Writing Tell Me About Your Villains

[NiQuinn]

Just as the title says. I'm currently trying to flesh out my big baddie and having a tough job doing it. I need me some inspiration. Does your story have a villain? Is it a person, is it themselves, or is it some vague idea that they're fighting against? How did you come up with your villain besides wanting him/her to go against your hero?

Or, just plainly tell me about your story's big baddie. I would love to be enlightened.

 

[King.J.Elias]

I don't have a novel yet, but I read a lot of novels so I will give my two cents about the matter.

Writing a good villain can be tricky. As first you have to define what is a villain or an antagonist, cause a villain doesn't have to necessarily be evil, he just have to has a motive and a reason to do what he does. The reasons and motivation don't have to make sense to the protagonist or the reader but the villain has to be convinced of them, his "conviction" should be his driving force.
Now depending on the conviction you build your character, their alignments be them clear or vague, their ideas and actions should also go with it. Even "the joker" the most terrifying villain has his own sort of "conviction", that every man has a breaking point and he wants to break the batman with whatever means necessary to achieve that.

In short, you need conviction, motivation, the lengths that the villain is willing to go through to achieve his ideas and conviction and the personality to go with it.

I hope this helps!

 

[keitaro-sempai]

Well, most of the time a villain is that just because the MC or somebody else sees him/her as a villain. It just need to be someone which objectives or methods contrast with your protagonist's
It all depends in what are you looking for.
For example in my novel Okane the "villain" is basically the opposite of the MC. He's strong, honest, a powerful master of combat and values honor and glory over all. My protagonist isn't any of those things.

 

[Yorda]

I have villains! So, I'll do this in two parts.

(1) I will explain how I craft villains.

Spoiler

I just look deep into the darkest parts of my soul, analyze what I find, amplify it, slap it onto an interesting character for their personality type, and justify their darkness with some kind of trauma, situation, or backstory. Then I make my villain commit terrible acts. The reason they commit these amoral and unforgivable acts is because they are trying to obsessively fulfill their personality flaw.

For example, an anxious person placed under duress for a long period of time might commit an evil act to ameliorate their suffering. They are tempted by the promise of something they deeply desire and commit sin.

Based on their backstory and their other personality traits it's possible to make a character pitiful and incite sympathy, or to make them a despised wretch.

(2) I will describe villain 1.

Spoiler

I have a man who transmigrated into the body of a villainess likely to die. That is the trauma/situation for them. For personality traits I decided to amplify mistrust of others, fear, anxiety, paranoia, culture shock, physical repulsion, lack of self-esteem, and identity-crisis. They will be tempted by promises of consolation from the dark spirit inhabiting their body and become intoxicated by their liberation from fear and anxiety. The dark spirit caters to all their desires. The power they obtain will corrupt them. The confidence they gain will make them arrogant. Their memories and identity crisis will twist them. Their lack of self-esteem and mistrust that they have towards others will turn to hatred as they lord over others. Their mind will turn from being plagued by an inferiority complex to thinking, "Ah. Fear is another kind of respect. If they are afraid of me, then they acknowledge me."

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I have villains! So, I'll do this in two parts.

(1) I will explain how I craft villains.

Spoiler

I just look deep into the darkest parts of my soul, analyze what I find, amplify it, slap it onto an interesting character for their personality type, and justify their darkness with some kind of trauma, situation, or backstory. Then I make my villain commit terrible acts. The reason they commit these amoral and unforgivable acts is because they are trying to obsessively fulfill their personality flaw.

For example, an anxious person placed under duress for a long period of time might commit an evil act to ameliorate their suffering. They are tempted by the promise of something they deeply desire and commit sin.

Based on their backstory and their other personality traits it's possible to make a character pitiful and incite sympathy, or to make them a despised wretch.

(2) I will describe villain 1.

