How do you write a villain people love to hate?

[Macronomicon]

First time posting a thread.

Recently wrote a character in my story with all the symptoms of being a grade A psychopath serial killer, and people are telling me his POV feels greasy and makes them uncomfortable to read. Hah.

Now, did I simply succeed tremendously, or should I have deployed tactics to make this particular villain a tiny bit more palatable without changing his tone too much? It's hard to tell when hate for the character and hate for me writing him is very difficult to distinguish.

Are people incapable of reading pure evil, or should I stay the course so I don't water down the epic beatdown that is coming his way?

How do you write a villain people love to hate? What tactics do you use to make them easier to read, if any?

 

[LostLibrarian]

I think the most important thing about villain POVs is that you need to get his motivation right. If your villain is just a monster, it can make people uncomfortable, because they can't really connect to the POV. So for the "standard villain" I would try to go with the "done the wrong things for the right reasons" approach.

Give him a detailed character, make him care about other people, or even feel sad that he has to do the things he has to do. One great example - especially for the crime/thriller genre - would be Psycho Pass Season 1. There you have a great example for a villain, a lot of people really liked. Fleshed-out character, his own flaws and moral code, and his ideas mirror a hero's one in another story. There was just that one tiny detail, that makes him stand on the wrong side of the law...


That said, it's really hard to give universal advice on such topics. I would argue, that depending on your story a serial killer's POV should make people feel uncomfortable. Nobody looks at the news, sees the story about a serial killer/rapist/etc and says "Hey, his story sounds interesting.". So if you mirror real life so that it's for his personal satisfaction, a killer shouldn't be lovable (imho).

You can make the villain lovable, is he is "a hero in disguise". If he also fights for a noble goal, but he decided to kill for it instead of studying law for 10 years. You can also make him more likable, if his motivation is less about him. An easy example would be the father, who tries to kill the people, who harmed/raped/killed his daughter. If you have a crime/thriller story, those things can make for an interesting twist, where the readers have to decide whether that loving father deserves self justice.


The biggest problem with that is, that this only works for a limited variation of character motivations. The bad CEO who kills the miners for profit? Nope. The serial killer who wants to have fun with girls who looks like his younger mother? Nope. Whenever self-interest is the driving force of your villain, it won't work. At least, after you openly disclose his motivation (It might work, if it seems like he is doing it for others before readers later learn, it was always just for pleasure).

But it works for the commander of the enemy army, who also just wants to protect his family. For the thief, who just wanted to protect his life/his sister/whatever and just drowned in that world of crimes. For someone, who does crimes for justice. And so on and so forth.

It often also works for villains with detailed backstories, because readers are just so happy to get these, that they will love them just for that. It sounds a bit sarcastic, but a well-written villain is sometime all it needs to get readers to appreciate him. They might not love to hate him, but they will at least love to read more about him.


----------------------------------


If I would try to say this on a higher level: The clash of protagonist and villain is the clash between their movitations and worldviews. And their difference in worldviews leads the villain to use methods the protagonist doesn't agree with. So if you want a villain people love, make his worldview and motivation as relatable as the hero's. If you can achieve that, people will at least show understanding and in the best case might also want to know more about him/cheer for him/etc. Make your villain the hero of his own story who just so happens to disagree with your protagonist on maybe just a small detail like "How should we use our power?".

That said: There are motivations and worldviews, that are meant to be horrible and disgusting. Don't try to make those villains lovable. If the worldview of your villain goes against the value spectrum of your readers, don't try to change him into something better. Embrace that he is making people uncomfortable. Embrace, that you can display the flaws of his thinking in a way, that makes people want to shut up.

Of course, depending on your audience, you might have so switch things around, use less villain POV, make him a bit likable before he "becomes" the villain, etc. But don't try and make an "evil villain" likable. That's just wasting a (possible) good character.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Nazis. People love to hate Nazis even when they barely understand what they are. Communism is hated with love as well and equally poorly understood. Apparently, ideology is the most powerful tool at your disposal.

