WATTMAG Issue #2

Why Your Villain Should Sparkle

"Every search for a hero must begin with something which every hero requires- a villain"-- Robert Towne

We all know every story we write needs a villain. Despite what we want, hope for, or believe, they are the true unsung heroes of the page. Why? Because we need them. The antagonist (the bad guy) whose actions, reactions, motives or drives push the plot and make us long for justice or hope for the hero. It's no surprise that without them, most stories end up flat words on a flat page. Don't believe me? Let's think for just a second about some major stories we all know and what would happen if there were no villain.

Cinderella. Cinderella would be a story about a normal girl living in a castle with a regular life waiting for a prince. There wouldn't be a need for a fairy godmother or glass slippers if there were no wicked stepmother. The whole point of Cinderella is that her goodness makes us want her to get the prince and love happily ever after. Why? Because we already felt bad for her being mistreated by the villain.

Beauty and the Beast. Here's where it isn't as simple. The Beast starts out as the villain. He's rough and mean and takes Belle as a prisoner ripping her away from her father. And just when we get comfortable with the clear line of good guy/bad guy. Something changes. Suddenly the Beast is the victim of another villain and therefore becomes less villainous himself. Why? Because the villain is always the one we don't like. Once we bond with them, and understand them, it's hard to see them as a villain. And by the time the Beast is killed by Gaston we are ready to go to war for him. He's totally shifted roles and becomes the ultimate hero of a story where he was the villain.

Like it or not, that's magic. And how did it happen? How did a simple bad guy/good guy role get so blurred? By making us feel what the villain felt. We saw his weaknesses (insecurity, fear of the flower dying, loneliness). We identified with his isolation, his unfair treatment and his ability to love.

The magic of making a good villain is the same. You don't have to make your villain redemptive. He or she need not become the hero of the story or even have any good qualities at all. But they must be identified with. They must have a reason that makes us connect with an emotion. Even if it's hate.

"A story is only as good as its villain"--Luke Taylor.

When writing your villain you must make them sparkle. And what do sparkles do? They shine. They draw you in with a glittering brightness that almost demands to be stared at despite burning your eyes. The villain you create must have a deeper reason for what they do than a single goal. Were they made a villain by circumstance? Are they so delusional that they think they are doing the right thing?

A villain must have a clear motive. No one puts time and effort into anything without good reasons. Does the reader know why your villain hates your hero?

To be really good, your villain should have some redeeming qualities. Your reader should want to see more, know more, long to hope for something. Whether it's death, being caught, being stopped, or a full blown redemption. There has to be a goal that your reader, and sometimes even your hero, holds toward the villain.

Think about your favorite villain. How did they win you over? One of my favorite villains is Hannibal Lecter from Silence of The Lambs. He won that spot because the entire plot depends on him. The protagonist can't solve a recent string of murders without him. He's clever enough to play the game and string her along by dangling answers, but just enough to keep her needing him. He doesn't have redeeming qualities. He's a horrible psychopath and thinks of people as insignificant and a means for dinner (yes, he's a cannibal). We the watcher or reader, hate him. But we are also fully aware that the story cannot play out without us depending on him. It's genius. Brilliant.

So my simple advice is this: make your villain matter. Make your reader love them, hate them, need them. But above all, make us want more. Villains are an art and the more you put into them, the more you're going to get out of them. That's a win for you and the reader. So go ahead, add some sparkle. Because we all know how hard it is to look away from something magnificent.