#how to write a villain

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

💀 Making Your Villain Make Sense (Without Making Them Right™)

("because if I see one more war criminal with a sad diary entry get a redemption arc, I’m gonna throw my laptop.")

Here’s the thing: your villain doesn’t need to be redeemable. But they do need to make sense.

And I mean sense beyond "they’re evil and they monologue about it." Or “they have a tragic past, so now they do murder <3.” Or “they were right all along, the hero just couldn’t see it 🥺.”

Let’s fix that.

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🧠 STEP ONE: BUILD A LOGIC SYSTEM THAT ISN’T OURS Your villain shouldn’t just be wrong, they should have their own internal system that works for them. Morally flawed? Absolutely. But coherent.

Ask yourself:

What do they value more than anything? (Power? Order? Loyalty? Vengeance?)

What do they believe about the world, and how did they get there?

What fear drives them? What future do they think they’re trying to prevent?

The villain doesn’t need to know they’re wrong. But you should.

Make their logic airtight. even if it’s awful. Give them cause and effect.

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👿 STEP TWO: STOP GIVING THEM THE BETTER IDEOLOGY Listen. I love a “morally gray” moment as much as anyone. But if your villain is making all the good points and the hero’s just like “no because that’s mean,” your arc is upside down.

If your villain is critiquing injustice, oppression, or inequality, make sure their methods are the problem, not their entire worldview.

✖︎ WRONG: Villain: “The ruling class is corrupt.” Hero: “That’s not nice.”

✔︎ RIGHT: Villain: “The ruling class is corrupt, so I’m burning the city and everyone in it.” Hero: “So you’re just… committing genocide now?”

Your villain can touch a real issue. Just don’t let them be the only one talking about it, or solving it with horror movie logic.

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🔪 STEP THREE: GIVE THEM POWER THAT COSTS THEM The best villains lose things too. They’re not just untouchable horror dolls in sexy coats. They make bad choices and pay for them. That’s where the drama lives.

Examples:

They isolate themselves.

They sacrifice people they love.

They get what they want, and it destroys them.

They know they’re the monster, and choose it anyway.

If your villain can kill a dozen people and feel nothing, that’s not scary. That’s boring. Let them bleed. Let them regret it. Let them double down anyway.

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🧱 STEP FOUR: MAKE THEM PART OF THE WORLD, NOT OUTSIDE IT Villains shouldn’t feel like they were patched in from another genre. They should be part of the world’s logic, culture, class system, history. They should reflect something about the setting.

Villains that slap:

The advisor who upheld the regime until they decided they deserved to rule.

The noble who’s using war to reclaim stolen legacy.

The ex-hero who thinks the system can’t be saved, only reset.

The priest who truly believes the gods demand blood.

They’re not just evil, they’re a product of the same world the hero is trying to save.

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👁 STEP FIVE: SHOW US THEIR SELF-JUSTIFICATION You don’t need a tragic backstory™. But you do need to show us why they think they’re right. Not just with exposition, through action.

Let us watch them:

Protect someone.

Choose their goal over safety.

Justify the unjustifiable to a character who loves them.

Refuse to change, even when given a chance.

A villain who looks into the mirror and goes “Yes. I’m correct.” is 1000x scarier than one who sobs into a journal and says “I’m so broken 🥺.”

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🧨 BONUS ROUND: DON’T MAKE THEM A HATRED MEGAPHONE Especially if you’re writing marginalized characters: don’t let your villain become a mouthpiece for slurs, abuse, or extremism just to make them “evil enough.” That’s lazy. And harmful.

You don’t need real-world hate speech to build a dark character. You need power, consequence, and intent.

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TL;DR: Good villains don’t need to be right. They need to be real. Not a vibe. Not a sad boy in a trench coat. Not a trauma monologue and then a sword fight. They need logic. They need cost. They need to scare you because you get them, and still want them to lose.

Make them dangerous. Not relatable. Make them whole. Not wholesome. Make them make sense.

—rin t. // thewriteadviceforwriters // villain critic. final boss consultant. licensed chaos goblin

P.S. I made a free mini eBook about the 5 biggest mistakes writers make in the first 10 pages 👀 you can grab it here for FREE:

[3hks]

How to Write a CHARMING Villain

Everyone loves a good villain, and they especially love a charming one. If you want to write an antagonist who's both evil yet irresistible, look no further!

