful.
VS
Beast: Only wants Belle because she's the first girl who's come along since the curse.

Yeah, when he first saw Belle he only saw her as a tool for breaking the curse. But then it's clear, IMO, he began to love her for her personality: she was the only one stubborn enough to defy him and call him out on his mistakes (Mrs. Potts does that a bit, but obviously not enough if he still turned out the way he did, and she is like a mother to him). If he didn't truly love her, how could the curse have broken?

Gaston: Locks up Belle and her father.
VS
Beast: Locks up Maurice and keeps Belle prisoner.

But he lets her go...

Gaston: Relatively level-headed. Acts more out of jealousy than anger.
VS
Beast: Quick temper. Yells a lot for no reason. Destroys things.

Did you miss the Beast's character development? Also, I wouldn't call Gaston level-headed just because he acted out more of jealousy than anger. His obsession with Belle was unhealthy. At least the Beast was under the pressure of having to break a spell or either he would remain a beast for the rest of his life.

Gaston: Tries to win over Belle by bragging about himself and not getting to know her.
VS
Beast: Tries to win over Belle by bribing her with a library... an idea which he didn't come up with on his own (because he hadn't taken the time to get to know her).

Bribe? Eh, it was a gift to show how grateful he was for her taking care of him. He didn't say "Love me and I'll give you this library". Usually, when you like someone, you give them something as a sign of your affection. It's called courting.

Gaston: Tries to kill the Beast; not knowing he's a person, just thinking he's another animal like a stag or bear. Goes off his hunter instinct.
VS
Beast: Had every intention of letting Maurice die in the dungeon.

That makes a bit of sense. Gaston came to the castle under the pretense of an honourable goal: killing the Beast to protect the village (in truth, all he wanted was to kill a possible rival for Belle's hand). However, when arriving there, couldn't he see the Beast was, well, human, despite not looking like one? He was dressed in clothes, had as sad look in his eyes, and he didn't even defend himself: it wasn't a fair fight.

For the fourth (I think) time: the Beast changed.

My conclusion: While the Beast changed, learned and grew as a person, Gaston only became worse: he became more cruel, more insane and lost most traits of humanity. So, in the end, the Beast was deserving of Belle's love and of living in society again while Gaston was not.

^ I completely agree with Gus. I think you missed the whole part of the development. And also, of course Beast fell in love with her, I mean, there is a whole song about that and when two people in cartoons fall in love, it is VERY obvious, it's not like you can think " Oh he acts like he's in love with her in order to break the curse". Well, with the exception of Hans. Sorry if my comment was rude, you're entitled to your own opinion and I respect it, I just disagree. :) And actually, I think Gaston is a little bit better than everybody thinks he is, in my opinion he is not evil.

I agree with Gus and 324Anna.

I agree with 324anna and Silverrose1991

YES! I love everyone's perspective on this. :)

To address the character development in the Beast... Of course he changed, he's the hero. And of course Gaston stayed the same, he's the villain. But, I firmly believe that if the roles had been reversed, Gaston would have changed, too. He just never got the chance to. The Beast was not a very good person before Belle came along; all he needed was the right person to give him the chance to change and be better. I'm sure that's all Gaston needed, too; someone who saw through his crap, stood up to him and put him in place. They both start out as similar characters, but the Beast was given a chance to change and redeem himself. If Belle had been imprisoned with Gaston for however long she was a prisoner with Beast, she probably would have had a positive impact on Gaston as well. So, yes the Beast did eventually change, but if Belle had never come along, he wouldn't have. He would have remained the same "selfish and unkind" (as the movie states) person he had always been. Just like Gaston never changed.

