I learned the best way to write an antagonist is to give them an arc just like the protagonist. It could be a negative positive or flat arc depending on the story but it has to mirror the protagonist's arc some how.
Yes I agree completely a great villan should reflect the craziest complexities of humanity because just being plain evil is stale but having a character who is the hero of his own story and has insecurities and flaws and actually shows traits that even the main protagonist displays can be really great
@@jobolds6146 It really depends. Pure evil villains can be just as good as complex one, they just need more raw charisma, a compelling presence and to just give the reader\viewer one hell of a show.
The most amazing villains are actually the tragic heroes (negative character arc). It is so beautiful to watch them descend into darkness (Daenerys - I wish we had more time seeing this process).
I think watching a hero slip down into dangerous territory of morally grey and even dark choices is interesting. You can’t have a good redemption arc without that.
Exactly everything in GoT was done in so much hurry. Danny's arc would have been really great if execution was done in better way not like d way suddenly rushed up.
In some of my stories, one of the villains is a character who became an abomination after a scientific test drive goes horribly wrong. Another villain I made is a wolf who was forced to learn how to kill animals by the main antagonist after getting kicked out of the pack for hesitating on killing their prey. One thing we learn about tragic villains in my opinion is that they use to be regular or even kindhearted people and one bad day or one horrifying event can affect these characters negatively to the point that we start watching them succumb into the dark side.
One of my favorite villains is Medusa from Soul Eater because she's pure evil, super smart, very manipulative, and always wins. Even though she doesn't have a fear, she's a really memorable villain
A perfect villain would be the one who wants his desire to come to reality. He or she is willing to give up anyone to fulfil their desire. They will make sure that their plan is perfect and they will again success no matter what until the hero/heroine defeats them. Love your videos. I can't wait for 100 Days of Sunlight to come out on 7 August. You are the main reason why I have started writing my book. Love you 3000 : )
@Kya Brown My villain is the protagonist, but she doesnt realize until when she kills the villain(her in the future who time traveled to the past) she dies as well, instead of different realities/timelines being made, there is one strict timeline where if the past changes the future changes in that same timeline. If that makes sense
Exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you. I have my first novel sitting at 65,000 words and now I have an idea of how I can surface the villain earlier in the story as well as weave in a more interesting back story. Keep up the great work!
I question whether all villains must be sympathetic. Consider the Joker. Enduringly popular, but his only mission is chaos, and he has no real virtues to speak of.
Joker's only mission is not chaos. He actually has a point to make and a clear motivation. The Joker is good not because of his pure evilness or because of his chaos, he is good because of his beliefs and philosophies. His belief that all people deep down are evil, and all it takes is a push, perfectly opposes Batman's faith in the good of the people of Gotham. Joker wants to prove that his worldview is the correct one, and that's what drives his character. Without this parallel, the Joker would not work.
I watched another video on this. The reason why the joker works as a villain is because deep inside we all wonder what the world would be like if we stood up to its rules, there's a part of us that empathizes with standing against "corrupt" authority, or any kind of authority for that matter you don't have to agree with a villain's actions or even sympathize with them, so long as there's a part of you that relates to them or even a deep curiosity of how they could change and affect the world they live in, you'll be drawn to the story
You can still write an incredible villain who knows he is evil though. That is insanely compelling and interesting and we need to see more of those villains.
That's great, but unless it's a horror story, we have to see the build up or it becomes ridiculous. Consider Walter White. His initial motive is to make quick money to provide for his family when he dies of cancer, but over time he becomes more and more evil, and he enjoys it but still doesn't consider himself a bad person. That is, until the end of Season 4 when he realises he is evil and then he embraces it. It wouldn't work (outside of the horror genre) if we were introduced to a villain who knows he is evil, but doesn't care about it, without knowing why.
This was EXACTLY the video I needed! Thank you! I've been struggling with my villain, but after watching this and answering all of the questions, I actually have an awesome villain completely fleshed out with a backstory and everything!!! Thank you!!!
When it comes to hero/villain relationships and how they interact, my fav show is Once Upon A Time. It does so well with what makes a villain a villain and a hero a hero. It’s just done so well. Regina’s whole character is AMAZING
VILLIANS!!!!!!!!!!! (all the normal people are weirded out by how excited we writers are about villians hahahahaha) But in all seriousness, I LOVE villians. I am also terrible and writing them so THIS IS BEYOND HELPFUL THANK YOU SO MUCH. Honestly I think the best kind of villian is one with a sense of humor because then I relate to them and even though I hate them I also reaaallyyy like them! Oh btw, my family started watching Poldark, we got to season 2 but it was getting less and less family friendly so we stopped. I would like to know your opinion though, do you think it's still a good series to watch? Not as a family with little kids of course, but is it worth it? When we left off, Ross seemed to be straying more and more into the darker parts of his character and being an idiot and I don't know that I can stand a main character like that 😂😂😂 I get so worked up cuz I want to slap some sense into them 😂😂😂 But anyway yes, what's your opinion?
A VILLAIN WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR < yes. :') I'm so glad you liked this video, Esther!! And hehe yes, Poldark… I wouldn't call it family friendly necessarily, especially after season 2. I would say it's like PG-13. AND OH MY GOODNESS YES ROSS IS SO FRUSTRATING I COULD SMACK HIM. He definitely does stray (a lot) but I did like how (at least in seasons 1 and 2) he does realize what matters in the end and what a fool he's been about many things. But honestly going into season 3 and 4 the writing goes REALLY downhill and all the characters start acting out of character and the whole thing gets pretty dragged out. So you've probably seen the best of it HAHA 😂
People usually like the villains more because writers create more backstory ad internal relations for them. That's what I've been told. Plus, they're just cool!
@@AbbieEmmons Never watched the show but I saw according to Google it was a reboot of the older version on Masterpiece or something, perhaps that writing is better? Cheers!
Time stamps: (editing in progress) 2:05 Why does your Villain hate your hero? 3:06 NEVER GLORIFY YOUR VILLAIN 4:20 basic character building blocks Basic framework: Fear- Goal- Plan
Abbie seems to think that every character's main flaw is purely ideological, and rooted in fear. This isn't the case. Stories are about the choices that characters make, and villains are characters who make a lot of morally wrong choices. That is the only thing that is essential to all villainous characters.
"And we'll just have to wait until season 5 to see if Ross finally pushes George off a cliff." Well there is a cliff involved, but Ross isn't the one who makes him start to fall..... Season 5 George just brings his story and character to a whole new level. Jack Farthing is absolutely incredible
3:00 I don't know if I agree. I absolutely think you can make the reader care about and understand the villians motivs to the point that you start to feel for the villian. I don' think "the bad guy is the bad guy" needs to be case in every story. Why can't the antagonists motivs just happen to stand in the way of the protagonist or what if the antagonists actions is for a good cause but the protagonist just happens to stand in the way for his dream. Maybe the protagonist and the antagonist just has different worldviews and their motivs goes against ech other. It's not the same as having two protagonists, you are still stuck mainly following the protagonist as in most stories. Even in stories were the protaganist is the bad guy you're still hoping (or at least somewhat hoping) for him to succed on whatever his doing. I think any good writer can make you be on the protagonists side while still making you feel for the villian.
Varian from Rapunzel is literally such a beyond words amazing villain. I can go on for hours explaining why that is, but I won't, cause I really don't have time for that.
