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ask yourself these questions:

1. was the antagonist once the protagonist's friend/family?
2. is the antagonist human?
3. how evil is the antagonist?
4. how successfull are the antagonist's plans? (is he bumbling or professional?)
5. does he have a sort of theme?
6. what is he doing that makes him evil?

after all of these questions are answered, you should have a better idea of how he/she looks.

2ndLtHavoc:
Ah, but my problem lies not in being unable to visualize the enemy, I can do that just fine, but rather in thinking them up in the first place. As in, I have no clue who they even are.

dark_angel_damian2:
My problem with the shadow thing is that it's wa~~y to cheezy. xd
It's not that it's a bad idea, in fact I know of a few games and stories that used it to good effect. But it's just not for me. xd
And demonic manipulation poses a similar problem to the one I'm having now, in that I have no clue what kind demon it would be, what would I name it, why is it manipulating character #2596, etc...

My views;

First, before anything, you should have your base idea. How is the world? Happy and peacfull with no war, and abundant land and supplies? Is it conquered by a corrupt government, or ruled over by cult like religious nuts?

That may not seem important, but its one of the many factors you can use.

Next, what kind of person do you WANT to be the villian?

Easy going and humorous with a hint of corruption? (kefka ftw)
Maybe he's sarcastic and taunts the hero alot?

Another quaint thing. The personality of the villain can be created like ANY other character, which would make your job a bit easier. And the villians goals and plans can be determined with his personality a lot easier.

Other things to consider, is his past. and his goals.
What goal should he have? Or better, what should your heroes quest be to stop?
Do you want the world to be in peril of destruction? Perhaps to save the cosmos, or even another world entirely. Maybe just to redeem your honor. Or even to rebel against a corrupt goverment that is slowly being taken over by an evil man, and waging civil war.


with his goal, you can ask yourself "what would drive someone to do this?
He wants to destroy the world? Maybe he suffered a near death experience at the hands of someone close, and realized that humans are scum. Who knows, its endless.


If you have a goal, and a motive, then you need a means.

Is he insanely powerful already? Does he hold a powerful position in the government, or a country? Is he under cover, working in the shadows, or does the whole world know he is out to get them?
Maybe he even has to climb up from the very bottom rung of the ladder(of evil) and the hero tries to thwart him every step of the way.

Again, its endless.

naming them doesn't HAVE to be meaningfull. If he;s a terrifying warrior, clad in dark armor and commanding powerful undead warriors, you could give him a necromancer-ish name, or a dark name.

Then, if he's pretty run of the mill, the name can just be like any other. Who says all dark warriors have to be named something intimidating? Hell, name him theodore.


Well, thats about all the advice i can give on that bit.

Actually, if you want badasses, you look at the Smith Syndicate and Kun-Lan in Killer 7. And just about every character in No More Heroes. Though come to think of it they're all pretty much just batshit crazy. xd

Thank you for the advice Raining-Apples. It was very useful. I managed to create one of the antagonists. 3nodding
And thank you too, 2ndLtHavoc and dark_angel_damian2. 3nodding

You got already good advice but I'll let out my lil habit I do.

I have that same problem but not only with villians, but with every character. Now thats a bit annoying for me. Like you said, you can't visualize the villain.

What I do, before I think of what his background/future goals or even the villain name, I draw him out.

What do I want him to look like, very gothic like? or very modern and simple? Does he look innocent and deceive others because of that? Does he wear causal, or a uniform? How his hair is like, nice and clean, or messy and unimportant.

Once I drew what he LOOKS like, then I start to think as too WHY I drew him that way. He looks innocent because he was once a priest? Does he wear a uniform out of a memory? anything the villan looks can create background. Thats my lil advice.

kuja is a guy from ff7 advent children isnt he