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Post by stormiel on Dec 9, 2012 4:28:03 GMT -5
Just for fun:
What do you think makes a good villain?
What characteristics would you like to see the ultimate bad guy possess?
Do prefer a villain with a redeemable quality or one who is ruthless?
I guess this depends on the story, but what are your favorite ways to see a villain make the protagonist's life miserable?
Do you like physical fights or mental games of cat and mouse between the good guy and bad guy?
What does the villain need to do to make a story better?
Does the protagonist need a specific villain or can he/she be up against a system or a problem?
Is it better for an antagonist to be a specific person?
What kind of person or problem or combination makes the best antagonistic force in a story?
Those are a few questions bouncing around in my head tonight. What are your thoughts?
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Post by metalikhan on Dec 9, 2012 11:33:48 GMT -5
Just for fun: What do you think makes a good villain? What characteristics would you like to see the ultimate bad guy possess? Do prefer a villain with a redeemable quality or one who is ruthless? I guess this depends on the story, but what are your favorite ways to see a villain make the protagonist's life miserable? Do you like physical fights or mental games of cat and mouse between the good guy and bad guy? What does the villain need to do to make a story better? Does the protagonist need a specific villain or can he/she be up against a system or a problem? Is it better for an antagonist to be a specific person? What kind of person or problem or combination makes the best antagonistic force in a story? Those are a few questions bouncing around in my head tonight. What are your thoughts? Most of the questions really depend on the story. I fit the villain to the story but there's no single formula for it. Some are redeemable, some aren't. Some are unexpected villains, not especially unfriendly to the hero but not blatantly antagonistic until late in the story where everything planted along the way suddenly blossoms (explodes) into full hostility. A couple of them start out looking as though they're allies, but something happens that sets them in conflict with the hero. And a couple have started out looking like villains but wound up being allies. You have to consider what type of conflict(s) are in the story: Character vs. Self Character vs. Person Character vs. Society Character vs. Nature Character vs. Supernatural Character vs. Machine/Technology Character vs. Fate (ancient) In most cases and regardless of the conflict, there'll be a character that personifies the conflict's antagonist in some way. The only exception I can think of is Character vs. Nature which usually is a survival tale (Jack London's "To Build a Fire" is a prime example). What characteristics would you like to see the ultimate bad guy possess? My personal favorite characteristics are those which make the villain the foil of the hero. Enough similar qualities that they are at least equals, but why they strive places them in opposition. It helps hold the tension of their scenes in suspense because the outcome stays in question: will it be win, lose, or draw? Do prefer a villain with a redeemable quality or one who is ruthless?That's a difficult one. When the villain is just as convinced of the rightness of his/her position as the hero is of his/her own, the ruthlessness doesn't have to be all one-sided. There's a bit of villainy in most of my heroes — they don't tend to be squeaky-clean, uber-righteous characters themselves. When I did a story analysis of several of my own stories, one of the conflicts that showed up in tandem with other conflicts but especially with Character vs. Person (aside: used to be called Man vs. Man in pre-pc days) was Character vs. Self. We all strive against some darkness in our own natures and it's not always resolvable within the confines of a story. Personal preference: I tend to tire of villains who have no sympathetic qualities at all. One of that kind can be utterly chilling if handled well, but I don't see it often enough. I guess this depends on the story, but what are your favorite ways to see a villain make the protagonist's life miserable?Yes, totally depends on the story because in different milieus there are different ways and reasons available. Do you like physical fights or mental games of cat and mouse between the good guy and bad guy? Yes. ;D What does the villain need to do to make a story better? Be in conflict with the hero. Does the protagonist need a specific villain or can he/she be up against a system or a problem?I think the list of conflict types answered that, but therein also is the opportunity for layering conflicts. Even in short stories, there's room for more than one at a time. The villain, the antagonist, of any story needs as much careful attention to development as the hero. If the hero has nothing worthy to strive against, the story falls flat. But how s/he strives against the villain tells as much about the hero as about the villain. That's why it's so important to work on developing the black hats of the story. |
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This Baron of Mora
Full Member
?Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.?
Posts: 113
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Post by This Baron of Mora on Dec 9, 2012 21:15:11 GMT -5
My favorite (being relative, obviously I hate, despise, and want him destroyed I mean it as a villain trumped by none despite being distant) is Morgoth, the equivalent of Lucifer in the Silmarillion and the Children of Hurin. His dooms the Earth and all the peoples upon must slowly bend to, Turin is his target here and through all his struggles in an Oeidipus like way meets his fate (despite calling himself "master of fate").
“Then Morgoth stretching out his long arm towards Dor-lomin cursed Hurin and Morwen and their offspring, saying: 'Behold! The shadow of my thought shall lie upon them wherever they go, and my hate shall pursue them to the ends of the world.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin
'The doom lies in yourself, not in your name.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin
“A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Children of Húrin
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Post by Kessie on Dec 10, 2012 0:23:17 GMT -5
I want a villain who is believable. Not too mustache-twirly. He's out to achieve his own ends, which just so happen to be at odds with the hero's. The more ridiculous the hero is, the straighter the writer has to play him. Dr. Robotnik of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is about as silly as they come. Yet I've seen renditions of him that are positively chilling.
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Post by Resha Caner on Dec 10, 2012 19:44:37 GMT -5
I don't know that one type of villian always works.
Sauron worked well in LOTR partly because he was unseen. Fear of the unknown can be powerful. When I went to see the movies I was concerned that actually seeing the Balrog, etc. would be a let down. They did a good job with such things, but keeping Sauron unseen (except for the eye) is part of what makes him so terrifying. The imagination is better than reality.
Another favorite villian of mine is Mephistopheles from Faust. What made him such a great villian was that he was so charming - such a nice guy. Everybody liked him, and his evil was so subtle that no one ever found him out. I guess there's a common theme there with Sauron. How terrifying to think that you'll never see the evil coming.
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