Abby, you're so wonderful. I'm a 40 year old mom of a 10 yr old girl and I'm trying to get her hooked onto your videos. You're so wholesome! Please have (real, not just paper) children of your own someday. Your psychological insights would make you a great mom!
I know I'm a few years late to the party, but I have been LOVING all your content and watching a good majority of it. After watching this one, I think I've pretty much nailed all the points you brought up, so that is reaffirming. But, I will continue to keep everything in mind as I develop them further. Thanks Abbie!
The fact that you said they are inherently evil right at the start was quite surprising. There are many great villains who aren't evil. In fact, that's often a good way to create a truly terrifying villain. If you're looking at villains through the lens that they're inherently evil you're looking at them in a very shallow and simplistic manner. That's the old black and white method of character creation. We've moved past that. It doesn't even hold up in reality either. Actions can be evil (although even many actions are a grey area viewed as evil by some, and perfectly fine by others. Think about real life and you'll come up with many examples)
I want to wrtite a villain right now, omg hahahah I like "Black Jack" or "Jack Randall" by Outlander. He's despicable and I hate him, so I know he's a very well-written villain. And I love Poldark!!!
@@destiny-jo6td _"he was just an anti-hero to me."_ No, he was full on anti-villain in the first season or so. He was utterly blind to the obvious fact he was working for evil people doing evil things.
It blows my mind how much Takuto Maruki from Persona 5 Royal fits your description of a good villain literally word for word. Want to turn his desires to reality (in more ways than one), thinks he is the hero and what he is doing is right and will do everything he can to achieve it. Not to mention the only thing standing In is way is the hero “not necessarily in reality but in his mind” any fans know exactly why this is relevant. (His palace)
This is helpful, first time I watched it I returned to my story and did profiles on all the villains for my story, which was a challenge because ultimately the "villain" is actually a dark conspiracy committed to misdirection and subterfuge each member of the conspiracy has unique motivation from sadism to a desire to change the world for the better the challenge is you don't know who all the villains are until the final act
Not quite on the topic of villains (mine is a fake friend - I SO look forward for the heartbreak that I get to write) but on the video itself. I LOVE what you did with your audio. Paused at the right moment and pulled through until the end. I enjoyed it! ♥
Favourite villain ever - Archibald "Archie" Cunningham in Rob Roy. When he died at the end, the entire audience stood up and started clapping. I'd never seen a reaction like that in any movie theater ever.
omg the hitler example😂 One of my fave villains is Adelina from the Young Elites- mainly because of the way she's written; it's clear we have a complex character, morally gray (although, more DARK gray than light gray tbh), and overall, we can clearly see the struggle of the story at both trying to place her as a hero and a villain.
@Abbie Emmons I would give anything to travel back in time to meet Adolf Hitler ( possibly in his office ) and make a wisecrack ( joke ) about him having sex with his dog 🐕 as he sleeps with his dog in his bed . Yes , sure he would send me to a concentration camp to work me to death then be gassed BUT i'd say to the Nazi soldier it was worth it seeing the look on Hitler's face ( and how worked up he got in a triggered movement ) that it's So Priceless the soldier(s) should have seen it for themselves and would be the better ( extra ) punishment Hitler would get for what he did ( added to having to kill himself ) . ♑️✍️🇳🇴🇦🇺
I've always found the "villain is the hero of their own story"-advice really limiting. I mean sure, every villain needs at least some kind of motivation to their actions, and preferably (not always) a back story as well to show who they actually are, but they don't have to think that their actions are right. It places boundaries to what the villain can or can't do, a moral line they would not cross. I think there absolutely is a place for villains who lack morality, those who are out for power, status or personal gain, who aren't afraid to snuff out the innocent only to prove a point or to terrorize the heroes, or perhaps just to feel empowered over it. A villain who doesn't have any moral boundaries is far more terrifying and unpredictable than those who act by their moral code and think what they do is justified. One I can sympathize with, but it's the other that keeps me on the edge of my seat every time they appear anywhere near the characters I've grown to care about.
there's also a difference between an antagonist and a villain. an antagonist works against the protagonist, but isn't necessarily all blood and guts and glory. in the book i'm writing, the hero is the protagonist (obviously) who battles against the antagonist, who is the supposed "villain," but the word villain doesn't accurately describe him. the true villain of the story is completely different than him and pretty terrible, therefore when the true baddie comes out, the story gives the reader a chance to realize "oh wait the antagonist isn't actually that bad compared with this horrible villain that i kinda wanna throw off a bridge."
I love this video! Just earlier, I saw a post about how some ppl grow tired of seeing the "villain with a tragic backstory" or "villain with a reason other than being evil". They said they wanted to see more of villains JUST being evil for the sake of it. Of course, this is personal preference, and I can respect that 😂 I, however, like stories with villains that are more complex and more than what meets the eye 🤣 reality is not black-and-white, and I really love to see that in the characters, villains, and stories I read. Great video!!! 🔥🔥🔥
yeah but you cannot deny the sheer awesome villains like emperor palpatine who is like the only guy in the Star wars movies who loves every second of his life till the end. so irredeamable enjoying his lust for ultimate power .
Been watching your videos to think of ideas for a light novel or comic book and I have to say they have been really helpful, so thanks for that. Also my favourite villain is probably dio brando purely because of how twisted his beliefs are when it comes to how he views others as naturally inferior to him and how he tricks others to get to his own desires
Zaheer from LOK is hands down my favorite villain, not only because his ideological position, the inherent danger of the avatar, was something I agreed with when he articulated it, but his personal charisma and the fact that he overcame impressive odds to become one of the most skilled airbenders in history. Hard not to root for someone like that.
Can a make a villain protagonist just a full-blown psychopath that doesn't have morals to him as long I have a good idea with it. Because I like those kinds of villains and I tried so many times to create a descriptive or simple hero as the main character and I widen up stressful. Can I at least have a villain protagonist that has the personality of a wild man that kills anything and we all know what happens to the poor fair maidens. I always like the dark stuff in ideas and dark fantasy novels and Dark Fantasy anime is my kind of taste...
Well now that you have rules about fear and motivation for your characters you can sort of know how to break them with your villain. Maybe the idea that this villain is so emotionless is what creates even more fear in the protagonist. Idk something like that.
I have a charcter who starts out good, in fact, his views at the beginning aligns directly with the protagonists, however, his greatest fear turns him to the villain out of desperation.
I certainly don't agree that villains are "inherently evil" or that evil people are "subhuman", but I see where you were going with that at least? Good advice overall.
One of my favorite villains of all time is a guy none of you know anything about, and least of all me. Still do not know his name. All that is known about this villain for sure is, he is incredibly realistic. He utilizes realism to its fullest potential at the expense of the European Union. He is an adult guy who dreams about a future Europe where nations govern their own fate instead of mere, obsolete superstates. Its a comic world where the EU exists as an animated entity created by failed supervillains from the real world. We are never told exactly who created the EU in this comic or why, but once I saw this villain´s face and the code he lived by which I think was to be happy and cheerful no matter what and refuse to let tyrants tell himself what to do, causing himself to be misunderstood as an actual villain. Still can not remember the name of the comic.Thank you!
I love this and all your suggestions. I am currently writing a story where my villain is actually one of the protagonist’s best friends. He, outwardly does not appear to be the villain, but his motivations steer him in that direction, eventually causing him to directly oppose and eventually destroy the protagonist’s goals… mostly. Any ideas on where the villain isn’t obvious?
