McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Can't come up with a decent villain

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Nickeris86:
you could always make himself his own worst enemy.

give him a vice, that he has to fight through, or give him no drive to do whats right, or anything. if he is a selfish charecter he is more than likely going to have to face some challenges of his own creation that will, hopefully, lead him down the right road when the time comes for his destiny or whatever you have planed for him.

belial.1980:
Here's an idea that you might want to try if you enjoy free writing. Just sit down and write a short story from the POV of your character's nemesis. Just off the top of your head, without knowing anything about him/her/it. Probably best to do it first person to really get inside their head. This story doesn't have to be anything worth saving, but more of an excercise to see things from the other perspective and generate ideas. Hell, maybe just start with a rant about why the villain is out to ruin the protagonist's day. I think if you can build an attitude and a motivation for the character that's opposed to the MC, the rest will be relatively easy to figure out.

I dunno if it's something that'll work for you but it might be worth trying. If you throw enough at the wall, who knows--some of it might stick.

Gruud:
Since we're just brainstorming ...

How about some sort of quasi-governmental agency sort of thing, or a powerful mercantile group, etc. that is committed to maintaining the status quo that your character is in the process of dismantling?

This could give you a whole host of enemies to trot out at need, with a faceless big bad lurking out there somewhere, sending his minions after your character.

Nickeris86:
your villain doesn't even have to be able to match your main character blow for blow, or be able to stand up to him in a fair fight at all. i mean honestly how many antagonists can you think of that fight fairly. just look at the dresden villains, i mean yeah a lot of them are stronger and more experinced than harry and he outwits them but there are a few that have done the same thing to harry.

like Ortaga in their duel he was getting beaten bad by harry in a contest of wills so he cheated, yeah it cost him in the end but at the same time its just the thing that a villain would do. win by any means necessary even if you can't win directly.

the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:

--- Quote from: Nickeris86 on April 23, 2010, 07:21:50 PM ---like Ortaga in their duel he was getting beaten bad by harry in a contest of wills so he cheated, yeah it cost him in the end but at the same time its just the thing that a villain would do. win by any means necessary even if you can't win directly.

--- End quote ---

Ortega's a hero; he's willing to cheat, knowing it means his life is forfeit, if only it kills Harry and stops the war.

Heroes and villains are less fun than morally ambiguous characters with sympathy on both sides.

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