“Plenty
of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being
human.”
Victoria
Schwab, Vicious
Whether we love to
hate them, actually love them, or really really hate them, villains have the
power to make a big impact. The ones we met as children still have a hold on
us. The ones we meet as readers make us intrigued, and the ones we meet as
writers make us critical. Critical in the way that sometimes a villain makes us
say ‘uh, I could do better’ or ‘that was pretty well done’ or ‘god damn it, how
the hell did they do that? I LOVE THEM.’
How a villain in a
story makes us feel is a lesson in how our own villains make others feel. There
are many elements that make a GOOD villain. Before looking at what your villain
needs, consider making a list of your favourite villains and why they were
great. What made you enjoy their presence?
What makes up a
villain?
There are three basic
elements to a villain: motive, backstory and personality. This does not mean
the reader needs to know all of it, but the villain will have it anyway, even
if it stays entirely in the writer’s head.
The motive of the
villain is rarely outright stated (cue supervillain monologue), but the reader
should know by the end of the book what the villain’s motive was. If the motive
is unclear, the actions of the villain seem meaningless and often appear as
just a tool to drive the plot forward.
What is motive?
A motive is simply
what drives the character. It’s their goal throughout the story, and it is the
thought behind their actions. Put simply, it asks, what do they want?
Why do villains
need it?
We are not
mindless beings going around and acting without reason. A villain has a motive
and an overall goal. They make decisions as well as sacrifices for what they
want to achieve. Their actions should derive from what motivates them. Otherwise,
they are doing mindless stuff for no good reason, which feels unrealistic and
flat.
A villain’s
actions sometimes create the very essence of the plot, with the hero ‘reacting’.
Sometimes, the villain reacts to the hero, seeking to thwart or destroy them
for their own reasons. But the villain will seem like a cardboard cut-out of a
‘bad guy’ if their actions are written as a plot device and don’t stem from
their overall goal (doesn’t mean you can’t work out a way to do both if you
REALLY need a certain scene to take place).
How do I know
which is the right motive for my villain?
Often, we know
what kind of story we want to write and the villain comes later, sometimes we
have a clear villain in mind and they unfold further with the story. If you understand
what you want to write and the journey you want your hero to take, you’ll have
an idea of what kind of values your villain will oppose in order to
create the conflict. A hero and a villain could both be competing for a grand
tournament that would grant them glory and riches. The hero desperately has to
win because the riches will help his family stuck in poverty and the glory will
prove to the world he’s not just a nobody. The villain believes it’s his birthright
to win, and can’t stand to disappoint his cruel father. Both have their own
motives, but the villain may be willing to lie, cheat, kill or bribe his way to
victory, but our hero will only compete honestly – mostly (he’s human, too, and
has flaws and weaknesses). The two forces create the conflict in the story.
Your villain can
also take shape based on the different themes you explore throughout the
narrative. One of the themes in Stephen King’s The Mist is the effect
fear has on human behaviour. Although the mist in the story is
ultimately the Big Bad, the characters trapped inside the grocery store create
the primary conflict. David, the protagonist, attempts to stay rational, keep
the party safe, and find a way out to get to his wife and protect his son. Mrs
Carmody believes the mist is an act of God, sent to punish the sinners. She gathers
followers and plays on their fear, creating even more panic and even suggesting
sacrifice as a way to appease God. David is brave and pragmatic despite
the fear of the unknown – while Mrs Carmody creates hysteria amongst the group
and denies any of David’s logic and solutions.
What about clichés?
When thinking motive
you may, like me, try to pull away from the basics, the cliché’s, the
overdone, and that’s a fine mindset to have. It forces us to think outside the
box and ponder at the possibilities and potentially create something really
unique and special. However, classics are classics for good reasons. Don’t
neglect a perfectly good motive because it’s been done. You can create something
unique in how they pursue their goals.
Many villains seek
power and, if not power, believe power is the key to their ultimate goal.
Voldemort wanted
eternal life, and power was a way to achieve it. He created the seven horcruxes
and sought to kill the baby prophesized to destroy him. Throughout the books,
he sought several ways to come back to life and ultimately succeeded. He then
set his sights on Harry to destroy the only thing that could destroy him.
Scar wanted to be
king, perhaps for the power alone, or perhaps to prove himself, after years of
feeling inept, that he was better than his older brother. He killed Mufasa and
shamed Simba into running away. He then took control of the pride – even though
he was not a good leader and had no real ambition to be a good leader.
Vadar sought power
because he believed it would save his beloved.
A motive for a
villain does not necessarily have to be a villainy motive. Remember villains,
like all characters, are people. They’re human - mostly. Sometimes, the more
human they are, the greater and more memorable they become. There is a sense of
tragedy about them when they’ve had a path to choose in life, much like our
heroes, and made mistakes or intentional sacrifices that inevitably took them down
the wrong one.
One of my
favourite villain origin stories is Heartless by Marissa Meyer. Meyer’s
story of the famous and beloved Queen of Hearts had me on the edge of my seat trying
to tell the character ‘no, turn back’. The tragedy of this villain’s backstory
is not necessarily her intense heartbreak – but all the signs along the way
that warned her. Although there were other aspects influencing her path, it was
her at the end of the day, her choice, that led to her inevitable
downfall.
Let’s not forget
that some of the greatest villains have motives we understand. A great villain
gives the reader a look behind the curtain, making us believe there was
something almost human about them once, something we understand and connect
with.
Poison Ivy wanted
to preserve nature and plants, Sweeney Todd sought revenge on a man that committed
truly heinous crimes against his wife and daughter.
There are endless possibilities
when it comes to motive.
Villains are the
heroes of their own story
Like our
protagonists, the villains believe their goals are vital to achieve. The
difference between the hero and villain is what the villain is willing to do to
get there. In a lot of cases, the villain’s motives can be selfish but they
believe they have to, or justify it through other means. They then commit evil
acts – most of the time recognising they are evil – because they believe in
what they are doing.
Peter Pettigrew
gave away Lily and James Potter, and he did it believing Voldemort would otherwise
kill him, and valued his own life over that of his friends.
‘You don’t understand!’ whined Pettigrew. ‘He would have
killed me, Sirius!’
‘THEN
YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!’ roared Black. ‘DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS
WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!’
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
AIDAN from the
Illuminae Files sacrificed half the fleet to save the rest. He knew all of them
would not survive so he sacrificed some, even knowing it would result in his
own destruction in the end. He knew Kady would not approve, that murder was
considered wrong, but he was programmed to protect the fleet, and so he did.
“Am I not merciful?”
It’s easy to put
ourselves in our hero’s shoes, we do it naturally as our story unfolds, but
sometimes we forget that our villains are acting of their own accord, fuelled
by their own motives. We forget to flip the story occasionally and look at it
from the perspective of our villains. They are their own hero.
“Fine,” he said with a weary
shrug. “Make me your villain.”
Leigh
Bardugo, Shadow and Bone
Check
out How to Write Villains, Part 1: Introduction here. Subscribe
for updates on the parts 3 and 4.
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