Really enjoyed the video! I've been creating many different villains over the last couple of months, and the first thing I do similar is going for their past, most of the time I want to give them a past that is either a means for their goals or the reason they're so.. messed up. I don't always give them a fear to say, but I do strive to make them human enough. One I find most enjoyable, although not a great example is my Hans kleiser. A German surgeon with refined techniques who unfortunately was struck by a car, and other lesser surgeons messed up their work on his face. Terrified and outraged, in frenzy he attempted his best but it resulted in him wrapping up nearly his entire head except for his left eye, bloodstains around the bandages, stitches visible, and nearly all his hair gone. His beloved married his brother, which he blamed on the loss of his face. In modern times he was appointed to a growing organization to return the german glory and acted as both their highest-ranked member as a chief surgeon to experiment on soldiers and to torture their victims, ultimately facing off against a heroine Diana, and taking his life in a final gambit.
I love how Abbie says "my friend" instead of "my friends". Seems more personal that way. Oh, and model your villain after the worst manager you ever had.
In the Dark Knight Trilogy, we have 2 villains- Ras al Gul and Bane, who have materialistic desires. Both these characters wish to destroy Gotham and they really don't seem to have any form of emotional attachment with what they are doing. Whereas Joker and Two face are 2 villains who do not have any materialistic motive behind what they do. Joker simply wishes to make Batman break his oath of never taking human life and Two face wants revenge from Batman and Gordon because he feels he has been a victim of their deeds. That's what makes the Trilogy so legendary.
Your videos are SO helpful, thank you Abbie! Current favourite villains/pseudo villains: Kennit (Pirate) and Paragon (Mad Ship) from the Robin Hobb 'Liveship traders' series. She's incredible at constructing complex stories with multiple sub-plots in a universe of her own creation. Her villains are complex, simultaneously lovable, relatable, detestable, unforgivable, and have terrible (yet could happen to anyone) events that carved their fears deeply into their psyches and drive them forward, leaving the reader anticipating terrible things even when they have been redeemed (Paragon in the Fitz & Fool series).
@@AbbieEmmons Your videos are amazing, you're such an inspiration. I've been procrastinating on my thesis the last few days and planning my novel (that I've had in my head and scribbled on little notes since 2011). You've helped SO much, thank you for sharing your knowledge. Going to start writing it the moment I hand in the tome, I finally have something tangible to look forward to afterward... I think everyone who loves reading should read Robin Hobb's books. Her Fitz & the Fool series is where I started... Order to read: Fitz and Fool - read first trilogy. Turn to the Liveship traders series. Then return to the Fitz & Fool series for the second, and third, trilogies if you get into it. I couldn't put them down, I've read almost twelve of these huge books in a year on top of all the other stuff I should have been reading.
I *love* Emperor Belos from The Owl House as a villain and in a way, his arc goes through the "Fear, Goal, Motive" thing. Philip is downright afraid of witches, which does come from his background in the 1600s. He is also scared more human will be deceived by witches like his brother. Eventually his motive becomes to destroy the entire population of the Boiling Ilse and finding a way to deal with Luz- the protagonist who creates the mental ear he has of humans attaching to the demon realm. So he creates his reputation as the messenger of the Titan- Emperor Belos to take control over the Boiling Ilse and brand the inhabitants with sigils that would kill him. When that goes wrong, he tries to possess a very powerful being to destroy the demon realm directly. I think he's a very well written antagonist. He's so indulged into the idea that he's saving humanity, getting totally blinded to what he did to himself, his body and his brother.
I created a villain of the show. His name is Castor the Great One. He's a Grimwalker created by Belos similar to him he's afraid of losing the witches and demons from the demon realm in the hands of the humans after he discovered that Belos is a human he developed a serious grudge against him and the humans hoping that he'll find the chance to kill him but failed after he escaped from him. He formed a witch cult called the Hidden Circle and trained himself to create Dark Magic/Tainted Magic and Abyss Magic/Forbidden Magic to teach his followers to use it for their means and to have his magic power outmatch to his creator and learnt the same techniques to create a Grimwalker to create hybrid witches by kidnapping teenagers to kill them and make them as his children seeing him as their father-like figure and most of his followers viewing him as some sort of priest. So thanks to Luz and her Hexsquad for killing him, he sent his trusted followers to steal all of his resources and seeks to destroy the Earth Realm and their inhabitants to remake a world where witches and demons reign supreme. Not only was he motivated by his twisted hatred on the humans but was also megalomaniacal for power and control.
When you said "Let's use a story" I thought "Poldark". haha, because not only is George a good vilain, but I feel like you can see Francis almost turning into one. You see the whole process before he gets his mind right and becomes good again.
Just a few nights ago I was mapping out a villain using the ennegram. I found what I consider to be his core personality (1), then chose one of the connecting personalities to be an extension of his positive traits (4) and the other to be an extension of his negative traits (7). Now I can't wait to flesh him out.
My all-time favorite villain in books, movies, or TV PROGRAMs... has to be Heath Ledger's Joker. Not just because of the performance. He was the perfect polar opposite with the protagonist, Batman. He then said that himself when he was hanging upside down outside a building under construction... "I think you and I are destined to do this forever."
The villain and antagonist are not always one of the same, nor is the villain always a person. However, the villain is always evil or a force of destruction. That's one of the reasons why I actually enjoyed the movie Armageddon. The villain in this movie is the asteroid, while the character most fitting of the antagonist is Harry (Bruce Willis) because he stands in the way of the love between his daughter and A.J. (Ben Affleck). The film's two main protagonists. It is through Harry's opposition that A.J. grows stronger and more deserving of the love he desires.
One of my favorite books that has a great villain in my opinion is Berserk. The graphic novel is huge. But Griffith is a great villain where the hero Guts. Now spoiler alert the author died before finishing the story so it's hard to say if it will be finished. However in my opinion it's a good place to find inspiration to understand great villains.
I’m actually really happy with my latest villain. My protagonist has two older brothers and the eldest is the villain of the story. She used to look up to him and tried to emulate him, so she essentially is a mirror of him, but she refused to follow their family’s bigoted ways and escaped. When she was just a baby, and her eldest brother was about ten, there parents died and they were taken in by family friends who ended up controlling the three children for their own means. Her brother was a puppet for all his life, forced to marry a woman he despises. He retaliates by becoming a puppet master to his siblings. He loves his family, but not for what they actually are. He loves the perfect image of his family. When the second brother has an affair from his arranged marriage, the eldest brother goes crazy and puts him under a mind control. That’s why the protagonist ticks him off so much. He basically groomed her to be just like him, conniving and manipulative, because he wanted to control her. Instead, she rebelled and fought against him. That’s why he wants her dead. She’s what he could have become and he wants to prove that his way was the only way to survive.
love this! It's just what I need get my villain into gear. I can almost see her! Oh, btw, I love Visser-Three from the old Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate and Joker from the Dark Night trilogy, Count Olaf from Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events
I've got an outright demon as my villain, and their aim is to corrupt the hero. Even though this does not give a lot of room for characterization, it's really not that hard to do it anyway. It's simply a matter of removing the villain's focus from the hero in the typical antagonistic sense. The demon's enemy/obstacle is not the hero in this case. Rather, the hero is a means to an end. The demon's true enemy is the divine counterpart in this world setting, and the demon wishes to somehow leverage the hero as a tool against this divine entity. In other words, in the example of this hero-villain dynamic used for the example in the video, it would put the hero in the story somewhere in the scope of the friend or family category for the divine entity that the demon is focused on, and their aim is to do something bad to the hero in order to harm the divine. Start from that basis and you can actually go a long way with characterizing a freaking demon.
oh thank you for this vid! I'm trying to find some good videos that can help me make my villain a good villain for my D&D campaign and how I can make her more understandable, and this definitely helped!
