How to Write an Epic Villain
When I was a little girl, watching all the princess movies I could get my hands on, I used to wonder, why was the queen in Snow White so evil? Well, that question was answered in Once Upon a Time and a bit in Snow White and the Huntsman. Knowing these answers made her a stronger character, and an interesting villain.
With movies such as Suicide Squad, Joker, Birds of Prey and the like coming out, I feel as if villains are finally getting their story told. And it’s not as black and white as we want it to be. There’s always a reason, which is why they are just as important in the creative process as the hero. Sometimes, I believe, even more important.
What makes a great villain is someone we can empathize with. It’s someone readers know they shouldn’t empathize with, but deep down, probably would.
Creating a villain is understanding these factors:
1. What is their backstory?
Everyone has baggage. The Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time was denied her “handsome prince”. Jafar was once a street rat himself, consumed by power. Maleficent was betrayed by her lover.
So what is your villain’s backstory?
What drove him or her to become the person they are today?
Are they consumed by the desire to make a better world for everyone? Or do they just want to see the world burn?
Are they jaded from a ruined love affair? Were they abused as a child?
If you, as the writer, understand what made your villain the person they are today, then they will be more convincing in the story.
2. What is their goal and why?
The protagonist needs a goal. The villain needs a goal that opposes theirs. This can easily be discovered in the villain’s backstory. Everyone has wants and needs including the antagonist.
If they want to destroy the world, why?
Do they want to rule all the kingdoms and kill anyone in their way?
Innately, everyone believes what they are doing is good. A good villain is someone who believes in their cause to the point of jeopardizing everything to achieve it.
3. Who follows them and why?
Every good villain has someone to support them.
So who are they?
You can discover this through your world building. Maybe they support the villain, because of economical reasons; they are too poor and need the money which the villain can supply. Or perhaps the villain speaks to the poor people, promising that things will be different under their regime. The villain could also be quite charming, getting others to support his or her cause without realizing what exactly they support.
4. How do they challenge the protagonist?
In Harry Potter, Voldemort wanted to kill Harry, therefore making each year at school quite the challenge.
In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo needed to get the ring of power to Mount Doom journeying through various perils and then succumbing to the power of the ring.
In Game of Thrones, there were several challenges Jon Snow had to face, one of them being the protection of man against the White Walkers.
There can be more than one challenge that the protagonist has to face. In fact there could be multiple villains.
Conclusion
Creating a villain is just as important as creating a protagonist, because they help the hero grow. Making them simple cut outs can, at times, lead to a boring story. Sometimes the villain could actually be the hero, given the perspective you are writing in and seeing them grow can be just as entertaining.
Sometimes having a villain that readers can empathize with, can make for an even better story, because it makes the audience struggle with themselves as to who is right and who is wrong?
And at times, people aren’t so black and white.
