I love villains. They’re really what make a story enjoyable, because without them, the protagonist would just go on living their happy little lives. Villains make things complicated. They give a story that special twist that really screws up the main character’s routine. But what makes a good bad guy?
I’d say it’s believability. More than anything, a really great bad guy has to be something you’d believe. No longer will the “doing evil just for evil’s sake” type fly. A good baddy has to have motive, drive, and a believable reason for being the way he (or she) is.
But beyond that, I think it’s a matter of personal tastes. I like a bad guy that has a sharp wit. A really smart, sarcastic evil-doer. (Preferably with good fashion sense) Someone who really believes he or she is doing what they’re doing for all the right reasons–because that’s really what makes someone dangerous. Not a weapon, not a desire, but belief–belief that you are right and that you will defend your belief no matter what.
I love to love my baddies. It’s just the way I’m hardwired. What about you, minions?
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The villains I like are those who are on the line between good and evil — the ones that make educated Middle America muse, “Hmmm. I understand why she/he does that” and then they’re thrown into a tailspin over their ethical code.
What would I do as a villain? Computer hack the military’s orders and send those sweet 19-year-olds to Fiji for a vacation, have the President deprogrammed so he could use his powers for good, release animals from the zoos, liberate farm animals from the slaughter, graffiti flowers on the prison walls, have a nude-in at a Jerry Falwell speaking engagement, hug unsuspecting corporate powers-that-be, sneak into the elementary cafeteria and replace corn syrup-based products with fresh organic fruits and vegetables, slash the tires of Hummers, and storm $1,000 a plate fundraising dinners with homeless people.
Well! I have a full day ahead of me. Off to get my cape. Ciao!
Vincent the Villain
Exactly… there needs to be a “real person” there behind the mask. Without the ‘reality’ the story just falls flat.
I was reading someplace (well, several places, but where they were escapes me) that plot just doesn’t matter as much as character does. All plot and no character is just another Hollywood big-screen blockbuster… all fluff, no content. Sure it can sell (can you say Davinci Code?), but will you be satisfied with it?
Not being a published author, it is easy for me to take the high-road and say that I would be happier having written a great but not selling book rather than a shallow but well selling piece of fluff. I still have my day job, no matter how soul-sucking it is.
I hope that when I do sell my first book that my opinion doesn’t change.
Maybe that would be a good motivator for a villain… a literary villain.
Vincent, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on evil looking tights, at the very least. Because all your evil-doing is inherently good. (Hey, at least you have good fashion sense)
A literary villain? Sounds interesting, Ewoh.
Yeah… the literary villain is going through Hollywood and NYC killing off all of the fluff writers. Misguided and evil, but for a good cause… but good and bad. Maybe he had his best works stolen and made into fluff movies and never got paid for them…
OK, so now I have yet another story to work on.
Ewoh, if you didn’t have stories to work on, you’d be annoyed, like the rest of us
I am learning to love villians, if only to give my main characters a harder time in getting together!
Ooh, a psychotic writer killer…that’s mega-creepy, Ewoh.
Exactly, Sybir!
I NEED to write a story from the villain’s POV. That would soooo mess with the readers. I LOVE it. That’s it. New story. Villain is MC. The modern Grendel.
I like it. It would be challenging to capture the reader’s ampathy for a baddy through a few hundred pages…but if you can manage to pull it off…it could be great.