 

[JayDirex]

"Love to hate" = that he/she villain is a compelling character that the reader may think is kinda cool, if it weren't for all of his EVIL. On the other hand, the villain can also be one dimensional and uninteresting, as long as he is annoying and cruel enough then the reader can hate the villain for being such a thorn in the side of the well-liked hero. Example: if the villain kills the love interest that the reader has grown to like, then the reader can seriously hate the villain.

So you have two options:

1. Cool but hated villain: A fully fleshed out villain with clear motives, and with one or two characteristics that a reader would like. He may be witty, charming, a total badass with a sword, kinda funny, or may show mercy at points. whatever it is, it must be something redeemable about the character.

2. You just want this guy dead Villain: (I typically go this route) One dimensional carbon cutout villain who is such a pain in the ass to the Hero, being such a problem that the reader is relieved if-or-when they get killed off.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

"Love to hate" = that he/she villain is a compelling character that the reader may think is kinda cool, if it weren't for all of his EVIL. On the other hand, the villain can also be one dimensional and uninteresting, as long as he is annoying and cruel enough then the reader can hate the villain for being such a thorn in the side of the well-liked hero. Example: if the villain kills the love interest that the reader has grown to like, then the reader can seriously hate the villain.

So you have two options:

1. Cool but hated villain: A fully fleshed out villain with clear motives, and with one or two characteristics that a reader would like. He may be witty, charming, a total badass with a sword, kinda funny, or may show mercy at points. whatever it is, it must be something redeemable about the character.

2. You just want this guy dead Villain: (I typically go this route) One dimensional carbon cutout villain who is such a pain in the ass to the Hero, being such a problem that the reader is relieved if-or-when they get killed off.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses.

Or they are a rifle girl. That works for sure, albeit I personally like them.

 

[LostLibrarian]

Or they are a rifle girl

Give me a nice rifle girl as a villain and the protagonist of your story has to die :D

 

[JayDirex]

Give me a nice rifle girl as a villain and the protagonist of your story has to die :D

Haaa! I have no illusions that I am a DIME STORE NOVELIST! My villain girls are likable because they're sexy and kick butt! high five!

 

[atgongumerki]

I don't like to use villains, because I feel like that is too easy (and too commonly used).

There are characters in my story, and some of them are antagonistic to each other, some of them even to the "protagonist".

There may be psychopaths in my story, but writing their pov is hard because being a psychopath means lack of emotions and lack of empathy.

Psychopaths basically do not know anything about the world they live in: they don't know how others feel or what others think; they don't know how other people have fun; they do not know how their actions affect the opinions and wellbeing of others; ...

So while writing a villain you have to make sure to transport the feeling of 'I do this cause it is the thing least boring' while also preventing any kind of judgemental words like 'evil', 'good', 'nice'; and any kind of emotional words like 'hysterical', 'maniacal', ...

The best way for me to write a real cartoonish villain or as you put it a psychopath is to simply state the facts of what is happening. Disregarding everything else.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Haaa! I have no illusions that I am a DIME STORE NOVELIST! My villain girls are likable because they're sexy and kick butt! high five!

Yay!

 

[Macronomicon]

"Love to hate" = that he/she villain is a compelling character that the reader may think is kinda cool, if it weren't for all of his EVIL. On the other hand, the villain can also be one dimensional and uninteresting, as long as he is annoying and cruel enough then the reader can hate the villain for being such a thorn in the side of the well-liked hero. Example: if the villain kills the love interest that the reader has grown to like, then the reader can seriously hate the villain.

So you have two options:

1. Cool but hated villain: A fully fleshed out villain with clear motives, and with one or two characteristics that a reader would like. He may be witty, charming, a total badass with a sword, kinda funny, or may show mercy at points. whatever it is, it must be something redeemable about the character.

