Any help writing villains?

[bluedemonhybrid]

I have trouble writing villains. If they're mentioned, they're always talked about as being stupid and I know that villians must be cunning. Also, they almost always die.
Any tips for writing a villain?

[Maldeus]

In general? Make sure they have a motivation beyond "muahahaha, I am a very bad guy," and whenever you're concocting a villainous plot for them, look at it from their side long enough to make sure it seems like something that would actually work. Typically, it's best to make sure that the only hole in their plan is some kind of karmic thing. For example, having a secret entrance into their lair that's pretty much impossible to find until one of their abused underlings defects to the other team and shows the good guys where it is.

I could give much more specific help if you gave me more details on what kind of villain you need at the moment.

[bluedemonhybrid]

I need some help making a bad boss type and a bad king. I kinda have an idea of the bad king: he wanted to get answers for an attack, but someone in his court suspects he planned it.

[Lady Phoenix]

A villain can kinda be made 4 ways:
1. The Comedic Foil: This guy is usually meant for parody or silly shows. Their motivations are weak, if nonexistent, their diabolical plans are easily foiled, and they go "I'll get you next time" before blasting off again
(Example: Team Rocket, Robotnik from Adventures of Sonic)

2. The Anti Hero/Redeemed Villain: This would be the villain for awhile but then redeems him/herself
(Examples: Seto Kaiba, Hiei)

3. The FORCED Villain: The person FORCED to become a villain (have loved one hostage, blackmail, brainwash/mind control, etc). They tend to mix with Villain Type 2

4. The EVIL Villain: The big threat who can make grown men cower in fear. They're scary, they're powerful, and they have the full capability of making people suffer. In some cases, they don't even need a huge backstory as to why they're evil if they have the power to make even the strongest of people kneel (although it does help).
(Examples: way too many to count but Yami Marik, Joker, Lex Luthor . . . )

[Deleted]

If a character is capable of being seen as either a hero or a villain, you're off to a good start. Perspectives differ.

If you've got someone who is just a body without a mind programmed to hurt, that's a machine. And robots aren't too interesting of enemies.

[bluedemonhybrid]

Nov 19, 2010 18:55:16 GMT -8 @lostcompass said:

If a character is capable of being seen as either a hero or a villain, you're off to a good start. Perspectives differ.

If you've got someone who is just a body without a mind programmed to hurt, that's a machine. And robots aren't too interesting of enemies.

Good. How do you suggest I work on a mind, aside from programmed to hurt?

[La Dame Du Lac]

I can suggest you to make a tragic villain who does bad things for his family, for example or for his wife. So, to his family, he may viewed as a hero.

[bluedemonhybrid]

Great idea, Fantasy. I could work with that somehow. Let's say that said villainous family man's kid is old enough and works within the organization of his father. Would the kid be able to grasp it then or simply be able to rationalize it?
Would snapping at the tragic death of someone work too?

[La Dame Du Lac]

It's up to you to develop it. Would you rather the character be a bad guy or a good guy at the end or not? It could be that the father is the chef of a mafia organization.

[bluedemonhybrid]

He is the chief of a mafia organization and both are bad guys. I think the son may have a chance at redemption. Don't know how to create it, though.
Edit: Any tips for the wicked king and how to add depth to him?

[Admin]

Ohai. >.>

[bluedemonhybrid]

Hiya, Z.

[Admin]

Nov 19, 2010 22:07:57 GMT -8 bluedemonhybrid said:

Hiya, Z.

I came bearing villain tips. XD

[bluedemonhybrid]

Nov 19, 2010 22:12:57 GMT -8 Admin said:

Nov 19, 2010 22:07:57 GMT -8 bluedemonhybrid said:

Hiya, Z.

I came bearing villain tips. XD

Sweet. XD

[Lord Lovrina]

I go with the same way for making a good person character in reverse heavy on reasons why they do the things they do. They need strong motivations for their actions.

[Prime Spinosaur]

What works with villains is they have to be threatening.

Try mixing them and try being original.

