Personality
| “ | Fancy: I know how evil you really are. I've seen the pain you inflict on people. Alistair: I had to be strong. I had to be strong for my family. I had to be strong for you. Fancy: No, you use people as if they were pawns on your chessboard. You play games with their lives. Alistair: Well, I'll tell you something, kid — life is a game! My rules, my game, and I'm in total control. |
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—Fancy and Alistair Crane, August 22, 2007 |
Alistair is frequently described by the other characters as being brilliant, yet ruthless and evil: Eve Russell claims that "Mentally, maybe . But emotionally he was demented, deranged. There was nothing evil that was beyond his capabilities." He is often portrayed as a larger-than-life force with surveillance cameras all over town, as well as in strategic locations around the world; an immense staff of henchmen ready to do his bidding; and control of a global, billion-dollar company.
Alistair is also very much a megalomaniac and a control freak; most of his actions are driven by a need to control his family members. For many years, he uses the threat of disinheritance to force Julian and Ethan to do his bidding and attempts to murder his own daughter, Sheridan, when she disobeys him and accepts Luis's proposal. Alistair's frequent use of rape, itself a crime characterized as being of power and control, against his three main "romantic" interests — Rachel, Katherine, and Theresa — also indicates his love of power.
Of all of his descendants, the only person that Alistair has ever loved is his eldest granddaughter, Fancy Crane. Believing her to be the only "true Crane" of all of his relatives and admiring her spirit and ability to stand up to him, Alistair served as a father figure to the young girl, who was largely ignored by her parents, and indulged and encouraged her nonchalant, fun-seeking attitude, telling her that she was born to "enjoy have fun". It is not until Alistair turns on her and sets lions loose on her and Luis in Rome that Fancy finally sees the true Alistair. When Alistair is revealed to be alive in 2007, Fancy rebels against him, refusing to conform to his wishes and denying him control. Instead of marking her for death as he did to other descendants who had stood up to him, Alistair has a mind-control device implanted into Fancy's nose, seeking to regain "his" Fancy.
Read more about this topic: Alistair Crane
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