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*Creaks open the door to this topic* *Blows away the dust*
I have a potential idea for a character, someone who falls into a gray antagonistic role. But all that to say, three things need to come across in his character:
1. He needs to be a real threat.
2. He also needs to be likable and fun to watch, preferably one of the most fun.
3. It would be super cool to the audience if he joined the good side. (Doesn’t mean he will, but the possibility should be appealing.)
I think he’s going to start out as a friend of the protagonist, but then realizes they are at odds, a Peter Parker/Harry Osborn kind of deal.
Have you ever liked the antagonist in a story? What did you like about them? Maybe they had a cool personality or a sense of humor? Did you ever really really want a bad guy to become good? Any tips or suggestions for a character like this?
#ProtectAdolinKholin
OOOH! I love this topic! Ok here is my villain!
Ok her name is Rosemary, she is ONE of my villains in Kingdom of Kaimor (my WIP)! She hates the royal family and the Keepers, blaming them for the death of her husband. She is a poet so she tries to turn the kingdom against the royal family and the Keepers. Ok here is some quick backstory of how her husband died! so basically there are these people called fallen, they are my humanoid animals in KoK (Kingdom of Kaimor) they can make a choice whenever they want. they will become more powerful, stronger, faster, but more wild, you can also fall into it with out your choice, if your emotions over take you. this can only happen to the humanoid animal characters, not to humans though. anyway there is also only one cure, this flower that is almost extinct, and it only works on that stage when your turning into a fallen and you have had not to chose to do so.
But anyway her husband chose to become a fallen, and she thought he had just fallen into it, so she blamed it on the prince and the leader of the throne of the healers. (Which is a keeper named Rapha) so now she blames them and uses her writing and magic to turn the kingdom against them.
"This sleeping child you're holding, is the great I AM!"-Mary did you know
Ah, she is vengeful and sad. You could give her a little peace at the end; maybe she finds out what truly happened to her husband.
#ProtectAdolinKholin
That was my plan :)! I didn’t want to leave her a on a sad note…. that would make me feel so bad!
"This sleeping child you're holding, is the great I AM!"-Mary did you know
Already asked this in the chat chat, but then realized there’s already a topic for it.
Anyway, I could use some help.
How do y’all create villains? Are they necessary for a story? How do you tell a story without them?
Im kinda stuck rn because I don’t know how to create villains, but my story doesn’t really have enough conflict without one. I’m good at creating monsters, but that obviously doesn’t work for my non horror WIPs. But when I try to create a villain, they either turn into a sympathetic side character with a redemption arc, or they turn into actually disturbing monsters and idk what to do.
🎵It takes a long time to wait 🌻
I would say that Villains in a loose sense are always necessary to a story since usually the conflict between whatever is your antagonist (Villain) and your protagonist (hero) will be driving the plot.
That said, antagonist (villain) is quite a loose term since it could be anything from a inanimate storm the protagonist must survive through to a serial killer like Hannibal Lector, to an bloodthirsty shark, or even the protagonist themself.
To break it down further you generally have 3 types of Villain characters: ‘Non-thinking’ things, Other ‘thinking’ things, and the protagonist themself.
‘Non-thinking’ things are like your bloodthirsty horror movie monster, the Indominus Rex from Jurrasic World or an inanimate storm. Each of these villains either follows its instincts or just the coarse of nature. However they still play an immediate threat to the protagonist since usually the thing is either trying to kill the protagonist (storm, horror movie monster, Indominus Rex) or is destroying something important to the protagonist (storm, Indominus Rex).
’Thinking’ things are probably the type of villain you are thinking of. These are generally humans (unless sci fi or fantasy where it might be a Goblin or futuristic AI model) who have actual thoughts and motivation that sets them at odds with the protagonist. These characters often have some sympathetic qualities, a redemption arc, or absolutely disturbing qualities/mindsets.
If your really stuck on how to make one of these guys a good starting point to figure out what aspect of the protagonist they oppose (ie: If your protagonist is Robin hood the Good Thief your villain might be the Sheriff of Nottingham a corrupt cop). As in the example this can be done by making the antagonist somewhat of an inverse. Then you will want to figure out the villain’s mindset and why they do the evil they do (for the sheriff he is greedy). This can be extremely complex if you want but it doesn’t have to be.
Another more complex way to make a villain is to make the villain want something good (or maybe something similar to the protagonist) but go about it in a not so good way (ie a villain who want to eliminate pain from life by taking away people’s free will). The method is similar in that you determine their motivation, determine why they have that motivation, and then maybe flesh the villain out a bit more with quirks and normal charrie stuff.
The third type of antagonist is by making the antagonist be the protagonist (or at-least a part of them). This is usually done by making the protagonist’s story be about their struggle to overcome some sort of negative trait or habit. A potential example: A protagonist who struggles with workaholism. Their desire to spend more time with their children is antagonised by their tendency to overwork themself.
You can have multiple of these types of antagonists in a story though there is usually one primary one which drives the stories main focus.
Feel free to ask any questions if my reply is confusing. I’m sorry if it is.
Through darkness,
light shines brightestThanks! That is really helpful.
I guess in that case, I think my two main characters are actually antagonists to each other, maybe. They have opposite character arcs/ fatal flaws and kinda end up meeting in the middle at the end.
My other WIPs also need villains so I’ll probably be referencing this again.
🎵It takes a long time to wait 🌻
I have some random prompts if that helps in tandem with Otherworldly’s advice.
– The villain is one of your protagonists, gone wrong.
– They have a design that completely contrasts the protagonist (if the protagonist is made of round organic shapes and colors, the villain is the opposite). Or maybe they have a similar design.
– Seems like the most normal out of everybody.
– Represents the protagonist’s temptation. (To be in control, to do whatever they want, etc.)
– The villain doesn’t hate the protagonist, they are actually empathetic. They just love something else more.
– Willingly gave up their humanity to become a monster with one goal in life.
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