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 Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:16 pm
Villains and their dastardly schemes...what makes it good and bad? Motivations anyone?
My primary villain is predominantly motivated by greed. Sweet, simple lust for as much power and wealth as he can lay hold of in his short lifespan. My secondary villain has vague revenge fantasies, but mostly wants to usurp the throne.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:51 pm
Unfortunately I can't explain much about mine right now. I'm still figuring some things out about them. I've made some of them, found their role, but still figuring out some of the whys.
If I say too much it'll give away parts of the plot, and I want as much of my work to be a surprise. I'm also very protective over my work.
I'll have a think as to what I can add regarding different motives for villains though, except world domination (aka greed).
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Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:45 pm
I suppose that when creating a villain, you can't really go around creating something new and original, can you? It's all about either taking over the world or alike; or even making the most money. I haven't seen many villains who just want to destroy everything though (yes, even themselves). I have a character like that in one of my stories, as you may have guessed, he lost everything and just wants to end life for everyone in the world. My heroic characters have to save the day of course but there is a twist to the story and that's where it gets interesting. I'm not gonna say it but you can be sure that it's gonna be funny aside from cool. Or at least I think so... mrgreen
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Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:07 am
It's not always about taking over or destroying an entire world though. In some fantasy works it's thwarting a particular king in order to take over his kingdom, or something of the likes, so it's one realm rather than a world.
Villains are generally all about corruption which will pretty much always involve getting the upper hand in something in one way or another, if not ruling or destroying something.
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:56 pm
Yeah, I know it's not always about an entire world but it's still about taking over something, even if it's just taking over someone's mind which, is much smaller than a kingdom and much larger than a universe, if you catch my drift. I heard how some villains only care about taking over someone's heart. Don't you? But those aren't exactly very common, are they?
That villain I was talking about was just an ordinary person who got so disappointed in the world and everything in it. I don't think he's as corrupted as other villains though... neutral
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Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:22 pm
Actually, I have to say that I quite enjoy it when there isn't a straight 'villain' doing the 'bad' thing for the 'hero' to defeat... having a fairly sympathetic antagonist that comes into conflict with the protagonist over something less 'black and white' can be very entertaining. The easiest example I can think of is Death Note, where the plot centres around someone who is essentially murdering people, but the victims he's choosing are criminals and in his mind he's killing them to make a better world (albeit one in which he is the new 'god' & everyone will fear his judgement).
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Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:48 am
Unfortunately my main villains are currently conventional and stereotypical, but I am trying to think of ways to make that somewhat different but with the same kind of essence. That's proving to be awkward thus far.
In Maggie Furey's Shadowleague trilogy, the initial villain remains a villain for about three chapters, and then realises he's made a terrible mistake and spends the rest of the story trying to sort the problem out on his own, although he is still seen to be the bad guy by many.
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Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:04 pm
DM_Melkhar Unfortunately my main villains are currently conventional and stereotypical, but I am trying to think of ways to make that somewhat different but with the same kind of essence. That's proving to be awkward thus far.
In Maggie Furey's Shadowleague trilogy, the initial villain remains a villain for about three chapters, and then realises he's made a terrible mistake and spends the rest of the story trying to sort the problem out on his own, although he is still seen to be the bad guy by many. Hmm, I might have to check out this Shadowleague trilogy, I kept meaning to look it up before when you mentioned it, but forgot what it was called! As regards your 'main villains', I think you've got potential for them not neccessarily being 'evil', but instead just misunderstood & discriminated against for being different... I know that can be equally 'cliche', but I'm sure you can add detail to spin it in an interesting manner.
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Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 10:28 am
Eoforgar DM_Melkhar Unfortunately my main villains are currently conventional and stereotypical, but I am trying to think of ways to make that somewhat different but with the same kind of essence. That's proving to be awkward thus far.
In Maggie Furey's Shadowleague trilogy, the initial villain remains a villain for about three chapters, and then realises he's made a terrible mistake and spends the rest of the story trying to sort the problem out on his own, although he is still seen to be the bad guy by many. Hmm, I might have to check out this Shadowleague trilogy, I kept meaning to look it up before when you mentioned it, but forgot what it was called! As regards your 'main villains', I think you've got potential for them not neccessarily being 'evil', but instead just misunderstood & discriminated against for being different... I know that can be equally 'cliche', but I'm sure you can add detail to spin it in an interesting manner.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:27 pm
I just finished Brandon Sanderson's Elantris, and I LOVE the main villain Hrathran. Hrathran is a very logical priest from a fanatical religion hell-bent on converting the masses. He starts off being manipulative and calculating--almost cruelly so. But by the end of the story, [you want to cry when he dies].
It's so AWESOME! I wish my villains were that cool.
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Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:47 am
Well, if I ever looked at this book I already have one spoiler. No offence Scarlet, but if you're going to put spoilers in, please blank them out with white because it might literally spoil the read for others. wink
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:50 pm
Eoforgar Actually, I have to say that I quite enjoy it when there isn't a straight 'villain' doing the 'bad' thing for the 'hero' to defeat... having a fairly sympathetic antagonist that comes into conflict with the protagonist over something less 'black and white' can be very entertaining. The easiest example I can think of is Death Note, where the plot centres around someone who is essentially murdering people, but the victims he's choosing are criminals and in his mind he's killing them to make a better world (albeit one in which he is the new 'god' & everyone will fear his judgement). That's so true man! I am just beginning to see this anime and it's very cool. I've only seen 5 chapters but still... BTW, I don't know who to root for there cuz at first, I was rooting for Raito but after he made that poor detective lady go kill herself, I'm not so sure anymore... Well, I see you were able to suggest something good to Mel. You know, that name reminds me of a new pokemon (Heatran). Ha-ha! Sorry, I just couldn't resist... lol Seriously though, Mel has a point about spoilers...
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 2:25 pm
DM_Melkhar Well, if I ever looked at this book I already have one spoiler. No offence Scarlet, but if you're going to put spoilers in, please blank them out with white because it might literally spoil the read for others. wink Sorry. I didn't think that was much of a spoiler. sweatdrop
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Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:44 pm
That's ok, I think Mel can be a little rough sometimes, he-he. sweatdrop
So, are there any other villains worth mentioning?
How about characters who you think start out as villains but in reality, they turn out to be more than just common villains?
That happened to me with a character in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia called "Albus". I thought he was just another silly rival who turns out to be one of the bad guys. I was pleasantly surprised at a certain moment in the game. 3nodding
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:11 pm
In the Unicorn Chronicles, one of the villains actually converts to the good side. It's pretty cool.
I love villains that have a legitimate reason and purpose for what their doing. Like in the Unicorn Chronicles, Beloved's burning hate for unicorns stems from her father's murder perpetuated by a unicorn and the shard of unicorn horn ever healing and ever wounding her heart at the same time. It makes sense that if you were cursed for centuries with near-fatal wound that kept healing you, and the reason you had that was because of the creature that murdered your father, you'd totally have an unreasonably large chip on your shoulder. ^_^
In contrast, I hate villains that are criminally insane and love killing people just for the heck of it. That's why I can't stand Joker. Sorry, I know he's a classic and all, but he should have been put out of his misery long ago. You can't rehab demented people like that. But the system tries anyway. rolleyes
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