The Right To Write

Antagonist Goals: Part 2

Limit the antagonists goals. Let the antagonist's goals keep in the limits of his motivation.

If your antagonist is out for revenge because someone stole his toy in his younger years, he shouldn't want to blame and kill every human being in the universe based off of that incident.

"And I will destroy every human being that bears an ice cream cone!" the evil man, grinned evilly at his evil cat, recalling the time the school bully tripped him and made him fall into his ice cream. "Vargex the Obliterator will make humankind pay!"

No.

Match his purpose with his past. Life isn't always the kindest place. And hey, the ditch tripped me into a slimy goo I most definitely didn't want to experience, but I'm not a psychotic killer on the loose.

Also, lose the sterotypical cat. I'm pretty sure the poor thing is innocent.

Set a vulnerability level. The story feels one-dimensional if you give you antagonist one goal that will never be achieved. Of course, your villain has a main goal (which may never be achieved), but, in my opinion, it's wholly incomplete. He needs variations of emotions and sub-goals. It is unlikely that his entire life is built on hunger for tyranny.

Your villain has strengths and weaknesses. His weaknesses may lead access to the only way your protagonist can defeat the villain. My point is, his plan can't be flawless. He may think it is, but there has to be at least one scratch on a perfect paint job.

It may be his plan. It may be the character himself, which can be an extra point for your villain's backstory development, and step closer to humanizing him.

The plot should attack both the villain's and the main character's vulnerability, mostly the protagonist. The moment of realization should also be the best chance you have in making your antagonist dynamic, meaning that you can change your villain. Your villain can learn that his belief was wrong and change, or, he can remain exactly the same as you found him. Whichever suits your book the best.

Changes and development. The antagonist may be stubborn, but he does have a brain. He should have the ability to see if his plans are working or not. He shouldn't simply stick to one hardset goal and plan layout the entire novel.

If his goals aren't flowing through properly, he shouldn't lift his hands into the air and shout "NO!" at the top of his lungs. Villains aren't children. He, like your protagonist, should be proactive and develop his plans. He should focus on stopping your main character, not doing everything he can to stick to the plans that are obviously not working.

This will not only play at the unpredictability of the situation, but this will make your villain far more believable.