Gordon Livesy

Gordon Livesy is a fictional character and recurring antagonist of the ITV British soap opera drama Emmerdale.

Originally appearing as a minor character from 2 December 2003 to 8 December 2008, he served as the show's main antagonist from 14 December 2015 to 31 May 2016.

History
Gordon visited Emmerdale in 2003, 2004 and 2006 when he dropped off Aaron to spend time with Chas. When Louise Appleton told him she saw Chas hit Aaron, Gordon was angry and told Chas he would only allow her to see Aaron as long as it is what Aaron wants from now on.

In 2006 Gordon visited the village once again to drop a reluctant Aaron of to stay with his mum. He revealed he and his wife Sandra were expecting a child and as Measles had been doing the rounds at Aaron's school asked for the visit to be extended.

The visit didn't go well. Chas, struggled to hide her jealousy over Aaron's closeness to Gordon and his friendship with her cousin Delilah, she was also hurt by him referring to Sandra as "mum" the tension between mother and son boils over with Aaron informing Chas that her boyfriend Carl King cheated on her with Delilah. Later after overhearing her son on the phone to his dad begging to come home, Chas spitefully goaded him with a warning once Gordon and Sandra's new baby arrived his father won't be bothered with him anymore.

Aaron and Gordon had no further contact with Chas until 2008 when Aaron was arrested after becoming a drug mule for a local crime family, the McFarlanes. Chas went to the police station and later visits Gordon to find out what had been going on. Gordon told her he had thrown Aaron out after he hit Sandra. Aaron later asked to go back to his father's but Gordon said they needed a break from him and insisted he stayed with Chas. Later that night, Aaron vandalised Gordon's office, although he couldn't prove it. It was around this time that his marriage to Sandra broke down.

In December 2015, Chas' business partner Diane Sugden recognised Gordon at Hotten General Hospital and he revealed he was suffering from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Gordon told her he had time to think about his relationship with Aaron, and Diane informed him Aaron lives with her at The Woolpack. Gordon asked Diane not to mention to Chas and Aaron that she had seen him.

Gordon later visited Chas and Aaron. He and Chas reconnected and began dating again, which upset Aaron when he saw them together. After collapsing due to his self-harming cuts becoming infected, Aaron told his former lover Robert Sugden that Gordon was the real reason he self-harmed. After discharging himself from hospital, Robert found Aaron hiding in Mulberry Cottage. Aaron revealed to Robert that Gordon raped him as a child.

The following day, Robert came face to face with Gordon and confronted him about what he did to Aaron. Robert warned Gordon, telling him to leave town or he will finish him. Gordon denied Aaron's accusations and suggested Aaron could be creating false memories. Aaron was horrified when Robert brought up the false memory syndrome and he confronts Gordon about his twisted lies. Gordon decided to give his relationship with Chas a break, lying to her he didn't want to come between her and their son.

In February 2016, after a day at the seaside, Aaron admitted to Chas what Gordon did to him during his childhood. Chas immediately believed her son and went to Gordon's house to confront him. Gordon lied and told her he didn't rape Aaron but admitted the truth later after pinning Chas against a wall. Chas told her half-brother Cain Dingle about Aaron's ordeal. The next day, Gordon returned home to find somebody had broken into his house and wrecked it. Cain walked in and knocked Gordon out and tied him up. When Gordon woke up, Cain tried to force Gordon to take an overdose on Chas' sleeping pills. As Cain was about to force him to take the pills, Aaron and Chas rushed in to stop Cain from killing Gordon, as he would get sent down for murder. Aaron decided to report Gordon to police for what he did to him. The next day, Aaron finally reported his father's historic abuse. Both Gordon and Aaron are questioned by DS Wise, and in an attempt to make Aaron's allegations less credible, Gordon reveals that Cain tried to kill him. No charges were brought against Cain after both Chas and Cain's wife Moira Dingle covered for him.

The following day, Gordon paid Aaron a visit at the scrapyard. He threatened Aaron and informed him if he didn't retract the allegations then he would do his best to get Cain jailed. A few weeks later, Chas spraypainted 'Paedo' on Gordon's car. Chas revealed to the pub customers that Gordon abused their son after pictures of the spraypainted car surfaced online.

Three days later, another victim came forward and reported that Gordon abused him too. It was later revealed that Robert had paid Ryan to say he was abused to make Aaron's case stronger. Gordon believed Chas was responsible for the new witness so he pinned her against a wall and threatened her. Chas' cousin Marlon Dingle walked in and grabbed Gordon away from Chas before the police arrived and they took Gordon away. Later, Robert admitted to Chas, he was the person who paid Ryan. Aaron learned about Robert's deal with Ryan and visited Ryan and told him to drop his allegations. Gordon insisted that once the the police and solicitors learned of the deal with Ryan, they would be sympathetic towards him.

At his plea hearing in March 2016, Gordon pretended to be struggling to walk, and collapsed, explaining it was the side effects of his chemotherapy. Gordon pleaded not guilty and he was released on bail once again. Gordon requested to be escorted from the court. The following day, Gordon's long lost daughter Liv visited him. Liv questioned him about Aaron's allegations, but Gordon protested his innocence and gave Liv his mother's necklace. Liv later ran out of Gordon's house and into Aaron, and apologised to her brother. The following day, Liv and Gordon met up and Liv informed him that her mother had made a statement to the police.

In April 2016, Liv met up with Gordon and he told her about Aaron's involvement in a warehouse robbery nearly five months previously. He explained he believed Aaron paid the witness Ryan to lie to the police. The next day, when Liv and Gordon met up again, Gordon tried to buy his daughter off with a tablet computer but Liv informed him she didn't wanted to help him anymore, as she realised he was only using her to dig dirt on Aaron. Later, Aaron found out Liv had been spying on him for Gordon, and he went to Gordon's house where he confronted his father about Liv. Gordon turned it round on Aaron and told him he was the one who didn't deserve to know Liv, but Aaron stood up to his father, and walked away, saying he would see him in court.

Gordon continued to lie about still having cancer, and managed to get Liv back on his side when Aaron seemingly pushed her away after Sandra revealed they would be taking a holiday to Ireland, when she wanted to stay with her brother in Emmerdale. Over a period of three days, the trial took place, and concluded with Liv's final betrayal when, after recording Aaron and Robert talking about paying Ryan off, she deleted the taping and told the jury to convict Gordon, who was later convicted of all four charges brought against him.

At some point between the verdict and sentencing, Gordon gave fellow inmate Pete Barton a letter to give Aaron when he returned to the village. Pete gave the letter to Robert, who later disposed of it. Aaron, Robert and Liv were present when Gordon was sentenced to eighteen years imprisonment. As he was removed from the stands, he asked a confused Aaron if he'd read the letter he sent him, unaware that Robert burns his letter. Liv took the necklace Gordon gave to her, threw it at him, and furiously declared her wish for him to die in prison.

The next day, DS Wise broke the news to Aaron and Liv that Gordon was found dead in his cell during a party held to celebrate Aaron changing his last name to "Dingle". Everyone believed that Gordon had been ordered killed by Robert at first, but it was later established that Gordon had killed himself by hanging.

Trivia

 * Even though he was less of a regular character due to merely making 49 appearances on the show, each half from the 2000s and 2010s respective eras, Gordon Livesy is one of the few Emmerdale villains who is Pure Evil: due to the extent of his unspeakable crimes against his own son Aaron Livesy.
 * It's also because of this that Gordon serves as the reason behind Aaron's initial antagonistic character development.