Writing Great Villains, Part Two

A couple of weeks ago, I was cruising Netflix when I saw that Luke Cage Season 2 was out. Excited, I texted my wife at work to let her know what we would be watching in the immediate future. Now, I’m not big on binging TV shows. I am far too busy. Besides, if it’s a good show, I need time to process what I’ve just watched.

We watched one or two episodes a day for about seven days. After watching Luke Cage, I have come to the conclusion that the best villains on television are in that show. Why are they so good? I’m glad you asked. In part two of Writing Great Villains, we will go over how to make villains so appealing and real, your readers will root for them! (And mourn when they lose.)

Villains must be in pain. One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is:

“I do mean that wickedness, when you examine it, turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way. You can be good for the mere sake of goodness: you cannot be bad for the mere sake of badness.” – Mere Christianity

No one does evil for its own sake. People do evil things – sometimes knowingly, many times unknowingly – for good reasons. (At least, the reasons seem good to them.) You must incorporate this into your villains.

Why is the other woman trying to break up your heroine’s marriage? It’s not enough to paint her as some selfish she-devil who collects men’s hearts like trophies. What is she going through that makes loving a married man an acceptable choice?

Why is that international jewel thief in your thriller a jewel thief? Is it just the exhilaration of the chase, or do they have a family to take care of? Are they trying to get revenge for a wrong committed against them, or are they truly a thrill seeker? If they are, why?

In Luke Cage Season 1, we meet a local arms dealer nicknamed Cottonmouth. He is the main antagonist for most of the season. In flashbacks we see that Cottonmouth grew up in the preeminent crime family of Harlem. When it came out that his uncle had been sexually abusing his cousin, Cottonmouth murdered his uncle in cold blood. Cottonmouth was 13 at the time of the crime. A shy, musically gifted boy started a life of crime in that moment.

Villains must have their own code. It takes a lot of brain work to convince yourself that doing wrong is the right thing to do. It takes a skewed worldview, self-delusion, and indignation all bred from pain to convince a person that doing wrong is doing right. To get there, villains must have their own moral code.
As you plot out your story and flesh out your villain, make their code clear and concise. You, as the writer, never have to mention it in the story – but you should hint at it. You should highlight the juxtaposition inherent in that code. Something redeemable within the villain. Their love of children, or the fact that they never break an oath. Something to give the reader pause. They should have their own worldview that they’ve developed because of their pain. A legitimate (from their point of view) reason for doing what they do.

Villains should be sympathetic. I say should, as opposed to must, because sympathy is in the eye of the beholder. Many times I have read a book or watched a film and felt true pity for the villain, only to discover my friends, watching the same film or reading the same book, have no sympathy at all. Can we also admit that sometimes it’s just nice to discover an antagonist who can be thoroughly hated without reservation. So, you be the judge in your own story.

I will say this, though: thoughtful stories demand complex villains. Villains with depth and pain. Villains who give the reader pause. Here are some examples:

• Alex from A Clockwork Orange, while being addicted to violence, is also very passionate about Beethoven.
• Professor Moriarty is a fastidious nobleman and math professor whose cruelty and criminal intent lead toward a confrontation with Sherlock Holmes. Yet in spite of their conflict, Moriarty enjoys the cat-and-mouse game with Holmes.
• In Luke Cage, Mariah Dillard is a local councilwoman and philanthropist who also controls all the illegal gun sales in Harlem. She keeps drug pushers off Harlem’s streets while building homes for the poor and free daycare for struggling mothers. All of her illegal activities are done to legitimize her family’s shady past, to make up for her own brutal past.

Villains should be fun. If you’re not having fun writing the villain, why are you writing them? You should have fun writing your villains. Remember, villains should have an arc, too. So have fun and play with your villains. Let the villains be outrageous and over-the-top and fun.