A story usually
has a goal, characters trying to reach the goal, and other characters trying to
prevent the goal from being reached. The chief one getting in the way of the
goal is labeled the Antagonist. In “The Lord of the Rings,” this is Sauron, although
he leaves the dirty work to Saruman and a bunch of unpleasant Orcs.
However, the
antagonist usually is a highly visible individual. He or she can come in many
flavors. This person can be physically attractive or repulsive. Or in the case
of Sauron, a spirit. No matter what they look like, at their core, they are
evil. How they display that evil is one of the things that makes them
interesting. And from a writer’s view, fun to create. Writing is even more fun
when the baddies get their just deserts, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
A very important
question is how nasty should an antagonist be? Should this person be the type
who eats children, steals from church collection boxes, or, if here in Texas,
commits the most unpardonable offense, mocking high school football? Also, in
Texas, that and cattle rustling never get to trial and earn frontier justice.
But I digress.
The antagonist
needs helpers to carry out his or hers plans. How to get their cooperation?
Know what motivates them. Is it greed? Shower them with gold. Power? Arrange
convenient “accidents” for their enemies. Fear? Show them what will happen if
they disobey. Flattery? Despite the old saying, it can get you to where you
want to be.
Whichever methods
the antagonist chooses, what is most important is being completely in control. A
good antagonist is someone you hate and fear. Although it isn’t sufficient to
write, “This is the bad guy, he or she is evil, now start quaking in your
boots.” Some writers unfortunately are satisfied with baddies who are like that
because the writer says so. Most readers want to know how and why a villain
becomes that way.
A detailed
biography isn’t necessary, but a bit of background will suffice. The villain
could have suffered great loss and is lashing out at those he perceives were
responsible. Or he could feel slighted as in not being properly rewarded for
performing a heroic task.
This person can
and often does, have some redeeming qualities. In one of my books, the villain
kills a rival mage-king. He has the victim’s body returned to his people to be
buried and mourned. The villain has some sense of honor and respect, but not
enough so he’s ever liked. But it makes him more realistic. By the same
reasoning, heroes are more relatable if they have flaws. But that’s a topic for
another blog entry.
A trick with
antagonists is making them appealing. They have to often outsmart the heroes
and be hard to predict. In the end, the reader feels satisfied, perhaps elated,
when they are defeated. As stated before, villains are entertaining to write,
mostly because they are the opposite of the writer’s values and personality.
Sometimes they are so enjoyable that they don’t get killed off until late in a
series, if ever.
That happens with my main antagonist. He physically dies but is reincarnated for the next book. One of the other characters asks, “Do villains like this ever die?” Another character replies, “Yes. The problem is keeping him dead.”
