It is easy to say “Ratchwood is a time travelling antihero who struggles with destructive influences in his life and believes he is on a God given mission to save the world”.  It would also be true to say this, although not for the entirety of the story.  Ratchwood grows and develops throughout the four volumes of The Ratchwood Prophecies and he is a very different time travelling antihero in each.

At the beginning of his journey, Ratchwood is dependent on his destructive personality traits to get him through the day.  Although he knows his place in history is significant,

“I am everything.  And everything is me.

All is within and without there is nothing.

Nothing that is.  Nothing that is not.”

he does not yet comprehend its significance.  He is wilfully disrespectful of his gifts, using them for his own gratification and not embracing the responsibility necessary to harness them.  As his character develops however, Ratchwood moves from the position of sole beneficiary of his personality disorder, to being the dominant member of a co-dependant relationship, to allowing Wicklow to become his equal in fighting crime (although technically she is still the sidekick), to becoming a relatively emotionally stable teacher with disciples and finally, after slight deterioration in mental faculties again, achieving the hero status of antihero and embracing the greater good.

In volume 1, Ratchwood has little more than a supporting role in his own story, volume 1 focussing more on Vladimir Vygotski’s development.  Ratchwood remains far from the self-actualisation undergone later in the story, but his childhood origins are explored.

“It seemed this union of like minds would

come to define me in terms of growing

older as I learned more about my destiny.”

Ratchwood, being a time traveller, often has what should be benefit of hindsight before the realisation of foresight.  Given his character flaws however, this is not always the case.  For this reason, despite it having shaped his personality, it is not until the prequel chapter of volume three that we really see the sequence of events that led to him becoming the mal-adjusted sex addict that we are familiar with by this point.

Although he does still struggle a lot with the conflicting impulses within, signs of Ratchwood attempting to do good in the world are evident from volume two.

“Don’t even say it Wicklow.  The power- My power came

through faith.  You simply chanced upon your own.

Faith and chance.  Chance and faith.  My faith

can’t exclude chance, but chance can’t explain faith.

Faith should not allow us to wait for chance

but chance has come through lack of faith, depriving

us of the faith we deserve.  Making a mockery of God.”

The above quotation illustrates the inner turmoil Ratchwood struggles with, especially at this point when his best friend and lover has deserted him.  Later, through recognition of Vygotski’s role in the story, he is torn between conflicting desires: That to do good, eliminating evil; and that to save his former friend, allowing the world to be destroyed…

Or so he thinks.