The Anatomy of a Villain for Authors, Part One: Beginnings
As promised, we're starting a new series this week. As you may have guessed from the title, we're going to be talking about character development for villains. Not antagonists, villains. An antagonist can be a villain, yes, but not all antagonists are villains. An antagonist is a character that puts roadblocks in front of a protagonist. A villain is a character whose motives are evil.
This particular subject (villains) is geared toward fantasy writers specifically, primarily because that's my own preferred genre both for reading and writing, and I see a need for fantasy writers to do a little more with their villains. However, due to my approach, this series can also be applied to other genres - in which I have seen the same problem crop up.
How many books have you read where there's a terrible bad guy, who's just totally evil, not a redeeming quality at all? If you're like me, you can name several without really having to think about it. It's not that the stories themselves are bad, or that the authors are bad writers. Just that the villains are often one-dimensional. There's no real conflict in the reader over who to root for, there's no hope for redemption for the villain, there's just the hope that the protagonist will win. And, usually, there's no explanation for how the villain became a villain to start with. They are "pure evil" and that's all they exist to do - evil.
I hope to combat that tendency in this series.
In order to do that, I'm going to go on several assumptions. First of all, that your villain is, or was at one time, human. Second, that your villain started out their life, more or less, the same as the average human. I'm doing it this way because, in the realm of fantasy, anything goes. But all fantasy writers draw on the human experience, so even if your villain is not technically human, they're going to have some relatable human characteristics. Even if the fantasy world you have is very, very different from our own, you should find something applicable to it.
I am also going to approach the subject of villains rather differently than the character development series. We're not going to start with a basic character outline. Instead, we're going to start from the moment your villain was normal, and trace the departure from normalcy to villainy. To do this, I'm going to start from the point that all living creatures have in common: birth.
Birth
At this point, your villain is the same as everyone else, as far as experiences go. While the things that happen to them shortly after birth might affect them at a subconscious level for years to come, it's unlikely that they will remember much at all.
So at this point, there are two major things you need to look at. First, the circumstances surrounding their birth. And second, if there are any physical differences or problems that they were born with.
It's tempting, when going "back in time" to try and improve your villain's lives somewhat. It can be hard to give a character a difficult life just because you need a villain for something. But most people who live nearly perfect lives with no emotional or psychological issues don't turn into villains. They can, certainly, but that's not usually the case. So if that's one of your tendencies, then consider setting it aside while working on your villain.
Circumstances of Birth:
The circumstances surrounding a birth can affect a child for years to come, whether they remember it or not. Usually they will not, but those circumstances will still have a ripple effect, good or bad. Who was present for the birth? Why? Was it an easy labor for the mother? Why or why not? Where did the mother go into labor? Why was she there? In a fantasy world, was there magic at play? Were they born in a significant place? Did something strange happen?
In a fantasy world, the timing and placement of a birth can have great significance. If you've already built this world and know what kind of things will be taken as omens, this would be the time to decide whether to include them in the birth of your villain.
Physical Differences or Problems:
When a child is born there's the possibility of physical differences or problems. These differences or problems can cause issues later in life, and drive a wedge between them and everyone else. For example, a child born without one hand. This isn't something that has to be a negative, but it could be. This difference could cause the child to be made fun of by other children. Do they have differences, physically, from average children?
Maybe the type of birth caused brain damage of some kind. Maybe there was some form of magic involved that affected the child's mind, or would affect their development in the future. Maybe they have a purely physical defect that won't cause them any real issues (having two eyes of different colors, perhaps) but there's a superstition against them.
I think it's important to note that many (if not all) of the differences you could give this soon-to-be-villain could also be used to create a hero. At this point, your villain is simply a child that has differences from the "normal" child. They have only the potential to become bad. This same potential applies equally to becoming a hero.
Next week we'll move on to the next stage of development in your villain, so keep an eye out!
This particular subject (villains) is geared toward fantasy writers specifically, primarily because that's my own preferred genre both for reading and writing, and I see a need for fantasy writers to do a little more with their villains. However, due to my approach, this series can also be applied to other genres - in which I have seen the same problem crop up.
How many books have you read where there's a terrible bad guy, who's just totally evil, not a redeeming quality at all? If you're like me, you can name several without really having to think about it. It's not that the stories themselves are bad, or that the authors are bad writers. Just that the villains are often one-dimensional. There's no real conflict in the reader over who to root for, there's no hope for redemption for the villain, there's just the hope that the protagonist will win. And, usually, there's no explanation for how the villain became a villain to start with. They are "pure evil" and that's all they exist to do - evil.
I hope to combat that tendency in this series.
In order to do that, I'm going to go on several assumptions. First of all, that your villain is, or was at one time, human. Second, that your villain started out their life, more or less, the same as the average human. I'm doing it this way because, in the realm of fantasy, anything goes. But all fantasy writers draw on the human experience, so even if your villain is not technically human, they're going to have some relatable human characteristics. Even if the fantasy world you have is very, very different from our own, you should find something applicable to it.
I am also going to approach the subject of villains rather differently than the character development series. We're not going to start with a basic character outline. Instead, we're going to start from the moment your villain was normal, and trace the departure from normalcy to villainy. To do this, I'm going to start from the point that all living creatures have in common: birth.
Birth
At this point, your villain is the same as everyone else, as far as experiences go. While the things that happen to them shortly after birth might affect them at a subconscious level for years to come, it's unlikely that they will remember much at all.
So at this point, there are two major things you need to look at. First, the circumstances surrounding their birth. And second, if there are any physical differences or problems that they were born with.
It's tempting, when going "back in time" to try and improve your villain's lives somewhat. It can be hard to give a character a difficult life just because you need a villain for something. But most people who live nearly perfect lives with no emotional or psychological issues don't turn into villains. They can, certainly, but that's not usually the case. So if that's one of your tendencies, then consider setting it aside while working on your villain.
Circumstances of Birth:
The circumstances surrounding a birth can affect a child for years to come, whether they remember it or not. Usually they will not, but those circumstances will still have a ripple effect, good or bad. Who was present for the birth? Why? Was it an easy labor for the mother? Why or why not? Where did the mother go into labor? Why was she there? In a fantasy world, was there magic at play? Were they born in a significant place? Did something strange happen?
In a fantasy world, the timing and placement of a birth can have great significance. If you've already built this world and know what kind of things will be taken as omens, this would be the time to decide whether to include them in the birth of your villain.
Physical Differences or Problems:
When a child is born there's the possibility of physical differences or problems. These differences or problems can cause issues later in life, and drive a wedge between them and everyone else. For example, a child born without one hand. This isn't something that has to be a negative, but it could be. This difference could cause the child to be made fun of by other children. Do they have differences, physically, from average children?
Maybe the type of birth caused brain damage of some kind. Maybe there was some form of magic involved that affected the child's mind, or would affect their development in the future. Maybe they have a purely physical defect that won't cause them any real issues (having two eyes of different colors, perhaps) but there's a superstition against them.
I think it's important to note that many (if not all) of the differences you could give this soon-to-be-villain could also be used to create a hero. At this point, your villain is simply a child that has differences from the "normal" child. They have only the potential to become bad. This same potential applies equally to becoming a hero.
Next week we'll move on to the next stage of development in your villain, so keep an eye out!
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