2. You just want this guy dead Villain: (I typically go this route) One dimensional carbon cutout villain who is such a pain in the ass to the Hero, being such a problem that the reader is relieved if-or-when they get killed off.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses.

I'm of the opinion that my villain is probably a number 2. A shining example of a number 2, actually. People keep yelling at me for having him still be alive, probably because they've grown accustomed to these kinds of characters dying spectacularly in a chapter or two. It's not working out the way they've come to expect and getting under their skin.

Thanks for the responses, btw, love the input.

 

[LostLibrarian]

Haaa! I have no illusions that I am a DIME STORE NOVELIST! My villain girls are likable because they're sexy and kick butt! high five!

I was writing my long answer thinking about all that writing theory... and my first thought after posting it was "Or just give them cat-ears"...

 

[JayDirex]

I was writing my long answer thinking about all that writing theory... and my first thought after posting it was "Or just give them cat-ears"...

Readers love kawaii villains! especially cute cat girls who groom themselves after evil deeds

 

[DubstheDuke]

Hmm this is a good question.
When I approach my villains, I have a lot of variety between good and evil.
Most of my 'true villains' are people who are absolutely despicable, by my own standards- but there are still many ways to do this.

Here's the deal- some villains are extremely evil, for no apparent reason. I try to stay away from these types of villains, however as minor characters I don't think they are complete taboo.
That means that most of my major villains have at least some sort of motivation which is at least understandable. Perhaps it isn't exactly a likable motivation, but it is something which could realistically happen.
Now, this brings the question of whether motivations are good or evil.
Some motivations can be things that are as simple as money or power. These motivations are not something which is unfathomable for a villain to want to obtain, and as such I don't think that making a villain who wishes to obtain these things is wrong in of itself, but it should be created carefully when you use these as your villains motivations. Because these villains can easily become one dimensional, power hungry bad guys. Craft your villains. Work on them. Make them more than just a money grubbing, power hungry bad guy. Show their thoughts, their reactions, and perhaps even put some scenes where they are doing things that a regular person (Perhaps someone who loves money) would do. Is there such thing as a villain who goes around killing people for fun? Not usually. However, that brings up another motivation for villains- insanity, which I will talk about later. Either way, make your villains complex.

Now this brings me to my next point. What about villains who have motives that are not only fathomable, but at some points relatable? These villains tend to be the best villains, however they must be done carefully or else things could become messed up. An example of this is a villain who turned to the dark side because one of their loved ones was dreadfully killed, someone who is trying to take revenge on another who harmed them, or someone who is trying to perform a demented form of justice. These villains can be great, but also can be horrible if done incorrectly. Once again, pay great attention to their minds, the inner workings, and perhaps even their character development.

And finally, insanity.

I personally love this type of villain, but don't make it repetitive.
A single insane person can be fine, but make them insane in a unique way. Don't make it so that they're just crazy, make it so that they are crazy in a fun and interesting way.

Something along those lines. To other authors who know better than me, you are probably right, and I am wrong, but these are the three main types of villains that I see, and how to best use them.

 

[Moonpearl]

Showing their worst crimes in detail is a bad idea, really. People can distance themselves from things like rape and murder if they don't have to "see" it, and just hinting that they have those sinister intentions for your characters is enough. It can become too much for readers if they have to witness the truly dark stuff. (On the other hand, not witnessing it can mean that they forget and sweep it under the rug really easily.)

My favourite technique to make a hate-worthy villain is to make them both bigoted and powerful, so that their victims (your characters) can't do anything against them. Everybody has experienced injustice, so the reaction to this is strong.

For example, my friend and I play a fanmade Yugioh GX RPG together, and she has a teacher who pretty much lives just to be hated. He believes that women are inherently bad at dueling and shouldn't be "humoured" in the industry or school, and he believes that Slifer Reds (who are mostly working class/poor students) are inherently lazy and doomed to fail.
He takes every opportunity possible to subtly gloat at their failures and say it was inevitable, he intentionally grades those students more harshly (but in a way that can't be proved), and he tries to enforce segregation and prejudice within the students. The school won't fire him because his contract protects him somehow and because the amount of hatred he inspires in his students actually makes them score better overall.

