Comments on: Anatomy of a Legendary Villain

By: Author Kristen Lamb

Author Kristen Lamb — Fri, 08 May 2015 02:01:05 +0000

In reply to Jenna Storm. Maybe he once had a soul and it tugs at him.

By: Jenna Storm

Jenna Storm — Thu, 07 May 2015 20:14:40 +0000

I agree it’s critical to create a multi-dimensional villain along with a multi-d protagonist. Quick question…when writing paranormal with a villain who is a demon (this one has no soul) how would you create sympathy? How would you make this antagonist multi-dimensional? I’m curious what your thoughts are with this type of character. Thanks so much. I just found your blog & love it. Great articles.

By: lonestarjake88

lonestarjake88 — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 16:41:58 +0000

I humbly disagree. I hate sympathetic villains and empathizing with them. I like stories where the evil is pure evil whose motives are questionable & the protagonist must stop them. Not necessarily chaotic evil but I don’t care about putting a bandaid on the villain’s bobo. I want the hero to triumph over him or her.

By: Deb Atwood

Deb Atwood — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:47:41 +0000

Love your take on the complex villain. I would put Olivia Pope’s dad in that category. He’s bad, then he’s good, he loves her, he harms her…Korean drama series also do a great job with fun villains. Winter Sonata and Great Queen Seondeok come to mind. In the latter, Mishil has a dozen different smiles and almost never raises her voice to cause complications and harm.

By: Cathy Parker

Cathy Parker — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:41:23 +0000

A Dean Koontz novel best meets your criteria for an excellent villain for me since I don’t watch much television [I have netflix; there will be a time] The book was one of his earlier ones, and made into a not-so-good movie. I think it was called The Watchers. A research center is experimenting with genetically altered animals and a few escape. One is the good golden retriever [hey, this is Dean Koontz novel, so it would be] who is super intelligent. The other is a deformed tormented thing that does bad. But it is so tormented, and none of it his fault, that most definitely you feel bad, bad, bad when he has to go down. Of course there were a human protagonist and villains also, but I didn’t care as much about them. I’m glad you pointed out to look for the ‘right’ outcome for the villain, because this baby was so tormented, it would’ve been cruel to make it live in captivity. Bastard scientists. In the novel that I have coming out, my villains are controlled by another ‘villain,’ but it didn’t even want to be part of the whole operation and was kidnapped into it. Even then it is merely acting as it would in any setting. Hope this will satisfy your laser-like scrutiny. The underling villains, as it were, are motivated by insatiable needs. And they love each other. Kind of basic. But this is a first novel. All I can handle yet. Hope this will satisfy your laser-like scrutiny.

By: Stephanie Scott

Stephanie Scott — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:24:57 +0000

I loooove this show. And–no spoilers–the very theme of contrast is evident up to the very last word spoken on the series. For those planning to watch, Justified has one of the best series endings I’ve seen (and I’ve watched a lot), especially from a writing perspective. The characters are all layered and complex.

By: Francis Concepcion

Francis Concepcion — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 12:32:37 +0000

One villain I can never forget is from the Japanese Anime, “Death Note”. The villain, Yagami Light, is also the POV character. So you really get into his head from the start. He’s a genius sociopath given a power over death, wherein he can kill anyone whose name he writes on the Death Note. Given such power, he decides to use it to rid the world of every criminal and law-breaker. His opponent: a brilliant detective nicknamed L (precisely because he’s already deduced that Light can kill with just a name and a face). L turns out to be Light’s equal, and has decided that Light is just another murderer with a childish understanding of justice. The contrast between both characters is huge, but at the same time as thin as ice.

By: lorieadair

lorieadair — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 17:34:37 +0000

Excellent post which I’m applying to the first draft of a new novel. Breaking Bad:
Jesse v. Walter White

By: Eloise

Eloise — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 10:53:45 +0000

I much prefer series to movies because they spend so much longer developing both protagonists and villains. You can really get into the skin of both. I love House of Cards because the protagonist is also the villain. You can’t help but get drawn into his intrigue, almost wanting him to succeed, while at the same time thinking he is utterly vile. As the series progresses, his wife gradually changes from being his equally ruthless ally to becoming an antagonist, which really adds an extra layer of richness to the story.

By: Lora D

Lora D — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 03:15:24 +0000

Two thoughts on variations of this topic:

1) Sometimes the antagonist is “inside” of the protagonist–the hero has to wage an epic war with unforgivable guilt or PTSD or something that is utterly destroying the person. These characters are even more riveting to me than two separate people with conflicting goals.

2) One of my favorite writers sometimes has the vile (multi-dimensional and somewhat sympathetic) antagonist reach the point of utter destruction. Just when they are about to be eradicated forever (yay!), they undergo a major life transformation (by the power of God’s forgiveness)–initiated by the incredible character growth of the protagonist. It is a completely unexpected and utterly stunning twist. Sometimes the villain dies anyway–but their change of heart helps heal the wounds inflicted on the protagonist, and sometimes they get a second chance at life (and become the protagonist of the next book in the series).

Variations of the typical antagonist can be wonderfully captivating if they are written expertly.