Spoiler

I have a man who transmigrated into the body of a villainess likely to die. That is the trauma/situation for them. For personality traits I decided to amplify mistrust of others, fear, anxiety, paranoia, culture shock, physical repulsion, lack of self-esteem, and identity-crisis. They will be tempted by promises of consolation from the dark spirit inhabiting their body and become intoxicated by their liberation from fear and anxiety. The dark spirit caters to all their desires. The power they obtain will corrupt them. The confidence they gain will make them arrogant. Their memories and identity crisis will twist them. Their lack of self-esteem and mistrust that they have towards others will turn to hatred as they lord over others. Their mind will turn from being plagued by an inferiority complex to thinking, "Ah. Fear is another kind of respect. If they are afraid of me, then they acknowledge me."

Something has go wrong with you during childhood. Didnt you get enough huggles maybe? But I cant say that I dont like it. Your villainessness seems almost natural.

 

[Sabruness]

Now that i think about it, none of my stories have traditional conventional villain characters. One story is semi-episodic so there are arc villains but not a continuously present identifiable villain. Angel's Lament has the Hive which... are basically just mostly instinctual killing machines (there is some higher intelligence but it's not widespread). Shattered Horizon has the unliving as well as (future) shithead humans.

Most of the others either have organizations/nations as the villains or they havent yet reached the point to develop villains yet.
How strange

 

[NiQuinn]

One story is semi-episodic so there are arc villains but not a continuously present identifiable villain.

Aaah you suddenly reminded me of my recent irritation. I have found myself growing tired of per arc villains. Then again, I've been reading copy-pasted plot from CN transmigration novels that span hundreds of chapters. It's dull, not very threatening, and only prove the temporary annoyance and hold no real danger.

I don't know about your story but you're mention of arc villains suddenly reminded me of the poorly written villains popping up like daisies in the novels I've read.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Villains? As was already said before, being a villain is chiefly a matter of relativity. After all, it is well known that is not true that good can follow only from good and evil only from evil, but that often the opposite is true. Anyone who fails to see this is, indeed, a political infant.

 

[GDLiZy]

My story never has a clear distinction between hero and villain. My principle is that everyone has both good and bad. Basically, everyone suffered except the sadistic author.

Anyway, with my special condition out of the way. The way I designed my character is based on the world and the plot. ( Or vice versa, depending on which one I focused on )

If I wished to discuss the psychology of the Protagonist, then the Antagonist must have the necessary quality to challenge those points of his, by having the extreme-opposite point of views for example.

Remember, the good villain must compete with the MC, not be just another obstacle that offered no lasting impact or change to the MC or his surrounding.

 

[Yorda]

Something has go wrong with you during childhood. Didnt you get enough huggles maybe? But I cant say that I dont like it. Your villainessness seems almost natural.

Something has go very wrong. That is a story for another day.
I actually didn't receive enough huggles as a child.

 

[Yorda]

My story never has a clear distinction between hero and villain. My principle is that everyone has both good and bad. Basically, everyone suffered except the sadistic author.

Yeah. Villains are people too! Protagonist and antagonist just depend on which side you're viewing from.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Something has go very wrong. That is a story for another day.
I actually didn't receive enough huggles as a child.

*huggle* Poor, poor child.

 

[keitaro-sempai]

Well. As a villain, the one in my story is mostly like a freaking tornado which the MC avoids most of the time. You can think of the MC as an anti-hero more than of the villain as a villain

 

[keitaro-sempai]

*huggle* Poor, poor child.

Really a poor child

 

[Nahrenne]

Just as the title says. I'm currently trying to flesh out my big baddie and having a tough job doing it. I need me some inspiration. Does your story have a villain? Is it a person, is it themselves, or is it some vague idea that they're fighting against? How did you come up with your villain besides wanting him/her to go against your hero?

Or, just plainly tell me about your story's big baddie. I would love to be enlightened.

