Motivation. The answer to everything character-driven. The equivalent of the number 42. Problem solved; the end.
Creating a proper villain is something I struggle with, because no defining experience or motivation ever seems 'bad enough' to me. And the level of relatability I want depends on the story, the character, and the emotions I want to convey to readers.
I have an easier time when writing fantasy, within a wholly-constructed world I've built, because I can go wild with scenarios. There's a suspension of belief inherent in such stories that allows for some real deep-delving madness. You don't necessarily need to understand the villain to accept them as such. As opposed to, say, a story set in real-world present day, where part of the fear is how real and relatable a villain can be. I don't want any of my characters to appear 'cookie-cutter' ever, but I especially worry about my villains because so much hinges on them. Without an appropriately matched and scary villain, the hero falls flat.
Part of the great joy of writing (at least for me) is getting to assume the role of so many different characters. Each has a little piece of me, tapping into some experience to find the emotion and motivation I need to make that character compelling. Maybe I spend too much time thinking about heroes and villains, their motivations, how they are perceived. How they are so very similar.
There was a movie many years ago that was so full of suspense and fear, when I saw it in theaters, it had the audience deathly silent throughout the runtime. At the end, there was a collective exhale as though we had all forgotten to breathe. The movie felt innovative and shocking, both in content and in its villain. But the best part to me was the opening scene: the villain was hidden in plain view. At the end, after the surprising reveal, my seat-mate turned and asked me how I'd knew. Feeling a mix of pride and unease, I answered, Because it's what I would do.
Need a bit of help constructing your villain? Check out the articles below and always remember Willem Dafoe's wise words: There's no difference between playing heroes and villains; they all think they're righteous.
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