Yet there are those who don’t like Valmont. At one point, I, too, became disgusted with the prima donna crime lord. I invited my friend Faye to my house and sat her down to watch a couple episodes of JCA, and she revealed to me all of Valmont’s negative aspects. I felt a little hurt, because I had always thought that Valmont was one of the best things about the show. But the truth remained: her criticism was valid.
Just take a moment to look at Valmont as objectively as possible. Notice the little details that contradict the image of him that is presented on the fangirls.
First, the obvious: his outward appearance. Lime green? With a yellow tie? Is this man colorblind? Face it, a lime green suit just doesn’t incite fear, nor reflect good taste, for that matter. What’s worse is Valmont’s head. From the front view, it looks fine, a typical European face. But the quarter view is all wrong. It starts out fine, but then it makes a sharp turn inward, supposedly to indicate his prominent cheek bones. Yet it reminds me of a half-eaten cantaloupe.
A good villain always knows how to strike fear into his servants, so that they will be blindly loyal. Valmont seems to lack this control. For example, Finn has made it awfully clear—in front of Valmont—that his salary is too low. But on a larger scale, Valmont doesn’t make his Enforcers fearful because he lets his guard down. If Valmont wants to control his Enforcers, then he can’t let them see him as weak. Who would depend on a weak person? Yet Valmont allows his Enforcers to witness Shendu berate him—even Tohru could hear the fear in his master’s voice in the episode "Shell Game."
A bit more of an obvious question: Why would anybody hire Finn, Chow and Ratso? Even if they did, why would they be considered the "top Enforcers"?
I hope I didn’t disillusion everyone too badly. Even if I did, forgive me; for I have thought of answers to counter Faye’s arguments.
While his fashion may not be very attractive, it doesn’t matter; Valmont makes it work. Lime green, yellow, and black make Valmont stand out. Even his hair and earrings achieve this. It’s important for Valmont to stand out, because he likes to be the center of attention. He is a prima donna to the extreme. Eccentricity such as this makes Valmont attractive, in a strange, almost vampiric way—yet at the same time he still remains utterly human. Weird would be the best way to define his charisma. As for the head shape, well I’m not sure about that. I don’t find it particularly attractive, but I don’t mind it either. The pale blue eyes and wild hair sort of make up for that.
Valmont must have some sort of control over his Enforcers. Otherwise, why would Tohru, at the end of "Day of the Dragon", attempt to subdue an immortal demon, of all things? (However, I am convinced that Finn, Chow, and Ratso are in it for the money.) Valmont actually has a very good reason for showing his Enforcers how badly Shendu taunts him. Two words: time management. The cartoon is just over fifteen minutes. It’s important to display Shendu’s arrogance, but the Enforcers are also needed for filling up some time. Three minutes of "Valmont, get my talismans…." and "We’re working on it, Shendu…" is rather redundant. The Enforcers are also needed to provide explanations; they constantly reveal bits and pieces of Shendu’s past by asking questions.
Finn, Chow, and Ratso themselves are there merely for entertainment purposes. Besides, Valmont doesn’t need Enforcers to prove that he has a strong empire. The fact that the U.S. had to create a separate government branch simply to track down one terrorist group is proof enough that Valmont is indeed successful.
Faye also complained that Valmont was too weak, and a bit of an idiot. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have listened to Shendu, a demon, in the first place. Ironically enough, the fact that Valmont did listen to Shendu is something I found most attractive from the start. The relationship between Valmont and Shendu is so intense that you might even say it is of a Faustian nature, a story of temptation. (Despite the fact that this is a kid’s cartoon, the writers are not stupid. They use literary devices such as Faust all the time.) Part of what makes Valmont interesting is his need to control others. In "Bullies", he sends flowers with a card that has his perfect signature on it to Captain Black, who he’d put in the hospital. It successfully manages to infuriate Jackie. The irony is that Valmont needs to control others because he cannot control himself, or the consequences that are given to him – in other words, he is human, and humans are not perfect. Faye complained that Valmont was too weak. And the irony of her complaint is that there is no such thing as a strong villain. If anyone feels the need to make others suffer, it only highlights their own insecurity. Shendu is almost symbolic in this respect, because, as a being of far greater power than any human, he is the only one who is able to manipulate Valmont himself. Shendu embodies Valmont’s greed, his Achilles’ heel, his fall into temptation.
So yes, there’s quite a bit to Valmont besides a cantaloupe head and lanky Enforcers. And Valmont continues to be a legend, as his type of character is portrayed in countless books and stories and myths. I hope that, even if I disillusioned some people, I still managed to persist Valmont’s wonderful image; the point of this article was to analyze him, and then defend him. He is, even as a cartoon, an enigma – and yet, he is so simple all the same.