Tag Archives: Villains

August 16, 2023 · 6:00 am

When weather is the villain #amwriting

Hello from beautiful Olympia, Washington. We usually have the same climate as you in Wales or England. We prefer cool summers, with overcast mornings and sunny afternoons that never exceed 74 degrees Fahrenheit or 23 degrees Celsius. For most of my life, that is how summers here were. But as of the new millennium, we no longer count on typical summers.

WritingCraftWorldbuilding Weather is not just a component of world-building. Sometimes, the weather is the villain in real life. In June and early July of 2021, we here in the Pacific Northwest had strange weather climate-wise.

On June 27^th, within days, we went from temperatures well below average (low to mid-60s and pouring rain) to suffering from temperatures well above 100 degrees. It reached 108 at my house, 111 at my sister’s house 10 miles away. We use Fahrenheit in the US, but for you in the UK and Europe, we topped out at around 44 degrees Celsius.

This is where weather became the villain. People were hospitalized, and some died. Many apartments on the upper stories had windows that only opened four inches (to prevent people and children from falling out) and most had no A/C. No one knew how to keep cool and prevent heat stroke.

By mid-July, we returned to temperatures slightly above average, mid to upper 80’s and sometimes 90’s. That is how it has remained here since. 2022 wasn’t too bad, and 2023 has been warm but mostly bearable. May was abnormally hot, then it cooled down, and we had a typical overcast June. It’s mid-August now, and yesterday it hit 97, which is dangerous for people with no fans or A/C. Today it is expected to top out at 94.

Air conditioning has become commonly built into homes here since the heat dome of 2021. Most people have acquired window A/C units if their central heating system has no cooling option.

Don't_Forget_a_Tarp!_(1a132339-9f55-439b-ac0f-244e244cb12f) Traditionally in the past, summers in the Puget Sound area of Washington state didn’t really begin until July 5^th. We celebrated the 4^th of July with low clouds and drizzle, and “blue tarp camping” was a staple of family vacations. June never became unbearably warm.

When the sun did arrive, temperatures, for most of the time we have kept records, ran into the high 70s or, rarely, low to mid-80s. We are said to have a generally mild climate, and while that is changing, we hope it will remain mostly temperate.

So, let’s look at the weather as the villain. Tornados, hurricanes, bizarre heatwaves—these weather events can be the threat our heroes must overcome.

Once you have decided on your overall climate, do some research on how the weather affects agriculture and animal husbandry. In 2021, we here in the northwest lost many crops as they had cooked in the fields during the heat wave. This caused shortages at a time when the pandemic had already bollixed the supply chain.

In any era, the weather affects the speed with which your characters can travel great distances and how they dress. Bad weather always has a detrimental effect on transportation of people and goods, a serious point to consider.

We don’t get many hurricanes here, but they are common elsewhere.

Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect those islands.

The total death toll is 3,059: an estimated 2,975 in Puerto Rico, 65 in Dominica, 5 in the Dominican Republic, 4 in Guadeloupe, 4 in the contiguous United States, 3 in the United States Virgin Islands, and 3 in Haiti. Maria was the deadliest hurricane in Dominica since the 1834 Padre Ruíz hurricane and the deadliest in Puerto Rico since the 1899 San Ciriaco hurricane. This makes it the deadliest named Atlantic hurricane of the 21st century to date. [1]

Many true stories of survival against the odds and heroism emerge from natural disasters. The kindness of strangers is a worthy plot point, as is the terrible way people behave when resources are cut off, and people lack water and access to food. Hunger, lack of water resources, and unsafe sanitary conditions are powerful drivers of civil unrest.

Wildfires are among the most common forms of natural disaster in some regions of our blue planet, including Siberia, California, and Australia.

And now, a place where we never thought it would happen is burning—Hawaii.

Via Wikipedia:

In early August 2023, a series of wildfires broke out in the US state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations, caused widespread damage, and killed at least 99 people in the town of Lahaina; at least 1,000 people remain missing and the death toll from the fires could double or triple in the upcoming days. The proliferation of the wildfires was attributed to dry, gusty conditions created by a strong high-pressure area north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora to the south.

