Movie villains like Gollum and Dracula lost in their battles because they lacked vitamin D, a new research suggests.
The researchers involved in the study claim that the consistent triumph of good versus evil in fantasy literature may be associated with the unsavory characters' aversion to sunlight. They theorized that antagonists who dwell in the darkness and eat a poor diet lack in vitamin D, leading to muscle weakness, which then undermines their performance in battle. On the other hand, protagonists are typically portrayed bathed in sunlight which makes them strong.
In the past, no study has looked into vitamin D levels in imaginary populations so the researchers from the Imperial College London scoured J.R.R Tolkien's novel, The Hobbit for character references as well as their living conditions, habits and diet. Using these clues, the researchers came up with a score and rating system that estimated their vitamin D levels. They found out for instance, that Bilbo Baggins, one of the characters in the novel lived in a hole but one that had windows and he often enjoyed sitting under the sun overlooking his garden.
Bilbo's diet also consisted of cake, tea, seed cake, ale, porter, red wine, raspberry jam, cheese, pork pie, cold chicken, pickles, apple tart and a whole lot more. On the other hand, the novel's villain, such as Gollum, spent most of their time in darkness and they did not whip up feasts for their visitors. They dined on decaying corpses and scraps of meat as well. Dr. Nicholas Hopkinson of Imperial College London and his son, Joseph, published their findings in the Medical Journal of Australia, saying: "Systematic textual analysis of The Hobbit supports our initial hypothesis that the triumph of good over evil may be assisted to some extent by the poor diet and lack of sunlight experienced by the evil characters."
