How To: Create Your Fantasy Bad Guy

1. I'm the Baaad Guyyy

(duh!)

Alright, so, before we go into anything about building your bad guy and how to fit them into your fantasy world. First, we need to establish what kind of bad guy you want to create. An antagonist, a nemesis, or a villain.

Antagonist

a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary

The antagonist is not necessarily 'evil', unlike the villain who is undeniably evil (but we'll get to that a little later in this chapter). The key thing here is that they are against the protagonist. Which means that, whatever goal your protagonist has, they will do everything in their power to stop them from achieving that goal. This could be for various reasons, the most obvious reason being that they have different motivations and/or beliefs than your protagonist has. There may also be various ways your antagonist may challenge your protagonist. Sometimes violence or confrontation isn't always the answer, they may take a different route to obtain an advantage. An antagonist doesn't even have to be a bad guy, they could be a good guy, who unintentionally works against your protagonist for some reason.

Group Antagonist

It is possible for the antagonist to be a group of people, rather than just a single person. For example, the Death Eaters in Harry Potter. Ignoring main characters such as Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy, the group of people who worked with Voldemort were ultimately working against the protagonist; Harry Potter. This is because of the Death Eaters' beliefs and/or motivations.

Here's another example from Harry Potter, specifically the Order of the Phoenix. The Ministry of Magic opposed Harry's notion that Voldemort had returned in the flesh, and did everything in their power to turn people against him and Dumbledore. However, unlike the Death Eaters who turned to violence and caused harm, the Ministry of Magic used their authority and power to their advantage.

Non-Human Antagonist

It is also possible to have an antagonist that is not a human at all. They can be animals, magical creatures, even forces of nature. Remember, the antagonist is anything that works against your protagonist, anything that sets them back from their goal.

Take the film Jaws for example. The main antagonist of this film is a Great White Shark. The shark is not the villain, in fact, I'm not even sure old Bruce is even aware that he is causing problems. However, the protagonist's goal is to catch and/or kill the predatory shark. Of course, the shark doesn't want to get captured or killed, and therefore works against the protagonist.

Internal Antagonist

Sometimes, you are your own worst enemy. Perhaps this statement is true for your protagonist. All this means is that it is some internal flaw or issue of the protagonist that primarily stands in their way. So, here is a list of some character flaws, and an example of how this flaw could be an internal antagonist.
Remember that your protagonist can overcome their flaw. In fact, this is normally the main focal point of a story. This means that, if your story does revolve around an internal antagonist, this antagonist will be defeated by the act of your protagonist overcoming their flaw(s).

Lack of self-confidence - does this prevent them from taking a step to fulfil their quest?
Insecurity - does their insecurity make them an easy target?
Naivety - does their naivety get them into situations that are extremely difficult to escape
Inability to put the past behind - does this cause them to have irrational thoughts and worry about the quality of their future?
Inability to face the past - does this make them incapable of admitting when they are wrong
Stubbornness - does this make them narrow-minded and unable to accept change?
Rashness - does this lead them to make poor decisions?
Inability to make a commitment - does this affect their romantic relationships?