What makes a villain interesting?

Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
I'm planning on getting into writing again and I'm in the planning stages of my story. Currently trying to figure out what sort of villain I want.


Do you think all villains need a motive or backstory that is sympathetic or makes sense, or do you sometimes enjoy villains that are just evil for the sake of being evil?

Trying to gauge. I  can use both if I have multiple baddies I guess.


Korra | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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uhhh...

- korrie
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes


Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?


Korra | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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uhhh...

- korrie
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?
Agents of chaos? Sure. Just don't make then overly annoying.


 
Elai
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male, he/him

dracula can eat my whole ass!
How willing they are to team up with Spider-man to rule the city.


Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?
Agents of chaos? Sure. Just don't make then overly annoying.
I was thinking more along the lines of them being in charge of running a city as a dictator for so long that they don't see how they could do it any other way.


Korra | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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uhhh...

- korrie
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?
Agents of chaos? Sure. Just don't make then overly annoying.
I was thinking more along the lines of them being in charge of running a city as a dictator for so long that they don't see how they could do it any other way.
So Doctor Doom?


Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?
Agents of chaos? Sure. Just don't make then overly annoying.
I was thinking more along the lines of them being in charge of running a city as a dictator for so long that they don't see how they could do it any other way.
So Doctor Doom?

Yeah guess so. They're not exactly a hero by any means but they keep order well enough.


Korra | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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uhhh...

- korrie
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?
Agents of chaos? Sure. Just don't make then overly annoying.
I was thinking more along the lines of them being in charge of running a city as a dictator for so long that they don't see how they could do it any other way.
So Doctor Doom?

Yeah guess so. They're not exactly a hero by any means but they keep order well enough.
Just analyze Magneto and Doom's characters and see what you can take from them.


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The angel agreed to trade a set of white wings for the head of another demon. Overjoyed, the demon killed one of his own and plucked the head right off its still-warm body.

The angel then led the demon to heaven, where he underwent centuries of the cruelest tortures imaginable. Finally, the pain was so great that he lost consciousness - at which point his dark wings turned the promised shade of white.
I dont really care for motives as much as their mentality. Im drawn to less sane characters like Joker, theyre fascinating.


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I love you, son.
How willing they are to team up with Spider-man to rule the city.


 
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You will find out who you are not a thousand times, before you ever discover who you are. I hope you find peace in yourself and learn to love instead of hate.
I dont really care for motives as much as their mentality. Im drawn to less sane characters like Joker, theyre fascinating.
D A M A G E D


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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
Okay so this is a really rough draft of what I have.

Basically, the setting is a fantasy land where portals open and people from other dimensions get dropped in and nobody quite knows why. It's a bit of a mish mash land with many different types of characters like knights, cowboys, witches, etc.

Long ago in the past, the world was pretty much Earth and there was a massive war. One of the soldiers, seeking an end to the conflict, found and used an ancient magic spell that essentially opened up a rift that wiped out both sides and began to draw other worlds closer to this one, dragging people in. He was fine with it at first, but as time has gone on and more and more people have appeared he began to see that the peaceful world he created was being slowly torn apart and corrupted by the ever growing population.

He took to acting as more of a dictator and cordoning off the different cultures by force, and closing any new portals that appeared to prevent new people entering the world. If anyone new does enter, he kills them. He doesn't enjoy it, and at the start he even hated it but as time has gone on he sees it as necessary and isn't bothered by it at all.
Last Edit: August 10, 2017, 12:46:08 PM by Big Boss


Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
I don't want my main villain to be a colossal asshole but I'm fine with making his underlings a bunch of scumbags who enjoy being nasty to people.


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The angel agreed to trade a set of white wings for the head of another demon. Overjoyed, the demon killed one of his own and plucked the head right off its still-warm body.

The angel then led the demon to heaven, where he underwent centuries of the cruelest tortures imaginable. Finally, the pain was so great that he lost consciousness - at which point his dark wings turned the promised shade of white.
I dont really care for motives as much as their mentality. Im drawn to less sane characters like Joker, theyre fascinating.
D A M A G E D
>that time i told gats to kys
I N S A N E


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Toys are hereby declared:
ILLEGAL
IMMORAL
UNLAWFUL
 anyone found with a TOY in his possession will be
placed under ARREST and thrown in the DUNGEON!
No kidding!               🅱
I'm a fan of charismatic villains who know what they want and know how to spin it in a way that seems justified or actually believe what they're doing is right.  Darth Maul would be a good example of that, but the Dr Nefarious and Emperor Palpatine types are fun, too.  Oh and GLaDOS


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Get of my lawn
A good backstory of how they got to be there. That's a good start. From there a believable powerset that is explained and used effectively. Dr Doom is a great example of this.


Doctor Doom | Mythic Invincible!
 
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the one true God is Doctor Doom and we should all be worshiping him.
I'd go with sympathetic motives and ideals as well. Villains that have legitimate reasons for their atrocities are infinitely more interesting than villains who do evil things because they're evil. Or in other words, take a look at Carnage or the Joker, and then do the exact opposite.

One trick I've picked up is to spend a few chapters from the villain's perspective, write them as a second protagonist, and try to get the reader to understand their thought process. Write them from a neutral standpoint, not judging or demonizing, and present their actions as arguably reasonable in context, but still at odds with the protagonist. This helps make the character whose actions will drive the story more than just a talking obstacle the hero has to overcome.


Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
Maybe if it turns out that they're more of an anti villain, and there's an even more sinister, otherworldly force behind them that has corrupted them somehow to the point that their original goal has been lost.


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His eyebrows sparkling, his white beard hangs down to his chest. The thatched mats, spread outside his chise, spread softly, his splendid attos. He polishes, cross-legged, his makiri, with his eyes completely absorbed.

He is Ainu.

The god of Ainu Mosir, Ae-Oine Kamuy, descendant of Okiku-Rumi, He perishes, a living corpse. The summers day, the white sunlight, unabrushed, ends simply through his breath alone.
abs, leather jackets, and cheesy one liners


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They say you are what you eat, but I don't remember eating mYsELF
i like when you can't really fault a villain for their actions like... you know it's evil but you can also justify it and it causes  you to question everything

like that character from watchmen(?) who killed millions of people to prevent a nuclear fallout that would have destroyed the planet


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I like villains that do really evil shit. That make you hate them


 
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I DONT GIVE A SINGLE -blam!- MOTHER -blam!-ER ITS A MOTHER -blam!-ING FORUM, OH WOW, YOU HAVE THE WORD NINJA BELOW YOUR NAME, HOW MOTHER -blam!-ING COOL, NOT, YOUR ARE NOTHING TO ME BUT A BRAINWASHED PIECE OF SHIT BLOGGER, PEOPLE ONLY LIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE NINJA BELOW YOUR NAME, SO PLEASE PUNCH YOURAELF IN THE FACE AND STAB YOUR EYE BECAUSE YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PIECE OF SHIT OF SOCIETY
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His eyebrows sparkling, his white beard hangs down to his chest. The thatched mats, spread outside his chise, spread softly, his splendid attos. He polishes, cross-legged, his makiri, with his eyes completely absorbed.

He is Ainu.

The god of Ainu Mosir, Ae-Oine Kamuy, descendant of Okiku-Rumi, He perishes, a living corpse. The summers day, the white sunlight, unabrushed, ends simply through his breath alone.
abs, leather jackets, and cheesy one liners
Sounds like an action movie hero.
think of how much property damage they cause and see if they're still heroes #deep


 
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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
—Judge Aaron Satie
——Carmen
what makes villains interesting is that they think they are the heroes

What about ones who know what they are doing isn't heroic, but they are doing it just to keep things running the way they think is right?
Agents of chaos? Sure. Just don't make then overly annoying.
I was thinking more along the lines of them being in charge of running a city as a dictator for so long that they don't see how they could do it any other way.
So Doctor Doom?

Yeah guess so. They're not exactly a hero by any means but they keep order well enough.
Sounds like Dante Wallace from The 100.

"I bear it so they don't have to."


 
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I DONT GIVE A SINGLE -blam!- MOTHER -blam!-ER ITS A MOTHER -blam!-ING FORUM, OH WOW, YOU HAVE THE WORD NINJA BELOW YOUR NAME, HOW MOTHER -blam!-ING COOL, NOT, YOUR ARE NOTHING TO ME BUT A BRAINWASHED PIECE OF SHIT BLOGGER, PEOPLE ONLY LIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE NINJA BELOW YOUR NAME, SO PLEASE PUNCH YOURAELF IN THE FACE AND STAB YOUR EYE BECAUSE YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PIECE OF SHIT OF SOCIETY
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His eyebrows sparkling, his white beard hangs down to his chest. The thatched mats, spread outside his chise, spread softly, his splendid attos. He polishes, cross-legged, his makiri, with his eyes completely absorbed.

He is Ainu.

The god of Ainu Mosir, Ae-Oine Kamuy, descendant of Okiku-Rumi, He perishes, a living corpse. The summers day, the white sunlight, unabrushed, ends simply through his breath alone.
abs, leather jackets, and cheesy one liners
Sounds like an action movie hero.
think of how much property damage they cause and see if they're still heroes #deep
Taxation is theft
action heroes work in conjunction with the government to pave way for rebuilding the state as they wish by destroying the livelihood of innocent bystanders


 
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This is not the greatest sig in the world, no. This is just a tribute.
abs, leather jackets, and cheesy one liners
Sounds like an action movie hero.
think of how much property damage they cause and see if they're still heroes #deep
Taxation is theft
action heroes work in conjunction with the government to pave way for rebuilding the state as they wish by destroying the livelihood of innocent bystanders
Captain America is a globalist Jew puppet


 
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I DONT GIVE A SINGLE -blam!- MOTHER -blam!-ER ITS A MOTHER -blam!-ING FORUM, OH WOW, YOU HAVE THE WORD NINJA BELOW YOUR NAME, HOW MOTHER -blam!-ING COOL, NOT, YOUR ARE NOTHING TO ME BUT A BRAINWASHED PIECE OF SHIT BLOGGER, PEOPLE ONLY LIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU HAVE NINJA BELOW YOUR NAME, SO PLEASE PUNCH YOURAELF IN THE FACE AND STAB YOUR EYE BECAUSE YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PIECE OF SHIT OF SOCIETY
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Big Boss | Mythic Card Master
 
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Jacob Potila was actually a Jacob Flotilla of lies.- WarTurkey
Been pondering it, and I kinda like the idea of finding out that the guy you think is the villain is just a washed up remnant of what he used to be

But also without dropping a new sudden surprise bad guy out of nowhere as the REAL big bad