So, Michael Myers is most likely the most well-known and most critically acclaimed horror antagonist of all time. Halloween is said by some to be the pioneer of slasher films, and the slasher himself is why. He's scary, dangerous, mysterious, and honestly, pretty damn cool.

But what's especially interesting is that, unlike a lot of other famous slashers, we don't know why he kills. I have a (most likely incorrect) guess why.

So, when Michael was first dreamt up, Josh Carpenter stated that he intended to characterize the Shape as not human; he wanted to portray him as the embodiment and personification of evil. Like he was "a supernatural force—a force of nature." And he did that well. Michael Myers wasn't just evil—he was Evil.

Now, this was all well and good for a long time. You could take him down a different road if you wanted, but in the end, it was accepted that the Shape was not human. He was pure, unfiltered evilness in the form of a masked man, a boogeyman. But then something came along and threw a monkey wrench in the works. And that is Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

Now, if you don't accept this movie as canon to the Halloween timeline, that's fine. I won't try to tell you otherwise. As far as I can tell, nearly everyone hated it, and thought of it as an insult to Carpenter's works. But I consider it canon, and as a matter of fact, I liked that film, because of what they did to Michael: they took Josh Carpenter's original portrayal of him and said, "fuck that noise!"

According to Dominique Othenin-Girard, the film's director, he wanted the opposite of Michael: he wanted him to appear human and relatable, "even vulnerable, with contradicting feelings inside of him." This is shown most clearly in the scene where Michael finally catches Jamie, but lowers his knife and removes his mask at her request, and all we see of the Shape's face is a single eye with a tear leaking from it. This is all ruined upon Jamie touching his face, which causes him to go absolutely ballistic.

The important thing here is that not only does Michael show just a touch of mercy, but in that single tear, he shows feelings. It could be anything, from empathy to pain to regret. But whatever it is, it's something human. Deep within, Michael Myers has humanity.

The way I see it, what needs to be answered now is: Why was Michael crying?

Josh probably did make Myers canonically supernatural. He is able to survive a load of bullets and even being set on fire/blown up and displays superhuman strength.

And, of course, no matter how fast you run, Michael Myers walks faster.

But with that said, how can you be human and supernatural at the same time?

The conflict of a human killer with an inhuman killer, with irrefutable evidence pointing to both, leads me to believe that the reason Michael kills is not due to evil or insanity. That said:

My theory is that Michael Myers is possessed. This would explain his supernatural forces, yet also his mercy and emotions when confronted by Jamie's words. Somehow, for just a moment, the real Michael Myers gained control of himself once more. He doesn't want to kill. He didn't choose this life. He could've been just a guy that you would pass by on the street and bid a Happy Halloween to. But his "inner demons" were actually demons. He didn't need a psychologist. Michael Myers needed an exorcist.

I know that this theory is probably very wrong, but hey, it was worth a shot. Why do you think the Shape ended up being one of, if not the most, infamous slasher villain of all time?