The villain is often viewed as a necessary evil in our stories. They’re created for the sole purpose of messing up our hero’s life and don’t have much of a role beyond that. Sometimes we even create a villain without any redeeming qualities so our readers are naturally attracted to our heroes. Writing our villains this way can feel forced or boring as we ignore their character development and shape them to fit our plot. 

But what if I told you that villains were more than just antagonists and had deeper, more complex roles? In fact, the villain is one of the most important characters you’ll write because they drive the tension, plot, and growth of our heroes. Without the villain, your hero isn’t a hero.

So how do you write a villain you love? A villain that’s interesting, engaging, and maybe even likable. They exist to inspire your plot instead of filling the holes, and sometimes they’re more fun to write than your hero. Here are some ways to write a villain that you and your readers love. 

Give your villain someone to love (who loves them back) 

Nothing humanizes a character more than showing love for someone. Just knowing that a character cares for someone else demonstrates their vulnerability and humanity. It also provides that character with depth so they’re not one-dimensional or a cliché. 

Giving your villain someone to love can also provide context for their goals, motivations, or actions. It can help readers sympathize or relate with the villain if they understand they’re driven by love for another person. Or it can provide a source of conflict or tension if the villain and hero love the same person. 

Once you give your villain someone to love, consider setting that character up to love your villain back. If someone else loves your villain, they become a more sympathetic and intriguing character. It’s similar to the concept of social proof—the psychological and social experience where people mimic the actions of other people in order to exhibit the “correct” behavior in a given situation. If readers witness another character showing affection towards your villain, they might be more inclined to appreciate your villain. 

If you decide to go this route, I recommend giving your villain someone or something animated to love. A villain who loves their family or a pet is more interesting than a villain who loves money or a philosophical idea. The person or pet doesn’t need to make an appearance in the story; they can be an offscreen character that your villain reflects on or thinks about. They can even be a major component of the villain’s backstory. 

Include their backstory

Villains are individuals and while they drive tension and conflict, it doesn’t define them. They have their own thoughts, habits, memories, weaknesses, pet peeves, etc. They’re also influenced by events in their past that inform their emotional, physical, and psychological responses. 

To help reveal these past events and give context to the events in your story, it’s important to develop your villain’s backstory. This can include defining moments from their childhood, an encounter with the protagonist, or their life before the main action of your story. These moments can help you develop their thoughts, feelings, actions, motivations—pretty much everything! Their backstory is also the key for why they’re antagonizing your hero. 

I recommend sketching out your villain’s backstory as if they’re the protagonist of their own story. Creating them as an individual character, not just a foil for your hero, can help unlock their inner workings and avoid clichés. Develop your villain without thinking about what you need from them in order to make your plot work. Let their personalities reveal where potential conflicts may arise. 

It’s the writer’s choice on how and when you want to include a villain’s backstory in the larger work. Be careful not to include their full backstory as this could slow down your pacing or detract from your hero’s story. Instead, gradually reveal their backstory throughout and use it to give context to certain events. Try to show, rather than tell, the villain’s backstory through dialogue, memories, or keeping the action in the current timeline. 

Mirror your hero

One technique to help create a compelling and well-developed villain is to have their journey parallel the hero’s journey. Some of the most interesting villains in literature have the same goals as the hero, however they’ve chosen a different way to achieve them. A classic example is Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Both are powerful characters that can wield the force, but have chosen different ways to use their gift. 

That’s the key though—they choose to achieve their goals and use their gifts in a certain way. Darth Vader’s journey is a reflection or prediction of Luke’s fate if he chose to use the force differently. 

Here’s where you get to have some fun when writing your villain. All of the things that you love about your hero you can exaggerate or intensify in your villain. For example, maybe your hero loves to read, however would stop short at stealing an ancient tome from a library. Your villain could also love to read but chooses to steal the book instead. While your hero may need to practice restraint for the good of the story, you can let your villain run wild and see where it takes them. 

An unrestrained villain holds up a mirror to your hero and shows them the consequences of their choices. Your hero may see themselves in your villain and worry they could end up the same way. This could give your hero motivation to make certain decisions or avoid certain actions. Meanwhile, giving you room to explore what it looks like on the other side with your villain.

Ginnye Lynn Cubel is a writer, podcast host, and coffee enthusiast. She is working on her first novel Ophelium, a dark and magical take on the story of Ophelia and the repercussions of insanity. You can follow along on her website or on Twitter and Instagram.

The post Writing a Villian You Love appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today’s edition of Theme: A Story’s Soul examines how mirror characters can illustrate literary themes. Like with our case study on trust, we’ll look at examples from two different books and see what techniques or storytelling elements come into play. So, in a way, we’ll discover how these examples “mirror” one another.

Mirror Characters and Power in Kristin Cashore’s Fire (YA Fantasy)

Fire tells the story of a young human-monster who struggles to accept her ability to control others’ minds. Fire’s experiences with two mirror characters – her monster father Cansrel (from whom Fire inherited her abilities), and King Nax’s adopted son Prince Brigan – respectively shape and reshape her views on power and choices.

