By: Josiah Sparks
Villains are often the most interesting characters in a story. They drive the conflict of a story. The most compelling villains will leave the audience with mixed feelings about them. The most compelling villains often have human reasons behind their villainy. Three of the most compelling villains I have seen recently have been Walter White from Breaking Bad, Paul Atriedes from Dune, and Silco from Arcane: League of Legends, and they are three characters I often find myself looking to for inspiration in my writing.
Paul Atriedes and Walter White are not your typical villains. They are the protagonists of their stories. One effective way to write a compelling villain is to have them be the center of the story as the protagonist. Walter lies, threatens, manipulates, and kills into getting what he wants. Paul presented himself as a messianic figure to people of an impoverished planet, and began leading a genocidal war across the known universe. Both are incredibly flawed protagonists and can be considered to be the villains of their respective stories. Main characters that have a believable descent into villainy,such as Eren Yeagar in Attack on Titan, Light Yagami in Deathnote, or Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars, are often very compelling.
Villains who are conflicted about their actions are compelling as well. Silco, a ruthless drug kingpin, wants peace for his people. He is willing to do anything he can to bring peace closer. He manipulates, bribes, and kills anyone who stands in his way, clawing his way towards peace until finally, the price is too high for him to pay. The peace he worked so hard for is finally within his grasp, but he needs to sacrifice his daughter. This stops him. He would rather fight a losing war than let his daughter go to prison for her actions aiding him. Villains like Silco are compelling because they have limits, lines that they don’t cross. Their goals are secondary to their family.
To write a compelling villain, the villain needs to be human. They need to have relatable motivations. They should have desires, fears, and values that the audience finds believable. A compelling villain should be believable in their motivations, whether it is money for family, revenge for a father, or freedom for one’s people.
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