Villains

So, we're talking about villains, right? Well, at least I am.

For me, the key to making a memorable villain is making one that has several things going for him or her:

The villain has to be credible.
The audience has to believe that he or she would really be doing what they are doing. One of my favorite villains on TV has always been Scorpius from TV's Farscape. Wayne Pygram always made me really believe in that character, no matter what he was doing or saying. Even in his first appearance as Scorpius, where he shows up as a minor character, I really bought into what the character was all about.

If you don't have a credible villain, a character that audiences will believe in to some extent...you might as well pack it up. An example of a non-credible villain is your typical "evil genius." The guy who dresses in black, who speaks with an aristocratic accent, etc.

The villain needs to have clear motives...for you, if not for your audience.
Evil exists. Evil people exist, too. Hitler, Stalin, Ted Bundy, Scott Peterson...these people were pretty bad guys.

None of these people, however, were evil for the sake of being evil. They all had their reasons for doing what they did.

A good villain needs a clear motive, a desire or need that they have to fill. Your audience may never know this motive. That's okay. But you definitely need to know it. Because when your villain has a clear motive, they become a lot more credible. Because clear motives make for believable characters.

This is the hardest thing for me as a writer, because when you design a villain, you are designing someone who has something fundamentally messed up about them. Ted Bundy just isn't a regular guy. He's got all kinds of issues, making his motives very complex. That's why a villain is hard for me to create.

That also what has been plaguing me in this latest work. I'm creating a demon as a villain, for crying out loud! What does a demon want? Why do they want it? Do they have other interests? What do they do in their spare time?

A great villain has an X-Factor.
The most interesting thing about the greatest villains of all time is that there is that certain "je ne sais quoi" about them. The X-Factor.

Why is Darth Vader such an enduring villain? Well, there's his appearance. There's the Dark Side of the force that he seems to control. There's his intimidating voice. Etc, etc. But when it comes down to it...it's the whole package. All of the aspects of Vader come together to make a fairly memorable deal.

The same could be said about Hannibal Lecter. Or the Wicked Queen from Snow White. Or Hal 9000.

I've found that if you can find one sticking point, one unique aspect about your villain, that people will remember him or her for a long time. When I made the Telling Man, for example, I created a villain who stitched various body parts harnessed from people onto his own. He always picked the parts that people were most vain about. So if you liked your hair, he would scalp you, and stitch your hair onto his. If you liked your eyes, he would take them and put them into his own sockets. This wasn't the extent of his villainy, but it created a nice sticking point to really bring him out of the background.

Okay, enough rambling.

How about the ultimate geek-list of villains?

Or AFI's 100 top movie-villains of all time?