I have this concept of a villain, who is only a villain, because they want to be an opponent to a hero. They have an ego problem, and they want to be bigger, better, even if that means taking the role of a villain.
to build on something you said about not glorifying the villain: in some stories there is a thin line between the hero and villain. as a writer of a lot of dnd campaigns I like to really grill my players at the end about everything they did. they may kill the villain, but after there done, they realise they've become just as bad. so ABSOLUTELY do not glorify your villain, but do make sure to do the same for your hero.. at least eventually. outline what THEY did that was shitty / wrong / cost lives / did more damage in the long run. Enjoy!!
Traditional villains are fun as well. They know they are greedy, they know they are evil because being evil is fun like Maleficent and Zerg from the 2d version of Buzz Lightyear of star command. Villains who see themselves as a hero makes the story interesting. They have similar goals as the hero like judge Claud Frollo. He wanted to get rid of all things that he thinks are sinful and manipulates Quasimodo about the outside world being cruel and wicked. With Quasimodo's experience throughout the film he finds out that the only thing cruel and wicked in his life is Frollo.
IF your villain is actually human. Aliens and monsters may be inherently bad. The mindless zombies that pursue our protagonist, not a lot to them in terms of character. They're hungry, murderous, and relentless, as just one example.
Favourite villain without a doubt is Jean Brodie from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, excellently played by Maggie Smith in the film version. A really charismatic character who draws you in but her subtle-yet-significant narcissism has such a ruinous effect on others and herself.
I have 3 villains in my storyline… I’m cooked; 1. Pure evil king who wants power 2. Chaos incarnate who wants revenge 3. Greedy assassin who switches sides every other day
So i have an idea in the villain I'm making. They're started out as a normal kid with an obsession with sewing and a mother who loved him so much. Then his younger brother was born and that killed his mother. So that made him end up hating his brother and the worst thing about it to him was that everytime they celebrated his birthday it was like celebrating the day his mother died. Then being a baby his brother also needed more attention and the villain was actually the person his brother wante the most attention from. He ended up suicide baiting him after abusing him for years. He still loves his mother and dreams of being with her every night😊
A bad person can be a protagonist. Protagonist does not mean good or bad. It simply means leading character. Antagonist is whatever force - good, bad, or even neutral - that is in the way of the protagonist getting what he wants. There is a lot of great fiction that centers on characters who aren't heroes. The kind of characters you'd say are "bad guys" and may actually be quintessential villains were the tables turned and they weren't the protagonist in that particular book. Take away these stories and you take away powerful messages that cannot be taught through happy shiny stories. The purpose of all stories is to pass on valuable information to another person. Some messages are more powerful when we see a bad person learn them. Some messages are more powerful when we see a character who will reject learning the truth, and fall into an even worse situation. Stories like this have helped shaped the world. So maybe show them some respect and stop acting like any time a bad guy is a protagonist that the book is doing a disservice. You can showcase any character, including a villain, and not glorify their actions. You spent a good portion of this video showcasing the villain from Poldark. You showed passion and jubilation for him. You also thoroughly explained his behavior and his mindset. Why isn't this a moment of glorifying the villain? By your standard it would be... Anyway, I like your channel, but every now and then you slip in these very preachy ideas about how books should ONLY be what you say they are, and it makes me cringe every time. The first "rule" of writing I learned was that we all have the right to write the stories WE believe are worth telling, so you're just flat out going against that, giving your followers who write these stories zero consideration, and I don't understand that given how sensible you are in all other advice you give. PS: People who make bad choices or do awful things are NOT subhuman. They are perfectly human. Promoting the lie that there are subhumans out there simply makes people less vigalent of their own behavior, which can quickly spiral out of control. Every human has the capacity for good and evil. That's basic human beings 101.
Loved this video! My villain is actually the aunt of the love interest, but neither the protagonist nor the love interest know she's his aunt! And actually, the mother of my love interest isn't really a great person either and is kind of mean, but she isn't evil like her sister. So, yeah, that's been the dynamic I've been trying to work with! And one of my favourite villains is definitely Erik/Magneto from X-Men!!!
I learned the best way to write an antagonist is to give them an arc just like the protagonist. It could be a negative positive or flat arc depending on the story but it has to mirror the protagonist's arc some how.
Wow, thanks for saying that. I'll think about it XD.
Yes I agree completely a great villan should reflect the craziest complexities of humanity because just being plain evil is stale but having a character who is the hero of his own story and has insecurities and flaws and actually shows traits that even the main protagonist displays can be really great
@@jobolds6146 It really depends. Pure evil villains can be just as good as complex one, they just need more raw charisma, a compelling presence and to just give the reader\viewer one hell of a show.
Tomura Shigaraki
The most amazing villains are actually the tragic heroes (negative character arc). It is so beautiful to watch them descend into darkness (Daenerys - I wish we had more time seeing this process).
I think watching a hero slip down into dangerous territory of morally grey and even dark choices is interesting. You can’t have a good redemption arc without that.
Exactly everything in GoT was done in so much hurry. Danny's arc would have been really great if execution was done in better way not like d way suddenly rushed up.
In some of my stories, one of the villains is a character who became an abomination after a scientific test drive goes horribly wrong. Another villain I made is a wolf who was forced to learn how to kill animals by the main antagonist after getting kicked out of the pack for hesitating on killing their prey. One thing we learn about tragic villains in my opinion is that they use to be regular or even kindhearted people and one bad day or one horrifying event can affect these characters negatively to the point that we start watching them succumb into the dark side.
Breaking bad tv series the best
Ah! But we still have the Winds of Winter to come to see Martin's true vision.
One of my favorite villains is Medusa from Soul Eater because she's pure evil, super smart, very manipulative, and always wins. Even though she doesn't have a fear, she's a really memorable villain
A perfect villain would be the one who wants his desire to come to reality. He or she is willing to give up anyone to fulfil their desire. They will make sure that their plan is perfect and they will again success no matter what until the hero/heroine defeats them.
Love your videos. I can't wait for 100 Days of Sunlight to come out on 7 August. You are the main reason why I have started writing my book.
Love you 3000 : )
Ooh ooh ooh, what if the villain is actually emotionally attached to the hero?? Could make things quite intriguing.
The Joker
THANK YOU for bringing that up. That’s how my story is and it makes your book a lot more interesting
@Kya Brown WOAH.... MIND BLOWN 🤯
Kya Brown that would be cool like a mr glass thing but make them childhood friends before he’s revealed to be a villain
@Kya Brown My villain is the protagonist, but she doesnt realize until when she kills the villain(her in the future who time traveled to the past) she dies as well, instead of different realities/timelines being made, there is one strict timeline where if the past changes the future changes in that same timeline. If that makes sense
"Actually it sounds very fun!" That's exactly what I was thinking 😂
HAHA :'')
Exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you. I have my first novel sitting at 65,000 words and now I have an idea of how I can surface the villain earlier in the story as well as weave in a more interesting back story. Keep up the great work!
