Of dastardly villains

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.”