1. Show Their "Kindness"

Kindness? Wait, I thought you said we're writing a villain today.

Yup, I mean it--make your antagonist appear kind. Realistically, someone who's polite and friendly is often considered more attractive than someone who's rude and judgmental, so make them kind. It doesn't have to be honest kindness, but you want your readers to doubt the malevolence of your character, if that makes sense.

You can show this kindness through small, daily actions; they don't have to have a lot of impact on the story. Something simple like leaving a big tip, granting a minion a vacation, letting someone go first in the line, and holding open the door all contribute to this image.

2. Smooth Talker

Effective communication is everything. If your villain is eloquent, they seem more capable and intelligent! However, if you're looking to expand further, explore what they can do with their speech.

Does everyone pay attention when they start speaking? Are they able to calmly resolve conflicts verbally? Are they really persuasive? Do they speak elegantly?

Show the effects of their communication skills!

3. Good leader

Make them a good leader. Make them consider how their subordinates might feel. Make them choose good decisions. Perhaps they give their workers days off when they need it. Perhaps they engage with their followers often. Perhaps they're more down-to-earth.

A solid leader looks respectable while a poor one looks ridiculous.

4. Intelligent + Logic

I say this all the time, but make your villains smart, make them logical, make your readers understand where they're coming from. Some of the best antagonists I've ever seen are not the ones that seem excessively evil or unhinged, but rather the ones that seem logical in their actions. And knowing that they're well-aware of their actions and the consequences makes things that much scarier.

if you want a charming villain, you have to start with someone who is competent.

5. Conflicting Moments

At the end of the day, your character is still the antagonist. Yes, they might appear kind, but that's not going to last forever. There will be times when they act unnecessary cruel, and that's okay.

Your audience might be unsettled and confused from the whiplash, and that's okay. Don't force your character into being someone else to satisfy the readers. Embrace the difference.

6. Backstory

Backstories matter for all different types of reasons. From establishing the basis to one's goals, morals, and values to providing the foundation for their character, an effective backstory can do a lot.

However, I want to specifically talk about how the backstory demonstrates someone overcoming their obstacles. If they made it to the present, then they really defied all odds to be here, and honestly? That's admirable (and attractive), no matter what kind of person they turn out to be.

Now, if you're thinking "what if I don't give the antagonist a painful backstory?", I'll address that real quick. You don't have to give them a super depressing past, but there will always be pain and hurt in their past, even if it isn't something "lifechanging" or there 24/7. There is no such thing as a perfect, happy past.

CONCLUSION

To quickly conclude, a charming villain is often not one who appears visibly evil, but one who appears compassionate, intelligent, well-spoken, and acts like a good leader.

Happy writing~

3hks :)

[morallysuperiorlips]

10 Ways to Ensure Your Villain's Evil Monologuing Dialogue is as Unsettling as Possible!

1.) Make sure you're mixing body language with the words themselves: You can have your villain saying the most twisted shit, but if they're just standing there like a cardboard cutout, their words probably aren't going to hit as hard. Have them touch your protag. Have them toy with a weapon as if they're going to use it. Have them pace. Have them put together the blood ritual they're ranting about. Keep them moving.

2.) Have them use personal knowledge as a tool: Does your villain have some deep dark dirt on your protag? Don't let that all go in one swoop. Let them hint at it in drops before they open the dam. Maybe they use that knowledge as a bargaining tool to get an upper hand, or use it to send the trapped protag into a frenzy because they love to watch them scream.

3.) When it comes to threats, certainty is key: A threat is a threat, but there's nothing like a threat being spoken as if the villain knows it's going to happen. Whether your villain has already caught your protag, or is in the process of doing so, everything they say they want to see happen to your protag needs to come with absolute certainty. Almost as if it's a certain warning, and not just something they’re saying to be scary.

4.) Contradictions are your friend: Nothing indicates a warped villainous mind more than some juicy contradictions. Your villain might be talking about how they're going to flay your protag's hide after catching them in their dungeon, only to throw in a subtle "but, you're probably safer here with me." Find ways to toss in twisted contradictions that also underline the crazy shit they might be saying.

