Activity

@timothy-gullett My favorite ways to create a compelling villain are:

1. To borrow elements from good villains I’ve read or seen in movies. For instance, I was fascinated by Kylo Ren’s strong conscience and care for people besides himself. I’ve put these same qualities in one of my villains (Menthril).
2. I try to imagine how I could become a villain. For instance, I know that it’s hard for me to be patient with a struggle that lasts a long time, so I created a villain who waited for God to come and save the world for hundreds of years (he’s practically immortal), then got exhausted and decided to take things into his own hands…and became a villain.
3. I find a villain’s backstory can provide inspiration for how they act and why they act the way they do. For instance, my Menthril character was the one committed the first sin and brought evil into the world. Now, even though he hates killing people, his goal is to wipe out all life on the planet because he believes (accurately, if you leave out the picture of redemption) that a world of mixed good and evil is tragic and it would be better if it didn’t even exist. In other words, he’s trying to right the wrong he did by killing everyone.