While the Players of A Stage Set for Villains rule through fear, their power is sustained by adoration. The novel offers a critique of unrestrained worship through its depiction of the Revelers, a faction of fanatics who sacrifice their autonomy and very identities to the Players. This portrayal of obsessive devotion serves as a cautionary tale about the loss of self that occurs when admiration intensifies into fanaticism. The narrative argues that deifying any power, whether artistic or political, inevitably leads to exploitation and ruin, transforming worshippers into willing instruments of their own subjugation.

The corrupting influence of fanaticism is embodied by the character of Haris. A once-functional member of society, Haris has been reduced to a destitute figure, having lost his home and health in his all-consuming worship of the Players. Clad in a discarded Playhouse costume that he wears as if it were his own skin, he speaks of the Players as divine saviors. His worship has become physically inscribed upon his body through self-inflicted scars spelling out “JUDE STEPHARROS” (18). Riven recognizes Haris’s surrender of personal identity as a shared form of victimhood. Her reflection, “We’re both victims of the Players, just in different ways” (18), frames her friend’s obsession as a curse that gradually erases him. His physical and psychological decay illustrates the destructive endpoint of fanaticism, where the self is entirely consumed by the object of its worship, leaving behind an empty vessel.

The novel frames fanaticism as a state of profound psychological vulnerability that the Players actively exploit. Riven notes that Players can “make you believe anything” and the Eleutheraen mark acts as a “shield against the lure of the Playhouse” (6, 22). The largely unmarked populace of South Theatron is therefore dangerously susceptible to Player Compulsion, a magical influence that can shape thoughts and beliefs. The absence of a mark among the Revelers symbolizes their lack of a protected inner self, making them defenseless against the Players’ manipulations. Their worship is therefore presented as a consequence of their vulnerability. Jude demonstrates this power when he effortlessly compels a crowd of his fans to disperse with a single word. The Revelers’ devotion is a resource to be harvested, the very source of the attention the Players need to survive.

Spann portrays fanaticism as a destructive social force, illustrating how devotion can be manipulated into a mechanism of control. The cultural divide between the fearful, marked North and the worshipping, unmarked South highlights two contrasting responses to the Players’ dominance, yet both societies remain shaped by their influence. Among the Revelers, zealotry often mutates into violence. The mob that attacks Riven outside the Playhouse does so in an act of religious-like devotion, seeking to slash through her Eleutheraen mark in service to the figures they revere. Their actions demonstrate how fanaticism erodes moral judgment, transforming ordinary people into willing instruments of power.

Ultimately, the Revelers become an extension of the power that oppresses them, enforcing the Players’ authority even in their absence. This point is emphasized when, after the Playhouse vanishes from the District, fanatical auditionees incite riots and wreak havoc. Deprived of the institution around which they have built their identities, they lash out, revealing the instability that lies beneath their devotion. Through these episodes, the novel argues that unconditional worship benefits only those who command it. Fanaticism corrupts not only the individual but also the social fabric, turning faith into a weapon that perpetuates harmful authoritarian forces.