Overthinkings: Villains

I’m writing this in a restaurant at the moment. It is nearly empty but for two men in the corner. When I first walked in they were discussing their current writing projects: Christian thrillers with a sexy bent. They have spent the last hour discussing Trump, how they want to run for school board, and now how they plan to sell some guns that are now illegal to sell in Washington State. From their conversation, one might think they know all the important people everywhere, have a deep understanding right wing International politics, and spend a lot of time at church. 

My skin is crawling. All of my Baptist baggage is seeping to the surface. The downfall of the nation at the hands of old men in pleated kakis and Costco New balance sneakers. 

Bad guys are supposed to be fun. Fun to write, fun to read, fun to watch. 

One of the reasons we like a villain is that they function outside of social norms. With a spinning  moral compass and a hint of complicated backstory that might mean a chance of redemption, a well written villain both repels and entices the reader. In a different world could we too become a villain? 

Frustrated Ghosts, Vampires, Narcissistic Royalty (during the love-bombing phase)  are all recent characters in books I have been reading. Some died, some lived, none changed; they were all fantastic. I don’t want to read about realistic people who are trying to systematically roll back sixty years of social justice movements while attempting to achieve a perfect combover. 

So really, what makes a good villain. 

Well first, villains are different than antagonists. Antagonists have a specific goal in mind and the protagonist is in their way. Villains might do their villianing just because it is a Tuesday and the protagonist is wearing a Boaz and The Fat Backup Singers teeshirt (and sure, they also may have plans, but those plans don’t have to include self-interest—think vampires wanting to turn everyone into vampires even though they will eventually run out of food). Villains are chaotic. On a narrative level, this gives the author a lot more freedom to write conveniently rather than cohesively. Keep the villainy to within realistic bounds of the character’s capabilities, but otherwise? Let the anarchy flow! 

While true redemption is usually off the table, cursing a character with a soul, or tethering them with a behavioral constraint is a handy way to keep them from becoming too overpowered. We have the Buffy the Vampire universe where one of the big baddies is, well, cursed with a soul and the other has a chip in his head that causes intense pain if he hurts someone. Now both these characters are villains who happen to also be love interests of the protagonist, but this trick works well to tamper down the actual chaos whilst still leaving the exciting possibility. 

Speaking of Villains as love interests. There are a few satisfying ways to take this plot device and one absurd. 

-Villain and Protagonist are equally bonkerballs and crash romantically in a “I am super attracted to you but also repelled and this is never going to work but who cares!” way. 

-Protagonist doesn’t know Villain is the villain and has to uncover the truth and escapes/dies.

-Protagonist does know Villain is the villain and must trick them and escape, all the while fighting feelings because Villain is actually nice to Protagonist but cruel and awful and villainish to everyone else. 

Any of these plots should leave the reader feeling satisfied when they turn that last page. The Protagonist hero’d; the Villain villainized; everyone had a consistent character arc; all is right with the literary world. The one that doesn’t work?  The Villain can’t fundamentally change. Remember, antagonists change all the time, but Villains villain for life! 

Fundamental change might include a religious conversion, a moral crisis, a change of heart. Some of these events can happen, and they may even change behavior for awhile, but the nature of the Villain must remain to appear in the third act. 

Does every story need a villain? No. I rarely write true villains because so few exist. In real life I have never met a single one. There are plenty of antagonists, plenty of triggering men talking loudly about what amazing Christians they while I’m trying to write in peace and enjoy my queso and chips, but most of these real folks are acting the way they do because of personal insecurities, ingrained moral structures, and/or a desire for security in their social groups; they aren’t villains, just people. 

Much of the Monster media that exists shows the consumer that it is the people who are truly capable of real evil. When something scares us or is different, humans are evolved to shun and destroy; it’s how we survived the saber tooth tigers.  It’s the antagonists in a story who do the emotional harm to the protagonists. 

We expect villains to try and ruin lives; we don’t expect our lovers to be careless with our hearts or bosses to end careers on a whim. We watch in horror as government officials elected to lead us to a brighter future turn our country against itself for the empty promise of power; we feel betrayed by those we love who cheer the process. 

Fortunately, in life and on the page Antagonists can be dealt with. They have the capacity to change, to evolve, to have awakenings; an antagonist can turn into an ally. They also have weaknesses which can be used so that right might prevail and justice dawn. 

Villains on the other hand should end horribly! Death, dismemberment, losing their pet ferret (don’t worry, it’s rescued and kept by a small village child). If you are writing a series and need the villain to emerge two or three books down the line, by all means let them live— weakened and scarred—crawling off in the night to continue their chaos at a time convenient to you. 

At the end of a story, whether dealing with Villains or Antagonists, it is the Protagonist’s behavior that matters. Their choices set them apart from the bad guys. Do they stoop to the tactics of chaos or selfishness? Or do they outwit, gather their allies, and rise above to take the day? 

That, my friends, is up to you.