I Find Creating Villains Difficult

[Arch9CivilReactor]

It’s easy to create a character but I find it hard to create villains. When writing, I put a lot of love into the characters… but equal amount into the lives they choose to live. It feels bad to see a character fall from grace or be used as fodder.

Anyone else get that feeling? One of my works I created a ‘main villain’ while the rest were either misunderstood or animalistic. Making beating them up easier. But when it’s a fresh story and I can’t reuse those villains my brain numbs.

There are times when it feels awful when you write a villain with a sympathetic backstory written to lose their encounter with the hero. Even if you know the other option is equally viable and it’s your own choice to make them lose.

I wonder if anyone else gets that difficulty when writing certain types of characters needed for the narrative.

 

[beast_regards]

Why you couldn't reuse your villains?

 

[RainyLiquid]

I had a similar issue with Spectacular World, my superhero story. I had a really bad habit of not killing villains because I wanted to keep them around and use them more, and the first few times a bad guy escapes, it's fine, but by the eighth time, readers were just annoyed and wanting the MC to start murking people.

 

[VertisGuguChalimoth]

Vertis understands, there is a character Vertis is thinking of adding later on that makes Vertis sad every time Vertis thinks about them. However, they are not a villain.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

Make your villains have fun being evil. Maybe then you won't feel bad about them getting rekt.

 

[Indicterra]

Make your villian have better ideals and aims, and half a functioning Brain, you will write the next Madara

 

[beast_regards]

Use necromancy. Bring the villain back from the dead anytime you want with dark magic!

If the character gets to wonder from where the dark magic come from, have them die when they are run over by the Toyota truck appearing out of nowhere even if such a vehicle shouldn't exist in the universe!

 

[LeilaniOtter]

When we were writing the webcomic, "The Depths", we had a character named Jamie, a multi-colored Irish wolf, who was deadly intent on stealing a bunch of black pearls from a group of native sea otters. While we were writing this saga, we realized we were making Jamie TOO evil. There was not a bit of redemption we could offer, nothing likable about him at all. And this is what people should try to avoid - giving characters one face.

IMO, there has to be something to them; it's not just their evil intentions, but there has to be something that made them evil, so what was it? This is a great way to visualize and then "design" your villain. Give them a backstory, an origin, something that you can capture with words, that will make us somehow not necessarily LIKE the villain - but realize WHY they are a villain. And if I could offer one more tidbit, give the villain flaws, either mental, physical or whatever. Make them, well, human - even if they aren't. You'd be surprised how much readers can relate to a proper villain. <3

 

[Golden_Hyde]

I can make it easy. And I can describe it in a series of one words.

Pride. Pomp. Pretentiousness. And good ol' arrogance.

But of course it doesn't have to be that way. Sometimes villains are born from the broken system.

 

[WhaleSprite]

I actually have no problem with writing villains, some of them are often my favorite characters to write in my story. They're often my most complex characters.

If I had pick a category of characters I'm kind of bad at writing... Then maybe love interests? My experience with dating and stuff is a little weird and I had way more bad experiences than good experiences. Until my most current person I am now dating. I basically was very content being single. So when I write romance stuff, I'm like "what's the point?" It's hard for me to write things I don't understand the point of.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The best villains have some sympathetic traits and/or some interesting quirks. Especially if those quirks look harmless at first ("Oh, he's an art collector? That's nice. Antique lampshades? A bit odd but ... antique lampshades from German concentration camps ... uh... yeah...")

 

[CrimsonGenius]

I had a villain that used rage to find the mcguffin. She went evil because she was forced to sell her pet horse.

 

[LeilaniOtter]

I actually have no problem with writing villains, some of them are often my favorite characters to write in my story. They're often my most complex characters.

If I had pick a category of characters I'm kind of bad at writing... Then maybe love interests? My experience with dating and stuff is a little weird and I had way more bad experiences than good experiences. Until my most current person I am now dating. I basically was very content being single. So when I write romance stuff, I'm like "what's the point?" It's hard for me to write things I don't understand the point of.

The love interest is really no different than any other character. They need a life, a backstory, all the same cool things. You can't just make them there for display, they need to be a fully breathing (or not breathing, if a zombie lol) character. So, if you think about that in those terms, you might find it easier to create them.

And give them something to do. They can't just be the "love interest", there has to be a significant role they play within your story - especially if they interact with other characters. Also, don't make them too perfect. *^^* Yes, they're gorgeous or they have a wonderful personality, or whatever. The readers aren't going to be too hung up on that - they'll want to know what's different, what's possibly physically or mentally challenging about them, And this then could help guide you through the story too.

For example, the love interest might have a deathly fear of the water. Your main character, who perhaps is a lifeguard, could then help the love interest grow (swimming/scuba lessons) and that will make the love and romance that much more exciting and REAL. ?