7 Ways to Craft the Perfect Villain for Your Book
Your villain is the engine that drives your story. Without a good villain, your story will sputter and die. So how do you craft the perfect villain for your book?
Here are seven essential tips:
Start with the basics
What does your villain want? What are they willing to do to get it?
The villain is the hero of their own story: We often see villains as one-dimensional villains, but they can be much more. To make your villain believable and compelling, start with the basics – what made them who they are and why are they doing the things they are doing? Your villain is the hero of their own story.
Make your villain three-dimensional
Give them a backstory, motivations, and quirks that make them real and relatable (even if they’re still evil).
They need to have the same depth and complexity as any hero. Start by giving them a backstory and motivations that make their actions understandable and believable. Make sure there is something that readers will be able to identify with, even if it’s something small.
Make your villain sympathetic
Readers need to understand why your villain is doing what they’re doing, even if they don’t agree with it.
Show why your villain is doing what they’re doing, no matter how twisted or wrong it may seem. A good way to make your villain relatable is to make them the hero of their own story. Give them a noble cause, a grand plan, a deep desire. This can make them more interesting and sympathetic to your readers. Of course, your villain must remain villainous, but giving them a compelling reason for their actions can make them someone that your readers will want to read about, even if they hate them.
Make your villain unstoppable
Your villain should be a force to be reckoned with, someone who can’t be stopped by anyone – not even the protagonist.
Making your villain relatable doesn’t mean making them likable, however. It means that your readers will understand why they do the things they do, even if they don’t agree with them or find them sympathetic. Flawed villains are often the most interesting, so you should consider giving them motivations and desires that are understandable, even if they’re misguided.
Make your villain unique
There are a lot of generic villains out there, so try to make yours stand out in some way.
Make your villain three-dimensional and give them detail – they should have their values, beliefs and backstory. Your villain’s backstories should also have some kind of emotional element – some kind of trauma, heartbreak or regret that has made them who they are.
This can be a great way to add depth and dimension to your villain, making them memorable and interesting to your readers. In some cases, a villain’s backstory can also be used to explain why they are villainous. If your villain grew up in an abusive environment, for example, that could be why they are the way they are and why they resort to villainy.
Make your villain a mirror
Have your villain reflect some aspect of the protagonist, whether it be good or bad.
Your villain needs to have something at stake for them to be a compelling character. While your protagonist likely has a lot to lose, your villain needs to have something to gain. Even an evil villain has personal stakes that they are willing to fight for – whether it be power, revenge, or redemption. Figure out what your villain is fighting for – something that they would be willing to sacrifice everything else for.
Then, make sure to weave those stakes into your story, otherwise, your readers won’t be able to connect with your villain and become invested in their journey.
The villain needs a motivation beyond “because they’re evil.” Most villains in literature and film aren’t motivated by “evil” – they have nuanced motivations that stem from their background and experiences. So make sure to give your villain reasons for why they are doing the things they are doing. Show why they are willing to go to such great lengths and make the stakes personal.
Your villain should also have a unique worldview or a specific set of values and beliefs that shape their decisions. This can make them both more interesting and more believable. For example, the Joker from The Dark Knight relies on chaos, always believing that chaos will bring about a better world. The opposite is true for Sauron, who wants a world of order and control.
These different motivations give both villains an air of authenticity, which makes them more compelling to readers.
Give your villain an arc
Your villain should undergo some kind of transformation, just like the protagonist.
The villain should have depth and dimensions: In addition to motivations, your villain should also have depth and dimensions that make them intriguing and compelling. Give them unique physical characteristics, a unique set of skills, or even a unique way of speaking. Even if your villain is horrible, they should have other layers to their character that reveal them to be complex and interesting.
Unique character traits can also make your villain more formidable than your hero. If your villain is a master of manipulation or has a unique set of skills, they will be much tougher to defeat than if they were just your average villain.
Finally, make sure to give your villain relationships with other characters that show more layers to their personality and make them more human.
