Our antagonists sure do like to cause a lot of trouble.
They’re working against our main characters at every opportunity, trying to make sure they don’t reach their goals.
My antagonists sometimes even like to kill people. I have others that discourage my protagonists, send them off on tangents, or divert their focus.
They keep stories from getting too pat by creating conflict and standing between our protagonist and their goals.
What makes a good bad guy?
Attitude—These folks are usually brash, not shy.
Intelligence—No idiots need apply.
Opposing Goals—They don’t share the protagonist’s worldview.
Drive—They’re not ones to just drop their vendetta ten pages into the book. No, they’re going to try to get the best of our protagonist, or trip him up, through most of the novel.
Deviousness—They might lie or cheat–or kill–to reach their goal.
Limited contact with the protagonist—I could be persuaded otherwise for the right circumstances….but it’s awfully fun to have the antagonist be a person of mystery. An ominous force working against our main character.
And…ultimately? It’s someone who makes mistakes.—Unless we want our protagonist to fail, or have a less-than-happy ending, our protagonist should be able to trump our antagonist by the end of the novel.
Got a good bad guy? What makes the bad guy so good?
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Hope y’all will drop by tomorrow..my guest will be Charlotte Bowen from the Fictionette blog, with an interesting post on the research side of the writing process with her post on “Historical Research.”
And—it’s Super Bowl time! I don’t care for football, but I do like some of the things that make up the party. Pop by the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen for my look at beer. :)
Bad guys are my favorites to write. I’m afraid they usually outshine my mc (probably because of that boldness), and I have to work hard to make the main character a match for the villain. It’s a challenge I enjoy. Most heroes are defined by their adversaries (Holmes/Moriarty, Luke/Darth Vader, and some more literary examples if I could think of them).
I like the bad guy having limited contact. That way there is more of a mystery as to who the bad guy really is. There’s that evil force the main character is going up against, but we (the reader) aren’t sure just who they are and if they really are evil.
I love bad guys in books. They are always so much fun – particularly when they aren’t just “I’m going to destroy the world”. I like your list of what makes a great antagonist and I think it is important to remember that just because they oppose the protagonist doesn’t mean they are evil. They just see things a bit differently.
Thanks for a great post.
Very true, though I can go either way on the contact with protagonist one. Sometimes I like the antagonist to have been right under my nose (if it’s done well). Louise Penny does a good job of this in ‘Still Life.’
Like you said, they’re making mistakes is the most important, as it is through this which they are caught. Interestingly, I finished a book last night by Keith Ablow called ‘The Architect’ in which his antagonist is near perfect. Without giving away the ending, I would venture to say he rarely-if-ever makes a mistake. (Ablow is not top-of-the-line in literature, but he writes a damn good psychological thriller.)
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
Great advice :)
I love antagonists who have brains and are mysterious – my fave kind!
Bad guys are fun or so some girls will say (not me of course:). Just like when women are drawn to the proverbial dark knight, I think we keep our eye on the bad guy in the story. We see him (and it can be female) as not trustworthy, reckless and a little frightening. And yet we may secretly want to either be that person or hang out with he or she.
Yes, the bad “guys” are the most fun for me.
Since I usually start writing without a clue to who the bad guy is, I try to make all the characters as interesting as possible. And eventually I’ll figure out which one done it.
Which, as expected, is connected to my continuation of “how can you plot if you don’t know what’s happening next?” blog post today!
For the record, yesterday’s Jungle Red blog and today’s Murder She Writes blog were both about critique groups, so it’s not just the two of us sharing a brain.
Elizabeth – You’ve described “bad guys” so very well! I think the most important qualities you mentioned are intelligence and drive. It just doesn’t make for a good mystery if the antagonist can’t match wits believably with the sleuth. I can believe the antagonist making a mistake (and you mention that, too) but not being unintelligent. I’ve actually only read a few novels (Agatha Christie stories, actually) where the antagonist wasn’t smart, but in both cases, the antagonist had a shrewdness that made up for it.
I don’t know that I’ve mastered the art of creating a believable bad guy. They just seem to be too predictable and not layered enough.
Thanks for giving me something to think over.
I love a good bad guy. They get the best costumes and the best weapons. And attitude. Got to LOVE the attitude! I really enjoy creating my bad guys. In my current wip, I have several bad guys (and a couple that are eventually revealed to be bad guys). My favorite is a play on the old Roman god of war, Ares. He’s nasty, and I mean nasty. Honestly, it creeped me out writing about him. I had to turn the light on to finish his scene!
I would imagine bad guys are fun to write because they are so different from us (hopefully). Can’t wait to try.
Karen
I love writing bad guys. Brings out the B.A.D. in me, lol. In fact, my novel Owen Fiddler, the bad guy at the beginning is the good guy in the end. Yes, it can happen! (wink)
Marvin D Wilson
Intelligence—No idiots need apply.
This phrase really made me laugh. So true, the idiots can play several other roles in a crime story, but they should not be protagonist or antagonist.
I don’t have a classic bad guy, but I’ve a few people who trip up my main character. Ironically, I think my main character trips himself even more.
I’ve got a cocky young basketball player who antagonizes my main character in Book V. Their exchanges were fun to write, too.
I found myself thinking of books I’ve read and the traits and characteristics of the bad guy.
It sounds like fun creating the antagonist, working him into scenes, creating his actions. I’ll bet the most fun is writing that mistake he makes!
