Of course I'm evil! I'm sexy and wearing black, aren't I? |
The
trouble with a lot of villains isn’t just that they’re evil, but that they’re only evil. Think Sauron or Emperor Palpatine or the
White Witch or Voldemort. What they’re
generally after is power over the masses to . . . rule, I guess? It’s never exactly clear what they intend to
do once the good guys are all defeated, and the rest of Middle Earth is safely
under the oppressive heel of their fashionable, black leather boot.
They’re
evil, and that’s about it.
The
best villains aren’t. That is, they don’t
have a black hat, mustaches to twirl and a handy set of train tracks nearby
where they can tie down a helpless damsel putting her in great distress.
A
hero is only as good as his/her villains, and the best villains aren’t easily identified
by the glowing green evil wafting in the wake of their passage.
If
you haven’t watched Longmire yet,
give it a go. It’s a mystery-of-the-week
kind of show, but with some fascinating story-arcs that cover multiple
seasons. Possibly my favorite character
as a villain on the show is the ever-present Jacob Nighthorse (A.
Martinez). Without any spoilers,
Nighthorse (which is such a great name) starts out as the identified
man-you-should-hate. He’s big business
and pro-casino and most importantly anti-Walk Longmire—or rather, Longmire is
anti-Nighthorse. Having the hero point
with one inflexible finger at a character and say, “That’s the evilest baddest
no-goodest bad guy around!” pretty much cements them from the start.
Keep calm and call Jacob Nighthorse. |
Nighthorse
isn’t all bad. In fact, one of the
things that makes him such an excellent antagonist for Longmire is that he is
easy to dump all the ills and evils on, even if he was out of town that week. Nighthorse has a set of goals, one of which
is to make a lot of money. That’s not
his end goal, but since greed is equated with bad, if not downright evil, that
goes some distance to making him the villain.
But wealth is not his end goal.
He wants the money to, so he claims, better the position of his people
on the Indian Reservation. Nighthorse’s
checkered past and run-ins with the law, not to mention Longmire, mean that he
has huge moats with pointed sticks at the bottom to overcome if we were to even
consider removing the “villain” title.
And
he does. Sometimes.
Everyone
on Longmire has their demon or
demons. Nighthorse is no different, and
most assuredly neither is Longmire himself.
Their goals and ideals clash and clang until the raucous noise leaves
your ears ringing. That’s the perfect
protagonist-antagonist relationship.
Five seasons in and Nighthorse has ridden them all along the spectrum
from Horrible Nogoodnik to Dudley Do-Right of the local Cheyenne tribe. The ability to relate, or even to sympathize
with Nighthorse is what makes him such a great “villain” and Longmire such a
wonderful, and wonderfully flawed, hero.
Checklist
for good villains:
What does an Evil Overlord have to do to get a decent Scotch? |
Motivation—More than just “power”
and “domination”. The goal(s) motivating
the villain need to be realistic and understandable, driving the bad guy to
blur, step over, and cross the lines.
Relatable—No man/woman is
evil in their own eyes. The path they
took that brought them to the point of conflict should be on a scale that most
reasonable people can grasp and understand the logic of the choices, even if
they wouldn’t do it.
Likability—No hitting the
minions, shooting the messengers, or whatnot. A good villain is Bill Clinton silky
smoothness, or at least has more likable characteristics than unlikable. No
matter how much wealth and power are offered, most people will stay through charisma.
Clever/Smart/Witty—Really-real
villains are talented, gifted, and accomplished or they wouldn’t have risen to
the level they have (unless daddy gave them a small loan of a few million). To really match the hero, they should at
least be the hero’s equal, if not better.
Willing—Remember those
lines that most people won’t actually cross?
The villain must and should cross them.
The reason can be fuzzy, although clarity here doesn’t hurt and only
helps. But when presented with failing
outright, or erasing the moral barrier, the villain gets out stain remover and
gets busy being a bad guy.
If you can hit all those, then you're find that not only is your villain truly a scary antagonist, but your hero will become a better protagonist to overcome. Invest the extra effort into the realism and that rising tide will lift all the ships in your Black Fleet of Doom!
Don’t
forget to watch some Longmire. It’s very good!
Great article with useful advice! Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteTo further your point on being able to relate/sympathize with the bad guy and their "willingness"; a well-done villain also has lines he will NOT cross and those boundaries will usually surprise you. They have at least ONE strong value (ie. "Children have Value", so they are involved in fundraising for local kid's programs). These values can - but don't have to - relate to their "evil" motives. Everyone has something they will not do (ie. hurt animals) or that is so abhorrent to them (ie. child trafficking), including villains. These are things which good and decent people can relate to, making hating them more poignant.
Thanks Rosa. I can see it going both ways, depending on the villain. How important the goals of the individual are, how consumed they are with achieving those ends, and how far down the road they've already gone. If they're in for a penny, they might be in for a pound. But the more complex you can make your villain, the more awesomely evil they can become!
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