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The Life and Mind of DamnBlackHeart
This is to help me stay actively writing. So expect to see rants, tips on writing, thoughts on subjects, me complaining of boredom, reviews, anime, movies, video games, conventions, tv shows and whatever life throws at me.
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Writing: Creating and Developing a Villain |
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For every hero there's a villain and for every story it contains both because you can't have one without the other. So creating and developing the villain is just as important as developing a believable and memorable hero. After all, Harry Potter without Voldermort, or Clarice Starling without Hannibal Lecter, or Batman without The Joker, or Superman without Lex Luthor, or the Resident Evil cast without Wesker, or Final Fantasy VII cast without Sephiroth, L without Light Yagami, etc. Without them the stories, movies, video games and so on wouldn't be as great as we know and love.
Basically, the point is that you need to make your villains credible, logical, and believable, but not likeable. Not only will they'll be real, three-dimensional people but they'll be characters that your readers can understand. They feel more emotional connected with the hero, knowing that the villain is a real threat and not a ridiculous shallow, narrow-minded creature whose only ambition is to be evil and opposing the hero in everything they do.
So it's important to make sure that your readers know why the antagonist is doing what he does, and why he believes his actions are justified and rational. It would make the readers understand the character better and give them a real reason to hate them than just because they're the 'bad guy'.
To start we must find a motivation for the villain. Why? It is important because it's what makes them real and human. They're driven by a desire just as us humans are too in reality. That desire is what drives their madness. Whatever the reason/desire it is, to them they believe their reasoning is logical and perfectly justifiable even if it's not.
Wealth
Political power
Justice/Revenge
Fame
Love (or Lust)
Just be sure to show your readers this side of your villain's logic and in doing so you'll intensify your story's suspense factor. Show them that your antagonist is quite capable of winning the battle and make sure that it seems as though the outcome of your plot is uncertain. That uncertainty doubles your suspense again, and gives you the perfect opportunity to showcase your hero's qualities as well, thus creating a stronger protagonist just by displaying the comparisons. To put it more simply, your villain has to be good about being a bad guy, but it forces your hero to be even better.
Anyway, once you figure out what the villain wants and why, consider what they might do to fulfill that desire. For example: Imagine a person who has been wronged in some way and wants justice. A hero in this position might seek proof that they were wronged, then turn their evidence over to the police. A villain? They'll decide who's to blame -- whether they are or not.
You must ask yourself questions about the villain.
Why does this particular desire drive this character?
Is there anything that would satisfy them?
How far would you go to achieve this goal if you were them?
What if you didn't care who you hurt?
How would you rationalize your actions?
Have events in their past shaped them? If so, what and how?
With those questions answered, the next thing you need to think about is how far they'll take their revenge and what do they plan to do once they accomplished it. Did they plan that far? Will they be stopped by the hero before they reach it? Will something else interfere with their plan?
Also think about their good side because no one is all evil or all good. Each character has a little darkness or a little light inside them. Again, asking questions about your character helps you think about them and gives them depth, so that they are believable to the plot and to the readers.
Are they witty? Smart? Gorgeous?
Would they be kind to the less fortunate?
Are there moral lines they will not cross?
Do they have a soft side? Maybe towards women? Children? Animals?
Are they patient? Or are they impatience? If so, why impatience?
Are they honest? Do they insist that being truthful is a matter of honor, if they are?
If they kill would they give them a quick and painless death or not? Would it depend on the victim? Would they allow the victim one last request? Would they even give them a chance to live or escape?
Again, be sure to let your readers know that they are intelligent, logical, complex creature with the capacity to be understanding and reasonable, who does what they do because their reasons are sound to them. If you do that then you are on your way to creating a pretty believable villain. If it helps, look up real bad guys and use them as an example when creating your character.
 DamnBlackHeart · Fri Feb 25, 2011 @ 10:09pm · 0 Comments |
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