Do the villains win in your novel?

[Garon]

Hear me out. In your novella, does the villain of your story win or not? And I'm talking specifically about the villain. If your mc is already asshole, then this is not example I want. The reason for starting the post is simple, and that follows is a spoiler for jjk. How author jjk ride Sukuna's dick. So much so that he eventually became Madara from Naruto. However, we all remember what happened to Madara and how stupidly he died. Therefore, people knowing that Gege is not fraud, will not follow this path. And that's why people, not ironically, think that Sukuna can win. And I think this is interesting. Because I want the villain to win in my story too. However, I know exactly what mistake should not be made. I don’t want to all my good characters deaths and I will force the readers to come to terms with this. It's stupid. Therefore, yes, I want to know if anyone has such an example, and what do you think, is it worth implementing this idea?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

No.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Spoilers.

 

[Cipiteca396]

If you want your villain to win, but don't want your heroes to lose... Well, there's a whole bunch of tropes for that. Team-ups, redemption arcs, whatever. You'll probably want to make sure there's a reason you're doing it though. Otherwise it might feel bad to read.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

They do, sometimes. And with a reason, instead of doing it just for the shock factor.

 

[Garon]

Griffith is an example of a villain who won. He stupidly cannot meet Guts's revenge. rest in peace Miura.

If you want your villain to win, but don't want your heroes to lose... Well, there's a whole bunch of tropes for that. Team-ups, redemption arcs, whatever. You'll probably want to make sure there's a reason you're doing it though. Otherwise it might feel bad to read.

Yes this is a good option. But I clearly want something more.

 

[TASTYLEADPAINT]

Hear me out. In your novella, does the villain of your story win or not? And I'm talking specifically about the villain. If your mc is already asshole, then this is not example I want. The reason for starting the post is simple, and that follows is a spoiler for jjk. How author jjk ride Sukuna's dick. So much so that he eventually became Madara from Naruto. However, we all remember what happened to Madara and how stupidly he died. Therefore, people knowing that Gege is not fraud, will not follow this path. And that's why people, not ironically, think that Sukuna can win. And I think this is interesting. Because I want the villain to win in my story too. However, I know exactly what mistake should not be made. I don’t want to all my good characters deaths and I will force the readers to come to terms with this. It's stupid. Therefore, yes, I want to know if anyone has such an example, and what do you think, is it worth implementing this idea?

well my main character is the villain so.....

 

[ThrillingHuman]

My novels have no villains

 

[Garon]

My novels have no villains

The best way

 

[Pixytokisaki14]

The problem is.
The hero can win multiple times. A villain just needs to win once. Once the villain wins, the story changes forerver

 

[Yule]

I've read a story where I wanted the villain to win, and they didn't. The main character was a typical no-background-no-story character that went about preaching childlike justice. The villain had a whole backstory dedicated to them, and they had a clear purpose for trying to destroy the world (destroying the world equated to bringing back the old world, and all the people he lost).

Victorious villains are only stupid if there's nothing to back up their victory. If the story can convince the readers that they have every right to win, I don't think it's a bad idea at all.

 

[l8rose]

Sort of. I think most of my favorite stories are the ones I wrote where the heroes don't win but it's not necessarily the villains winning either. Not every story needs to end with "and they lived happily ever after" and if you can run with it, you will find people who will enjoy it.

Spoiler: My own examples

In my fanfiction SfAL, the villains win for most of the story. It is literally a "and then it got worse" repeatedly kind of story. While I follow the Dragon Age: Inquisition game's storyline, I add in a lot of my lore, which makes many of the events (and actions of the villains) a lot worse.

Spoiler: Skyrim Backstory Spoiler

In fact, the Skyrim game part of the story is literally the bad end of the main Skyrim storyline.

Another Dragon Age fanfiction started with the 'Heroes Didn't Win' right at the beginning because it introduces the two main characters before a third begins telling their story. One of the two is tranquil (basically lobotomized with no feelings or ability to use their magic) and the rest of the story is about their life before they arrive from the beginning. There are villains in the story but they're not long-reaching villains, more like episodic enemies. This reminds me that I really gotta finish the rewrite of this.

I have another story where the Villains "win" because they accomplish their goal. Even though the villains are killed at the end, they are still successful which changes several characters and the setting of the world (because the story continued in a book 2 kind of thing). Nobody wins in this one but the villains make the other characters realize a lot of things.

 

[Representing_Tromba]

No one wins. The hero and villain are trapped in a near infinite loop of trying, failing, succeeding, and hoping to escape the loop.