Days of Our Lives' Tony DiMera: An Unusually Complex Soap Villain

After mafia gunmen disrupted his wedding, Count Antony DiMera travelled to Tibet to seek sanctuary from his shadows.

I am, of course, speaking of the charming playboy/elite swordsman/black belt/mob boss who is also, coincidentally, a soap opera villain. Tony DiMera appeared on the Days of our Lives canvas back in 1981 as a distinguished European gentleman with a morally ambiguous nature.

Soap operas back then were of much higher quality, mind you - they nearly had the budget and the talent to rival that of primetime shows. And, being serialized at such high frequency, the genre could get away with things that others couldn't. Where else would you see a Count and his twin cousin duel with bamboo staffs in the Bermuda Triangle? Or a mysterious blue key that can mind-control genetically enhanced children?

Let's not forget the story where Tony DiMera implants false memories into Dr. Marlena Evans to make her think she's a serial killer. The plots are outlandish - and outlandishly good. Now, I'm not extolling the virtues soap operas in general, mind you - many of the modern ones suffer from sub-par acting and general banality. What I am advocating, however, is Tony DiMera's storylines in Days of our Lives, which are unnaturally well-written and brilliantly acted.

Oh, but I see you're not convinced. Yes, friends, some soap operas, including Days, have degenerated to ridiculous one-dimensional teen dramas with a bit of interesting stuff on the side. But it's that interesting stuff on the side that makes it all worth it. And there's nothing more "interesting stuff on the side" than Tony DiMera - why, he's a European mafia boss who practices Zen meditation and kendo.

That's diaspora if I ever saw it. This character adds not only a touch of class to a program tarnished with its "daytime show" status, but a repertoire of good lines and complex ideologies not even present in higher-caliber programs.

A bit on the character history. Perhaps you've heard of Tony's father, Stefano DiMera, who happens to be considered one of the greatest villains in television history. Also known as the Phoenix, the notorious crime boss Stefano DiMera has "died" nine times in the last two decades, presumably surviving each time by harnessing the powers of the legendary bird.

With a mythologically-influenced supervillain of a father, Tony gleans the role of the archetypal good-bad guy, forced to follow his family legacy while resenting the evils of his father. You know, there's always something about those characters who aren't entirely good or evil. As Tony's portrayer, Thaao Penghlis puts it, the character is a "diabolical charmer", who, despite his darkness, maintains a romantic and humorous side.

In the 90's, his life rife with power struggle, Tony found solace in his wife, Kristen Blake, whose purity and innocence he idealized. Perhaps the Count's last traces of idealism disintegrated when Kristen annulled the marriage to be with the DiMera family's biggest enemy, ex-mercenary and protagonist John Black. Bonus fact: Stefano DiMera had brainwashed John at an early age to be a DiMera assassin.

John not only turned on the DiMeras but claimed a DiMera bride, adding insult to injury. Unable to find redress for his emptiness, Tony's shadows returned, and he took up the reins as the true successor to the Phoenix. What with all of its ideological implications and its rich history, the Tony-John feud developed into one of the most enticing rivalries in television history. The vengeful heir, shrouded in mystery, versus the noble warrior, absorbed in self-righteousness. There is such beauty in Tony's impassioned despair that his quest for revenge makes him a hero in his own regard.

In the midst of Days of our Lives' recent faux serial killer plot, the Count trained with the help of his old master, Hattori Hanzo - yes, the legendary swordsman from Kill Bill, and before that, from Japanese historical literature. Mentally preparing himself for the ultimate revenge, Tony rekindled his meditative practices to detach himself from his own emotional burdens. Later, we find that Tony was preparing to fake his own death and the deaths of nine other people, essentially separating all of the couples on the show.

The "dead" characters turned up on an island where their city was completely reconstructed, albeit deserted. An electronic force field sealed off the city, making the island inescapable. Does this still sound like a typical soap opera plot? No indeed, there is nothing typical about Count Antony DiMera. Even with its central theme focused on love and romance, this particular story arc showcased a good share of action, with no less than three katana battles, culminating with a final duel with John Black.

Not bad. Even with the pseudo-cultural diaspora, though, the inclusion of Eastern content is reflected only in Tony DiMera and not the other, less powerful characters - that is, to be "cultured" in America remains the mark of the erudite and affluent. Not only that, you apparently have to be a villain.

Currently, the character is being held indefinitely in prison and fans are mailing "get out of jail free" cards to the producer and headwriter of Days, in hopes that the multifaceted character will stay on the show. The DiMeras are among the most fascinating characters on television, adding a touch of class and culture to a wasteland of banal programming.

If our current generation can shake off its own conventions, perhaps they, too, will understand the brilliance of Tony DiMera. The Phoenix will always rise again.