5.) Mess with syntax: Unsettling dialogue calls for unsettling structure. Incomplete sentences, unforeseen pauses, longwinded explanations broken up by more unforeseen pauses. Whatever it is, keep the rhythm offbeat. Don't give your reader a chance to be able to tell what's coming.

6.) Expectations? Subvert those: Your protag and even your readers might be suspecting one thing from your villain, so throw them a curveball and hit them with the complete opposite. Perhaps you've reached a point in your story where it seems like the villain might kill your protag on sight. But no, have your villain mention exactly why they aren't going to do that, and why they want to wait it out.

7.) Mix quiet confidence and loud assertion: Some might say that the silent seether is scarier, while others might agree that the sudden explosive type takes the bigger unsettling prize. In my opinion, you can really capitalize on the eeriness of villain dialogue by tapping into both. A villain that speaks on with refined confidence before very suddenly exploding, without much warning, can really power up the dread behind their words.

8.) Sometimes, ambiguity is better than being straightforward: Whether it's obvious that your villain has a lot of tricks up their sleeves--or not--leaving things to the imaginations of your protag, and subsequently, your readers is great for building dread. You can use dialogue to make it clear that they're up to something, but never make them fully disclose what that is. They might show it instead of tell it, or it might just never happen. Either way, it'll likely have everyone looking over their shoulders.

9.) There might be times where silence says everything: You might be worried about penning the correct verbiage for your villain's big evil speech, but sometimes, silence speaks wonders. When used correctly, a long pause, or a bout of silence after your protag has said their piece can build a sense of uneasiness more than them actually speaking would have.

10.) Find ways for your villain to mirror the hero: A monologuing villain is better when they're throwing your hero's values and beliefs back in their face. A hero that believes in mercy? Well, have your villain talk about how they'll make them beg for it. A hero that believes in the greater good? Have your villain talk about their idea of a greater good.

As always, GO WRITE SOMETHING TODAY! <3

[ladyelainehilfur]

holding up a grown man and a teenager your own weight with one arm each?? okay miss girl, I see those pull ups coming into clutch

[bluerosefox]

Siblings Behavior

It's shenanigans time guys

So have this DpxDc idea.

So, the Justice League and the Light (OR villains in general) have two newish members, they've both been around for about a year and they're from the same plane of existence (a place called the Infinite Realms according to those who dabble in the occult)

And the two seem to have some serious beef with each other.

Wisp and Wrath are basicly feral cats hissing and hekles raised when they spot the other and their fights normally ends in draws. They're evenly matched and sometimes the two even fight to the point they are out of steam and just fist fight.

Needless to say everyone believes they totally hate each other and might one day kill (or end?) One of them.

So everything gets turned upside down when suddenly both factions of heros and villains are suddenly summoned to the Infinite Realms.

In a throne room.

In front of the Infinite King (or most commonly known as the Ghost King)

A King who looks very, very much like Wisp and Wrath (like yeah the two do sometimes look alike, like when they grin with sharp teeth and their hair color, but one has blue skin and red eyes for crying out loud!)

He's staring at them, glowing green eyes that seemed to just... know.

"Welcome to the Infinite Realms. I am King Phantom." His voice echoing in the throne room and seemed to rattle them deeply, like a sudden chill in the early morning.

"I have summoned you all here for a single reason." He continued to say "Tell me..."

Here he paused, closed his eyes before leaning back on the chair then he smiled big and cheerfully asked.

"How are my kids doing in your world? Dan and Ellie aren't causing too much chaos in their wake are they? They tend to go a tiny bit overboard sometimes but what siblings don't when they rough house you know. Tell me everything."

[seagreenstardust]

The entire plot of MHA hinges on the question “what makes a hero, a hero?”. There isn’t a single plot point that doesn’t tie directly back to that question. And it’s completely, perfectly bookended by Izuku’s version of the question: “Can I be a hero without a quirk?”

