Make Your Fantasy Villain Great

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Fantasy Novel Character Villain Writing Advice

A memorable antagonist elevates any story to the next leve. Darth Vader, Thanos, Hannibal Lecter, the Joker, name any compelling story and you'll find a bad guy or girl just as indelible, if not moreso, than the heroes. But what makes a truly great antagonist?

Luckily, there's a secret sauce to elevate your villains from good to great. Every legendary antagonist has their own unique appeal, but they all share these two things. If your villain has these elements, you have an antagonist ready to catapult your work higher than before.

Tip #1 - They Think They're the Hero

There's a reason the mustache-twiddling bad guy is a cliche. The classic villain is the bad guy, and they know it. They do things just to be bad. They're evil because... well, they're the bad guy, and bad guys are bad.

But a great bad guy doesn't think that way. They think they're the hero of the story. Killmonger, one of my favorite MCU villains, is taking back the privileges denied him because of his father's actions. Hans Gruber from Die Hard is a charismatic, smart, exceptional thief and his exceptional plan will rob Nakatomi Plaza blind.

This doesn't mean your bad guy doesn't know they're evil or that people will think it. Thanos and the Joker know people won't appreciate what they're doing. People only think they're evil because they don't "get it." Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men knows he murders people for money, and he doesn't care if it's evil or not. But he gives you a 50-50 shot to live, which is the definition of fair, right?

A good bad guy thinks your story is about them. They have a reason for what they do. With reason comes personality, comes motivation, comes backstory, comes everything that makes a villain great.

Well, almost everything.

Tip #2 - Your Hero Can't Handle Them

The other half of a great villain is a great hero. And a great villain is someone your protagonist can't deal with. Your hero just can't even with this dude!

The easiest way to do this is to simply make the villain better than your hero. Holmes and Moriarty are the classic example of this. Ozymandias in Watchmen is smarter, tougher and more prepared than anyone else, including Dr. Manhattan. Darth Vader is stronger, faster, more experienced and more powerful than Luke, and that's before you even talk about family. But this isn't the only way, or even the best way. Make your bad guy skilled, and I mean really skilled, in the exact areas your hero is weakest. Your protagonist is an FBI agent? Her perfect foil is a psychologist who gets inside her head, exposes every shame and manipulates her insecurities... and oh yeah, he's a serial killer who eats his victims and leaps without hesitation over lines she won't cross.

If your hero is a fighter, make your villain an expert tactician. A moral politician? His mendacious media mogul nemesis has the ear of the masses. A smart inventor and investigator faces an absolute brute who smashes through traps and could snap your hero like a twig. A great villain hits where your hero doesn't expect, and as readers we have no freakin' clue how our protagonist is going to beat them.

"Authority's been settled. Now let's settle grace." – The Reeve, Rapture

Great Villains Are MORE

A memorable villain thinks they're the hero of your story. Maybe they know they're evil, maybe (probably) they know no one will understand them, but they're the protagonist. The reader will understand why they're doing the right thing or see how awesome they are at being bad. They'll especially see how much better they are than this schmuck who's standing in their way.

Comment with your favorite villains in literature or cinema, and let's hear why they're memorable. Come back every week to read my latest blog musings at williamreidbooks.com!