I'm so glad you found this video helpful, Mike! Thank you so much for watching! 😊
I question whether all villains must be sympathetic. Consider the Joker. Enduringly popular, but his only mission is chaos, and he has no real virtues to speak of.
Of course not.
Joker's only mission is not chaos. He actually has a point to make and a clear motivation. The Joker is good not because of his pure evilness or because of his chaos, he is good because of his beliefs and philosophies. His belief that all people deep down are evil, and all it takes is a push, perfectly opposes Batman's faith in the good of the people of Gotham. Joker wants to prove that his worldview is the correct one, and that's what drives his character.
Without this parallel, the Joker would not work.
I watched another video on this. The reason why the joker works as a villain is because deep inside we all wonder what the world would be like if we stood up to its rules, there's a part of us that empathizes with standing against "corrupt" authority, or any kind of authority for that matter
you don't have to agree with a villain's actions or even sympathize with them, so long as there's a part of you that relates to them or even a deep curiosity of how they could change and affect the world they live in, you'll be drawn to the story
There are numerous iterations of the joker I think the Dark Knight version is perfect example of this basic formula minus a backstory
Buffalo Bill/Jame Gum from Silence of the Lambs was not at all sympathetic but was extraordinary.
You make me want to write again 😩
I'm so glad! 💛
This video came right when I needed it! My favorite villain is Loki! I really need to study him more. Thanks for the video! 😘😘😘
I'm so glad you liked the video! Thanks so much ❤️
Loki's my favorite too. I think I almost like him too much
I actually looked up this video so *I* could analyze a character deeper.
I prefer Thanos since Loki isn't a villian half the time.
Yes Loki is awesome!
You can still write an incredible villain who knows he is evil though. That is insanely compelling and interesting and we need to see more of those villains.
That's great, but unless it's a horror story, we have to see the build up or it becomes ridiculous. Consider Walter White. His initial motive is to make quick money to provide for his family when he dies of cancer, but over time he becomes more and more evil, and he enjoys it but still doesn't consider himself a bad person. That is, until the end of Season 4 when he realises he is evil and then he embraces it.
It wouldn't work (outside of the horror genre) if we were introduced to a villain who knows he is evil, but doesn't care about it, without knowing why.
@@dp-g5i Im saying a villain doesnt have to be sympathetic to be likeable. Like say Frieza from Dragon Ball Z.
This was EXACTLY the video I needed! Thank you! I've been struggling with my villain, but after watching this and answering all of the questions, I actually have an awesome villain completely fleshed out with a backstory and everything!!! Thank you!!!
Wow, that's so awesome!! I'm so glad this video inspired and helped you develop your villain! 💛✨
When it comes to hero/villain relationships and how they interact, my fav show is Once Upon A Time. It does so well with what makes a villain a villain and a hero a hero. It’s just done so well. Regina’s whole character is AMAZING
VILLIANS!!!!!!!!!!! (all the normal people are weirded out by how excited we writers are about villians hahahahaha) But in all seriousness, I LOVE villians. I am also terrible and writing them so THIS IS BEYOND HELPFUL THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Honestly I think the best kind of villian is one with a sense of humor because then I relate to them and even though I hate them I also reaaallyyy like them!
Oh btw, my family started watching Poldark, we got to season 2 but it was getting less and less family friendly so we stopped. I would like to know your opinion though, do you think it's still a good series to watch? Not as a family with little kids of course, but is it worth it? When we left off, Ross seemed to be straying more and more into the darker parts of his character and being an idiot and I don't know that I can stand a main character like that 😂😂😂 I get so worked up cuz I want to slap some sense into them 😂😂😂
But anyway yes, what's your opinion?
A VILLAIN WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR < yes. :') I'm so glad you liked this video, Esther!! And hehe yes, Poldark… I wouldn't call it family friendly necessarily, especially after season 2. I would say it's like PG-13. AND OH MY GOODNESS YES ROSS IS SO FRUSTRATING I COULD SMACK HIM. He definitely does stray (a lot) but I did like how (at least in seasons 1 and 2) he does realize what matters in the end and what a fool he's been about many things. But honestly going into season 3 and 4 the writing goes REALLY downhill and all the characters start acting out of character and the whole thing gets pretty dragged out. So you've probably seen the best of it HAHA 😂
People usually like the villains more because writers create more backstory ad internal relations for them. That's what I've been told. Plus, they're just cool!
@@AbbieEmmons Never watched the show but I saw according to Google it was a reboot of the older version on Masterpiece or something, perhaps that writing is better? Cheers!
My favorite is the villain that gets a redemption arc. It’s so good
Time stamps: (editing in progress)
2:05 Why does your Villain hate your hero?
3:06 NEVER GLORIFY YOUR VILLAIN
4:20 basic character building blocks
Basic framework: Fear- Goal- Plan
Omg when she said to make a good character and then destroy them I was like; ok now this is fun
But the sad thing is that I already did it
I'm not sure every villain needs a fear though. I find Hannibal Lecter to be a great villain. He doesn't have any real fears though.
Abbie seems to think that every character's main flaw is purely ideological, and rooted in fear. This isn't the case. Stories are about the choices that characters make, and villains are characters who make a lot of morally wrong choices. That is the only thing that is essential to all villainous characters.
If you'll read the third Tomas Harris' book about Lecter (Hannibal) you'll find out his fears, conflicts, backstory etc.
"And we'll just have to wait until season 5 to see if Ross finally pushes George off a cliff." Well there is a cliff involved, but Ross isn't the one who makes him start to fall..... Season 5 George just brings his story and character to a whole new level. Jack Farthing is absolutely incredible
YES! seriously one of the best if not THE best actor in the show... damn
@@AbbieEmmons You said it!!
3:00 I don't know if I agree. I absolutely think you can make the reader care about and understand the villians motivs to the point that you start to feel for the villian. I don' think "the bad guy is the bad guy" needs to be case in every story. Why can't the antagonists motivs just happen to stand in the way of the protagonist or what if the antagonists actions is for a good cause but the protagonist just happens to stand in the way for his dream. Maybe the protagonist and the antagonist just has different worldviews and their motivs goes against ech other. It's not the same as having two protagonists, you are still stuck mainly following the protagonist as in most stories. Even in stories were the protaganist is the bad guy you're still hoping (or at least somewhat hoping) for him to succed on whatever his doing. I think any good writer can make you be on the protagonists side while still making you feel for the villian.
My favorite literary villain is The Darkling in Leigh Bardugo's Grishverse series. Just love him!
Call me cliche or regular but I love Voldemort his motivation and desire and internal conflict is spot on!
Varian from Rapunzel is literally such a beyond words amazing villain. I can go on for hours explaining why that is, but I won't, cause I really don't have time for that.
Abby, you're so wonderful. I'm a 40 year old mom of a 10 yr old girl and I'm trying to get her hooked onto your videos. You're so wholesome! Please have (real, not just paper) children of your own someday. Your psychological insights would make you a great mom!
I know I'm a few years late to the party, but I have been LOVING all your content and watching a good majority of it. After watching this one, I think I've pretty much nailed all the points you brought up, so that is reaffirming. But, I will continue to keep everything in mind as I develop them further. Thanks Abbie!
