If you're a writer then you will know that every story has a villain. Some of them are obvious, some of them less so, some of them have goals and a motive while others are just evil for the sake of being evil. One thing is for sure though, villains usually end up being one of the most interesting characters in the story and if you want to hook your readers, it is ESSENTIAL that you make sure they are well written. Chances are if your villain feels flat, so will your entire story. In this blog post, I will take you through the different types of villain that you can encounter and which ones, in my opinion, you should avoid, which are acceptable and which are amazing. In this blog post, I will focus on just 5, and I will pick up my list in a future blog post.
The Moustache Twirler - Avoid
Out of all of the villain types that exist, this is probably my least favourite and the one that I think you should try to avoid at all costs. The moustache twirler is THAT villain, the clichéd, over-the-top villain who is nothing...nothing except for a villain invented to make the life of your protagonist difficult. He exists for no other purpose than to create obstacles and it is for this reason that he is just completely flat. Every good character has a back story, a history that they either embrace or try to run away from and your villain should be no exception to this.
The Ancient Evil - Acceptable
Ok, everyone knows this guy...this is the one that is typically unleashed by the villain by accident. Maybe someone opened an old chest, read the wrong spell out loud or something along those lines. This is usually an evil that is as old as, if not older than, the land in which your novel is set but has often been lying dormant for a while and comes back just in time to create complications for your hero. I guess in many ways, they are almost seen as like an anti-god...basically a god but evil. Like with the moustache twirler, this kind of villain doesn't usually have a reason for being evil but I can almost get on board in this case. There are examples of this type of villain working very well in popular literature but I think it should be used sparingly. Some examples of this type of villain include Sauron from Lord of the Rings, Satan and Kronos from Percy Jackson.
The Bully - Amazing
This villain is kind of self explanatory and one that I think you can find in most stories, even if they are not the main force for evil. Bullies come in many shapes and sizes but the thing that makes them a good villain is that usually, something from their past makes them act the way they do, whether it be fear, depression, or simply their upbringing. Bullies are also different from the two types of villain discussed so far as they are often redeemable in some way or go on complex character arcs (although naturally, this is not always the case - Joffrey Baratheon, Game of Thrones). One example of this type of villain who I really wish had been explored further, is Dudley Dursley from the Harry Potter series.
While I am definitely a fan of Dudley becoming slightly less insufferable after the dementor attack, I feel like J.K. Rowling didn't spend enough time on his arc to make it 100% believable. Now she can be forgiven for this, purely based on the fact that the protagonist of the series is so oblivious to everything that it is at least plausible that he wouldn't realise Dudley was trying to be nice to him, but I still think it would have been nice to spend a little more time developing the relationship between these two.
The Dark Lord - Acceptable
I know you are all thinking of one name when you read this subheading...Lord Voldemort. In the battle between good and evil, the Dark Lord is, without a doubt, the evil one. This villain differs from the Ancient Evil primarily because of age - while the Ancient Evil has been around for millenium at least, the Dark Lord villain is typically either the same age as the hero or maybe a generation or two older. They also always have a group of followers, usually of varying degrees of importance and closeness, who do most of their dirty work for him. Although it is possible to go into the back story of this villain to find out why they are the way they are, usually, they are just evil.
The Physically Corrupted - Awesome
This type of villain is, in a nutshell, anything that was once human but has been physically altered in some way and includes, but is not limited to, vampires, zombies and werewolves. This villain type is one that I struggle to see as truly evil because, if you think about it, it's not their fault that they are the way they are. They have been physically altered by someone or something to become the villain that they are now. That doesn't mean you can't hate them though. While I find it impossible to hate zombies because of their nature, with the emergence of 'good' versions of both vampires and werewolves, it can be very difficult to redeem those who choose the path of evil, even if they are from a universe where no other path is possible. Take, for example, the werewolves of Harry Potter, Remus Lupin and Fenrir Greyback. Remus, in spite of still being a flawed character is quintessentially good. Fenrir, on the other hand, is just evil and sadly, we never learn enough about his character to understand why. The one thing we do know, is that it isn't simply because he is a werewolf, as there is another character who contradicts that theory.
What is your favourite villain type? Is it on this list? Do you want me to include it in the next one? If so, let me know in an email or a comment, which you can send to glnangle.author@gmail.com. In the meantime, for more tips on writing, you can check out my other blog posts on the reality of being a writer and how to overcome writers' block.