Sympathetic villains are not a writer's enemies, no, infact, this adds more depth to them greatly. Just don't make them cheesy or corny, or do a face heels turn, have transitions with their actions. Let's say they were once the characters friend, show that decent, the feelings he goes through, the emotions, the pain as he descends into madness, show HOW he became the protagonist's greatest foe. Have meaning behind their actions, try giving them a psychological diagnosis.

But to tell the truth, you need to be more specific with what you need help with, just say and I'll help however I can...

[Deleted]

For starters, try thinking of what scares you. I don't mean try to give yourself nightmares but, think of villains from books or movies that scared you, and why. For example, the Queen from Snow White scared the shit out of me when I was little because of her whole thing with wanting the guy to cut out Snow White's heart.

Another good thing to do is look up serial killers and the like. Sometimes the best villains are the ones that actually existed.

Good luck!

[PRINCESS TROLLESTIA]

Echoing the people who say to give your villains motivation besides being evil. They have to have their own motivation and goals as characters, just like your protagonist.

Like if you wanted an "evil king" he has to be motivated by something besides being evil and a king. Why would he be evil - does he play hard and fast with the law because he fears he may lose power over his people? Is he compensating for someone/something he lost? There's a lot of possibilities for a character like that, and you can stand to break convention there quite a bit.

Hell I find that giving your villain their own antagonist works out pretty well, too. This really only works if you spend a lot of time with your villain's perspective, though.

[kendobunny]

First advice I would give: check out the book 'Bullies, Bastards, and Bitches' by Jessica Morrell. It's a good starting point on writing people who just aren't very good.

Then the big thing, echoing other people: motivation. What do they want? Why do they want it? What are they willing to do to get it? Have they already crossed their moral event horizon? It's perfectly possible to write a fascinating villain who truly does want nothing more than to cause other humans misery - look at the Joker. Maybe they want to bring order to the world and become tyrants. Maybe they see themselves as a truly good person, or the only true good person.

Study some of the great evil people of history... some were evil because they were insane, some because they enjoyed it, some because they felt forced into it, some just realized that crossing their moral event horizon wasn't as bad as they thought it would be and never looked back, some because they truly believed they were doing what was righteous.

The righteous ones are the hardest to get right, since it's easy to make them political or religious strawmen, making your protagonist so much better because they agree with you. Since I'm an anarcho-libertarian, I have to be careful that my oppressive government that thinks it's doing right by its people actually does do some good. They have to have a justification, or my protagonist will be right simply because they are wrong. You have to understand your villains, or your story won't go anywhere - you have to know why they do what they do and why it is wrong. If your villain starts monologuing, your protagonist has to have a rational argument against it.

Trying with the king, since you asked for work with him, how are his methods different from your protagonists? Is he an evil man himself, or a weak and ineffectual puppet ruler controlled by a corrupt aristocracy or an overbearing wife? Is he evil, or does he believe the centralization of power keeps the country strong? Who is he prejudiced against? Is he willing to look the other way when there is torture going on, or does he join in with a will? Has he ever actually killed anyone? Does he have a massive blind spot (say, allowing his beloved son to rape his way through the kingdom)? Is he obsessed with control? What threatens his country that his bad rule is the only thing that he feels he can do? Was there unrest around his ascension, or a rebellion or threatened invasion in his memory? Has he realized how bad things are for his citizens, or does he want to make it worse? Is he greedy and extorting every last penny out of his peasants? Does he just enjoy pain, or does he believe it makes people more productive? Why would he believe that?

[bluedemonhybrid]

I'm a liberal and a Buddhist, so

With the king, he says that he is acting on the best interests of his people, but he actually shows a lot of greed. He may think he is, though. He's not married, though. He's actually prejudiced to a degree against anyone not from his country, which is why he wanted to take over other kingdoms: to 'show them the best way' i.e. his.
I don't know how evil he is, but he's not weak. He's the kind of guy the aristocrats bend over backwards to please.
I think his blind spot could be his sister and his sister-in-law. His sister was forced to cross-dress and pretend to be a boy since they were kids and is acutally helping the protagonist. He lets his sister-in-law do anything she wants. His sister was caught only after selling tons of weapons, ammunition and secrets, as well as experiments.
I think he thinks that pain will make people more productive, but will often join in if the crime is grave enough in his opinion. I don't know if he's actually killed anyone, but he has caused massive injuries and he was a spoiled brat and the family favorite.

