Why many of my villains are truly evil
Every so often, I get a review that accuses my villains of having being entirely black, with no redeeming characteristics. And it’s a fair call to say this is often how I present them.
To be fair, usually the villain’s crimes – while they are crucial to the story – are mostly described from the point of view of the villain’s opponents. His or her redeeming qualities, while possibly somewhere in my mind as I write the character, are not important to his or her victims. When I do write from the villain’s point of view, it is skewed in his or her favour, for villains have justifications, if not reasons. In the villain’s mind, what they want takes priority in all situations. Other people do not have a right to their own lives. They deserve whatever the villain wants to do to them. It is the victim’s honour to suffer so the villain can have something he or she wants. If they must do something detrimental to others, it is because they were forced into it. It is the victim’s fault. It is the government’s fault. It is the hero’s fault. It is their mother’s fault.
Or, the benefits to the villain so far outweigh the costs to the victim, that the villain is prepared to pay the price. So what if cutting corners on safety costs a few people their miserable little lives? It will earn me millions!
Anyone who thinks such characterisations are unrealistic has not been paying attention. In real life, sadly, there are people whose redeeming qualities pale into insignificance next to their evil. Even those who turn a benign face to the world can perform unspeakable evil behind the scene. When they achieve enormous wealth, power, and status, they believe nothing can stop them, and may even stop pretending to any virtue. In their minds, other people have no reality, and the sufferings of others are merely proof of the villain’s invincibility.
Such people are not born that way. Upbringing plays a crucial role, but I believe choice is also vital. And above all, the choice to regard others as pawns in one’s own story. What makes the man or woman my villain becomes? My hero and heroine never knew, and nor, probably, do they care. But I am telling their story, not the villains.
And a truly evil villain presents my hero and heroine with serious barriers to happiness. Which, of course, they will overcome, as my reader expects.
