The Anatomy of a Villain for Authors, Part Three: As a Tween
The years before a child becomes a teenager are called the tween years, ages nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Once your villain grows past being a small child, the next stage is as a tween.
Now that your villain is getting older, there's a lot more that can be done with them. They're no longer simple victims of circumstance. They're at an age where they can take action and start making their own decisions, and are old enough to start drawing conclusions independent of what their elders tell them. At this point, what we want to look at is how their environment affects them, as well as what they think about it, and if they've developed any defense mechanisms.
Environment:
Last week we looked at your villain as a child, and their environment. As a tween their circumstances may change. While their early history may be incompatible with what you need from them (they may have had a stable home, for instance), you can still work with the circumstances that happen afterward. For instance, a child that had a stable, safe environment from birth to the age of eight may, at the age of nine, lose parents, have to move to a new place, or something equally traumatic or difficult that can put them on the path to villainy.
Many times this kind of change takes the form of a large change in circumstance, one that's met with negativity or difficulty by the character. As noted before, this is much the same as development for a hero. A change in their lives, usually one outside their control, takes place. This change makes life difficult. It's up to you to decide if this change is necessary, and if so, what it is.This large change may not be necessary if, for example, you've chosen a more nuanced or gradual approach. This would work if your villain is an adult, but maybe not so much if you need a teenager or child villain. With an adult villain, you have more "years" in which to slowly push them to where they need to be for your story. With a younger villain, you don't have that so much, so you may need that large, negative event, or to up the ante of their childhood.
Changes in environment can affect the character, but an unchanging environment can accomplish the same. If the first years of your villain's life were difficult or painful, and they continue without a break, this can accomplish the same thing. Which you choose depends on what would best accomplish your goals for the character, and what way the character him/herself will need to get them there.
What They Think Of Their Environment:
Your villain is now old enough to start thinking more independently than before. They're old enough to start comparisons between themselves and others, and old enough to experience things like jealousy, envy, peer pressure, depression, social exclusion, and vindictiveness. What they think of this is important. It's not the circumstances that make a villain. It is what the villain thinks, feels, and decides that turns them into a villain. You, as the author, know what buttons to push to make those thoughts and feelings the ones that form a villain.
The weaknesses that they may have developed as young children are (usually) just cracks. As the author who needs a villain, you have to use those cracks. The way your character thinks will dictate what events are needed to push them toward full villainy.
Defense Mechanisms:
One way to start your villain on that path is to give them defense mechanisms. If their environment is not conducive for a child, or is difficult in some way, your character will have to have ways of dealing with that. For a villain, you'll want ways that have negative aspects to them. As an example, perhaps a child in an unstable home rejects the possibility of new friends. They do this because they don't trust people to be there for them, and are afraid of putting in the effort to make friends. This defense mechanism is to protect themselves from the pain of being let down. The negative aspects of this are that they don't have a support system, and may never learn to interact with people in a healthy way.
Every person will have self-defense mechanisms. Every person has things they fear or want to avoid. These are usually tied with past experiences. You can review the environment your character had in the past, and decide on defense mechanisms appropriately. Just remember that in order for these to produce a villain, there needs to be some negative result to it, even if it's only in the way your character views the world.
Again, you know what circumstances or events will push your character toward evil motivations. If they are social characters, you may want to deprive them of the ability to socialize. If they like privacy, you may want to have that forcibly removed from their lives. When that happens, they need a way to deal with it.
Now that your villain is getting older, there's a lot more that can be done with them. They're no longer simple victims of circumstance. They're at an age where they can take action and start making their own decisions, and are old enough to start drawing conclusions independent of what their elders tell them. At this point, what we want to look at is how their environment affects them, as well as what they think about it, and if they've developed any defense mechanisms.
Environment:
Last week we looked at your villain as a child, and their environment. As a tween their circumstances may change. While their early history may be incompatible with what you need from them (they may have had a stable home, for instance), you can still work with the circumstances that happen afterward. For instance, a child that had a stable, safe environment from birth to the age of eight may, at the age of nine, lose parents, have to move to a new place, or something equally traumatic or difficult that can put them on the path to villainy.
Many times this kind of change takes the form of a large change in circumstance, one that's met with negativity or difficulty by the character. As noted before, this is much the same as development for a hero. A change in their lives, usually one outside their control, takes place. This change makes life difficult. It's up to you to decide if this change is necessary, and if so, what it is.This large change may not be necessary if, for example, you've chosen a more nuanced or gradual approach. This would work if your villain is an adult, but maybe not so much if you need a teenager or child villain. With an adult villain, you have more "years" in which to slowly push them to where they need to be for your story. With a younger villain, you don't have that so much, so you may need that large, negative event, or to up the ante of their childhood.
Changes in environment can affect the character, but an unchanging environment can accomplish the same. If the first years of your villain's life were difficult or painful, and they continue without a break, this can accomplish the same thing. Which you choose depends on what would best accomplish your goals for the character, and what way the character him/herself will need to get them there.
What They Think Of Their Environment:
Your villain is now old enough to start thinking more independently than before. They're old enough to start comparisons between themselves and others, and old enough to experience things like jealousy, envy, peer pressure, depression, social exclusion, and vindictiveness. What they think of this is important. It's not the circumstances that make a villain. It is what the villain thinks, feels, and decides that turns them into a villain. You, as the author, know what buttons to push to make those thoughts and feelings the ones that form a villain.
The weaknesses that they may have developed as young children are (usually) just cracks. As the author who needs a villain, you have to use those cracks. The way your character thinks will dictate what events are needed to push them toward full villainy.
Defense Mechanisms:
One way to start your villain on that path is to give them defense mechanisms. If their environment is not conducive for a child, or is difficult in some way, your character will have to have ways of dealing with that. For a villain, you'll want ways that have negative aspects to them. As an example, perhaps a child in an unstable home rejects the possibility of new friends. They do this because they don't trust people to be there for them, and are afraid of putting in the effort to make friends. This defense mechanism is to protect themselves from the pain of being let down. The negative aspects of this are that they don't have a support system, and may never learn to interact with people in a healthy way.
Every person will have self-defense mechanisms. Every person has things they fear or want to avoid. These are usually tied with past experiences. You can review the environment your character had in the past, and decide on defense mechanisms appropriately. Just remember that in order for these to produce a villain, there needs to be some negative result to it, even if it's only in the way your character views the world.
Again, you know what circumstances or events will push your character toward evil motivations. If they are social characters, you may want to deprive them of the ability to socialize. If they like privacy, you may want to have that forcibly removed from their lives. When that happens, they need a way to deal with it.
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