Post by FangedSmile on Feb 16, 2006 4:49:34 GMT -6
They are probably just as important as the hero. So… how do you make a good villain? Well, first you have to decide what type you want. To do that you have to decide what your villain’s goal is. Usually, the villain wants to take over, kill a lot of people, or just likes doing evil deeds. What type of villain is it?
I got this list from: blog.outer-court.com/archive/2005-03-20-n89.html
I might be wrong, but I think there are only 10 kinds of Hollywood movie villains:
1. The wild beast: He usually has only one eye, long unwashed hair, and he’s creeping in smelly dark alleys. He carries a big gun to attack people at random, and sometimes drives a bike. He will visit a shady bar during the movie to have someone unsuspecting pick a fight with him.
2. The gentleman killer: He’s well-educated (he knows French words), has a sense of arrogant humor, a suit, and often sports a well-trimmed beard. He usually has muscular henchman to perform killings but also kills himself at least once to prove how cold his heart is (very, very cold).
3. The small-time crook: He’s small-time (bank robber and similar), but kills a lot and without second thoughts. His down-to-earth brutality serves to add realism (hence suspense) to the movie.
4. The super villain: A super hero needs a super villain to compete against in near-eternal rivalry. Super villains are always the opposite of the super-hero and mostly have special reasons to hate him. They will always fall in, inhale or drink some poisonous green substance in the beginning of the movie to make them “super” (mostly, super-schizophrenic). The super villain is highly intelligent, usually a scientist, and feels his acts are justified.
5. The pseudo-buddy: You won’t know he’s the bad guy because he seems to be the good guy’s best friend (or his cop colleague, or his mentor, or his satanic child). Well, at least you won’t know the first time you watch this kind of movie, so once you are around 10 years old you probably do know.
6. The nemesis: He’s a big corporation kind of guy, bullying our hero within the realms of the perfectly legal (albeit immoral). A more harmless version of the nemesis didn’t quite qualify as a villain; it’s the kind of annoying career-oriented news reporter who gets knocked unconscious by the hero in the end.
7. The psycho: He’s a maniac with a smile on his face and hunts people, especially the movie hero. What separates him from other types of evil-doers is that he doesn’t want money (he’s just crazy). Sometimes the psycho is also partially a gentleman killer (see type 2).
8. The gentleman burglar: He’s actually a good guy posing as bad guy. He’s into stealing jewelry but leaves notes for the good good guy to track him down in a sort of love-hate relationship. A somewhat more brutal variant of the gentleman burglar is the mafia hit man. (Like serial killers- they WANT to be caught so they can stop)
9. The nice guy: This man will pose as clown or family man, but always starts to kill. You will see him handing candy to kids on the street during sunset, while our hero (the only one with inside knowledge) runs towards him in slow-motion, uttering a hyperdramatic “Noo-o-o-o....”
10. The sports villain: OK, the sports villain – a boxer, Karate black-belt etc. – is not really evil, he’s just trained by Russians (or whatever is the evil du jour) to beat the brains out of our hero, repeatedly.
By the way: variants 1-4 will always die at the end. 5 and 6 may die, 7 never does, and 10 mostly only ends up in hospital. 8 and 9 escape to Morocco.
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So, make a character profile for your villain, and ask yourself the following questions.
My villain’s goal is: (take over, kill kill kill, restore balance- but in an evil way... add another hour of school and homework to your da thus trumping all free-time.)
Reason: (WHY?!)
Sympathetic to: (Is your villain sympathetic to anything? Perchance… kittens?)
Met the Hero: How DID they meet anyway?
Ally: In a league of evil? Got minions? Got a master? Does he know little Johnny from down the block?
Most likely to: You know how the highschool year books have a most likely to section? Here is one for your villain.
Now, these questions help you make your profile as well. Is your villain psychological? Meaning (s)he loves to play with the hero’s mind. Or does (s)he hate the very sight of the hero and wants nothing to do with him/her. Try to write an outline where your villain pulls off his/her plan and wins. You WANT your villain to win... almost. Why? Because the more successful the villain, the more successful the story. I hate it when you know the hero is going to win- but if the villain is succeeding until the very last the chapter and it actually looks like evil will come out triumphant... now that’s a good book.
More info- Read this:
Going beyond stereotypes
Human beings like to sort people into groups. When you meet a stranger, you notice certain things immediately. Is this person old or young, black or white, male or female, rich or poor? The moment you’ve categorized the person, you may assume that he or she has all the qualities you associate with that category. This is the beginning of stereotyping, a process that leads us to false assumptions and hurtful generalizations about members of a particular group.
Readers do the same thing with the characters they meet in a book. They can be quick to think they know a person based on the group to which he or she belongs. Stereotyping leads to unfair judgments about people and characters. In recent years, editors have made an effort to publish books with characters that violate traditional, negative stereotypes. You want to be particularly aware of stereotyping when you are constructing your villain.
When portraying a villain, avoid making her a member of a group that has been unfairly stigmatized in the past. Young children are impressionable and you don’t want to reinforce misconceptions that are still prevalent in the general culture. Moreover, editors are vigilant to any hint of stereotyping and will ask you to make changes if you do so inadvertently. Another reason is that stereotypes make for dull reading. Characters that violate your readers’ expectations are always more interesting than generic ones.
Portraying poisonous people in ten easy steps
Some picture books and many books for older children sometimes feature a truly evil villain. The following is a list of ten suggestions to help you create an appropriate villain for your story:
Create a brief description of two or three potential villains.
List a number of negative personality and behavioral traits. Think of one or two admirable qualities your villain may possess. Write a description of three potential villains, keeping in mind that the villains’ major goals must run counter to the hero’s objectives.
As you write your description, think about your villain’s motives.
The villain’s role in your story is to work against good. Ask yourself–why is she doing this? Has she had negative influences in her life? What are her feelings about her life and about the main character? Is she afraid, frustrated, or angry?
Make your villain into a worthy opponent.
Don’t be afraid to create a villain who is clever and crafty. Stack the deck in his favor. Often, for most of a story, the villain will have or appear to have more power than the main character. Make it appear that the villain is going to prevail
Have your villain justify his/her actions.
Most people don’t believe they’re evil, and your villain may not think so either. Villains often justify their behavior, believing that they’re acting as anyone else would in their situation–or even that they’re acting for a good cause.
Show your villain enjoying the suffering he causes.
The easiest way to make your readers dislike your villain is to show him delighting in the pain of other characters. But don’t overdo it. If you’re writing a lighthearted story, don’t put a damper on the tone by creating a villain who’s excessively evil.
Show your villain getting or aspiring to something he isn’t entitled to.
Children have a sense of fair play. Whether your villain is a cruel tyrant who has seized the throne unlawfully or a bully who takes the main character’s lunch money, your readers will dislike someone who takes advantage of others.
Make your villain’s speech overly precise.
A character who is pedantic or uses pretentious language creates resentment and distrust.
Soften the villain with a bit of humor.
Younger children can be frightened by realistic villains. Often the villain is made a bit comic for this age group. In Here Come The Aliens by Colin McNaughton, horrible-looking space creatures are about to invade until they see horrible-looking Earthlings. The story is lots of fun and the villains aren’t really all that villainous.
Give your villain a secret.
Evil is more intriguing when a mystery is involved. Create a villain with a secret or leave something back so your readers don’t know everything about him.
This was found at this URL:
www.ellenjackson.net/index.2ts?page=1032