You can't have a book without a villain. There's no story. No driving conflict. No monster to defeat at the end so the hero can say "Ahh, well done" to him/her self. A book can have a so-so hero with a great villain and still be an awesome book (cough cough lord of the rings cough cough frodo cough cough), but a book with a so-so villain is doomed to fail. You must, and I mean MUST, nail this super-important character. He must be the single most developed, thought out, motivated, interesting, personality-filled person in your story (aside from your main character, the Hero. More on him/her later).
So, what can you do to create this amazing person? How can you create a great villain?
This probably should have been the title of the post. Let's start over, shall we?
How to Create a Frightening Villain
by Watzzit Tooyah
Like every character in your book (EVERY character), the villain has to seem real. He has to have real thoughts, emotions, and most importantly, motives. The villain can be as big, evil, and superpowered as you want, but what will convince the reader that he is worth fearing is how real he seems. The dark lord who wants to destroy the nation suddenly becomes more interesting when we learn that it was the same nation that wrongly banished him years ago. *THOR/AVENGERS SPOILER* Loki suddenly grabs our attention and seems more deadly when we realize that he was adopted, and secretly is the Frost Giant prince *END SPOILER*. Giving your villain a past makes his present actions more real and believable, which will go a long way towards making him feared.
Obviously, the villain must be powerful—certainly the most powerful person in your story (how you define the word "power" depends on your genre/story). Even Gandalf fears Sauron; Luke is soundly beaten by Vader; Mama Oti never takes on the Shadow Man; the Sand Man is beaten by Pitch Black; Joker usually beats Batman first time around... you get the picture. For whatever reason and in whatever way, the villain is superior to even the best good guys.
Also obvious, the villain must be...well...villainous. He has to be morally evil. Maybe he doesn't see himself as evil, but he is.
These are what a villain needs. What makes a villain great, though, is different. There are different ways to make a villain interesting:
1. Make the villain and hero connected. Cheesy example: Darth Vader is Luke's father. There is, of course, the simple method of making the hero and villain physically related. Other methods:
- The Hero and Villain share similar backstories. They've been through a similar traumatic incident or share a state of being. Examples: Jack Frost and Pitch Black, Po and Lord Shen, Luke and Vader (besides being father/son, they share a similar childhood, similar force powers, similar training, both influenced by Palpatine...)
- The Villain needs the Hero to complete his nefarious plots. For some reason or another, while the Hero is trying to stop the Villain, the Hero is actually helping the Villain. Examples: the Toa and Makuta Teridax, Sora and Organization XIII, Jack Blank and the Rustöv, Leif and the Shadow Lord, etc.
- The Hero and Villain like each other. I can only think of one movie that uses this amazing link, Treasure Planet.
- The Hero and Villain are similar characters. They share similar strengths/weaknesses, wants, likes/dislikes, and such.
3. Make your Villain minimally moral. For example, there are certain things even your Villain wouldn't do. This works well with your Villain believing he is doing good. Examples: Darth Vader (again), the General in the film version of Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Of course, most truly great villains are pure evil, so use this sparingly...
4. Make your Villain literally unstoppable. In this case, you could make the Hero somehow cause the villain to stop himself... I have no examples for this. Maybe the Omnidroid from the Incredibles?
And here are some random ideas I just thought up just for you to get your creative juices flowing (whatever that means, Anastasia says that all the time...):
- Make your Villain something completely weird for your genre. For example: A dark wizard in a Star Wars style sci-fi or a gang leader in a medieval fantasy.
- Take whatever Villain you are currently formulating and suddenly reverse his/her gender. It's interesting, isn't it?
- Give your Villain a devoted, actually menacing right-hand man.
- Give your Villain a passion for something that he can't resist. Ex: pie, candy, fashion, cats, fast cars, etc.
- Make your Villain a computer program. This never fails to be interesting.
- Make your Villain a creature.
- Make your Villain a turkey sandwich. At least he would be original, right?
- Make your Villain your Hero. Good luck with this one....
- Make a fast car chase scene where the Hero is chasing the Villain (instead of vise-versa). Include helicopters, motorcycles, oil slicks, etc.
I hope this randomness actually helps you.
Remember that the most helpful thing you can do to make a great villain is to give him motives! So stop whatever you are doing right now and grab a piece of paper. Start writing about your villain. Invent his/her entire past, from his childhood on. What makes your villain bad? What has he/she gone through that has turned him into the man/woman that he/she is today. Why is your villain out to get your hero?
Once you completely figure this out, you are practically halfway done writing your book.
That is all,
Watzzit Tooyah
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