In my first novel, my first bad guy was really my main character fighting against herself and her past demons that haunted her and prevented her from moving forward.
In my mysteries, I work like you, with murderers who often justify to themselves why they do this but in the end, their views and conceit get them caught.
ann
Lorel–I know what you mean. They do try to steal the stage, don’t they? We just have to have our protagonist up their efforts. It’s tough!
Mason–It’s scary not knowing who the enemy IS, isn’t it?
Cassandra–That’s right…they just see things differently. Better than the Lex Luthor type characters! :)
Marvin–I love those transformation-type stories–like yours! Scrooge was like that in a Christmas Carol, too.
Michele–Oh, I love “Still Life!” Haven’t read “Architect”–I’ll have to check Ablow’s books out. Always interested in a well developed antagonist.
Jemi–Me too!
Alex–Interesting! So your protagonist is his own worst enemy.
Diane–Writing about these guys is fun, isn’t it? Maybe because we’re such goody two shoes that it’s nice to adopt a different persona to write about!
Teresa–There is an allure to bad guys,isn’t there? They were the ones always getting in trouble at school, but very cool!
Crystal–I think mystery writers have a well-developed sense of justice, you’re right. So when it’s time to take the bad guy down, I do feel very vengeful about it!
Terry–So one of them is *secretly* wicked. That’s the way my books are, too, although I do have a couple of characters who just do everything they can to trip my protag. up.
Glad we’re not the only ones sharing a brain! :)
Ann–Conceit…that’s a big failing of antagonists. You’re so right. They get cocky and start making mistakes. Which is a good thing!
I’ve never written a bad guy; although some of my victims in my games were truly asking for it.
Villains are fun, but I try to remember to give them at least one redeeming feature. But you’re absolutely right (as usual) they have to make mistakes, or they’d never get caught.
Ooohhh, there’s an interesting idea.
In my historical novel (you bet I’ll be here tomorrow for your friend’s wisdom!) has a big antagonist of WWII, and other life unexpectancy’s, but you got me thinking of a PERSON who might cause problems…It’s Aunt Tallie.
Bad guys seem to be “good” because they can do what they want and don’t care about others. They’re sneaky and diabolical and interesting. Sometimes the writer has to be careful not to let the antagonist have too much fun or take over the book.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Margot–I’d forgotten that! You’re right, she did have some that were shrewd, not smart. And usually wicked, if they weren’t intelligent.
Mary–Ha! I think we all have an aunt or great aunt like that. :) Sounds like a good plan.
Tamika–Sometimes having them behave in a downright mean way works. After all, most of us have experience with people who are just everyday-ugly–who let the door slam in your face when they’re going in a store, who tell the boss untrue things about coworkers, who are ugly to their children, etc. Readers can identify with the protagonist’s plight because we know folks like that (unfortunately!) So that could form a sort of negative profile on the person, on a really basic level.
Helen–That’s a problem, isn’t it? I think we writers have too much fun with the bad guys–they’re so different from us. We might give them too many scenes to steal.
Jen–I don’t think I’d want to go up against Ares! Wow. That would have spooked me out, too.
Nothing makes a great story for me, than having someone unsuspecting getting killed. Especially after I’ve found myself rooting for said character. It’s that shock and suspense that makes the story. (Hugs)Indigo
Love the blog! Also am loving the posts!!!
Bad guys in books are irresistable, especially when nicely written!
Karen–Hopefully different is right! I think it’s just a nice break from working with the protagonist (who is USUALLY a pretty nice person.)
Dorte–If they’re too stupid, they’re no fun to play with. :)
Indigo–I think you’re right about that. It’s such a shock to the reader! I can’t think of an instance in books right now, but I know that when Hitchcock used that technique in “Psycho,” that it really shocked the audience. He killed off the star of the movie really early on!
Jen–They can make the book, can’t they? Thanks so much for coming by! :)
Elspeth–You know, I think it would be really fun to have an arch villain that a sleuth goes up against during the course of a series–like Voldemort and Harry, or Sherlock and Moriarty. Couldn’t do it with genre fiction, but might be fun for later on?
They’re SO critical, aren’t they? Yet they always seem to be the last part of my story to flesh itself out… I have my protagonists and a situation, but setting up the motivation of the bad people so that I can lay down the middle of the book is what gets me every time.
I think it’s because I prefer layered people, rather than straight villians. I want them to have a reason other than straight evil (straight evil is just a little boring–better to let them be okay in some domain but super flawed in a way that they do bad things)
Hart–Good point…they usually need some kind of reason for acting the way they do. Mine are usually desperate and kill for that reason. :)
I like those bad guys who, at the beginning of the story, you think are the good guys. Sometimes you’re able to guess that maybe they are not so good after all and other times it can catch the reader by surprise.
Great stuff here, Elizabeth! Thanks for your comment on my blog. I had to pop over and see who you are, love your posts. Well, at least the two I read lol. Look forward to reading more when I’ve got the time. I’m now a follower–I’m a huge fan of the cozy mystery, although it’s not the genre I write, I love to read it.
Jane–Those ARE fun. You THINK you know them…then they’re suddenly scary. Very shocking, for a reader.
Karen–Thanks so much for popping by! You’ve got a great blog. Cozies are fun to read, aren’t they–good characters, usually, quiet setting…and a puzzle!
My bad guy is deceitful and selfish.
A “good” bad guy could make the story much more interesting.