What Makes a Good Villain? + Checklist to Help You Write Your Own
Writing a good book entails lots of love, hard work, and skill. To craft a great story, you need to balance fun and dramatic characters with realistic thoughts and actions. Just as with good-natured characters, this concept also applies to villains.
All story conflicts originate from a source, and in most books those sources are villains. They oppose heroes, start fights, and may also cause harm and destruction to others. Even minor villains have important roles in the hero’s journey, no matter how long they appear in the story.
In this article, we will explore what makes a good villain character and how to write a great one.
In this article:
What Is a Villain?
A villain in a story is a character whose motives and actions oppose and challenge those of the hero. Most, if not all, of their actions have to have a great impact on the hero. As a result, the hero can grow and learn from their struggles against their enemy.
You might think that villains must be completely evil and morally bankrupt in order to carry out those roles. However, in some cases, they might turn out to be regular or even good people who went down a dark path.
What Makes a Good Villain?
Some genres have different standards for creating villains. For instance, fantasy books tend to feature powerful, intelligent villains who have high ambitions. On the other hand, a villain in a contemporary romance book can be a narcissistic family member or a jealous ex-lover.
Still, most villain characters have a few traits in common. Choosing the right characteristics for yours can give them new depths regardless of the genre of your book.
1. Posing a True Challenge to the Hero
The most important aspect of a villain is their connection to the hero. After all, the conflict in a story comes from an opposing force that stands in the hero’s way. In many stories, this force tends to be a character whose goals contrast with those of the hero.
Take a detective as your protagonist, for example. Their goal can be solving a cold case from twenty years ago. However, a superior officer who was involved in the crime sabotages the detective’s efforts to solve the case. Here, the villain (the superior officer) poses a challenge to the hero’s attempts to solve that case.
One thing you can also do is base your villain’s strengths on the hero’s weaknesses. That way, the hero has to overcome that weakness or work around it to defeat their enemy. To paint a clearer picture, our detective from the previous example might have problems with challenging authority and thinking critically for himself. Meanwhile, the superior officer has no problem using his power to manipulate the detective and take advantage of his weakness.
2. Having the Right Motivation
What pushed your villain to go down a dark path in the first place? By answering that question, you can explore your villain’s backstory, which can become the source of their motivation to do what they do.
Note that by backstory we mean anything from a fleeting need to a complicated childhood or past. Whatever background your villain comes from, their past has to affect their present actions in some way.
Perhaps your character was once a child raised in an abusive home. This led them to become cold and violent as they grew up. As another example, what if they had fought in a war? The trauma from that experience would haunt their present and might even be the source of their misguided plan for world peace.
Note that classic “evil-for-the-sake-of-evil” villains can also work in genres like high fantasy, paranormal, and mystery. That’s because these genres tend to focus less on the villain’s personality and more on the effects of their actions. However, it will take skill to implement one such villain in a serious tone without breaking reader immersion.
3. Being Self-Centered
Whether or not they think they’re doing the right thing, villains see themselves as the main character of their story. They often believe that their goals are more important than anyone else’s and must be achieved at any cost.
Keep in mind that villains being self-absorbed happens regardless of their true motives or background. In other words, a character who commits crimes to save one person at the expense of hundreds is still a villain.
4. Being Powerful and Resourceful
Part of what makes villains such big threats is how much power they have over the hero and, in turn, the plot. For traditional villains, power comes in the form of authority or money. However, it can also come in all shapes and sizes, from knowledge and information to skills and special traits.
To that end, even minor villains should have some kind of power that gets in the hero’s way. In that way, they’d act as smaller challenges for the hero to overcome before they face the main enemy. For instance, an evil king might have advisors and dukes that the hero must reason with or defeat in order to reach the king. That’s why it’s a good idea to skillfully integrate your less important villains into the main one’s master plan.
5. Taking Action and Being Proactive
Just like heroes, villains start acting on their plans when the right moment comes. In order for a regular character to turn into a villain, they must commit some sort of deed that causes trouble or harm to someone else. Even those who play the long game, like cunning advisors, take small steps here and there that still affect the plot and other characters.
In other words, a regular citizen doesn’t become a villain until they actually commit the crime they are thinking of committing. Similarly, an ally doesn’t turn into an enemy until they stab the hero in the back, literally or figuratively.
6. Expressing Normal Human Behaviors, Emotions, or Beliefs
While not the case for all of them, some villains benefit from having genuine emotions and beliefs. For example, a serial killer can have a hidden soft spot for animals or volunteer in tree-planting efforts. They might also have “normal” hobbies like painting or watching TV.
Adding such sides to your villain can make them more realistic to your readers. By adding some human quirks to your villain, you remind readers that villains can also exist in real life. As a result, having a complex villain with humane traits might even make them more terrifying than a flat character, especially in horror stories.