The fact that this question is answered both times by Katsuki, and the answer goes from “quirkless=useless” to “not only CAN you be a hero, you ARE a hero, and I’m gonna personally make sure you get to be for the rest of our lives” IS INSANE

[spiffyspuffy]

In the SVSSS fandom we don’t talk nearly enough about how in the majority of Bingqiu sex scenes, it’s SQQ who initiates. I think this goes over reader’s heads because he’s an unreliable narrator and whenever he’s describing his sexual encounters, he uses passive language for himself. But if you pay close attention to what’s really happening, he initiates sex 3 out of the 5 times we know about.

[glitchclock]

Shang Qinghua, first meeting Mobei-Jun: I gotta treat him like a pampered prince! His feet can never touch the floor! He must always take the bed! My life depends on this! He must look upon me favourably!!!!

Linguang-Jun, who regularly bounces Teen!Mobei-Jun on the floor like a basketball: lmao LOSER behaviour-

[the-modern-typewriter]

Hello! I love your writing, specifically the soft-only-for-their-love villain ones! I was wondering if you’d write another one like that? Maybe a villain x civilian one? No worries if not! Thanks !!

"Do you think I wouldn't love all of you?"

"Excuse me?"

"You hide so much of your nature, with me," the civilian said. "Do you think I wouldn't love the rest of you?"

The villain slowly eased their jacket off, watching the civilian where they sat by the big window, framed by the city lights outside. The words rested heavily in the silence of their home, untouched by the roar of traffic and life so close beyond the sound-proofed walls.

"You're upset I didn't take you with me tonight," the villain said.

"Am I?"

"Well, you're still up and you're starting this conversation the moment I walk through the door, so..."

"You're deflecting. Avoiding the question."

It had been a gala night. Another gala night.

The villain kicked their shoes off next, before padding their way over to the civilian. They caressed a thumb along the line of the civilian's jaw, guiding their face away from ghostly reflections in the glass, to them. They kissed the civilian in greeting. Just the once. Sweet. The civilian craned into them like a flower to light.

"I think," the villain murmured, leaning their foreheads together, "that you would be crazy to love the rest of me."

"So you won't give me the chance?"

"And more importantly I think the rest of me wouldn't love you in the way that you deserve to be loved, darling."

The civilian's jaw clenched, stubborn, with the damning desire of so many in love to look. Glance back. Unlock the door. Turn around. Open their eyes. An endless litany of people who should have known better than to see but still intended to.

The villain sighed and kissed their forehead.

"For starters," the villain said, "no one else would dare even have this conversation with me. Do you want to be that scared of me?"

"Should I be?"

"No, not you." The villain paused. "Maybe. Probably. I don't know."

"I'm not."

"Good."

"Is it?" The civilian's head tipped. Their fingers slid deftly to unravel the villain's fine clothes with practiced ease, finding warm skin. Something human beneath the silk. "Because if you're so bad that I can't even go to a work event with you, then that doesn't stop you being a monster. It just makes you a monster on a self-imposed leash. Leashes slip."

"Yes."

"So?"

"So, I'm selfish, and I want to keep you anyway. On the off chance that mine doesn't."

"And if I leave?" The civilian pressed a kiss to the villain's chest.

"Do you want to?"

"I think I'd rather know your true nature now, than if I ever did."

"You know my true nature," the villain said, "in the way that you know water when it quenches your thirst and rain when it waters your garden, but haven't been crushed by the tons of the ocean. Haven't drowned."

"I like the ocean."

The villain huffed a laugh at that, closing their eyes. They nuzzled against the civilian's hair. "I like the ocean too. But not for you. Not where it gets dark and cold and humans can't survive."

"They have cool fish down there. Like in the Mariana trench."

"Sure. But you don't make love to the Mariana trench."

"Name of my next romance novel."

The villain snorted. They were quiet together for a moment, the possibility of an argument simmering down, though the question of it remained.

"I like the beach," the villain said. "I like the shallows where the water is pretty and blue and I can see the sky, even bluer. There are birds and ice cream and nothing to do except adore you."

The civilian swallowed. "You have an idealised view of beaches. You ever been in winter when it's raining? Dire."

The villain laughed quietly. "I'll take the most dire beach you have."

"There's garbage."

"Well, I'm very good at taking out the trash."

It was the civilian's turn to snort.

"Also bribery," the villain said. They settled on the large window sill, drawing the civilian onto their chest, into their arms. "I smuggled you back cake."