I haven't decided if there is a big baddie in my story, or not.
I mean, there are antagonists in it, but I wouldn't call them baddies per se. Well, maybe they could be considered bad, but they have motivations for being that way - not that such motivations excuse their actions.
There is a group that some of the main characters will fight against, but that's not because the group is bad - but just because they are on a different side. I really don't know if I'm making sense...
orz

I have some considerations on having the main protagonist fall down a path of being bad, however I intend for them to be redeemed. Although, that particular character arc will be in more than one story since it wouldn't fit into one.
>w<

For the characters that most people would likely deem as bad, I wanted to present a dysfunctional family in a noble rank setting - showing the succession struggles and plots that happened throughout our own history. However, I'd say the main driving factor for those characters is pure, sadistic greed and lack of care towards others - along with a large prejudice towards certain things. Saying that, I am contemplating having at least one of the truly awful characters having slight redemption near the end, but not really a positive redemption...

Ah, I don't really think I've given clear and concise answers/explanations, but I don't want to say anymore on what I'm writing...
orz


For advice, I'd say make sure your villain - if you intend on there being an actual villain - should have some, if not all, of these qualities:

• Motivation that makes sense with regards to the setting and lore of the story
• Relationships with other characters - be them like-minded, enemies, subordinates\superiors, familial, or romantic
• Character growth
• No out of character interactions between the villain and protagonist - if there are any

Don't know if any of this helped, or made sense, but I hope you manage to end up with a villain you're happy with.
*huggles you*

\(^o^)/

X

 

[Yorda]

Oh yeah. I just remembered about this too. I really loved this article and villainous checklist.

https://jerryjenkins.com/what-makes-a-good-villain/

With a name like JERRY JENKINS how could you not trust him?

JEEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYY JENKINSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Spoiler

 

[NiQuinn]

Oh yeah. I just remembered about this too. I really loved this article and villainous checklist.

https://jerryjenkins.com/what-makes-a-good-villain/

With a name like JERRY JENKINS how could you not trust him?

JEEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYY JENKINSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Spoiler

View attachment 1377

I've actually already seen this article. It was an interesting read

 

[BenJepheneT]

the villains in my story are less villainy and more of people with different views of the world. moral ground, to these guys including the protagonist, is worth tad shit. thus, it's basically whoever's strong enough to prove and reinforce their POV.

that being said, my villains are only villains for name-sake. i got a bisexual leopard in the story and the only reason he's the villain is because he believes in true freedom and strength that contrasts with the protag.

trust me it reads better than it looks on paper

 

[Moonpearl]

I've got several from my RPGs...

Spoiler: The evil seductress queen; quite long, and content warning for mentions of rape

I have one mass-murderer and mass-rapist from a fantasy game, where she plays the role of the "evil seductress queen". I think I originally created her to be a counterpart to the main cast's "good, wise queen", although with a little twist.

To summarise her story... She started off as a slightly spoiled and demanding daughter of a noble family, but she originally had a very good home. After her parents died suddenly, she fell into the care of her uncle, who was addicted to gambling. He gambled away her entire inheritance and reduced her to poverty; and because her dowry was gone, the many suitors who'd always been buzzing around her completely disappeared.
By chance, she was found to be the last remaining heir to the throne after an accident took out the reigning royals, and half the country campaigned to have her crowned. The other half wanted a competent nobleman to become king. To avoid a civil war, she proposed to marry him and to take the throne together. By this point, she'd actually become relatively humble and just wanted to live well again.

But her husband completed despised her and looked down on her as a spoiled, arrogant woman. He was always cruel to her, ignored her, and brought other women into their marriage bed. She realised that everyone else was also making fun of her, and that her own ladies-in-waiting were actively scheming against her to attract the king's attention.
I think she had a bit of a breakdown at this moment... She realised that, no matter how good she tried to be, nobody saw her as someone worth saving. She also thought, "If everyone else is evil and I get nothing out of being good, why shouldn't I also be ruthless?"
She hired a woman to seduce and murder her husband in bed, completely ruining his reputation after his corpse was found, and she had him written down in history as a complete villain. She also trained to be the best queen she possibly could so that she wouldn't have to rely on her council, because she knew they'd try to use her as a puppet. She decided to never let a man have power over her again.

