How to Write Your Villain - Part One
Everybody loves a villain. But how do you write one?
Before we get into that, first you need to understand the role the villain plays in the story. This character is the most important one to develop, just as much as the protagonist, and I’ll tell you why . . .
The villain serves as the ultimate test for the hero to see if they will truly overcome the fears and limiting beliefs that stop them from achieving their goals.
You see, the archetype of the villain is often considered the shadow of the hero. Meaning the villain embodies the darkest parts of the hero, the parts the hero wishes never to face or acknowledge out of deep-seated fear.
This is why, in a lot of stories, you will see the villain tell the hero, “You’re not so different, you and I.”
That’s because it’s true.
They aren’t so different in terms of overarching goals, the way the other thinks, the struggles they go through. Perhaps their only difference is one character is moral in their decisions, and the other is not.
In addition to this, the villain also shows the dark perspective of the overarching message you wish to communicate through your story.
Now that you understand this, let’s move on to how to write them.
Start from the Beginning
Villains aren’t born; they’re grown, especially if you want your readers to like the villain. In order for readers to like a character, they need to understand them first. Meaning the villain needs an origin story, whether it will be known in your story or not, you need to know exactly what they went through to become who they are at the start of your story.
Always start with the goal. And if you’ve developed a bit of your story before this, I would recommend this goal being something pertaining to your overarching message. Perhaps even the protagonist’s goal. Now, imagine your young, innocent, untainted villain. Who do they want to become? What do they want to achieve? What matters the most to them? Why do those things matter the most to them? Then, through a series of unfortunate events, strip your young villain of all they care about. Through these events, almost convince them that their goal is unachievable. Only, instead of rising above, the young villain gains a bitter taste. They may see heinous crimes being committed and are convinced that more immorality will bring justice. Perhaps they see that by retaliating immorally, it frees them.
Remember, you want your readers to be able to understand, even empathise with the young villain, seeing this as the only way out. Again, even if this backstory isn’t included in your story, you want to know every detail, so when you write the villain in your story, their motives, actions, words are so clear to you.
What happens after your young villain experiences the sequence of unfortunate events is they get motivated. They are so deeply hurt and scarred by whatever took place that there must be something done. They have now gained the misbelief of what your overarching message is, or they believe a dark aspect of the message.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, for example, the theme is ‘good vs evil’. Harry believed good prevailed over evil until he learnt that what really prevailed was love (this is the overarching message of the series). Voldemort had believed that evil prevailed until he learnt what really prevailed was power (the misbelief). There was no good or evil.
So now your villain’s goal from their innocence has either been heightened or changed to suit their motivations. Here, they begin to seek one or multiple of the following:
Revenge
Power
Justice
Gain
Love
This motivation is now what sets the villain on a course to collide with the protagonist because they are on the same path. They are both exploring the same theme, just the light and dark aspects of it, as Yin and Yang.
2. Shape their Personality
It’s important for your villain to have some level of intrigue. Otherwise, your readers won’t enjoy the story as much. Life coach, Matthew Hussey coined the term ‘unique pairing’, pertaining to how people become attracted to one another. This doesn’t necessarily include looks, but it can. It also explains why, in general, we don’t like people who are ‘too nice’ or ‘too perfect’. This won’t be a blog post on how to be more attractive, but I feel it necessary to explain.
An example of a unique pairing could be: he’s a gamer nerd, but he’s a super buff movie star (Henry Cavill), or she’s so bubbly, but she’s a black belt in Karate. But if someone is just nice with nothing more going for them or has pairings that fit together, they won’t feel intriguing enough for someone to want to find out more about them.
It is two or multiple qualities that usually wouldn’t be seen together, making the other person interesting. The pairing also insinuates depth. It makes a person feel more three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional. This explains why in romance novels, the love interest is this mysteriously hot guy who rides a motorcycle but is secretly sensitive and loves to paint a sunrise. Two unique qualities create intrigue.
Almost all great villains have this ‘unique pairing’ that causes the audience to love them. An example of an effective unique pairing is their great power and their great sense of humour. Or their cold-hearted behaviour and their compassion.
But perhaps you don’t want to create a likable villain. Perhaps you want to create a villain so deeply hated and feared that when they are finally defeated, your reader screams with joy and satisfaction. Don’t worry, I will go into this deeply in the part two of this post.
Of course, the villain’s personality must stem from their backstory and contribute towards their journey to their goal. By having a unique pairing, this also creates an element of uncertainty with the readers. If the villain can secretly have this other side to them, what else could they have? This unpredictability is another reason why readers are eager to read more about the villain . . .
What will they do next?
3. Create their Arcs and Internal Conflict
I talk a lot about how readers explore the story through the eyes of the protagonist and thus learn the same lessons. But readers can learn a lot from the villains, too. Or, at the very least, the villains provide a great opportunity to open the discussion of your overarching message. The perspective the villain provides may have some merit to it, causing the readers to think a little more critically about certain situations (though hopefully not about starting a dictatorship).
The truth about villains is, they completely relate to all our dark sides, which is why their arcs are important to explore.
What villains explore is that intrusive part of our brains. Have you ever felt so riled up that your brain immediately thought for you to act out something heinous? Of course, you don’t do it . . . but the thought still formed. A lot of villains are relatable because they act out those thoughts we may have had ourselves, providing us with a sense of satisfaction.
Then, we watch the villain move forward after the action. We follow the consequences and perhaps even relate to the same struggles the villain faces. As with every encounter the villain has with the protagonist, they face the innocent version of themselves. Either the type of person they used to be or a symbol of it. It’s like going through a dark night of the soul in reverse, but equally as triggering for the villain.
This is where their internal conflict inflames, and for all villains, the internal battle they must fight has two sides:
The humanity they still have. No one is completely evil, and the protagonist is a reminder for them of this. Using Darth Vader as an example, he still had some humanity left in him brought forward by his son, Luke. This is the humanity that the readers may see in sprinkles throughout the villain’s arc.
(Note: It won’t be satisfying for the readers if suddenly, at the end of the story, the villain decides to embrace their humanity without ever showing an inkling of their struggle with it.)
Showing the struggle with the villain’s humanity is one of the more effective ways to create the connection to the readers.
Being consumed by the darkness that resides within. This side conveys to the readers that even though you understand how they became a villain and why they do some of the things they do, the villain isn’t simply a misunderstood character, but truly abhorrent. They are the consequence of unfortunate circumstances and extremely immoral choices. They are villains on purpose. When presented with the morally right or wrong path to take, they intentionally choose the wrong.
Now, depending on where you want your story to go, your villain’s character arc is a journey of them trying to find a side to land on. These villains have been consumed by their ideologies, motivated by their pain, and sometimes, selfish in their actions. I only say sometimes because some villains believe their actions are creating a better world for humanity, like Thanos as an example.
Others may follow a redemption, while others choose not to change, regardless of the lesson they learnt through the protagonist. Whatever you choose to do, ensure the villain’s arc conveys a perspective about your overarching message.
The villain’s arc is similar to a hero’s, but instead of being able to overcome and grow through their limiting beliefs (I mean they could if you wanted a redemption arc), their beliefs are only confirmed over and over again no matter their struggle. They still grow in power because they are so motivated to reach their goal, and perhaps they do learn something through their struggle with their humanity, but the world and those around them continue to prove their misbeliefs. Because every character’s arc are their beliefs made manifest. The villain is just the one who never overcame their demons.
After all, a villain is just a hero who let the darkness win . . .
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I’ll be posting an in-depth part two to this post about how to introduce your villains and convey their power and intimidation. Stay tuned for that read soon!
