Q&A for How to Create a Perfect Villain

Yes. The story where the good guys die and the bad guys win always gets interest, so you could totally make the villain win. Just make sure it fits the mood of your story. (If you're writing a fairy tale, the "dragon" should probably be defeated at the end.)

You'll need to find a personal motivation for each to unite toward the common cause. As long as each villain's motivation is consistent with his or her character and personality, it will be believable. Introducing conflict among the villains on the team may make it even more believable.

He/she could be. I don't know if I would call a villain the protagonist, but he/she could be the main character.

Of course! Luke of Percy Jackson and the Olympian series is a teenager, for example. Just make sure the villain has his or her reasons to turn bad, and give them some fatal flaws. Because they're a teenager, they might be prone to making a lot of mistakes due to inexperience.

No! Your villain doesn't even need to be evil. The only thing that separates them from being just another character is the fact that they oppose the protagonist.

That's a bit trickier, since (at least in those examples) the villain can't communicate with the protagonist on any intelligible level. Because they're impossible to humanize (unless you were to tell the story from their perspective, which would be one HECK of a cool read IMO), they become more like an "abstract concept," like the WikiHow mentioned. In that case, I'd read/watch a lot of mystery/horror movies involving monstrous creatures as a reference, and remember to keep the creature mysterious and hard to pin down! If it's too obvious where it came from or what its abilities are, it becomes predictable and stops being scary.

Well, unless your protagonist has other more grand obstacles standing in his/her way, you might want to consider making your villain a more central character, seeing as the only thing that keeps a reader flipping pages is the desire to see how a hero overcomes the struggles presented in the story.

Absolutely! A motive like that humanizes your villain, makes him relatable, and gives him more complexity as a character

You can. You could have your villain realize that being evil won't get them anywhere in life and attempt to make amends with the protagonist(s).

The same way you'd name a hero. It can be based on their physical traits, their powers (if they have them) or talents, their personality, or maybe even just their normal name if they don't do the whole secret identity thing. Also, try to avoid obviously "evil" names (i.e. Raven Broodblood, Lord Hatemonger, Mister McDeath, Damion Darkwing Crowblade), unless it's something like satire or parody. These "oh-so evil" names tend to sound clever in your head, but come across on paper/screen as campy/jokey, which is bad if you want the story/character to be taken seriously.

This is actually a good idea, in my opinion. It might take a bit more work to make it believable, but it is a good concept. I think the best thing you could do is make the villain similar to the hero. Make them have similar traits. Or make the villain have something that would prove crucial to the hero's life or journey.

Of course. A villain could have good intentions (bringing peace to the world), but be very misguided in his approach (killing all those who oppose his plans for peace). A villain with intentions that aren't entirely self-centered or evil makes for a much more believable character. A villain could share many of the same beliefs and goals of the hero, but go about achieving them in a completely different ("evil") way.

Having the villain kidnap or try to kill the girlfriend is over used. Be creative. Though hurting loved ones is a believable plan for a villain to get what he wants, using a girlfriend as the target can be a bit cliché if you're not careful. If the villain has magic powers or such, he could make the girlfriend forget the boyfriend, or something along those lines. Having something a bit different attracts more people to your story and will make it more popular.

Perhaps you could make the villain go further than your antihero would, or step over a moral boundary even they wouldn't cross. For example, the Punisher is an antihero, but he only kills criminals worse than himself, who often are beyond redemption. It's a difficult task, but the key is to make the protagonist (hero or antihero) more sympathetic than your villain. It's great for a villain to have a backstory, but it should serve as an explanation for their evil.

Of course! Maybe the protagonist's view of the world changes, or a poor moral judgment was made that turns them. Whatever the cause, the protagonist can always join the villain.

Theoretically, it could work. You could make your villain hide his true motives to keep the reader guessing. He could come across as a really nice guy who even goes out of his way to help solve the mystery even though he's the cause of it. However, it's not an original idea (very few writing ideas are these days), so put some effort into making the story interesting, plausible and likable rather than trying to make it seem like nobody's ever thought of this approach before.

Yes! The villain teams could have split from one team that originally had one main goal but began infighting. Or perhaps they're all fighting against each other but they don't realise they have the same ideals. There are many possibilities for interesting conflicts.

Perhaps you could have a situation where your villain was once a reputable, well loved scientist who one day experienced a failed experiment that went so wrong it caused people to shun them. They could now have a drive to redeem themselves from that bad experience but in such a way that it involves taking dangerous shortcuts, doing weird experiments, using forbidden ingredients and misusing minions to do the dirty work, all in a hopeless attempt to regain the lost glory they once had.

Yes, "good intentions, bad results" is an excellent motivation for a villain. Villains who are certain they're in the right can be highly sympathetic and compelling characters.

Give them something that makes them a threat specifically to the people with powers. The powered characters have to face a challenge in defeating the villain, and evening the gap between those with powers and the villain without would do exactly that. Whether it's a weapon, an ability, or something else, that villain would be effective if the main threat they pose is relevant to the powers the other characters have.

Yes. Villains can have conflicts with other villains, especially if their goals are in competition. If multiple villains want the same thing when only one can achieve it, it makes sense for them to fight. Conflicts between moral limits could also cause villains to clash. It all depends on your reasons, and what purpose their infighting serves.

Yes. A narrative or thematic parallel between your hero and villain is a fantastic idea. Contrasting what makes them different and what they have in common is an excellent way to enforce the themes of your story, and it can create compelling tension between the hero and the villain, and what drives them to conflict.

The first thing to ask is whether "no one" applies more to a select few people who are close to him or society as a whole. If the problem is with his immediate connections, his experience should be highly personal. Perhaps it's ruined a specific relationship in his life, someone abandoned him over it, or the perceived lack of sympathy formed a grudge. If the problem is with society, the event will be on a larger, more cultural scale. Perhaps he's a victim of a stigmatized form of violence or something that society demands he endure without complaint. Consider the scale of who your villain conflicts with.

As long as you can make your story entertaining, you don’t need a villain. If it is a comedy, focus on making the reader laugh. If not, you may just have a few antagonising forces without a main villain.

Yes, this creates an interesting bond. In the end, you could have them confess to each other.

Many villains have the same personality. Make sure you know how to make your villain stand out, like giving them a significant backstory or lots of presence. Usually, the best sadistic villains don't explicitly say or have people say they are sadistic or evil but have the readers or viewers take in or assume the mood/personality of the villain.

Don't make your villain too enthusiastic or avid. Make them calmer and more callous, so they give off a mysterious tone that shows they are not eager to get anything more than what they have right now. In simpler terms, give an arrogant or cocky side of them that proves they're not spoiled.

Make your villain scary, but focus on the hero for most of the plot. Readers or viewers will get more familiar with the hero the more they get to "spend time" with them. Give your villain many evil parts, but make your hero a more significant part of the story.

That's up to you. However, Harry Potter is known for its climactic hero-vs.-villain battles, so it's probably a good idea.

Make sure they have completely different personalities. If the villain is sadistic and sociopathic, your hero must be aspiring and more mellow. Obviously, you don't have to do it that way and make your hero more malicious, but when 2 characters with opposite personalities interact, it's definitely more interesting.