But he's so detestable that even the professionals who turned up for an arc decided they'd like to punch him within five minutes of being in the same room.

Or, for a darker (and even more hateful) version...

Spoiler: Potentially triggering content

There was a sexist and power-abusing king in one game who our characters were too weak (as rulers of small countries) to stand against. He did many frustrating things, but one particular scene turned him into the most hated character in the game.

My arguably worse villainess was staying as a guest in the castle, but her husband was staying outside in the grounds. She's prideful and there are reasons why their marriage is shamed, so she'd always pretend to be aloof in front of other people. At night, though, she tried to sneak out to see him.
Crappy sexist king decides to torment her by following her, making her think that he's following her to rape her and knowing that she's too heavily pregnant to get away. He ends up getting stopped by the "good" king (also kind of cray cray, but in a different way) who's not afraid to call him out on his behaviour. In response, he laughs at the very idea that he would rape her and tells her that, because she's pregnant, she's too fat and ugly for anyone to want to rape. (Keep in mind that she's one of the most beautiful women in the world and that it's well known that her self-esteem has been destroyed by her very natural weight gain.)

Anyway, my friend still hasn't finished torturing that guy as punishment. It turns out that this hits too close to home for most women to not make them see red.

(I thought that scene was too cartoonishly evil to be effective as well, but it turns out I do "evil bastard" too well. )

 

[Deleted member 29316]

There are times that I write my villains as 'victims' of circumstances, or they found themselves on the other side of the fence. I also give him/her a proper motivation, though done wrong, like 'overzealous implementation' of the said plan, or they follow a different individual or philosophy.

And there are those times when I write my villains as some deranged person who's out to entertain himself/herself by watching people suffer. In such a case, I mostly go the 'shock' route, where I'd make the reader sympathize or 'like' him/her first, and then reveal that he/she is the villain in the end. So yeah, it could be possible that the audience think that your actual villain is a supporting character or an anti-hero, and then drop the big reveal later in the story.

The key point here in my style is make the readers 'sympathize' or 'relate' to the character.

 

[XianPiete]

Give your villain depth beyond what they have done. People aren't just a series of actions, they need to have hopes and dreams. A mindless killing machine is just a machine until it cares about a kitten.

 

[K5Rakitan]

I'm going to present a little nugget of advice modified from something my dear Marc once said:

Don't write the villain you want.
Write the villain you want to be.

 

[HURGMCGURG]

This is tough. Love to hate them? A good villain is a villain that has fleshed out character and a reason for their actions that make sense in character.

A good villain to hate is different. They're played up as completely and utterly dislikable and the reader's feel no sympathy for them. They are designed to be a punching bag for the dislike of the readers. Try to make them as surface level as possible, as anything too deep can make people sympathize with them. Make them rude, stupid, and maybe racist/sexist if you really want to hate them. Have them act like the asshole they truly are. Then, set things up for a throw down where they get the shit kicked out of them so that your readers can have a good time.

 

[iamchangingthissoon]

make them mass genocide on cute animals. now watch the world burn... bwahahahhahaha

 

[AkalE]

Let me enlightenment the masses. This is what you need in a villain.

1. No personality.
Why put effort into giving them a personality when they will die soon enough.

2. Give the villain cardboard powers
AKA make it look like they are powerful, but just in the chapter before give the hero the power to defeat.

3. Villain needs to do villainous things.
Make them try to do things that is bad ( kidnap a cute girl, take slaves, rule over a village). Then when the villain is defeated, the hero should be given those same things.

4. The villain MUST be arrogant
You can choose to make them look smart. But ultimately they should be dumb.

5. Rinse and repeat.
The villain is defeated, move on the the carbon copy next villain with different names and scale the power to match.


Please, no need to thank me. I know I'm a saint. I'm happy to be of help. :3