Zelazny What If: Gerard as the villain in the Corwin Chronicles

Who: Gerard

And a big, powerful man regarded me from the next card. He resembled me quite strongly, save that his jaw was heavier. And I knew he was bigger than I, though slower. His strength was a thing out of legend. He wore a dressing gown of blue and gray clasped about the middle with a wide, black belt, and he stood laughing. About his neck, on a heavy cord, there hung a silver hunting horn. He wore a fringe beard and a light mustache. In his right hand he held a goblet of wine. I felt a sudden affection for him. His name then occurred to me. He was Gerard.

Why: Loyalty

 How:

 I could see Gerard as a villain out of loyalty to an individual (such as when he thrashes Corwin on Benedict’s behalf) or out of loyalty that places the ideal of Amber over the lives of the individuals.Consider what he tells Corwin in Guns of Avalon.

 "That is why, whether I sympathize with you or not, I do not recommend the present time for your efforts. The security of Amber must come before all else."

And later

 "Corwin . . . Wait. I'd like to ask you to reconsider. Do not hit Amber now. She is weak in all the wrong ways."

"I am sorry, Gerard. But I am certain I have given the matter more thought during the past five years than all the rest of you put together."

"I am sorry, too, then."

He’s slower than his mercurial siblings and more deliberate. Plodding, even. But not stupid. Recall that in the Courts of Chaos, Oberon keeps Gerard behind the defend Amber when everyone else is dispatched to the field. Gerard functions as an adversary for much of the chronicles. In some ways he’s harder to hoodwink than his smarter siblings, because he just won’t listen if he decides it’s time to pummel you. “Can’t talk now, Corwin. Bodyslamming you on some rocks now.”

He wouldn’t work well as the primary villain of the piece, because I think he’d be too easy to maneuver around but he’d make a terrifying, implacable enforcer. 

Zelazny What If: Caine as the villain in the Corwin Chronicles

Who: Caine

Then came the swarthy, dark-eyed countenance of Caine, dressed all in satin that was black and green, wearing a dark three-cornered hat set at a rakish angle, a green plume of feathers trailing down the back. He was standing in profile, one arm akimbo, and the toes of his boots curled upwards, and he wore an emerald-studded dagger at his belt. There was ambivalence in my heart.

Why: Ambition.

How: Like Bleys, Caine’s story requires very few changes to make him the villain. When we first meet him, he is already allied with the villain of the piece in a plot to seize the throne. He betrayed Corwin by reneging on his vow to remove his fleet from the seas leading to Amber, framed him for murder, spied on him at great length and finally stabbed him in an attempt to kill him.

At the end of the chronicles, we have only his own words to prove that he was acting for the good of Amber. But really, what else would he say?

Caine, I never liked you and I still do not trust you. You have insulted me, betrayed me and even stabbed me. Forget that. I do not like your methods, though I cannot fault your loyalty this time around. Peace, then. Let the new reign begin with a clean slate between us.