WHAT’S THE POINT OF A VILLAIN?
The function of the villain, or antagonist, is to challenge the protagonist and give her a worthy opponent.
THE VILLAIN’S HEART!
Most villains, or antagonists, don’t start off being bad, per say. Sure, there are exceptions, like Michael Myers born with a mental disorder that the internet loves diagnosing—but for the most part, villains are made. They are molded from their past experiences. They are born as a result of feeling unsupported by the ones claiming love and feel those so-called loved ones turned a blind eye to their depression, grief, or fear, to name a few.
Even Darth Vader didn’t start out as the bad guy determined to take over the universe in a nifty space station. His life experiences created the monster he’d become. Young Anakin chose genocide to avenge his beloved mother’s death. He felt betrayed and lied to by the group of people who separated him from his homeland. And he soon considered the Jedi Council as an enemy, or even the bad guys of the universe, trying to control more than they should. Because of that, he determined that the Council was trying to manipulate him and exploit his sacred gift of the Force. Until finally, he lost faith in the system that trained him and set out to create a new one.
Anakin killed out of love—love for his mother, his teacher, his wife. He murdered, not because he thought himself a villain, but a decent human trying to right the wrongs of the world. Bottom line, Anakin was once a law-abiding citizen, a good guy doing what was expected of him, until lies and deception, made him Darth Vader, the deadliest and scariest dude in the universe.
Villains are not born. They are made!
We all are born and bred through our experiences, and react instinctively different when triggered by that event.
For instance…
Try to picture a war zone and the amount of devastation and destruction it caused. Think of how a group of children all experienced the same catastrophic external event and how that experience changed their lives forever.
That horrendous event changed the psyche of each child as they move through life
- Who do they trust?
- What occupation will they choose as a result?
Here are some possible examples:
Child One:
- Emotionally—wants to help the weak/ vulnerable/ traumatized
- Chooses psychologist or medical doctor as a profession
Child Two:
- Emotionally—wants to eradicate evil doers in the world; a civic duty
- Chooses the military as a sharp shooter in order to defend the country he swears to protect
Child Three:
- Emotionally—feels the system let him down; must take action to “fix” the system
- Starts a neo-militia (think Joker, 2019) and has no remorse taking the lives of those who he feels are “Unpatriotic”
The bottom line is, each victim of the life-changing event will respond to what they believe is accordingly, even if they may not see eye-to-eye with each other.
Putting Your Knowledge to Work
At least one event triggered the villain to make them the way they are. Assume a number of tragic events unfolded, like dominos crashing down, and now she goes through life cranky and ticked off and pushing her will onto anyone she comes across.
Picture your villain.
- Who was she before the catastrophic event?
- What emotionally damaging event started your villain down her path of “evil”?
- What did that one defining moment in her life make her wake up one day and say, I’m never going to follow society’s demands and do my own thing?
Take your time to write out 2 – 3 pages of your villain’s Origin Story. Make sure to dive deep into the emotional reaction to the situation she faced.
Keep in mind that this exercise may or may not get told in your story, but understanding why and how the event transformed a character into a villain, the more you’ll understand WHY the protagonist must defeat her.
Remember, writing is hard. So, keep pushing. Keep writing. You got this!
-RADolence
