How is a villain created

Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am but a shadowy reflection of you. It would take only a nudge to make you like me. To push you out of the light. Belloq in Raiders is a great example of this mirroring. He and Indy are two men devoted to the pursuit of historic treasures.

But while Indy learns to care for people such as Marion more than objects, Belloq never develops this insight. Sometimes the mirroring is more than metaphorical.

In Looper , Old Joe is literally a future version of our hero. Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker also serve as mirrors for each other. But their similarities highlight their differences: Vader gives in to anger and works to maintain power, while Luke learns to push aside anger and value compassion. Even up through Return of the Jedi , Luke must deal with the fear that he will fall to the Dark Side and become a villain like Vader.

Blade Runner gives us a broader sense of connection between the hero and the villain. Rick Deckard starts the film hiding from his past as a cop who hunted replicants. Batty has an oversized desire to squeeze every last drop of life he can out of his body, in constant pursuit of anyone who might be able to make the needed adjustments. Deckard is avoiding life, but when dragged back in to track down Batty and his crew, a change happens.

On a basic level, he finds his desire for self preservation, fighting to stay alive when confronting target after target. As mirrors of each other, heroes and villains should be fighting in the same weight class. Indiana Jones is better matched against Belloq than Hitler. Villains have reasons, and that leads them to their plan of action. Your job is to let the audience understand what the villain is going after, and why.

Villains may state their goal directly to the protagonist. The Wicked Witch of the West? Some villains reveal their motivation to their allies rather than the hero. Nurse Ratched discusses the importance of her work with her colleagues. She sees herself as uniquely qualified to deal with the men in her ward, suggesting a combination of pride and a genuine desire to help are at play in her strict control over her patients. Villains can also reveal their motivation to a victim, such as when Hans Gruber specifies to Mr.

You know what I am? You know, I just… do things. But his actions and other moments of dialogue paint a very different picture. He seems to have backup schemes to his backup schemes. Finally, he drops his attempts to be inscrutable and presents a clear motive for his madness:. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. Unforgettable villains either have a personal connection to the hero from the outset, or develop a personal understanding throughout the story.

Their interactions build familiarity, pain and consternation. Some villains are out for revenge against the hero. The Wicked Witch of the West wants to track down and murder the girl who dropped a house on her sister. Max Cady in Cape Fear wants to torment the defense lawyer who suppressed evidence in his trial, leading him to spend over a decade in prison.

In a conflict later in the film, Luke watches Vader kill Obi-Wan, making Vader the man who he believes killed his father and his new father figure. This revelation strengthens their personal connection, making the conflict between them both more difficult for Luke and more nuanced in the long run. Luke attempts to leverage their growing personal connection, which becomes a weakness for Vader. Vader changes sides at the last minute, helping bring down the Empire, all because of their personal connection.

Unforgettable villains have distinctive traits. They look, talk and act in ways that feel specific and unique to their story. I learned this from watching Mickey Mouse as a kid. You can tell Mickey Mouse from a mile away…those two big ears. Same thing with Popeye, same thing with Batman.

When you think of Darth Vader, do you hear his labored breathing in your head? Your job here is to make your villains credible, logical, and believable, but not necessarily likeable. Your readers need to understand why the antagonist is doing what he or she does, and why they believes their actions are justified and rational. To make your villains real, three-dimensional people, follow these seven rather deadly, but always effective rules!

Villains or antagonists view themselves as victims. They have a reason for their bad behaviour. They are often motivated by revenge. The world is represented by one other character — usually the protagonist — who must be punished for that mistake. Try to find the good in the bad. Dig a bit deeper. Think of alter egos — e. In real life, when we see someone trying to beat something, we feel sympathy. For example, they may suffer from an addiction. In order to be considered a worthy opponent, you must portray your antagonist honestly.

One way to do this is to balance their inner darkness with their outer demeanour and behaviour. Think of Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter. She wears pink cardigans and collects plates with kittens on them. This is a gentle, pleasing image. Her words seem reasonable and polite, but there is real threat in them. If she came across as a witch physically, there would be no surprises. The best villains in fiction have been short-changed. Feed that obsession. Make it real.

At the same time, try to make it understandable. Imagine your villain as a shadow of the hero, a doppelganger. Think about when you created your protagonist. She is the co-founder of two non-profits: Sweet Life Diabetes Community, South Africa's largest online diabetes community, and the Diabetes Alliance, a coalition of all the organisations working in diabetes in South Africa.

She is also the co-founder of Now Novel: an online novel-writing course where she coaches aspiring writers to start - and finish! Bridget believes in the power of storytelling to create meaningful change. Now I want to pull out my Evil Overlord again! My favorite villain was Hannibal Lecter. He was creepy but yet polite; but had a sinister side that made my skin crawl.

He was Awesome!! I have two stories i really like to write. She is the ex girlfriend of Jackson Matthews and tries to sabotage and damage Jackson his new relationship with Jennifer as much as possible. She is mischievious, mysterious and sadistic. Her greatest strength is messing and manipulating other people which leads them in misery. Hehe, I already made an edit of those two together and planning of a unofficial Dylan meets Mellanie short story as beginning of it.

Creating a new psychopath villain with a working name subject to change of Mr. Shadowface aka The Void! He is not real but actually a manifestation of your fear of unknown. Appears as a dark figure with head of shadow or void. Thanks you for sharing that, Uddipan — it sounds interesting. Thanks for reading our articles.

However you could make it less stereotypical or cliched by making this process of finding out more gradual and deeper. I hope that helps! I also have a story, but my big question is how do you manage to work with multiple villainous forces while letting these antagonists connect together in some sort of way. My story actually has a summary, below:. A perfectly anonymous criminal, notorious at the least, Daya Asan runs through the streets of San Francisco without so much a glance back.