What Makes a Good Villain? Pt. 1
What’s better than a villain that’s just plain evil? One that has good reasoning behind what he’s doing! There are too many plain-Jane villains that just want to destroy the world because they can— but their reasoning is never explained. This can be flat, boring and unconvincing. Your main villain should not exist for the sole purpose of making your protagonist a hero. Your villain should feel like a living character too, one with emotions, conflictions and goals himself.
Tips on making your villains more dynamic:
1) Treat your villain like a person. Give him goals, fears, regrets and flaws. He doesn't wake up out of bed and exist just to counter your protagonist. No. Perhaps he wakes up out of bed and makes breakfast for himself and an empty seat— an omelet, his daughters favorite morning meal— but she has been dead for many years now. He’s an evil dirtbag on the outside, but shit... now he has suddenly become more human.
2) Make them relatable to the reader. They weren’t always the bad guy, right? Something happened to them that made them peruse this pathway of evil. Some of the best villain's are those that the audience can relate to, that they can see bits and pieces of themselves within.
3) They believe what they’re doing is right. Thanos anyone?
4) Play with Redemption. So, now you have dangled a relatable villain in front of the readers, made us feel for him and understand his reasoning. Now we want them to be redeemed, to make the right choice in the end. Does he break our hearts and do the wrong thing— or does he change his ways? Pt. 2 — Coming Soon!
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