More importantly, some villains might have unique morals that they follow no matter what. These can range from having a meticulous schedule for their plans to protecting vulnerable women and children from abusers. Depending on the rest of your story, these morals can become strengths or weaknesses.
7. Having Interesting Personality Quirks
Lastly, a great villain has to be entertaining to the readers and keep them invested in the story. For instance, your villain can have a great sense of humor, or they can be extremely smart and come up with the most elaborate and intelligent plans to defeat the hero.
Try to give your villain a quality that will hook your readers. It doesn’t have to be exaggerated, but it has to make the character memorable.
How to Write a Good Villain
Now that you know all the basic characteristics of a villain, let’s explore the practical side of writing one. And in case you need extra assistance, you will find at the end of this section a handy downloadable worksheet that shows you how to write a great villain.
1. Base Them Off of a Real-Life Person
If you study other people in your daily life, you’ll find that humans are complex creatures. Everybody has different beliefs and behaviors that affect their lives. The same can also be said for fictional characters, including villains. So, you can benefit from basing your villain on a person with relevant qualities or behaviors.
One of the perks of doing this is that you have many examples to choose from, be it from people in your life or public figures. Moreover, having a specific inspiration for your villain can help you shape their personality and actions, making them more believable.
2. Put Yourself (or Your Inspiration) in Their Shoes
Next, try imagining how you would act if you were in your villain’s shoes. How would you react to the events happening in the plot? Take notes of how you think you might feel about these events and respond to them.
Alternatively, you can substitute yourself for someone else if you have difficulty picturing yourself in your villain’s place. This person can be the inspiration behind the character or someone you know with similar traits or beliefs.
3. Match Their Motivation and Personality with Their Actions and Plans
There’s almost nothing that pulls readers out of a fictional world faster than a character’s actions conflicting with their motivations. To avoid this, make sure to match your villain’s motives with how they act. Consider how they think and what beliefs they have. How does their particular pattern of thinking make them behave?
For example, a sociopathic villain will not feel any remorse when taking advantage of others. If being a sociopath doesn’t match your character’s personality, try making them empathetic instead. They will still prioritize their evil plans, but they might regret their actions if they backfire. On that note, empathetic villains are more likely to redeem themselves later on.
4. Give Them an Appropriate Introduction
How you introduce your villains affects how your readers perceive them throughout a story. Even in the case of surprise or secret villains, your introduction should respect their personalities whilst hinting at their motives.
There are three kinds of introductions you can write for your villain:
- Memorable: Does your villain enter the scene with an explosion? Or do they slam the doors open to enter a courtroom? These are just two examples of villain entrances that your readers may find hard to forget. Note that these introductions work best for stories that have lots of drama or action.
- Subtle: For some villains, a subtle entrance works well in their favor. This could mean introducing a villain in a low-risk setting, such as passing by the hero’s office or running into them at the market. These subtle introductions allow villains to stay under the radar until their plans are revealed to the readers.
- Friendly: What if your villain has likable qualities or a friendly attitude? In this case, they might run into the hero in the street and invite them to a cup of coffee. Or, if they already know each other, the villain can start a conversation with the hero or even help them out with a difficult task. You can take the friendly introduction route for characters like fake friends who turn out to be villains.
5. Make Their Presence in the Story Powerful
As the story unfolds, your readers need to feel the villain’s presence even if they don’t physically appear in the chapter they’re reading. One way to do this is by having the villain hold power and influence over the hero through means like blackmail or other threats. This leads to a higher tension and a robust conflict, which leaves readers wondering how the hero will deal with the villain.
Another point to note here is that a villain’s plans and actions can affect other characters and plot events as well, not only the hero’s. In fact, the bigger the impact they have on other characters, the stronger their presence will be in the story.
6. Make Them Have Major Weaknesses
You might feel like you should make your villain indestructible. However, that method can lead to a bland character and uninteresting conflict. Instead, try adding one major weakness to your villain, like a bad temper or paranoia. This way, there would be a weakness that the hero can take advantage of when they defeat their enemy.
Let’s take the example of an evil man who kidnaps a little girl. The man might be tall, with intimidating muscles and a stern face, which makes the girl terrified of him. Even so, he has one major weakness: he is afraid of thunderstorms and locks himself in a remote room on stormy nights. When the girl discovers this fear, she decides to escape on such a night and finds a police officer who can take her home.
7. Include Minor Villains or Minions
For antagonists that have power and authority, you can add a few other minor villains to emphasize the power of the main one. For example, a war general can have a few lieutenants under their command, whom the hero must defeat first before getting to the main villain.
Doing this reminds your readers of the main villain’s presence, even if only the minions appear in the chapter. Also, it helps give the hero minor goals to achieve before the final confrontation, which can help progress their character arc.