As of August 14, 2023, there were 99 confirmed deaths, and at least 1,000 other individuals were unaccounted for due to the Lahaina fire on Maui. Only a small number of victims have been identified. The death toll in West Maui made it the deadliest wildfire and natural disaster ever recorded in Hawai’i since statehood even though it could still double or triple in the upcoming days: the governor of the archipelago warned that he expected to find “10 to 20” bodies a day, while the search was expected to last another ten days or so. [2]

StoryMemeLIRF10052021 Tragedies on this scale destroy communities but can also unite the survivors. Maui has a long road ahead. Recovery will not be easy as they are an island, and everything must be shipped to them across the ocean. However, people all over the world are stepping up, and the rebuilding is beginning.

How the people who have survived this horrible event go forward will be a testament to their resilience.

Tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, severe droughts, prolonged monsoons—weather offers many opportunities for stories of survival against the odds. Thus, large weather events make worthy threats for your characters to overcome.

One of the best movies I’ve ever seen is The Perfect Storm, an adaptation of Sebastian Junger’s creative non-fiction novel of the same name. From Wikipedia:

The Perfect Storm is a creative nonfiction book written by Sebastian Junger and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1997. The paperback edition (ISBN 0-06-097747-7) followed in 1999 from HarperCollins‘ Perennial imprint. The book is about the 1991 Perfect Storm that hit North America between October 28 and November 4, 1991, and features the crew of the fishing boat Andrea Gail, from Gloucester, Massachusetts, who were lost at sea during severe conditions while longline fishing for swordfish 575 miles (925 km) out. Also in the book is the story about the rescue of the three-person crew of the sailboat Satori in the Atlantic Ocean during the storm by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tamaroa (WMEC-166). [3]

And so, if you are looking for a plot for your NaNoWriMo novel, consider the weather. It’s not just a part of world-building. It can be the perfect adversary.

Credits and Attributions:

Image: Don’t Forget a Tarp, National Park Service, Wikimedia Commons contributors, “File:Don’t Forget a Tarp! (1a132339-9f55-439b-ac0f-244e244cb12f).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Don%27t_Forget_a_Tarp!_(1a132339-9f55-439b-ac0f-244e244cb12f).jpg&oldid=784682623 (accessed August 15, 2023).

[1] Wikipedia contributors, “Hurricane Maria,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hurricane_Maria&oldid=1170469768 (accessed August 15, 2023).

[2] Wikipedia contributors, “2023 Hawaii wildfires,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2023_Hawaii_wildfires&oldid=1170557024 (accessed August 15, 2023).

[3] Wikipedia contributors, “The Perfect Storm (book),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Perfect_Storm_(book)&oldid=1162518110 (accessed August 16, 2023).

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Tagged as hurricanes, Lahaina wildfire, Villains, weather, weather as the enemy, writing

September 23, 2019 · 6:00 am

The well-rounded villain #amwriting

One character archetype that is critical to any story is the villain. Christopher Vogler, in his brilliant book, The Writer’s Journey, Mythic Structure for Writers, shows us how the villain of a piece represents the shadow. They are the character who shows us the energy of the dark side, and whose influence on the protagonist must be fully explored.

The shadow character serves several purposes.

He/she is usually the main antagonist and represents the darkness, which opposes the light.
The shadow provides the roadblocks, the reason the protagonist must struggle.

The shadow represents our own darker side. Great villains bring ethical and moral dilemmas to the story, offering us food for thought. The hero may recognize the darkness within herself and struggle to take the higher road.

The best stories are when the protagonist must face and overcome the shadow on a deeply personal level as well as succeeding at the quest. This places her in true danger.

The best shadow-characters are multidimensional. Great villains have many layers, and not all of them bad.

Characters portrayed as evil for the sake of drama can be cartoonish. Layers must support their actions, or the villain is not believable.

I think of these two-dimensional villains as little “Skeletors.” Skeletor is a cartoon villain with one of the least believable storylines.

