Telling lies is like feeding somebody a slow poison that they do not know they’re ingesting. The only cure to this kind of poison is knowing that the poison exists. The most discomforting thing about lying is that there’s no way initially to differentiate a lie from the truth so you have to trust in the people you interact with. This is the case since lying is the most effective way of creating “unknown unknowns” in which the person doesn’t even know what the problem is. However, it’s not possible to make a character a genuine “unknown unknown” with the requirement that you don’t even know of the character’s existence. When a character is made of lies then you have an effect similar to an unknown unknown, which becomes a “known unknown” where you know what the problem is but you’re never given the answer.

A character that perfectly represents this is Aizen from the series Bleach by Tite Kubo who is eerily similar to Iago from Othello. What makes Aizen a better villain however, is that Othello is told mostly from a third person perspective focusing on Iago so we know all of Iago’s schemes and plans that the characters are falling for making things seem predictable with the only thing being a mystery is his backstory. However in Bleach, Aizen is a true mystery with no hint or idea towards his goal and we have no clue we’re being lied to until it’s revealed because of the context of his ability. What supports this is his own ability complete hypnosis which controls all 5 senses of the human body which includes hearing, sight, smell, and touch which means in the show when Aizen is present, we have no clue of what’s real and what’s not and always doubting what’s on screen. The difference between these two characters is the perspective in which it is told which is also Iago’s biggest flaw as we already know his motive and schemes like watching a line of dominoes fall already knowing the result while in Bleach, we don’t have the slightest clue as to what Aizen is thinking giving a feeling of unpredictability.

Iago fools the characters in Othello while Aizen fools everybody including the reader making him the closest thing to an unknown unknown. What makes him so entertaining to watch is because we has no way of knowing his thoughts are genuine or are they “like a scotoma, a blind spot in our field of vision that we are unaware of?” (integration 3). Aizen is what Iago should’ve been. This unknown unknown feeling is enhanced as Aizen possesses the Hogyoku which is the MacGuffin of the series being a wish granting device however, his intent with the Hogyoku is never clear and even after the series’ end, we still don’t know what his wish was besides a slight hint. Even after his defeat, his meltdown doesn’t reveal much behind his motive. Even though his character is at best a known unknown, his actions make him feel like an unknown unknown. Aizen is a great twist on the Iago-like character making him unpredictable and untrustworthy.