8. Take Inspiration from Villain Tropes
Last but not least, you can follow existing villain tropes or take inspiration from them. Villain tropes are common actions or concepts that many villains in existing media have followed. Here are a few of the best ones that appear in many works of fiction:
- The reluctant villain: This is a villain who was forced into the role, whether by circumstance or by accident. They tend to hate being a villain but can’t do anything to change their fate. Examples include minions or assistants of the villain, crime family heirs, or desperate business owners who are being extorted by the mafia.
- The fallen hero: Fallen heroes are characters who once did good deeds. However, over time, their motives or situations have changed to the point that they become a villain. They can be characters like former allies of the hero, disgraced politicians, or mad scientists.
- The mastermind: A mastermind plans for every detail and possibility of their evil scheme. Their intelligence and resourcefulness often surpass the hero’s. Masterminds tend to be people with authority, but sometimes you will find underdogs and ambitious characters in this category as well.
- The redeemed villain: Some characters start out evil and antagonistic. Despite that, they might undergo a character arc in which they join the heroes’ side. One example of a redeemed villain is a self-centered, cruel character developing a genuine friendship with a hero.
Download our free printable worksheet and create your villain today!
Examples of Great Villains
To put the aforementioned tips into practice, let’s look at two examples of well-written villains in greater detail. While both share common characteristics, each presents different challenges and problems to their respective heroes.
Be warned that this section contains spoilers!
1. The Joker (from The Dark Knight)
The Joker is an iconic villain, serving as Batman’s most terrifying adversary since his introduction in the 1940s. In Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, he strives to reduce Gotham City to pure anarchy. His motives are fueled by the philosophy that anyone can become corrupt and villainous.
Let’s look at the Joker’s characteristics in more depth:
- Trope: The Joker is a self-proclaimed agent of chaos and, more importantly, the arch-nemesis of Batman.
- Motivation: His main goal is to create chaos and anarchy in Gotham as well as push the idea that anyone can be a villain like him. He also challenges Batman’s moral code.
- Personality traits: The Joker is cruel, sadistic, manipulative, and completely unpredictable. He is a wild card in Gotham’s criminal world and in the eyes of the law.
- Relationship with the heroes: In Joker’s eyes, Batman is an essential figure who exists to counter his plans. As a result, the Joker believes that he needs Batman as much as Batman needs a nemesis to bring to justice.
- How he was defeated: Batman manages to capture the Joker, but only after the villain has transformed celebrated district attorney, Harvey Dent, into the villain Two-Face.
2. Lord Voldemort (from Harry Potter)
Lord Voldemort is the main villain of the Harry Potter series thanks to his mastery of the Dark Arts. Fueled by his fear of death, he chases immortality by any means necessary. As a result, his power and impact can be felt across the whole series even when he doesn’t physically appear in a chapter.
This iconic villain has the following characteristics:
- Trope: Voldemort is an evil, power-obsessed dark lord.
- Motivation: His main goal is to achieve immortality and reign over the wizarding world as its supreme ruler.
- Personality traits: Due to his obsession with power and immortality, Voldemort is ruthless, intelligent, and highly ambitious. He is also a psychopath and can be classified as irredeemably evil.
- Relationship with the heroes: Voldemort’s connection to Harry Potter runs quite deep because of the Horcrux (an object containing a part of his soul) he had placed on Harry. Additionally, there is a prophecy binding them, which states that one of them must kill the other.
- How he was defeated: Possessing the Elder Wand, which protects its owner from death, allows Harry to deflect the spell Voldemort tries to use to kill him. Because of this, Voldemort’s spell rebounds to him, giving him a fatal wound.
3. Princess Azula (from Avatar: The Last Airbender)
One of the most compelling villains in animated TV is Princess Azula from the show Avatar: The Last Airbender. She uses her genius mind and her authority as a princess to track down the heroes and conquer a well-defended city. Ironically, her obsession with power and control over others eventually leads to her downfall.
Let’s dive deeper into Princess Azula’s characteristics:
- Trope: Azula is a classic mastermind.
- Motivation: Azula wants to seize power over others, both allies and enemies, at any cost. Deep down, she also strives to please her father.
- Personality traits: She is ruthless, cunning, smart, and manipulative. Additionally, her strength and abilities are more deadly than most of the other characters in the story.
- Relationship with the heroes: Azula is the younger sister of Zuko, a redeemed villain who later joins the heroes. More importantly, she is the daughter of the Fire Lord, the main villain whom the heroes need to defeat. As for her relationship with Aang, the titular character, she almost succeeds in killing him, making her one of, if not the most dangerous antagonists in the show.
- How she was defeated: After her friends’ betrayal, Azula is set to become the new Fire Lord, though her mental state continues to deteriorate. When she faces Zuko and Katara from Team Avatar in a duel, Azula is unbalanced and unhinged. They manage to defeat her, and this defeat, combined with her failed coronation, pushes her over the edge.
Final Thoughts
Writing villains can be quite fun once you know the secrets of creating them. And if you get the formula right, you will have compelling villain characters that your readers will love (to hate). That’s a win-win!
Do you have any insights of your own on writing great villains? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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