"Bribery! Oh, gosh darn it," the civilian said. "I'm shocked and appalled. I never thought you'd sink so low."

"It's chocolate."

"It gets worse."

"Is it working?"

"I suppose you did bring the best bit of the party back to me. Luckily for you, I'm very susceptible to bribery. Did you kill anyone?"

The villain tensed a fraction at the question.

"Oh, everyone."

The civilian paused at that, glancing around to see if the villain was joking. They coudn't quite tell. The villain pressed another kiss to their head, relaxing.

"It's late," they said. "Can you love the bits of me I can give you in the morning? Like the chocolate cake, I do promise it's the best part of me."

"You're selfish. I'm greedy. I think I'd like all of you, one day."

"But not today."

"Not today." The civilian stifled a yawn.. "So long as the bit of you today carries me to bed."

The villain laughed again, soft, and shifted to scoop them up.

In the darkness, as the civilian slept, the villain watched them. They stroked their hair back from their fragile, lovely skull. Brushed their fingers along perfectly unmarred bones.

"I know you'd love all of me, darling," they said. "That's the scary bit."

In their sleep, the civilian turned over, and snuggled guilelessly into the villain's chest.

[hua-liansimp]

Childhood sweethearts to enemies to fuck buddies but still enemies to ??? qijiu

[gurggggleburgle]

i think it be really funny if the reason why Shen Yuan feels he is gigachad brain in terms solving problems, being better than Shen Qingqiu, and making solutions while scoffing being like 'haha typical PIDW writing I'm so smart' isn't because he's actually trope savvy; but that because the world is based on Airplane's writing it means the world's collective intelligence cannot be smarter than its creator and intention. And PIDW is dumb on purpose in a lot of ways.

Like Shen Qingqiu sits in on Luo Binghe's meetings and offers bare bones economic theory and gets so much genuine praise and he's lording over how smart and cool he is for this.

Meanwhile Shang Qinghua has been begging the system to raise the bar since day 10. Man's taught himself so much theory and philosophy not because he's a scholar but because being in a room with people who are only as smart as you for thirty someodd years would drive a lot of people insane eventually. And you'd think having a fellow transmigrator would help but it's very obvious outside of lore man has the intelligence of shiny rock and he just can't man.

[khattikeri]

admittedly shen yuan was super lucky to be transmigrated into an adult instead of as a suffering child who'd struggle with forming their own golden core. but even if he had been, i think he'd be really capable. like, disturbingly. he's no luo binghe, but he's genuinely good at what he does.

shen yuan is more of an all-rounder intellectually than we often give him credit for, with keen observation skills even without the system helping him out. sure he has his own interests (worldbuilding connoisseur -> obviously in-depth knowledge of culture and ecosystems). but he's smart and capable in a balanced way.

he doesn't flounder to come up with strategies. he takes to swordfighting with surprising ease. he excels at virtually every challenge on his own, and loves being occupied and having things to do. if he were transmigrated into someone more close to luo binghe's age, i can easily picture shen yuan as the genuinely kindhearted shixiong whose tragic fate encourages others to live on and fight in his memory...

also: that stern, serious face of his is equal parts Lofty Mean Facade and an honest part of who he is. shen yuan hates emulating shen jiu so much that from the beginning everyone realized (despite the inability to confirm their suspicions) he wasn't the same person!

even when the ooc lock is lifted, he continues to behave in a dignified, refined manner, whose emotions are kind of hard to read! but he is earnestly kind to others instead of catty or cruel, and that's the biggest difference. shen yuan does cares about appearance and image; it's not all an act. he's just easily embarrassed and doesn't like people drawing attention to whether he's done a good deed.

all that to say, if shen yuan were transmigrated as a disciple, i can easily see his personality being roughly the same: a bit more relaxed since he doesn't have the responsibilities of a peak lord, but still endearingly kind, a nurturing nag to his shidimei, with eloquence and elegant poise that makes everyone go crazy for him.

[snail-speed]

I don't get why the broader fandom is so terrified of the idea of Dandy being evil (and by association moonflower, the most popular ship with him, being toxic yaoi).