Since Cansrel died prior to the beginning of Fire, readers learn about Cansrel and his days as royal advisor to King Nax through Fire’s memories. She recalls countless stories – many told to her by Cansrel himself – of how Cansrel used his powers to influence Nax’s drug dependence and to nearly run the kingdom into financial and political ruin. She also recounts the turbulent emotions she felt as a child toward her abilities and toward Cansrel, from pressure (“‘He means them as a lesson to guide my own behavior. It worries him that I don’t use my power as a weapon.’” [54]) to shame (“[S]he knew what she was and what she was capable of. Even after she’d done away with mirrors, she saw it in other people’s eyes…” [54]).

After Cansrel’s death, Fire vows to never exploit her powers for personal gain. So, it’s no surprise that she balks at the royal family’s request for help with political interrogations. Once Fire befriends Brigan, however, she finds a new “mirror.” Kind, generous, and soft-spoken, Brigan is the last man anyone would expect to be general of the royal army. He therefore understands Fire’s dilemma: “‘I know what it’s like to be capable of horrors. I’m training twenty-five thousand soldiers for a bloodbath. And there are things I’ve done I wish I’d never had to do…. ’” (212) Their conversation reminds Fire that Brigan chose to use his power wisely, unlike his step-father did. She then realizes that despite being Cansrel’s daughter, only she can choose how to use her powers.

Mirror Characters and Compassion in Sara Litchfield’s The Night Butterflies (Science Fiction / Dystopian)

In The Night Butterflies, an isolated town in post-apocalyptic Great Britain must save their bioengineered children from a terrible fate. Their predicament, as well as the community’s struggle with compassion, leads readers to ask “What defines a monster?” – a question answered through three mirror characters:

1. Jimmy-1, a Batch #2 boy who, like his peers, looks like a normal human but has a learning disability, an infantile speech impediment, and a violent temperament.
2. Ellie, the only survivor from Batch #1. Unlike Jimmy-1, she was born severely disfigured, and exudes warmth, concern for others, and an appetite for knowledge.
3. Leader, the man in charge of the town, and the one who conceived the idea of bioengineered children – and who orders their annihilation.

Throughout The Night Butterflies, these three characters are branded as “monsters” of some kind. Jimmy-1 and his Batch #2 peers are called everything from “devils” (7) to “psychopaths” (31) for their pyromania and for physically abusing their own mothers. Later, the same children (except for Jimmy-1) taunt Ellie over her deformities. It’s clear, however, that everyone fears Leader. Separating married couples, drugging mothers into near-comas, burning alive anyone who opposes his will – there’s no question that he lacks compassion.

As for Jimmy-1, his change of heart begins when he meets Ellie. Instead of being disgusted by her looks, he’s curious about her. His willingness to learn from Ellie grows increasingly evident in their scenes together. Thus, Jimmy-1 learns a great deal from his new friend, especially the power of empathy: “Ellie started to cry. I dint like it. I dint care before when people cry, not Teacher, not my Mother, but this maked my tummy feel funny. It maked me want to cry as well.” (136)

Keys to Using Mirror Characters to Explore Theme

Interactions between mirror characters are essential in exploring theme. Both Fire and The Night Butterflies accomplish this through the following techniques and elements:

• Using Multiple Mirror Characters: Cansrel and Brigan are two of Fire’s several mirrors of power. The same goes for Ellie and Leader with Jimmy-1 and compassion. Presenting at least two mirror characters will give the protagonist more opportunities to learn and will strengthen his/her evolution with the theme at hand.
• Comparisons: Fire and Jimmy-1 explicitly reflect on how they’re different from their respective mirror characters. Using clearly stated comparisons allows readers to see what the protagonist sees and better understand the inner conflict and, therefore, theme.
• Dialogue: It’s human nature to talk through problems so we can find solutions. Fire in particular converses with other characters about her father and the ethics of her abilities, which helps her consider every angle of her struggle with power.
• Thoughts and Reactions: A character arc succeeds when readers see how a protagonist’s behaviors and thinking patterns have changed. When Jimmy-1 is moved by Ellie’s sadness and acknowledges its effect on him, readers know his transformation is complete.

Remember that the chief role of mirror characters is to show how they’re thematic opposites. Jimmy-1, who initially lacks compassion, becomes more caring by appreciating Ellie’s kindness toward him and by observing Leader’s complete rejection of the idea through killing off the other children. Fire reevaluates her sense of power by comparing Cansrel’s abuse of his mind-altering abilities with Brigan’s acceptance of and mindfulness toward his military role. And by reflecting on these mirror characters, each protagonist evolves and lets theme shine through.

It’s Your Turn!

• Have you read any novels featuring mirror characters? What themes do they demonstrate, and how?
• Both Fire and The Night Butterflies deal with characters who are considered “monsters” in appearance or personality. Have you read other books that explore what it means to be a “monster”?
• Do any stories you’ve written include mirror characters? Share your examples below.

What are some topics you’d like to see featured at Theme: A Story’s Soul? Share your thoughts by commenting below or tweeting me at @SaraL_Writer with the hashtag #AStorysSoul.

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Sara Letourneau is a Massachusetts-based writer who practices joy and versatility in her work. In addition to writing a fantasy novel, she reviews tea at A Bibliophile’s Reverie and is a guest contributor for Grub Street Daily. She’s also a published poet whose works have appeared in The Curry Arts Journal, Soul-Lit, The Eunoia Review, Underground Voices, and two anthologies. Learn more about Sara at her personal blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

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