A story will most definitely have a protagonist or a hero. We have discussed how to characterise one in an earlier essay. He/she drives the plot and moves the story forward. But a good story writer must not make things easy for the hero. Creativity and flair for storytelling lies in making things challenging so that the conclusion, when reached, feels earned and deserved.
The harder the exam, the sweeter the reward feels, doesn’t it? These challenges are often in the form of villains or antagonists that are introduced to keep things interesting. One would imagine that the main motive of a majority of these malcontents is merely to be an impediment in the lives of our immaculate heroes. But it is a bit deeper than that.
An important question arises here: why are the villains doing what they are doing? This usually forms the ‘falling action’ or the ‘resolution’ part of the story mountain. The reader here gets all the answers that had come up during the course of the story, and receiving the needed answers provides a catharsis or a sense of relief to them. Another question forms an equally compelling part of the story: how do you go about portraying a villain? In simple words, how do you know a villain is a villain?
1. An obvious villainous look
Some authors provide physical attributes to their antagonists that leave no doubt in the readers’ minds that they will be actively involved in ensuring the lead character fails in his or her quest. Severus Snape’s greasy hair, pale sallow skin and cold dead eyes; Freddy Krueger’s burnt skin and knife-like nails; Captain Hook’s, well, hook instead of a hand. All these fictional villains seem to have an obvious physical appearance that makes it very clear that they will play the part of an antagonist in their stories. Writers use such physical descriptions of their villains to make a very solid stand that they are the main antagonists in the stories. They even look evil!
Think of interesting and creative ways to portray them in your writing. How evil can you make your villain look in your story? Why not have a competition among your classmates on who can create the most evil-looking villain ever?
2. Not so obvious
You and I probably resemble the next two people walking by on a street, coat and scarf, a bag in hand, walking hurriedly with a purpose, to get somewhere on time, preoccupied minds, always thinking of the next mundane thing. Among these nondescript populous may lie a highly malignant, motivated and malicious mind who is dead set on only one thing – causing chaos somewhere or on someone. The author will probably describe them as silent and unassuming. No one would be able to guess what is going on in their minds, but these are the dangerous ones to look out for.
Such characters cause the maximum damage because their innocent and regular physical looks encourage others to let their guard down. And that is when they strike. In fact, such revelations are used as a twist in a tale. How would you go about describing such a person? It is tricky, isn’t it?
Harry was glad Paul was there every step of the way while he strived for the top position in the School Council. It was Paul’s idea that Harry stand the election.
Without him, I wouldn’t have gotten even halfway up, thought Harry. I am so glad he is loyal to me. One needs a friend like that.
It was D-day and the final results were going to be announced. The entire school assembled in the hall to hear who had won. Harry crossed his fingers and smiled weakly at Paul who, from across the room, gave him a thumbs-up. And slowly, while Harry watched him, he turned his thumb upside down. His eyes turned menacing as the corners of his mouth lifted into an evil smile and mouthed the words “You’re dead.”
Harry couldn’t take his eyes off him. He was confused. What did Paul mean? And that look! He had never seen that look on him before. Then it hit him. The election. Paul played him. He was not only going to lose. He was going to be humiliated. It was too late now.
In the above extract, the character Paul isn’t described as having any villainous features. He appears to be perfectly regular and a good friend. Only in the end, the reader realises that he was the villain.
Another question that came up earlier was why a villain does what he/she does. Have you ever wondered sometimes why in certain stories an antagonist holds our attention more than the hero of the story? While a hero is easy to draw, their main traits being intelligence, valour, honour and possessing an overall drive of an altruistic need to do good in general, the main reason behind a villain’s villainy varies. That is why they are sometimes more interesting to analyse than straightforward heroes who will always do what is good for everyone. It is a bit ironic that while we want our heroes to be predictable do-gooders, it is actually the antagonist who catches our attention far more keenly.
We can break down such antagonists into two kinds:
3. Has a motive
Sometimes a character turns villainous because of a grudge they might hold against somebody. Maybe in the past, they felt they were wronged, and that is why they think they are meting out justice by harming others.
I have to, thought Oscar, as he sat at his desk, unconsciously flipping the pages of his maths book. The insult was more than I could take. Jimmy thinks that just because he is popular and helps everyone in their studies, he can insult me like that.
“How ‘bout you, Oscar?” the teacher’s voice painfully pierced his stream of thought.
“Huh?” Oscar looked up.
“Have you done your homework?”
“Yes. Finished…. all the exercises.”
Oscar didn’t hear what the teacher’s response was. He was already lost in his thoughts again, plotting revenge on Jimmy.
Straight motive. Straight dialogues. Straight conflict in the plot. There is no doubt about what the villain wants and what he wants to do. We get to know very well the motive that is driving him.
4. Has no real motive
And sometimes an antagonist has no apparent motive.
It is just who they are. In the course of such a story, the hero and other characters will leave no stone unturned to find out why someone is doing such horrible things, causing much trouble to not just one person the hero but to everyone in general. Then they learn that there is no one reason behind someone’s misdeeds. It is just who they are. If you are a Hollywood superhero universe fan, you will recall that Alfred from ‘The Dark Knight’ says of the Joker, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” They are not swayed by any greed or avarice; they aren’t looking for anything in return. They just rejoice in chaos. How do you deal with such a character? How do you appease one? What kind of negotiation or compromise do you come up with when the villain doesn’t want anything from you?
Closer to home, our very own Shakespeare created such a character in Iago in ‘Othello’. Iago’s villainy knew no bounds nor did his motivation, a source. A very prominent literary figure once said that most of the dialogues by this character Iago were just ‘motive hunting of motiveless malignity.’ Apparently, Iago himself didn’t know why he did all those terrible things.
What kind of a story would you write to have such a villain in it? More importantly, how will you describe such a character in your story? The traits of such an antagonist cannot be summed up by just an action or two. One would need the course of an entire story to develop and show the destructive acts of such a person. In fact, when an author creates such a character, they become the main lead of the story and the good guys take a back seat. The story becomes about them.
Now, would you like to write a story with a villain as your main character?