The fact that you said they are inherently evil right at the start was quite surprising. There are many great villains who aren't evil. In fact, that's often a good way to create a truly terrifying villain. If you're looking at villains through the lens that they're inherently evil you're looking at them in a very shallow and simplistic manner. That's the old black and white method of character creation. We've moved past that. It doesn't even hold up in reality either. Actions can be evil (although even many actions are a grey area viewed as evil by some, and perfectly fine by others. Think about real life and you'll come up with many examples)
“Everyone starts out good.”
That would be an amazing untruth for a character to discover.
I’m so inspired to write out the character profile for my villain now.
Awesome!! Thanks so much for watching! 💛
I want to wrtite a villain right now, omg hahahah
I like "Black Jack" or "Jack Randall" by Outlander.
He's despicable and I hate him, so I know he's a very well-written villain.
And I love Poldark!!!
YAY A FELLOW POLDARK FAN *high fives * I'm so glad this video inspired you, Gisele!
Gisele Dute I know I'm a great villain haha.
I am attempting my first novel, and having a bit of fun subtly planting the idea, that the villain might just have been right.
My favourite villain is zuko from avatar, best character development, best redemption arc and that sexayyy hair
Mind he's always an anti-villain, though.
he was just an anti-hero to me. i wouldn’t say he was a villain because the real villain was fire-lord ozai.
@@destiny-jo6td _"he was just an anti-hero to me."_
No, he was full on anti-villain in the first season or so. He was utterly blind to the obvious fact he was working for evil people doing evil things.
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog delightfully flips the hero/villian dynamic.
It blows my mind how much Takuto Maruki from Persona 5 Royal fits your description of a good villain literally word for word. Want to turn his desires to reality (in more ways than one), thinks he is the hero and what he is doing is right and will do everything he can to achieve it. Not to mention the only thing standing In is way is the hero “not necessarily in reality but in his mind” any fans know exactly why this is relevant. (His palace)
This is helpful, first time I watched it I returned to my story and did profiles on all the villains for my story, which was a challenge because ultimately the "villain" is actually a dark conspiracy committed to misdirection and subterfuge each member of the conspiracy has unique motivation from sadism to a desire to change the world for the better the challenge is you don't know who all the villains are until the final act
Roy Batty from the original Bladerunner. You feel attracted by him horrified compassionate and terrified. Great villain.
Not quite on the topic of villains (mine is a fake friend - I SO look forward for the heartbreak that I get to write) but on the video itself.
I LOVE what you did with your audio. Paused at the right moment and pulled through until the end. I enjoyed it! ♥
oooh a fake friend, that's good!! 😍 and omg thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!
Favourite villain ever - Archibald "Archie" Cunningham in Rob Roy. When he died at the end, the entire audience stood up and started clapping. I'd never seen a reaction like that in any movie theater ever.
Thank you so much! I don’t like using any novel-writing tutorials except for yours!
omg the hitler example😂 One of my fave villains is Adelina from the Young Elites- mainly because of the way she's written; it's clear we have a complex character, morally gray (although, more DARK gray than light gray tbh), and overall, we can clearly see the struggle of the story at both trying to place her as a hero and a villain.
ooh I've heard of that book! I think it's on my TBR. (haha dark gray I know what you mean!!) I'm so glad you liked this video! 😊
@Abbie Emmons I would give anything to travel back in time to meet Adolf Hitler ( possibly in his office ) and make a wisecrack ( joke ) about him having sex with his dog 🐕 as he sleeps with his dog in his bed . Yes , sure he would send me to a concentration camp to work me to death then be gassed BUT i'd say to the Nazi soldier it was worth it seeing the look on Hitler's face ( and how worked up he got in a triggered movement ) that it's So Priceless the soldier(s) should have seen it for themselves and would be the better ( extra ) punishment Hitler would get for what he did ( added to having to kill himself ) .
♑️✍️🇳🇴🇦🇺
I've always found the "villain is the hero of their own story"-advice really limiting. I mean sure, every villain needs at least some kind of motivation to their actions, and preferably (not always) a back story as well to show who they actually are, but they don't have to think that their actions are right. It places boundaries to what the villain can or can't do, a moral line they would not cross. I think there absolutely is a place for villains who lack morality, those who are out for power, status or personal gain, who aren't afraid to snuff out the innocent only to prove a point or to terrorize the heroes, or perhaps just to feel empowered over it. A villain who doesn't have any moral boundaries is far more terrifying and unpredictable than those who act by their moral code and think what they do is justified. One I can sympathize with, but it's the other that keeps me on the edge of my seat every time they appear anywhere near the characters I've grown to care about.
there's also a difference between an antagonist and a villain. an antagonist works against the protagonist, but isn't necessarily all blood and guts and glory. in the book i'm writing, the hero is the protagonist (obviously) who battles against the antagonist, who is the supposed "villain," but the word villain doesn't accurately describe him. the true villain of the story is completely different than him and pretty terrible, therefore when the true baddie comes out, the story gives the reader a chance to realize "oh wait the antagonist isn't actually that bad compared with this horrible villain that i kinda wanna throw off a bridge."
I love this video! Just earlier, I saw a post about how some ppl grow tired of seeing the "villain with a tragic backstory" or "villain with a reason other than being evil". They said they wanted to see more of villains JUST being evil for the sake of it. Of course, this is personal preference, and I can respect that 😂 I, however, like stories with villains that are more complex and more than what meets the eye 🤣 reality is not black-and-white, and I really love to see that in the characters, villains, and stories I read. Great video!!! 🔥🔥🔥
yeah but you cannot deny the sheer awesome villains like emperor palpatine who is like the only guy in the Star wars movies who loves every second of his life till the end. so irredeamable enjoying his lust for ultimate power .
I love creating villain characters even if they don't necessarily have a story attached to them, so this should be a very fun video to watch!
Step One: Give them a badass theme song! ... no? xD
feeling good or seven nation army😼
Theme song?
Book?
Teach me your ways!
"Hitler loved his pet dog"
Me: *Crying Laughing*
Been watching your videos to think of ideas for a light novel or comic book and I have to say they have been really helpful, so thanks for that. Also my favourite villain is probably dio brando purely because of how twisted his beliefs are when it comes to how he views others as naturally inferior to him and how he tricks others to get to his own desires
Zaheer from LOK is hands down my favorite villain, not only because his ideological position, the inherent danger of the avatar, was something I agreed with when he articulated it, but his personal charisma and the fact that he overcame impressive odds to become one of the most skilled airbenders in history. Hard not to root for someone like that.
Can a make a villain protagonist just a full-blown psychopath that doesn't have morals to him as long I have a good idea with it. Because I like those kinds of villains and I tried so many times to create a descriptive or simple hero as the main character and I widen up stressful. Can I at least have a villain protagonist that has the personality of a wild man that kills anything and we all know what happens to the poor fair maidens. I always like the dark stuff in ideas and dark fantasy novels and Dark Fantasy anime is my kind of taste...
Well now that you have rules about fear and motivation for your characters you can sort of know how to break them with your villain. Maybe the idea that this villain is so emotionless is what creates even more fear in the protagonist. Idk something like that.
“I don’t have anything to loose” the number one quote villains say when they’re about to go all out on the hero.
One of my favorite villains right now is August from the Swedish show Young Royals !👌
I have a charcter who starts out good, in fact, his views at the beginning aligns directly with the protagonists, however, his greatest fear turns him to the villain out of desperation.
same in my story, But she turns evil over the action of protagonist, and he made her live her greatest fear
I certainly don't agree that villains are "inherently evil" or that evil people are "subhuman", but I see where you were going with that at least? Good advice overall.