I don't doubt that the Beast eventually fell in love with Belle (most of my points were comparing the Beast as he was before Belle), however I do doubt Belle loving him, at least until the end. Yes, she cares about him but I think it's more in a friendly way (she even refers to him as her "friend"). I don't think she realized she loved him until she thought she was going to lose him. I'm willing to bet if Gaston and the angry mob never went after the Beast, she probably wouldn't have gone back. I still stand that it was Stockholm syndrome for the most part (until the very end). And as for it being True Love because it broke the spell, we can't really know for sure if it was True Love considering Disney throws that term around a lot where it doesn't belong (are we really supposed to believe it was True Love between Aurora and Phillip or Snow White and her prince?).

I know most of you are biased towards the Beast (if I had posted this in the villains club they would probably be biased towards Gaston), but you cannot deny that before Belle came along, the Beast had very similar traits to Gaston. Try reading this again without biased opinions and while thinking about the Beast as he was before his character change and redemption. You'll see for the most part I wasn't far off (of course some things could still be argued).

Stockholm Syndrome: is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them. Stockholm syndrome can be seen as a form of traumatic bonding, which does not necessarily require a hostage scenario, but which describes "strong emotional ties that develop between two persons where one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses, or intimidates the other."

I would love to address each comment individually, but I'm at work and don't have time. But, it's good to see everyone's own take on this.

I agree with Silverrose1991and 324Anna! How dare you say Belle had Stockholm Syndrome! I can't believe you!

^Eh, calm down, will you?

MegaraRider: Well, I understand your views better now and I do agree that Gaston could have changed if he was in the Beast's place. But he wasn't. But life is like that: some people get chances other don't. I can see your opinion about Belle's loving the Beast as a friend, though I disagree with it. In Something There, she said "True, that he's no prince charming". The Prince Charming, in the stories, is known to play a romantic role. See the association I'm making here?
Oh, and I do believe that Aurora/Phillip and Snow White/The Prince loved each other, because I always take fairytales with a good dose of "suspension of disbelief".

I agree with Gus...

I agree with 324Anna and Gus (Silverrose1991)

Yes, I believe Aurora and Philip and Snow and Prince truly loved each other. And I agree again with Gus. Also, if someone's role should be reversed, then I don't think the Beast should be the villain, Gaston should be the hero. Does that make sense? I mean, In my opinion Adam (the beast) doesn't deserve to be called a villain but I want to believe that Gaston had some potential to become a hero.

Belle did clearly hate the beast in the beginning, but she grows to love him because he changed from his rough personality to the kind and gentle beast she falls in love with. I do not see similarities between the Beast and Gaston, as the Beast improved and Gaston did not. And I don't think Belle only married the Beast because of his library. I see too many of those assumptions and I believe them to be false. She grow to love him as he grows to love her. This is the point of the movie. I'm sorry if this has offended anyone but that's just what I thought. It was an interesting article though

Oh, and if it wasn't "true love" between the previously mentioned couples then the spells wouldn't have broken

Two words: Character development

That's seriously what made all the difference

YOUR ARTICLE
VS
Beast is the prince in the end.
I win.
I mean really did you see the end?

I feel like this needs to be pointed out again: I'm comparing the Beast as he was BEFORE his character arch.

I never liked Beast.

Well, while Beast did start out as more of an antagonist, but he reformed so I wouldn't call him the villain. Gaston on the other hand, started out as a jerk and become, homicidal by the end so I deffinetly think he's the true villian. Also remember, Beast isn't the only hero/heroine who started out antagonistic and reformed. I mean look at Flynn Rider. He started out stealing treasure for his own gain. Look at Meg, she started out working for for Hades. Are they the villains of thier stories?

Flynn wasn't an antagonist. Stealing didn't make him a bad guy. And Meg was a villain, she just eventually switched sides.

I can understand what you're trying to say, and actually I think they could both be counted as the villain. The Beast for the first half, before he started to see the error of his ways. And although I wouldn't say that Gaston was the hero for the first half, I don't count him
as a villain. All his ways of getting Belle to marry him can probably be seen as how men proposed in the 17th century. It was only when he decided to have Maurice locked up in a lunatic asylum that I saw him as a true villain.