Like bro even Qwel is guilty of this. It reads like those newgen types that are so deathly afraid of liking a "problematic" character that they do all these mental gymnastics to prove they're not obsessed with a fictional character that's villainous.

There's nothing in the game that proves that dumbass statement that he's "morally gray". His reserach description just says he's responsible for the ichor operation. He gets angry when you don't buy from him, tries to kill you, then taunts you after the encounter. He's implied to have coerced Astro into silence. He refuses to confront people like Vee and Sprout, who WOULD chew him out unlike Astro. He refuses to tell anyone in general what's going on.

[nibbelraz]

A writer and His number one fan hater

[bumblingbabooshka]

Pike telling the audience "I'm Christian by the way" was absolutely unnecessary after he said "They're not hard to understand - They're monsters through and through and we've got to kill as many of them as we can" to Starfleet about an alien species he barely knows anything about. The final frontier indeed. I know the Gorn are The Monster Aliens because I'm watching a television show, but in a universe where aliens are common and usually people-like it's a bit historically sickening to see our Main White Christian Good Guy say with his whole chest "These aliens are not people, they're Things we have to kill and if we don't kill them they'll kill us and destroy our utopian society and impregnate our women. We can't talk to them, there's no alternative solution, we HAVE to kill them all." and have that presented as righteous and correct. Because I'm watching a television show, I know that Pike is correct when he says that in the canon of SNW the Gorn are monsters who can't be reasoned with and aren't people - because they were written by someone to be that way. However, if I'm a higher up in-universe listening to Pike say this I think I'd actually be kinda horrified by this guy and not trust him at all as the captain of a ship whose mission is apparently to seek out strange new worlds. He reads in-universe as evil. It is an evil thing to do. On any other trek show the guy who, in 'aliens and science rules!' world where everyone you know is some manner of alien, says "We should just kill these guys, they're monsters so it literally doesn't even matter" would be treated as being in the wrong - either ignorant/fearful, having a hidden agenda, or being plain evil. Because in this world aliens are people? Some are enemies of the Federation, some are 'The Bad Guys' but they're mostly all portrayed as being people who it would be bad for the Good Guys to want to kill indiscriminately. "The Federation teaches that if we can find a way to empathize with an enemy then they can one day become our friends. They're wrong." ^ This is how the Gorn are introduced to the audience by La'An in season 1 and it's a sentiment Pike mirrors in season 3. It's never proven wrong. SNW tells us that this is a correct attitude to take. The Gorn are said to be "the boogeyman" in season 1 - they're mostly the thing of rumors. We see they're capable of complex thinking. They're intelligent enough to hide their presence, set up traps, develop coded language so others can't understand them, build and fly ships, but they're ALSO just monsters who can't be reasoned with and only want to kill. Interesting how a species of monstruous killing machines have ships. Having advanced ships implies to me...idk...that they built them? That they have some knowledge of science, engineering, astrometrics, etc.? I know, because I'm watching a tv show, that the Gorn are intelligent because it's scarier for them to be and they have ships because they have to be an ongoing threat. But again, if I'm a person in-universe it would read as suspicious to me, worthy of question, if I'm being told this is the one species we're all just gonna be okay with killing remorselessly. It would seem contradictory to me that this species is both extremely intelligent and completely unreasonable. That they're both pure monster and capable of enormous scientific achievement. "Earlier today, we were reminded of the cost of exploration. What it means to chart the stars, to push the boundaries of what is known and what is possible. When we seek out the unknown, we will find things that challenge us. That frighten us. But we do not back down. We do not give in to fear. And I believe today will not be our last mission, but our finest hour." This is also from season 1, it's Pike, and he's talking about escaping from the Gorn not killing them but wow does this ring hollow as hell when his heel turn towards absolutely just killing them is treated as equally heroic if not more so. I half expect him to start talking about manifest destiny next season.

I've seen enough! No more pansy little attempts at understanding, says the Star Trek Captain. Now? It's time to kill. For our women, our children, our society, it's time to kill.

[seaglassdinosaur]

The most brilliant and impressive thing Ryan Coogler did in my opinion was figure out how to communicate to the audience the actual tangible power of Sammie’s music, so we could truly conceptualize what it was that Remmick wanted and what he threatened to take away.