Love these writing videos Abbie!!! I'm learning so much - thanks for putting all of these out!
This video came out at the perfect time! I really needed this because I'm currently writing the backstory for my novel's villain. Amazing video😍😍😍
I'm so glad this came at the right time for you! 😊 thanks so much for watching!
One of my favorite villains of all time is a guy none of you know anything about, and least of all me. Still do not know his name. All that is known about this villain for sure is, he is incredibly realistic. He utilizes realism to its fullest potential at the expense of the European Union. He is an adult guy who dreams about a future Europe where nations govern their own fate instead of mere, obsolete superstates. Its a comic world where the EU exists as an animated entity created by failed supervillains from the real world. We are never told exactly who created the EU in this comic or why, but once I saw this villain´s face and the code he lived by which I think was to be happy and cheerful no matter what and refuse to let tyrants tell himself what to do, causing himself to be misunderstood as an actual villain. Still can not remember the name of the comic.Thank you!
I love this and all your suggestions. I am currently writing a story where my villain is actually one of the protagonist’s best friends. He, outwardly does not appear to be the villain, but his motivations steer him in that direction, eventually causing him to directly oppose and eventually destroy the protagonist’s goals… mostly. Any ideas on where the villain isn’t obvious?
Here’s my favorite villain
:funny valentine
Really enjoyed the video! I've been creating many different villains over the last couple of months, and the first thing I do similar is going for their past, most of the time I want to give them a past that is either a means for their goals or the reason they're so.. messed up.
I don't always give them a fear to say, but I do strive to make them human enough.
One I find most enjoyable, although not a great example is my Hans kleiser. A German surgeon with refined techniques who unfortunately was struck by a car, and other lesser surgeons messed up their work on his face. Terrified and outraged, in frenzy he attempted his best but it resulted in him wrapping up nearly his entire head except for his left eye, bloodstains around the bandages, stitches visible, and nearly all his hair gone. His beloved married his brother, which he blamed on the loss of his face. In modern times he was appointed to a growing organization to return the german glory and acted as both their highest-ranked member as a chief surgeon to experiment on soldiers and to torture their victims, ultimately facing off against a heroine Diana, and taking his life in a final gambit.
I love how Abbie says "my friend" instead of "my friends". Seems more personal that way.
Oh, and model your villain after the worst manager you ever had.
In the Dark Knight Trilogy, we have 2 villains- Ras al Gul and Bane, who have materialistic desires. Both these characters wish to destroy Gotham and they really don't seem to have any form of emotional attachment with what they are doing.
Whereas Joker and Two face are 2 villains who do not have any materialistic motive behind what they do. Joker simply wishes to make Batman break his oath of never taking human life and Two face wants revenge from Batman and Gordon because he feels he has been a victim of their deeds.
That's what makes the Trilogy so legendary.
Your videos are SO helpful, thank you Abbie!
Current favourite villains/pseudo villains: Kennit (Pirate) and Paragon (Mad Ship) from the Robin Hobb 'Liveship traders' series. She's incredible at constructing complex stories with multiple sub-plots in a universe of her own creation. Her villains are complex, simultaneously lovable, relatable, detestable, unforgivable, and have terrible (yet could happen to anyone) events that carved their fears deeply into their psyches and drive them forward, leaving the reader anticipating terrible things even when they have been redeemed (Paragon in the Fitz & Fool series).
I'm so glad you liked this video, Nicola! 😊 thank you!! and ooh that sounds so good!! I'll totally have to check out this author 😍
@@AbbieEmmons Your videos are amazing, you're such an inspiration. I've been procrastinating on my thesis the last few days and planning my novel (that I've had in my head and scribbled on little notes since 2011). You've helped SO much, thank you for sharing your knowledge. Going to start writing it the moment I hand in the tome, I finally have something tangible to look forward to afterward...
I think everyone who loves reading should read Robin Hobb's books. Her Fitz & the Fool series is where I started... Order to read: Fitz and Fool - read first trilogy. Turn to the Liveship traders series. Then return to the Fitz & Fool series for the second, and third, trilogies if you get into it. I couldn't put them down, I've read almost twelve of these huge books in a year on top of all the other stuff I should have been reading.
I *love* Emperor Belos from The Owl House as a villain and in a way, his arc goes through the "Fear, Goal, Motive" thing.
Philip is downright afraid of witches, which does come from his background in the 1600s. He is also scared more human will be deceived by witches like his brother.
Eventually his motive becomes to destroy the entire population of the Boiling Ilse and finding a way to deal with Luz- the protagonist who creates the mental ear he has of humans attaching to the demon realm.
So he creates his reputation as the messenger of the Titan- Emperor Belos to take control over the Boiling Ilse and brand the inhabitants with sigils that would kill him. When that goes wrong, he tries to possess a very powerful being to destroy the demon realm directly.
I think he's a very well written antagonist. He's so indulged into the idea that he's saving humanity, getting totally blinded to what he did to himself, his body and his brother.
I created a villain of the show. His name is Castor the Great One. He's a Grimwalker created by Belos similar to him he's afraid of losing the witches and demons from the demon realm in the hands of the humans after he discovered that Belos is a human he developed a serious grudge against him and the humans hoping that he'll find the chance to kill him but failed after he escaped from him. He formed a witch cult called the Hidden Circle and trained himself to create Dark Magic/Tainted Magic and Abyss Magic/Forbidden Magic to teach his followers to use it for their means and to have his
magic power outmatch to his creator and learnt the same techniques to create a Grimwalker to create hybrid witches by kidnapping teenagers to kill them and make them as his children seeing him as their father-like figure and most of his followers viewing him as some sort of priest. So thanks to Luz and her Hexsquad for killing him, he sent his trusted followers to steal all of his resources and seeks to destroy the Earth Realm and their inhabitants to remake a world where witches and demons reign supreme. Not only was he motivated by his twisted hatred on the humans but was also megalomaniacal for power and control.
This really helped me, and also I agree, Poldark is great
When you said "Let's use a story" I thought "Poldark". haha, because not only is George a good vilain, but I feel like you can see Francis almost turning into one. You see the whole process before he gets his mind right and becomes good again.
0:14 OH my god, you're a lunartic too!!! ❤❤❤❤❤🌙🌙🌙🌙
Villains are so much fun! You can make them desire anything.... anything anything!
Villains are not always evil or subhuman, sometimes they are just characters with goals that oppose the goals of the main character.
Just a few nights ago I was mapping out a villain using the ennegram. I found what I consider to be his core personality (1), then chose one of the connecting personalities to be an extension of his positive traits (4) and the other to be an extension of his negative traits (7).
Now I can't wait to flesh him out.
Been trying to write a book series with a multitude of villains, some have more personal vendettas while others are more for personal gain
My all-time favorite villain in books, movies, or TV PROGRAMs... has to be Heath Ledger's Joker. Not just because of the performance. He was the perfect polar opposite with the protagonist, Batman. He then said that himself when he was hanging upside down outside a building under construction... "I think you and I are destined to do this forever."
The villain and antagonist are not always one of the same, nor is the villain always a person. However, the villain is always evil or a force of destruction. That's one of the reasons why I actually enjoyed the movie Armageddon. The villain in this movie is the asteroid, while the character most fitting of the antagonist is Harry (Bruce Willis) because he stands in the way of the love between his daughter and A.J. (Ben Affleck). The film's two main protagonists. It is through Harry's opposition that A.J. grows stronger and more deserving of the love he desires.