Skeletor has great passion and drive, but it’s all noise and show. His ostensible quest is to conquer Castle Grayskull so he can obtain its ancient secrets. Possession of these would make him unstoppable, allowing him to conquer the world of Eternia.

But his character is hollow, and his storyline is simply one long declaration of his villainy. In reality, Skeletor’s sole purpose is to give He-Man a reason to draw his mighty sword and proclaim, “I have the power!”

It was a fun cartoon, but these characters were originally conceived as a means of selling toys.

From Wikipedia:

In the illustrated books released with the first series of toys, He-Man was a barbarian from an Eternian tribe. The planet’s inhabitants were dealing with the aftermath of the Great Wars, which devastated the civilizations which once ruled supreme. The wars left behind advanced machinery and weaponry, known only to select people. An early incarnation of the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull gave He-Man some of these weapons, and he set out to defend the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil Skeletor.

He-Man possessed one-half of the Power Sword; Skeletor had the second half, and used it as his main weapon. When joined, the two halves of the Power Sword will provide the key to Castle Grayskull (this is why the two figures’ swords could combine into one, when the action figures were initially released). In one early illustrated story, He-Man and Skeletor united their two Power Sword halves to form the true Power Sword, defeating a common enemy.

(…) By the time the animated series was developed, He-Man’s origins had been revised: his true identity was Prince Adam of Eternia, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena (an earthling), who ruled the Kingdom of Eternia on the planet of the same name. The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull endowed Prince Adam with the power to transform into He-Man, which Adam did by raising his Power Sword and proclaiming, “By the power of Grayskull…” Once the transformation was complete, he continued “…I have the power!”.

What is your goal? Are you selling toys? If so, a token villain serves the purpose. However, if writing a memorable story, you need a character with history.

Great villains have deep stories. They may have begun life as unpleasant people and even may be sociopaths, but they become “evil” through a series of formative steps. No one wakes up some morning and says, I am evil. I will now go out, gather some minions, and do evil things.”

Look at one of the greatest villains of all time, a character who represents the worst humanity can offer: Hannibal Lector: (via Wikipedia)

In The Silence of the Lambs, Lecter’s keeper, Dr. Frederick Chilton, claims that Lecter is a “pure sociopath” (“pure psychopath” in the film adaptation). In the film adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs, protagonist Clarice Starling says of Lecter, “They don’t have a name for what he is.”

Lecter’s pathology is explored in greater detail in Hannibal and Hannibal Rising, which explains that he was traumatized as a child in Lithuania in 1944 when he witnessed the murder and cannibalism of his beloved sister, Mischa, by a group of deserting Lithuanian Hilfswillige, one of whom claimed that Lecter unwittingly ate his sister as well.

Villains must have a back story to explain their villainy or a quest that is as important to the story as the Hero’s quest.

In the Tower of Bones series, light and dark (good and evil) are represented through two different theologies. Both societies believe in the righteousness of their gods. Both have rituals they perform to appease their deities. The people of both worlds believe firmly that their way and their deity is the only true way.

When we write a story, we want the protagonist’s struggle to mean something to the reader. We put them through hell and make their lives a misery. The characters in our stories aren’t going through the horrible trials alone. The moment we begin the story, we are dragging the reader along for the ride.

We owe it to our readers to give them rounded, believable characters, hero or villain.

What turned the villain to the darkness? What events gave them the strength and courage to rise above the past, twisted though they are? What drives their agenda? What do they hope to achieve?

We who write novels can’t offer the reader hollow, cartoonish characters. If we don’t give the shadow hints of depth, we have failed.

We must make their ultimate victory evoke great relief in the reader, joy that all is made right.

The reader has survived, and the victory is as much theirs as it is the hero’s.

Credits and Attributions:

Wikipedia contributors, “He-Man,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=He-Man&oldid=916702029 (accessed September 22, 2019).

Wikipedia contributors, “Hannibal Lecter,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hannibal_Lecter&oldid=916951188 (accessed September 22, 2019).