She once again received a lot of validation from men courting her and calling her the most beautiful in the world, etc. But there was one man who still didn't appreciate her, which hurt her pride, so she ignored everyone else and poured her attention on him. They ended up falling in love and had a nice romance for a while. But they eventually started getting bored of each other, and she heard her council talking about how they expected her to marry him... So she killed him off to preserve her freedom.
And that's sort of been her thing ever since. She's said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, and she more or less thinks that's the only worthwhile thing she has. No man should be able to resist her, so she makes sure that no man ever can. Any man who seems immune to her charms or who's very beautiful and unavailable will be targeted by her. She'll try any tactic, from deceiving them by acting pure, blackmailing them, or even murdering their family and chaining them up to be raped... When she's had her fun, she kills them so that they can't cause any trouble for her. She also likes to "put other women in their place".

Her role in the main story is basically targeting the queen and her fiancé/husband. Because the main cast's queen is also said to be the most beautiful woman in the world based on frivolous reasons, the evil queen sees her as a rival that she needs to put down. The good queen is also praised for being virginal and nun-like, while it's well-known that the evil queen has had plenty of sex and is often looked down on as a "slut"... So the evil queen really wants to get rid of her to prove that she's better to the world.
The evil queen was already punished and isn't much of a threat now, but she ended up becoming one of the most loved characters in the game. I guess it's because, once she was unravelled, she was obviously quite sympathetic? Society came out looking like the real villain.

Spoiler: The ocean

In another game, the ocean is the villain for one of the characters. I based his whole backstory on Atlantis, so he was part of an ancient and technologically advanced race that angered the ocean by trying to extract its heart as a magic source. It punished them by sinking their island and turning them all into sea monsters - but this character was saved by his father figure and got away with just a little bit of the curse, which makes him partially transform when hit with water.
If the character gets hit by sea water, he'll transform more. If he becomes engulfed by it, he'll become a mindless man-eating sea monster and destroy the land he's near.
The ocean doesn't really do anything until a little later on, because it doesn't see him as a threat until he starts reaching adulthood. Then it starts possessing people and sending creatures to try and claim him back.
It doesn't quite have the same effect as a human villain, and it's not the only bad guy in the game, but it's effectively quite sinister. You can't really reason with vengeful nature and not even a bomb would put a stop to it. It also ties in quite nicely with the way he wrestles with his past and his people's sins, and the way he keeps warning the human characters that they're going to unleash a monster if they don't start respecting the planet.

Spoiler: Content warning for mentions of abuse and rape

And another one has a straight-up abuser that my friend hates with all her heart. He used to be the well-intentioned underdog who fought his way up to become king with his two best friends, pursuing justice and a better future for their country. He hated women because of some stuff in his past, but he wasn't a bad person by any means.
After one of his best friends betrayed him, he lost his idealism and started to suspect that his other friend would turn on him too. He started looking for him to prove his loyalty, and steadily his "tests" became more and more extreme... He basically beats and rapes his friend, and the friend has to keep smiling and try not to do anything to "fail" the test. (He also calls all women "whores" casually, which really makes everyone hate him instantly.)
He got used to having absolute power as king, so he never self-reflects.
The remaining friend is one of the main characters and he's very well-liked. He also has a romance with another character who wants to save him, but can't because he refuses it. The other best friend was also redeemed shortly after his redemption but still isn't forgiven all these years later by the king.
It would be theoretically easy to get rid of the king, but his victim refuses to let anyone remove him. His own power depends entirely on having the king on the throne, and the victim is still hellbent on using that power to make the country better. He also argues that the king is still the best leader for the country - he's at least ambivalent towards improvement, while others would prefer that the country remains corrupt for their own gain.

I've noticed that the audience will always hate the villain that opposes/does wrong against their favourite characters the most, no matter whether they're one-dimensional or not.
But I personally like the villains that have thought through their actions and have come up with a justification for it. Not a paper-thin justification, but something really written into their story that makes it hard for the audience to tell them that they're wrong. Sometimes the audience ends up rooting for them that way, though.

 

[LWFlouisa]

I don't have any: everyone is both a good guy and villain.