YES George is SUCH a good example!!
Dio Brando and Kira Yoshikage are my favorite villains.
One of my favorite books that has a great villain in my opinion is Berserk. The graphic novel is huge. But Griffith is a great villain where the hero Guts.
Now spoiler alert the author died before finishing the story so it's hard to say if it will be finished. However in my opinion it's a good place to find inspiration to understand great villains.
I’m actually really happy with my latest villain. My protagonist has two older brothers and the eldest is the villain of the story. She used to look up to him and tried to emulate him, so she essentially is a mirror of him, but she refused to follow their family’s bigoted ways and escaped. When she was just a baby, and her eldest brother was about ten, there parents died and they were taken in by family friends who ended up controlling the three children for their own means. Her brother was a puppet for all his life, forced to marry a woman he despises. He retaliates by becoming a puppet master to his siblings. He loves his family, but not for what they actually are. He loves the perfect image of his family. When the second brother has an affair from his arranged marriage, the eldest brother goes crazy and puts him under a mind control. That’s why the protagonist ticks him off so much. He basically groomed her to be just like him, conniving and manipulative, because he wanted to control her. Instead, she rebelled and fought against him. That’s why he wants her dead. She’s what he could have become and he wants to prove that his way was the only way to survive.
You are so aesthetic and this video was so helpful thank u
love this! It's just what I need get my villain into gear. I can almost see her! Oh, btw, I love Visser-Three from the old Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate and Joker from the Dark Night trilogy, Count Olaf from Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events
I've got an outright demon as my villain, and their aim is to corrupt the hero. Even though this does not give a lot of room for characterization, it's really not that hard to do it anyway.
It's simply a matter of removing the villain's focus from the hero in the typical antagonistic sense. The demon's enemy/obstacle is not the hero in this case. Rather, the hero is a means to an end. The demon's true enemy is the divine counterpart in this world setting, and the demon wishes to somehow leverage the hero as a tool against this divine entity.
In other words, in the example of this hero-villain dynamic used for the example in the video, it would put the hero in the story somewhere in the scope of the friend or family category for the divine entity that the demon is focused on, and their aim is to do something bad to the hero in order to harm the divine.
Start from that basis and you can actually go a long way with characterizing a freaking demon.
oh thank you for this vid! I'm trying to find some good videos that can help me make my villain a good villain for my D&D campaign and how I can make her more understandable, and this definitely helped!
I have this concept of a villain, who is only a villain, because they want to be an opponent to a hero. They have an ego problem, and they want to be bigger, better, even if that means taking the role of a villain.
to build on something you said about not glorifying the villain: in some stories there is a thin line between the hero and villain. as a writer of a lot of dnd campaigns I like to really grill my players at the end about everything they did. they may kill the villain, but after there done, they realise they've become just as bad. so ABSOLUTELY do not glorify your villain, but do make sure to do the same for your hero.. at least eventually. outline what THEY did that was shitty / wrong / cost lives / did more damage in the long run. Enjoy!!
4:10 yes hun, you caught me mid mad cackle, lol
Traditional villains are fun as well. They know they are greedy, they know they are evil because being evil is fun like Maleficent and Zerg from the 2d version of Buzz Lightyear of star command. Villains who see themselves as a hero makes the story interesting. They have similar goals as the hero like judge Claud Frollo. He wanted to get rid of all things that he thinks are sinful and manipulates Quasimodo about the outside world being cruel and wicked. With Quasimodo's experience throughout the film he finds out that the only thing cruel and wicked in his life is Frollo.
Thanks for the advice, it improved my antagonist!
IF your villain is actually human. Aliens and monsters may be inherently bad. The mindless zombies that pursue our protagonist, not a lot to them in terms of character. They're hungry, murderous, and relentless, as just one example.
I love that she used poldark as an example, poldark is a masterpiece
My favorite villain is James Moriarty from the show Sherlock. No. Explanation. Needed.
Favourite villain without a doubt is Jean Brodie from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, excellently played by Maggie Smith in the film version. A really charismatic character who draws you in but her subtle-yet-significant narcissism has such a ruinous effect on others and herself.
She just described part of the problem at Disney.
I have 3 villains in my storyline… I’m cooked;
1. Pure evil king who wants power
2. Chaos incarnate who wants revenge
3. Greedy assassin who switches sides every other day
Abbie, I simply adore your personality! You are brilliant and fun! I'd love to interview you for my podcast Unlock U with Dr. Shannan Crawford
So i have an idea in the villain I'm making. They're started out as a normal kid with an obsession with sewing and a mother who loved him so much. Then his younger brother was born and that killed his mother. So that made him end up hating his brother and the worst thing about it to him was that everytime they celebrated his birthday it was like celebrating the day his mother died. Then being a baby his brother also needed more attention and the villain was actually the person his brother wante the most attention from.
He ended up suicide baiting him after abusing him for years.
He still loves his mother and dreams of being with her every night😊
My villain is trying to do right but in the wrong way
I love villains and antagonists.
Villains don't always have a motive sometimes they just have a goal
Rock solid advice and direction. And for those who are not aware, a singing voice that resonates...check her out on SoundCloud.
A bad person can be a protagonist. Protagonist does not mean good or bad. It simply means leading character. Antagonist is whatever force - good, bad, or even neutral - that is in the way of the protagonist getting what he wants.
There is a lot of great fiction that centers on characters who aren't heroes. The kind of characters you'd say are "bad guys" and may actually be quintessential villains were the tables turned and they weren't the protagonist in that particular book.
Take away these stories and you take away powerful messages that cannot be taught through happy shiny stories.
The purpose of all stories is to pass on valuable information to another person.
Some messages are more powerful when we see a bad person learn them.
Some messages are more powerful when we see a character who will reject learning the truth, and fall into an even worse situation.
Stories like this have helped shaped the world. So maybe show them some respect and stop acting like any time a bad guy is a protagonist that the book is doing a disservice.
You can showcase any character, including a villain, and not glorify their actions.
You spent a good portion of this video showcasing the villain from Poldark. You showed passion and jubilation for him. You also thoroughly explained his behavior and his mindset.
Why isn't this a moment of glorifying the villain? By your standard it would be...
Anyway, I like your channel, but every now and then you slip in these very preachy ideas about how books should ONLY be what you say they are, and it makes me cringe every time.
The first "rule" of writing I learned was that we all have the right to write the stories WE believe are worth telling, so you're just flat out going against that, giving your followers who write these stories zero consideration, and I don't understand that given how sensible you are in all other advice you give.
PS: People who make bad choices or do awful things are NOT subhuman. They are perfectly human. Promoting the lie that there are subhumans out there simply makes people less vigalent of their own behavior, which can quickly spiral out of control. Every human has the capacity for good and evil. That's basic human beings 101.
I think I'll use that last formula also for my heroes.
Loved this video! My villain is actually the aunt of the love interest, but neither the protagonist nor the love interest know she's his aunt! And actually, the mother of my love interest isn't really a great person either and is kind of mean, but she isn't evil like her sister. So, yeah, that's been the dynamic I've been trying to work with! And one of my favourite villains is definitely Erik/Magneto from X-Men!!!
Oooh I like it!! Sounds like you've got some great opportunities for lots of family angst 👏
okay, so say the big baddie in my book is also the MC, how do i not... ouch alrigth this editing is gonna hurt lol. THANK YOU SO MUCH