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Alright guys—ready for another question?? 🙂
My main villain has never seen the main character before, and lives in an old abandoned fortress deep in the mountains. My main characters have been on this guy’s trail for some time (unknowingly), because he destroyed a place special to the main characters with dragons. The only evil they have come in contact with are parties of orc-like creatures (sent by the villain to kill them), and they are basing their entire search for this guy based on the fact that many of the dragons in this land live in the north (this villain lives in one of the northern territories). So far, they are just about to enter the evil territory where this guy lives. Now for the big question:How do I introduce this villain to the main characters without waiting till the battle at the end of the book?
Most of my ideas do not have very well-thought-out motives behind them (and hence no reason for the villain to expose himself). However, the villain knows that there are two travelers who have been destroying many of his orcs (for lack of a better term – if I tell you what these creatures are called, I will spoil part of my book). At first, just a routine patrol was killed by these warriors (this villain has orcs spread over the entire land in small groups).
Any suggestions?
Jackson E. Graham
http://jacksonegraham.wixsite.com/jackson-e-graham@WarrioroftheRealm hm… let me see. My first idea was, is there any way the villain could have a motive for meeting them without revealing who he is? Maybe he could go and seek them out for that reason (is he curious? Afraid? Daring? Arrogant?) and meet them as a simple traveler, and things escalate from there.
Or maybe he needs to ship something EXTREMELY important through the region they’ve been messing with, and doesn’t trust any of his minions with the job and so goes himself.
Or perhaps its the other way around, and they have something he wants, and he goes himself for the same trust issue reasons.
Anything there?First of all, do the good guys just need to see the villain to know what he looks like, or do they need to interact with him through something like conversation or combat? Do they need to know that he is the villain, could they have no idea who he is, or could they be deceived into thinking he is someone he isn’t?
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My main characters need to know the villain because—at this point—they really have no idea who destroyed the castle. Maybe the King guides them in the right direction, so they know where this villain is, but they don’t know who he is. This villain is ancient, and is the second in command of the evil presence in the world (Satan). He is very powerful and arrogant, and can turn invisible at will.
@kate-flournoy
Based on what I know about my villain, I know that he is very arrogant, merciless, and power-hungry.Keep the ideas comin’!
Jackson E. Graham
http://jacksonegraham.wixsite.com/jackson-e-graham@warrioroftherealm Maybe they end up capturing an orc and he spills the beans?
Personally, I like to reveal information in italics. By that I mean: journal entries, flashback and chapters not based on the main character.
Oh! *jumps up excitedly* Maybe the MC’s intercept a message from Villain to orcs and they figure it out somehow?☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
Haha! And this is why you don’t feed orcs chili. Does anybody have a napkin? :p
All jokes aside, the orcs speak a different language (very rarely do they speak the common tongue). I do like the message interception idea though! It could work!
Jackson E. Graham
http://jacksonegraham.wixsite.com/jackson-e-graham*hands you napkin* *Sigh* Orcs…
Cha-ching! Good luck with whatever you decide!
@warrioroftherealm☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
@warrioroftherealm Maybe the villain is out with his troops for some reason (supervising some important project possibly) and the MCs happen to see him. Maybe they see him turn invisible and happen to know some legend about a guy who could do that which lets them know who he is.
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I had the same problem with my story. It’s a little different but whatever. My first thought was legends and tales. Obviously, the guy’s super powerful and way up there so I assume that there’d be legends about him. That way they would know who he is. They don’t have to meet him face to face, do they? Maybe I’m just not getting the story . . . 🙁
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
You guessed it…
There definitely are legends of this villain, and the characters are definitely familiar with them. About meeting him, the characters do have to meet him, otherwise the villain would not necessarily work for what I am trying to do. What was different about your version of this problem (with your story)?Jackson E. Graham
http://jacksonegraham.wixsite.com/jackson-e-grahamFirst, a question: Why exactly do the heroes have to meet the villain?
My problem was that the characters never meet the villain until the end. I read somewhere that that makes for a weaker villain. That’s it.
So I thought of doing something like what Captain America: The First Avenger did. Where there were people who were familiar with the villain. And they talked to the MC about him. And there were also a couple scenes that were from the viewpoint of the villain. And there was one instance where the MC met the villain.
But for my story I just decided for the MC to meet the villain at the end. But there will be pieces of evidence that show how powerful the villain is. I don’t even know if the story will work that way but that’s how I’m presently doing it.
But if I’m doing something wrong please tell me!
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
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