Skeletor-spoo: Fair Use, for identification of and critical commentary on the television program and its contents. DVD screen capture from the She-Ra: Princess of Power episode “Gateway to Trouble,” where Skeletor is offered a bowl of Spoo. Wikipedia contributors, “He-Man,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=He-Man&oldid=916702029 (accessed September 22, 2019).

Imogen by Herbert Gustav Schmalz PD|100 via Wikimedia Commons

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Tagged as exploring the dark side, good vs. evil, light and dark characters, Villains, Writing Great Villains, writing the shadow characters

December 7, 2016 · 6:45 am

#amwriting: Villainous motivation (or why should they bother?)

You have a hero. He/she is awesome. Your beta readers love him/her.

You have a villain. Unfortunately, your beta readers find him/her murky and hard to believe, so they don’t really understand your story. What is their problem?

The problem is not with the beta readers – you haven’t gotten a grip on that villain yourself, and therefore the antagonist has no motivation for being evil other than possessing a bastardly disposition, which doesn’t make a really compelling story.

First you need to understand what defines evil: Google Definitions defines evil as:

e·vil

ˈēvəl

adjective

profoundly immoral and malevolent.

“his evil deeds”

synonyms: wicked, bad, wrong, immoral, sinful, foul, vile, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, reprobate, villainous, nefarious, vicious, malicious; malevolent, sinister,demonic, devilish, diabolical, fiendish, dark; monstrous, shocking, despicable,atrocious, heinous, odious, contemptible, horrible, execrable;

informal lowdown, dirty

“an evil deed”

noun

profound immorality, wickedness, and depravity, especially when regarded as a supernatural force.

“the world is stalked by relentless evil”

So now we have an overly simplified concept of evil.

First of all, very few people are evil for no reason at all. They want something, and are willing to do nearly anything to gain it. The best villains lack compassion. Why do they lack this basic human emotion? It could be they are narcissistic and are incapable of empathy, exhibiting it only when they gain something by displaying feigned compassion.

Most people who are considered evil by society are highly narcissistic. BPDcentral.com defines a narcissist as a person who:

Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
Requires excessive admiration
Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes
Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

Our villain is determined to have his own way at any cost, and to that end he/she is Manipulative. In their personal relationships they will:

Employ “Gaslighting,” a manipulative tactic that can be described in different variations of three words: ‘That didn’t happen,’ ‘You imagined it,’ and ‘Are you crazy?’ This is an insidious manipulative tactic, because it works to distort and erode the victim’s sense of reality. It eats away at the victim’s knowledge of events and their ability to trust their instincts. This tactic keeps them from feeling justified in calling out abuse and mistreatment.
Employ cutting remarks masked as jokes.
Switch conversational topics as a means to avoid accountability.
Attempt to distract you by focusing your attention on the supposed threat of another person (reporting supposed gossip about you).

It is important to understand that villains want to win at any cost, and sometimes have no concept of what they will do once they achieve their goal, as they haven’t thought that far ahead. They are completely focused just on winning.

Now that we know what our villain is like as human being, we know that most likely greed and/or a lust for power is what is driving this person.

Your task as an author is to clearly define what goal this person has set for themselves and why they believe they deserve to achieve it.

Many villains don’t walk on screen as full-blown supervillains, especially in contemporary fiction and romances. They appear innocuous, even loving. You will want to slip small clues for the reader about their personality into the narrative in the beginning pages:

Is he/she a liar? (Hint that they may be a cheating spouse, slick salesman, politician.)
Are they a thief? (Hint that they may be an embezzler, a tax evader, or business person who profits from deliberately bankrupting their own businesses.)
Do they take outrageous risks? Drop mentions and hints as to this aspect of their character early on in the narrative.

The villain is often the most complex character you will write. They must be multilayered or they can appear cartoonish. If their goals are clearly defined and their actions in keeping with their personality, you will have a good enemy opposing your protagonist.

Whether you are writing fantasy, sci-fi, westerns, romance, or any genre of fiction, chances are you will have a villain. It is your task to make that villain come to life, and to that end, you need to know how they think and why they think that way.

Quoted and researched sources: