I want to talk villains tonight. They can be frigging hard but when they're good, they can be show stealers. One way to make them good is to have them be the hero of
their story. Let's look at the villains of my two current most active fandoms,
Prodigal Son &
The Owl House.
Martin Whitly
is the villain of Pson, a narcissistic sociopathic serial killer. That could be so run of the mill or very basic, because let's be honest a lot of real serial killers aren't that interesting. They kill because they enjoy it. Martin doesn't see himself as a bad guy. He takes pride in that and reacts badly whenever anyone challenges his world view.
He was the perfect husband and father. He was very well loved. He was a highly successful cardiothoracic surgeon (and is still consulting even imprisoned) He saved hundreds of lives and he claims that should give him the right to
take a life and with that he becomes the hero in his own story. Sure he killed two dozen people but what does that matter when he saved hundreds? Does Martin believe this truly? It's hard to say. (Prodigal Son actually never went into his crimes much whether by design or if it was cut due to all the shit Covid put this show thru)
Definitely Martin says he believes it and while that might just be to get a cushy room in a mental hospital vs death row. But what it gives us is a villain who is delightfully charming, intelligent, engaging, you almost find yourself rooting for him when he escapes because he's so captivating. Part of that is thanks to Michael Sheen's masterful acting but the rest is the way the writers present the character.
Emperor Belos
is an even better example of the hero of his own story. For much of the two season arc we don't know much about him other than he is authoriatorian but well liked by the people of the Boiling Isle. He is also charming when he wants to be.
Luz (the main protagonist) has a distorted view of him early on thanks to Eda, her magic mentor who is a 'wild witch' practicing all styles of magic which Belos says is a bad thing. They should be on one track (i.e. pick your flavor of magic and that's all you get for life). Eda doesn't like the constraints Belos puts on the Isle, which he says is for the best (again hero of his own story) This sets Luz against him too (and they're more right than they know but it take almost to the end of S1 before we know this).
Belos, like Martin, is a narcissistic sociopath and like Martin is an expert at gas lighting others. He might truly believe what he's saying. In fact, I think he does more so than Martin does. He twists his 'nephew's' head around so hard all S2. Hunter is a true believer in everything Belos does. he believes his uncle is the hero and if things seem unfair from time to time, it's a matter of the good of the many outweighs the good of the one.
( spoilers for S2 of The Owl House )Further proof he's the hero of his own story is he wants to kill off every witch to protect normal humans. When Luz challenges how insane that is (since it's a Disney cartoon they stop short of calling it genocide but it IS that and it is attempted on screen) he looks at her and says 'can't reason with crazy.' He truly believes he's right, that he'll be seen by other humans as the hero (having no idea we stopped believing in witchcraft centuries ago).
Long story short, make those villains the hero of their stories, give them reasons for what they're doing, enrich them and you enrich the story.
Open Calls
Tales to Terrify Flash Fiction Contest Elegant Literature March Call – Gambler’s Grief Baen Fantasy Awards 2023 I have something I'd like to send here...probably needs a beta
THEMA – The Magic of Light and Shadow MetaStellar Magazine March 2023 WindowFrom Around the web
How To Define Your Book’s Target Audience In 6 Steps Writing Bite-Size Horror timely as I think I want to do this for Rise
When Your Publishing Contract Flies a Red Flag: Clauses to Watch Out For You know what my contracts with DSP DID have the copyright on the edits and I wondered a) how legal was it b) how would they truly know c)was it merely a scare tactic d) did I give a fuck (hint, no)
Is Twitter Dead? Don’t Panic! Social Media Survival Guide for Writers WRITING ARTICLES
Let Your Readers Think For Themselves Discover the Best-Paying Markets for Speculative Fiction Writers for the start of March 2023! WIHM 2023: Scream Queens of the Page: Celebrating Women Who Pioneered the Horror Genre The Write Stuff: Using Writing Exercises to Generate Fresh Ideas How To Pants A Novel Black History Month: A Gift of Awareness, Recognition, And Stories Insights From Best-Selling Authors 45 Specialized Manuscript Publishers that Accept Direct SubmissionsBear with me while I share some Owl House fan vids that pick apart the story telling as they DO reveal what is and isn't good writing.
This one is long -
This one is really good at looking at storytelling
From Betty
Writing Emotional Fiction this one needs ruminating on, quite good
Genre Tips: How to Write Mystery 5 Ways to Raise the Stakes in Your SceneShould You Fast-Draft Your Novel? Writing the Not-So-Perfect Heroine TIPS ON WRITING DIFFICULT CHARACTERS YOUR READERS WILL LOVE Avoiding Info Dumps in Worldbuilding Nine Questions to Ask About Your Draft Five Traits of a Winning Concept Five Plot Questions for Revising Your Manuscript Taming Your Exposition Doling Out Information During a Scene Fear Thesaurus Entry: Hope Fear Thesaurus Entry: Being Labeled Where to Start a Story Edit 10 Things Lego Has Taught Me About Story-Building![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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