Talk:What Makes a good villain?/@comment-27077671-20161116203259

This is a varied topic. Because of it, everyone's tips here are just their opinions, do not take it as facts. I am also going to assume your villain is the main antagonist.

Since that is out of my head, let me begin.

Villains. They can be the cliché evil for no reason, or they could be a misdirected person. However, what makes a good villain isn't just their personality. I should know. Being completely honest, if one doesn't know the backstory of my antagonist (and no one should, I haven't even made the story to my local friends yet), they will assume it's the cliché badguy, wanting to take over the multiverse for seemingly no reason. Why is he the greatest antagonist, however? Well, because of his power. The abilities he has are so powerful that my protagonist cannot just stop him and save the day, the end. It's a tedious rising action of my heroes getting stronger, gathering the right team, exploiting the opponent's weakness, up to the point where they can ultimately defeat him. This is one type of villain, I like to call it the "power villain ".

Another type of villain? Mystery villain. Their goal is no cliché, but you don't know the motives and/or history of this character. Revealing either one can cause a tremendous plot change, a break down of a character mentally, the inability to fight the villain out of emotions, or a more happy way, change the villain into someone good. These are the hardest villains to make in my opinion. You can't just casually make these villains, their mystery must be challenging to solve, so that only the most intrigued readers may be able to put the puzzle together before seeing the story unfold itself.

My personal favorite villain? Neutral villain. My definition of a neutral villain is one that would work on either side aof the law, as long as it gets something they want done. They are the ones usually with TRUE motives.Neutral villains may be able to change for the greater good, but are the most difficult to try and make them stay good. They fend for themselves mostly, and usually have a motive behind it. Maybe stealing from jewelry store to make money... BUT, not to be rich, but to feed their poor family. Maybe one doesn't care if what he does is good or bad, as long as he gets the chance to avenge someone. That was the beginning personality of my protagonist, Midnight.

There are many more types, but these are my favorites. Of course, some may not appeal to you, some you may hate, I understand. Just remember that I constantly stated that this was my OPINION. IF you want another type of villain, just ask.