History SoYouWantTo / WriteAVillain

* [[InvertedTrope Conversely]], a good villain needs to provide a suitable ''threat'', or at least show some kind of strength. If your villain constantly gets trampled on, falls flat on their face to even the most harmless of situations, or ultimately never gets to come out on top despite all signs indicating then they should, then the audience is going to hate them, at which point you can expect to hear the EightDeadlyWords in regards to your story. The only time this should generally be done is if the villain does, in fact, actually win for once after many failed attempts, or the villain is an IneffectualSympatheticVillain- however, even the latter could fall if they never do anything right. As the saying goes, "A hero is only ever as strong as the villain they fight."

** [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools At the same time]], a villain with a valid point can be a great way to make a sympathetic villain likable or to make the story's morality a bit less black-and-white. Problems occur when your supposedly ''unsympathetic'' strawman villain makes claims that are supposed to be wrong, but actually resonate with the audience.

* Let's say you have made a movie where the hero is a psychotic, but boring and undeveloped fellow who has to defeat a [[LargeHam hammy]], fun, [[EvilIsCool cool]], and overall more characterized villain. If the audience wants more of the villain, you're doing it wrong. The villain isn't the subject of character, the protagonists are.

* Antagonists with no defined motivation can sometimes make for a truly chilling [[OurSlashersAreDifferent horror movie slasher]] or an EldritchAbomination in a CosmicHorrorStory. However, these types of antagonist are so inhuman that they are better described as monsters than as villains. Villains are, on some level, human and thus need a motivation. "[[ForTheEvulz To be evil]]" is a pretty pathetic goal, unless it's a kid's cartoon and/or it's PlayedForLaughs. "[[TakeOverThe World Taking over the world]]" and "[[GetRichQuickScheme Getting rich]]" are also fairly one-dimensional motivations, but [[TropesAreTools can be done well, especially if paired with another motivation]]. Some of the best villains are {{Anti Villain}}s; TheHero can't let them do what they're doing, but they can understand ''why'' they're doing it. Some good examples of these are from the tropes WellIntentionedExtremist, KnightTemplar, MyCountryRightOrWrong, and AHeroToHisHometown.

* Antagonists with no defined motivation can sometimes make for a truly chilling [[OurSlashersAreDifferent horror movie slasher]] or an EldritchAbomination in a CosmicHorrorStory. However, these types of antagonist are so inhuman that they are better described as monsters than as villains. Villains are, on some level, human and thus need a motivation. "[[ForTheEvulz To be evil]]" is a pretty pathetic goal, unless it's a kid's cartoon and/or it's PlayedForLaughs. "Taking over the world" and "Getting rich" are also fairly one-dimensional motivations. Some of the best villains are {{Anti Villain}}s; TheHero can't let them do what they're doing, but they can understand ''why'' they're doing it. Some good examples of these are from the tropes WellIntentionedExtremist, KnightTemplar, MyCountryRightOrWrong, and AHeroToHisHometown.

* Lastly, unless you're going for TheBadGuyWins, your villain probably needs to lose at the end. This defeat must be credible. As mentioned under Pitfalls, the InvincibleVillain is a trope you'll generally want to avoid. Not only will audiences hate such a character, but a too overpowered villain inevitably results in OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow scenarios. To avoid such a scenario, give the villain a weakness (whether it's a [[CharacterFlawIndex CharacterFlaw]], a KryptoniteFactor, [[InternalConflictTropes inner conflict]], or a [[DidntThinkThisThrough critical flaw in their]] EvilPlan) that the hero can exploit during the third act. The weakness shouldn't be too obvious (as that would destroy the villain's threat and [[IdiotPlot make everyone involved looking like an idiot for not exploiting it]]), but it shouldn't come out of nowhere either (otherwise, you get ThirdActStupidity). Alternatively, you can try making the hero powerful enough to beat the villain without a DeusExMachina. The hero should still start out weaker than the villain, but during the climax, [[ChekhovsSkill they'll need a previously established skill]] (or an EleventhHourSuperpower, if you [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadow]] carefully) to win.\\

* While no one is wholly good or evil, there are a small fringe of people [[Film/TheDarkKnight who just want to see the world burn]]. This is what this section is about. When making a character who is not suppose to receive sympathy, the best way is to present them as having an ideology that can make rationalizing excessive self-centrism acceptable (e.g. Nihilism and/or Misanthropy are good examples). Depending on which end of the Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism, how society is operates or is portrayed (e.g. Is it Corrupt? [[CrapsackWorld Hostile]]?) will also play some part in how they regard their sociopathic tendencies as being reasonable. Again as mentioned earlier, be weary about associating an unsympathetic villain [[WarOnStraw with whatever thing you don't like]] because it isn't justified [[HitlerAteSugar to claim that anyone who associates with said thing is automatically evil]].

Besides making the defeat credible, watch for karma. A villain should be punished according to their villeness. The last thing you'll want is for a CompleteMonster HateSink to end up as a KarmaHoudini. A HeelFaceTurn for a villain who is long past the MoralEventHorizon won't work either. If your villain is meant to be as bad as they come, don't hold back with the CatharsisFactor. On the other hand, doing the same to a LikableVillain is likely to result in KarmicOverkill. FaceDeathWithDignity or even a HeelFaceTurn is better for sympathetic villains.

** [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools At the same time]], a villian with a valid point can be a great way to make a sympathetic villian likable or to make the story's morality a bit less black-and-white. Problems occur when your supposedly ''unsympathetic'' strawman villian makes claims that are supposed to be wrong, but actually resonate with the audience.

* A good villain needs to be defeatable by the heroes or at least show some kind of weakness. If your villain constantly wins over the heroes, survives situations that should have logically killed them, or ultimately comes out on top despite all signs indicating that they shouldn’t, then the audience is going to hate them, at which point your story will likely fall into OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow territory. The only time this should generally be done is if the villain does, in fact, get defeated at the end after many failed attempts, or the villain is the protagonist of the story- but if you’re going for the latter, beware of making them too invincible, as then they will come off as unsympathetic.

Besides making the defeat credible, watch for karma. A villain should be punished according to their villeness. The last thing you'll want is for a CompleteMonster HateSink to end up as a KarmaHoudini. A HeelFaceTurn for a villain who is long past the MoralEventHorizon won't work either. If you're villain is meant to be as bad as they come, don't hold back with the CatharsisFactor. On the other hand, doing the same to a LikableVillain is likely to result in KarmicOverkill. FaceDeathWithDignity or even a HeelFaceTurn is better for sympathetic villains.

* A good villain needs to be defeatable by the heroes or at least show some kind of weakness. If your villain constantly wins over the heroes, survives situations that should have logically killed them, or ultimately comes out on top despite all signs indicating that they shouldn’t, then the audience is going to hate them, at which point your story will likely fall into TooBleakStoppedCaring territory. The only time this should generally be done is if the villain does, in fact, get defeated at the end after many failed attempts, or the villain is the protagonist of the story- but if you’re going for the latter, beware of making them too invincible, as then they will come off as unsympathetic.

* A good villain needs to be defeatable by the heroes or at least show some kind of weakness. If your villain constantly wins over the heroes, survives situations that should logically have killed him, or ultimately comes out on top despite all signs indicating that he shouldn’t, then fans are going to hate him even more and want him to be defeated, even though that will never happen. The only time this should generally be done is if the villain does, in fact, get defeated at the end, or the villain is the protagonist of the story.