# Other than Duma Key, do any Stephen King novels lack human villains? Open spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 15, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728 "2025-12-15T18:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/1 "2025-12-15T18:00:09Z")
I recently finished listening to the audiobook version of Stephen King’s _Duma Key._ I really liked it, more so than a lot of his other books. Thinking about why I like it so much, one of the things I noticed was that there are no human villains in the book. Yes, there are a few that do some evil things while under the influence of the supernatural villain, but none that are that way on their own. Of King’s books that I have read, there is always at least one human who is evil even when not being possessed. Henry Bowers from _It_, Lloyd Henreid from _The Stand_, Jim Rennie from _Under the Dome_, and so on. I found the lack of a human villain refreshing. Are there any others where King doesn’t have a human villain? ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/2 "2025-12-15T18:15:01Z")
I don’t recall any human villains in _The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon_ ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/3 "2025-12-15T18:19:14Z")
Cujo? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/4 "2025-12-15T18:23:23Z")
I was thinking this. But it’s been a long time since I read the book so I checked on wikipedia. And I had forgotten that the boy’s father was abusing his wife and son (and became Cujo’s first victim). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/5 "2025-12-15T18:26:20Z")
_Christine_’s another possibility, depending on how you interpret it. The villain in the book was a car. But the reason the car was evil was because it was possessed by the ghost of its former owner. So you can argue that this was a human villain, albeit a dead human who was inhabiting a car. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/6 "2025-12-15T18:30:25Z")
In 11/22/63, the villain seems to be the timeline itself? Not sure. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/7 "2025-12-15T19:02:45Z")
Sadie’s ex husband is a villain in 11/22/63 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/8 "2025-12-15T19:25:50Z")
Fair point. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/9 "2025-12-15T19:32:24Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > In 11/22/63, the villain seems to be the timeline itself? Not sure. I feel Lee Oswald was a human villain in that one. There was also Frank Dunning and Johnny Clayton. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/10 "2025-12-15T19:34:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The villain in the book was a car. I seem to recall that Arnie became something of an asshole at a certain point, so he was sort of a villain. The [wiki article](https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Arnie_Cunningham) for Arnie suggests that he is a “secondary villain” of the story, and I’m inclined to agree. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/11 "2025-12-15T19:35:17Z")
Ok, but the thing he was really struggling against was the timeline, as personified as that homeless guy, right? It has been a while since I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/12 "2025-12-15T19:39:38Z")
I read it just a few months ago, so it’s relatively fresh on my mind. I agree that the timeline was the main antagonist that Jake had to overcome. Or maybe the timeline qualifies more as an obstacle. The timeline was never portrayed as having a personality or a will of its own. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/13 "2025-12-15T19:41:53Z")
I thought it was personified in that homeless guy who looked progressively worse, who said something like “You’re not supposed to be here” or something. Anyway, I think we’ve done that book to death in this thread! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/14 "2025-12-15T20:10:26Z")
No, the homeless guy (and the other guy who replaced him after the homeless guy died) were victims of the timeline not personifications of it. They were two people who had the misfortune of being the closest person to the portal when the timeline needed a body so it could speak to Al or Jake. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/15 "2025-12-15T20:11:06Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I seem to recall that Arnie became something of an asshole at a certain point The way I recall it is that LeBay was definitely a human villain, and all of Arnie’s bad traits were really his. Thinking of short stories, Nightshift and Skeleton Crew have stories without a human villain. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/16 "2025-12-15T21:18:28Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Thinking of short stories, Nightshift and Skeleton Crew have stories without a human villain. I think a majority of the stories in _Night Shift_ had a non-human villain. Going down the list, we have: 1. Vampire (which I don’t count as “human”) 2. Mutant rats 3. Captain Trips (same virus as _The Stand_) 4. Aliens 5. Demon-possessed industrial laundry machine 6. Literal Boogeyman monster 7. A fungus-based creature that took over a human body, but the fungus is the villain 8. Living G.I. Joe toys 9. Homicidal trucks come to life 10. Human ghosts, so first real human villain 11. Human serial killer 12. Human crime boss 13. Villains include a human who worships the Greek god Pan 14. Humans running a brutal agency 15. Human black magic practitioner 16. Human children 17. No villain in this story 18. Another human serial killer 19. More vampires 20. Human killing his mom From my count, 12 of the 20 stories have a non-human villain. And to me, _The Last Rung on the Ladder_ has no villain at all, as it’s not a typical King story, but rather just a sad story about two people who grow apart and one of them commits suicide. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/17 "2025-12-15T22:07:23Z")
Is there a human villain in Pet Semetary? ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/18 "2025-12-15T23:38:18Z")
What counts as humans? The aliens that take over Haven in The Tommyknockers aren’t human, but use the meat puppets to do their shenanigans. Is a werewolf a human? While Jack is a despicable asshole, is it not the Overlook that is the true villain? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/19 "2025-12-16T00:52:35Z")
To clarify, by a human I mean a bog standard, ordinary person. Those that are possessed, transmogrified, undead, etc., need not apply, unless they were already evil before they became possessed, transmogrified, became undead, etc. Jack is an edge case, but in my view he was enough of a despicable asshole in his base state that _The Shining_ doesn’t qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728/20 "2025-12-16T01:10:28Z")
_The Jaunt_ doesn’t have a villain, human or otherwise. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-than-duma-key-do-any-stephen-king-novels-lack-human-villains-open-spoilers/1025728.md?page=2)