How often it is that I read a book where the "bad guy" is nothing short of devious. Yet to be a villain it is more than simply being bad. The villain is despicable, distasteful, vile, twisted in a knot of ego and Id, and somewhere along the way they lost sight of what the right path was. Regardless the villain chose a path, one that the reader or audience sometimes feels sympathy for, they understand the feelings and reasoning. But how does a writer achieve the fulfillment of creating a great villain?
Off the top of my head I can think of several real life villains and also fictitious. Go on, think of some for yourself as well. What made them so disgustingly evil to you? What made you feel sad for them or really hope that they would turn a new leaf?
A proper villain is sinister and over-lording yet lifelike. They must have a breadth of darkness as their cloak and a trail of chaos in their wake. A proper villain is the appearance of instant conflict and often the result of previous conflicts. Whatever the tipping point was, whether it was tragedy or war, in the sight of the villain there is no turning back. They must seem absolute in their ideals, less they become a teetering mess.
Only at the end of the villain's story must they question their ideals. Only when the hero strives to change the darkness by honing their so called "light" into a cone of truth and justice. Change can only be made when two imposable and impassable forces meet in a battle of force. When courage and power meet face to face, much like the Zelda series.
Think for a moment. Why is the character of Darth Vader as portrayed in episodes IV, V, and VI of Star Wars so menacingly awesome? What makes him desirable as a villain? Lastly, why do people love to see this villain? This is a stream of thought to ponder when creating a "bad guy".
Who is another great villain? Here is one you might not expect. Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects. When it came to the greatest lie I've ever heard, this surely took the cake. His ploy is devious alright, but brilliant. A master strategist could have done no better. A man with an alter-ego and yet you have no idea who he is from start to finish. The man's a ghost, a phantom that you know is there yet cloaks himself in plain view. I won't ruin the movie. So please do some homework. If you haven't seen the movie, please do. Take a few notes as well.
As far as literary and playwright villains go there are many. To name a few let us start with the obvious. Sauron the second Dark Lord and ally of the prime evil, Morgoth, from Lord of The Rings. Krogstad from A Doll's House. Grendel's mother from Beowulf. And the last, yet there are still more, Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon.
Each villain I have named so far is different and separated by circumstance. If some of these characters are foreign to you, by all means do a search and buy or rent the respectable reading material to do some further research.
As a note it is important to remember the key focus in honing the craft that is writing. Question, search, acquire, and apply.
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