How To: Create Your Fantasy Bad Guy

2. The Nemesis

I feel as though I went into a lot of detail about general antagonists in the first chapter. So, we're going to delve more into creating your nemesis. Let's just recap on what a nemesis is:

a long-standing rival; an arch-enemy

A nemesis is often used in writing to represent poetic justice. This simply the act of rewarding the good people, and punishing the bad. This can be done with a twist of fate related to the character's action(s).

A nemesis can either want the same thing as your protagonist, or the opposite thing. The key thing to remember is that they want to see your protagonist fail. This may have nothing to do with the main plot, for example, Draco and Harry's rivalry began in school and actually, when you look at it, had nothing to do with the fact his family were allied with Voldemort. When Draco was becoming a death eater, he actually distanced himself from everyone including Harry. However, their school rivalry still got in Harry's way, as Draco wanted him to fail.
This is where the poetic justice came into play, as no matter how hard Draco tried to foil Harry's plans (i.e. in duelling, in quidditch, even trying to shut down Dumbledore's Army), Harry always came out triumphant. And so it seemed, Harry was the good guy, and Draco was the bad guy.

So, how do you create a nemesis? Well, you just take your protagonist and create a character who is the polar opposite. By this I mean you pick out your protagonist's flaws, and you flip them. For example, one of Harry's flaws was that he lacked self-confidence. However, Draco was overconfident. Also, while Harry made friends and built on his self-esteem, Draco's life was spiralling, he isolated himself and lost his self-esteem. See where I'm going with this?

Just like any other important/main character in your story, your nemesis needs a backstory. In fact, your nemesis should be just as complex as your protagonist. People should be confused about whether they're supposed to love or hate your nemesis. So, just like we did in the hero guide, let's break down your nemesis' backstory.

Just like your hero's, your nemesis' backstory will have a direct impact on how they think and act. It will determine their beliefs and morals. It will make or break their relationships. Their backstory might include the moment in which they became the nemesis. However, it is also possible for the nemesis to begin as a friend or ally of your protagonist, but they split after some personal, moral, or political issue. 

Whereas your hero's backstory may have been easy to do in chronological order, working forwards, you may want to think about working backwards when creating your nemesis, especially if you want to introduce them as the nemesis right away. Think about where they are in the story right now, and think about what could have turned (or what will turn) them into the nemesis. Perhaps they had a different upbringing. Perhaps your protagonist betrayed them, accidentally or intentionally.

Let's follow the same format that we did in the How to Create Your Fantasy Hero book, I'm going to continue to use Draco as an example.

Infancy (up to 2 years)

Not much needs to be said about this part of their childhood, as they won't be able to actively remember this far back into their life. It's more just an extra for you and your readers to know, but it could somehow tie to the plot later on. It can include who their parents are/were and where they were born.

EX: Draco was born to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy in the Wizarding World. His father was a Death Eater

Childhood (3 to 11 years)

Begin at the very beginning of your nemesis' life. How were they raised? Who raised them, if not their parents? Did they live a happy childhood? Pick out key moments that are defining to their character.