Writing Villains - Blog Posts

Hey because I am obsessed and will never stop talking about this movie, I would like to point out a small detail from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

"Remember, Quasimodo: this is your sanctuary."

This line is followed up with a twisted, even sinister little smile from Frollo. It's a private little inside joke with himself.

"Sanctuary! Please, give us sanctuary!"

Quasi's mother's last words before Frollo kills her. Frollo's cruelty goes beyond the gaslighting and manipulation. He REVELS in the cruel irony of Quasi's situation.

This is why he's so effective as a villian. You don't have to write them complicated and relatable, you just have to write them CONSISTENT. Frollo is, as the movie hammers into our heads, a monster, even (and I would say especially) in private moments.

villain-adjacent tropes i like 

Tragic Villain – completely aware of their evil but takes little to no pleasure from it and could very well resent the evil they are committing

Noble Demon – a character who will proudly declare themselves evil, but still finds themselves doing good once in a while

Reluctant Monster — The Reluctant Monster usually has no idea that they’re a monster at all. They are often a member of a species that traditionally does nasty things to people, but that is not in their own personal nature 

Broken Ace – A character who is handsome, popular, and mature, but it’s a front he’s viciously maintaining to mask the fact that his self-loathing has reached the level of dangerous unbalance

Affably Evil – A villain who is actually amiable and nice in spite of their intentions

Dark Is Not Evil – A character who looks sinister but is actually good.

Defeat as Backstory: A character suffered a defeat sometime before the main events of the story.

Sympathetic Murder Backstory: A character once killed someone, but for sympathetic reasons—still, they carry guilt over it.

Start of Darkness: A prequel about how the villain came to be who they are.

Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Tortured into evilness. A character who undergoes prolonged torture gives up on their ideals and morality and joins Team Evil.

Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: A character is adorable on the outside, but evil on the inside.

Face–Monster Turn: Being forced to turn evil by factors beyond one’s own free will.

Forced into Evil: A character does evil deeds because someone or something else is giving them no other choice.

Tragic Monster: A character is transformed into a dangerous monster and is miserable because of it.

Used to Be a Sweet Kid: A villain or jerk was a lot nicer when they were younger, but something happened that caused them to grow up to be the bad person they are today.

Villainous Breakdown: The villain reacts to defeat by having a psychotic meltdown.

Never Be Hurt Again: fairly common stock motivation, in which characters who have been abused, betrayed, mistreated or otherwise persecuted in the past are acting to make sure that this sort of thing never happens to them again

Driven to Villainy:  A broken shell of a human being, warped by events around them, and forced into villainy by forces outside their control. 

Fallen Hero: used to be a hero

Jerk-to-Nice-Guy Plot: A plot where a character starts off as a Jerkass, but events change him into a Nice Guy.

Misery Builds Character: Having a character go through absolute hell as a way to strengthen them.

Once Done, Never Forgotten: A character has done something in the past that no one will forget — or let them forget.

Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: just because people forgive doesn’t necessarily mean they will move on. They may hear that they are trying to change their ways, but is still not good enough to make them completely happy again. 

Reformed, but Rejected: desire of the character to leave his evil ways in the past is completely genuine — but the hero still refuses to be “fooled.” All he wants is a chance at a normal honest life. It’s getting people to give him that chance that presents a problem.

Reformed, but Not Tamed: Now genuinely on the side of good, but they retain characteristics or methods that they used when they were evil.

all found on tvtropes.com