Jul 17 2009
Writing Villains Vs. Writing Heroes
1. Villains can be overpowered. In fact, they should be more powerful than the hero. The more a hero is challenged, the more impressive it is when he eventually succeeds.
2. Likability and relatability are much less important for villains than heroes. The quality of a villain usually depends on his style, competence and scariness. If your audience isn’t enthusiastically urging on the hero to beat the villain, they probably aren’t thrilled about the story.
3. The villain’s powers should usually be easier to explain and more generic than the hero’s are. Working in a really complex power for a character that will probably only fight a few times is usually a waste of time. Additionally, most villains have fewer powers than the heroes do. For example, Luke Skywalker has a variety of force powers, but the only power we see the Emperor use is lightning. Batman has a variety of gadgets, but the Joker has just a pencil.