[Deleted]

Dec 14, 2010 13:52:01 GMT -8 bluedemonhybrid said:

I'm a liberal and a Buddhist, so

With the king, he says that he is acting on the best interests of his people, but he actually shows a lot of greed. He may think he is, though. He's not married, though. He's actually prejudiced to a degree against anyone not from his country, which is why he wanted to take over other kingdoms: to 'show them the best way' i.e. his.
I don't know how evil he is, but he's not weak. He's the kind of guy the aristocrats bend over backwards to please.
I think his blind spot could be his sister and his sister-in-law. His sister was forced to cross-dress and pretend to be a boy since they were kids and is acutally helping the protagonist. He lets his sister-in-law do anything she wants. His sister was caught only after selling tons of weapons, ammunition and secrets, as well as experiments.
I think he thinks that pain will make people more productive, but will often join in if the crime is grave enough in his opinion. I don't know if he's actually killed anyone, but he has caused massive injuries and he was a spoiled brat and the family favorite.

So basically, he believes that he knows best, not only from his upbringing and entitlement, but his own perspective he's kindled over the years.

Might want to give him a little more than that.

[bluedemonhybrid]

I know I want to give him more than that, but what and how?

[kendobunny]

Why does he let his sister get away with anything? It seems like the cossetted family favorite would look down on any other siblings. And why the sister-in-law? Does he have designs on her?

If he's prejudiced against people from other countries, does he really think his people are better? It doesn't really make sense if he wants to show people the best way to live, and at the same time, enjoys torturing his own subjects. He has to have some sort of reason for why he is the way he is. Does he only hurt people he thinks are bad, or who he thinks are bad for the country? Does he hurt random people, but believe that fear keeps people in line?

One good way to figure out your villain is to figure out what the lines he won't cross are, so you can work your way backwards to why he won't cross that particular line. Maybe he does believe fear keeps people in line, but only acts on it towards people he considers dangerous and unjust, and considers himself the final word on justice. All the petting he received as a child could have given him a major god complex, and he could believe that he can do no wrong - that could extend to his family, until one of them openly defies him. Though if that's the route you want to take, you have to make retribution against the sister appropriate. You could even show his gradual degeneration as he buys deeper into the fantasy that he is personally incapable of wrongdoing, and show him crossing his moral event horizon by taking the betrayal of his sister as more than just treason, but as a an ultimate sin. He could torture her himself before sentencing her to death by worse torture - the hero could rescue her, or she could die nobly and put the final seal on the king's power madness.

[Deleted]

Okay, so I got a villian for a story I'm working on and I'm still working on his backstory and why he's evil and all that stuff. The only problem I have is the name. I came up with three of them.

Osric
Rycroft
Xathus

Personally I like Xanthus a lot but I'm not so sure. Any help?

[kendobunny]

What sort of story are you working in? If Xanthus is the name of an evil wizard, or it's Osric the Robot Overlord, they all work. If you're going for something more modern or realistic, none of them really work.

[Darth Sariah]

I have finally decided to get back into writing as an activity when school is done and am working on an idea for a sci-fi fanfiction of System Shock. The villain, SHODAN, has a really creepy voice.

Here is an example:

My question is how do you translate that same quality to text? Is there anything I could do to make it give off that eerie three-in-one metallic quality through writing?

[shiko]

Well if it helps, I think you should have her voice to come out as a stutter and descried it as a metallic type of stutter that happens when a machine starts to short circuit.

[Darth Sariah]

Is there anything I can do to show it in the text itself without it being awkward to read?

[shiko]

I'm not sure thats just what I think.

[Darth Sariah]

I mean like "Th-th-this is the ennnd of you- of you - of you..." or something like that. Maybe using different text sizes and fonts for the types of speech since she fluctuates so much.