The violence in Book IX enables Virgil to portray the depravity, or corruptness, of Turnus's character. He appears to have no sense of justice or of what is morally acceptable as he flaunts the death of Nisus and Euryalus by marching amongst the people with their heads stuck atop spears.
In Book XII, Turnus's lack of control reaches its climax. Turnus is unable to control his emotional rage. His passion is described as "hot and unquenchable." Virgil compares Turnus's passion for Lavinia to that of Dido for Aeneas in the first half of The Aeneid. The more Turnus craves Lavinia, the more he wants to do battle. It becomes evident that Turnus's lack of emotional control clouds his military judgment. Virgil notes, "He did not know himself. His knees gave way, / His blood ran cold and froze."
Turnus's is the anti-hero, the character who, because of his disreputable behavior, is fated to die. His character behaves in a manner inferior to Aeneas's character. He defames the sanctity of death by stepping on Pallas's body after killing him and he acts dishonorably by removing the swordbelt from the dead man's body. Virgil comments on Turnus's behavior, "The minds of men are ignorant of fate / And of their future lot, unskilled to keep / Due measure when some triumph sets them high. / For Turnus there will come a time / When he would give the world to see again / An untouched Pallas, and will hate this day, / Hate that belt taken." Because Turnus's future has been sealed by fate, he dies as a result of his actions and Aeneas, and civic virtue, triumphs.
