Monsters Are Not Born, They Are Created
- Siri Marie
- Nov 7
- 10 min read
How to Write a Villain Readers Will Love to Hate, or Hate to Love
"The history of villains is much more entertaining than that of heroes, because monsters are not born, they are created." - Mary Shelley
Who would you put on your Favorite Villains list? Emperor Palpatine? Lex Luther? King Joffrey?
Now why do you like these villains? Do they make your skin crawl? Do you just love their intellect and master manipulation? Do you maybe, kinda sorta agree with them? Even if you can’t quite pinpoint what it is you like about these characters, the fact is they added value to the story.
Obviously your protagonist—your hero—is important to your plot and story. But sometimes, your villain is even more so. Villains are vital for providing conflict and usually have a direct influence on your protagonist’s character development. But they should never exist only for conflict; you don’t want a villain to be evil for the sake of being evil. They will likely end up feeling flat, and underdeveloped.
What you want is to create a villain that readers will love. And that is accomplished by making sure you spend as much time developing your villain as you do your hero.
A Villain by Any Other Name is an Antagonist
Before diving into what makes a killer villain (pun intended), let’s look at what a villain is. An important distinction needs to be made between a villain and an antagonist, because while all villains are antagonists, not all antagonists are villains.
Put simply, an antagonist is a character, group, organization, or force that acts in direct opposition to the goals and aspirations of the protagonist. Their main purpose in a story is to create conflict and obstacles for the protagonist–propelling the story forward.
A villain, on the other hand, is a type of antagonist, along with anti-heroes, monsters, and non-human antagonists like systems and nature. That means that villains have the same goal as antagonists in general. The difference lies largely in the intention. One of Merriam-Webster’s definitions of "villain" is “a deliberate scoundrel or criminal.” While this definition doesn’t quite capture the story-element of a villain, it does touch on something important. Key word: “deliberate.” Villains are antagonists with specific and malicious intent toward someone or something, and it is that intent that the hero needs to overcome.
For example:
A meteor plummeting towards Earth causing a race against the clock for the hero? Antagonist
An evil scientist who launches a meteor toward Earth? Villain
One of these antagonists has intent behind their action, the other does not. If the meteor was sentient and plummeting toward Earth to avenge the destruction of its meteor girlfriend; well, that would be a different story (and maybe one you feel like writing).
For the sake of this post, we’re focusing on the villains–those sneaky, conniving, no-good, ill-doers looking to cause problems for your heroes.
So Bad They’re Good
Reading builds empathy. It allows us to peek into the lives of characters experiencing situations unlike our own, and so we are able to gain some insight into what people in the real world might be experiencing. Readers want to feel for the characters–understand them, empathize with them. This makes the characters’ experience their own, which makes the story that much more high-stakes for the reader, and that much more enjoyable.
Because of the readers' desire to feel for characters, writers put a lot of focus on their heroes to try and make them realistic, believable, relatable. Make them complex.
And you should!
But you shouldn’t forget about your villains! Just like our favorite heroes, our favorite villains are complex and evoke empathy. Of course, this doesn’t mean that all of your villains need to be a Frankenstein-level of complexity and empathy (and I refer to both the doctor and The Creature here). Disney's Gaston, for example, isn’t a particularly complex or empathetic villain, but his behaviors—his conceited, entitled, and manipulative behaviors—give him a depth that allows Beauty and the Beast fans to truly see his beastly nature; they understand him for who he is. And that’s the real goal.
The last thing I want is for you to start adding scenes and plot twists and uncharacteristic behaviors trying to make your character more relatable, more demanding of empathy. You can’t force your readers to like your villain. What I do want is for you to spend as much time with your villain as you do your hero. Know what makes them tick, and make sure they have the following 7 qualities that I discuss below. If you do, your villain’s complexity will increase as a result, and your readers' obsession will grow.
1. Clear Motivation
This is an absolute must. Just like your hero, your villain needs a clear motivation or goal that will drive them (and the story) forward. Do they want world domination? Revenge? To conquer a kingdom? Awesome!
Why?
While a villain is a person with malicious intent, that doesn’t mean that they are only acting out of hate. So think about what drives them to want to do what they are doing. Are they motivated by grief? Love (or obsession)? A desire for power?
When you define what your villain truly wants and what drives them toward it, you give your readers the opportunity to understand them, anticipate future behaviors, and (in turn) be shocked if they behave differently than expected.
Take a look at your list of Favorites, I’m sure you know exactly what drives each of them.
2. They are in opposition of the hero
Your villain’s motivation, behavior, or goal needs to be in direct opposition of your hero’s, or makes your hero question their own motivation, behavior, or goal. In other words, the villain must challenge the hero’s “why”—their driving force, the reason behind everything they do and go through in the story.
For Big Picture “whys”, think Theme—fighting for freedom, love overcomes all, and of course, good versus evil. But this opposition can be carried throughout the story and plot, in small ways, and even as your hero’s motivations and goals change. And it doesn’t always have to mean wanting different things.
Let’s take a look at Magneto, old friend of Professor X and mutant villain from X-Men. Technically, Professor X and Magneto want the same thing—a world where mutants aren't persecuted and don’t need to live in hiding. The opposition lies in their methods and the desired outcome. Professor X wants mutants to live among humans as equals, while Magneto believes mutants should reign supreme. Magneto challenges Professor X’s “why” every time he shows evidence of humans prejudice and mistreatment toward mutants.
In some cases, the villain might actually cause the hero to doubt their goals and motivations—for better or worse. Pretty much the entire plot of the Star Wars prequels is Palpatine corrupting Anakin and causing a shift in his beliefs and motivations. But we have another example in The Hunger Games. President Snow (and the system he upholds) is clearly defined as the villain from the beginning. But at the very end he presents one final challenge to Katniss–is he really the one that should be taken out?
In all of these examples, the villain does something important for the story—they force the hero to make a choice, to strengthen their resolve, or to give up on their goal. And readers will love them for it!
"Nobody is a villain in their own story." - George R. R. Martin
3. They believe they are right (or in the right)
It’s hard to believe a villain if they second guess themselves, so you have to make sure that yours truly believes that they are right, or entitled to what they are striving for. If they act with conviction, your readers will find the things they do believable, even if they are terrible.
Bonus points if you can get the readers to wonder if they might actually be right!
Marvel’s Thanos is a perfect example of this. After watching his own people deplete their planet of all its resources and doom themselves, he travels to Earth to prevent humans from facing the same fate. A noble cause when put that way. But his resolution to Earth’s disappearing resources is to eliminate one half of the human population; and he does a lot of other terrible things along the way.
But he truly believes that he is behaving for the sake of the planet—for the good of humanity. And some fans of the movies agree that there was likely no other way to remedy the issue.
"I try to write shows where the bad guy’s got his reasons." - Lin-Manuel Miranda
4. Clearly define why they are the way they are
There’s a reason why prequels and origin stories—like Maleficent and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes—do so well among fans. It’s because people love to see how villains (and characters in general) became the way they are. A great way to build that empathy we want readers to feel toward a villain is by giving them a clear reason for how they became the villain.
This is typically done through a compelling and emotional backstory. But that doesn’t need to translate to childhood trauma. Rather, you should consider what your villain’s triggering experience was, the influential moment, or the tipping point that sent them spiraling toward villainhood.
If you have the time to commit to 1100+ episodes of anime or 100+ volumes of manga, I recommend checking out the villainous creations of Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece. His characters are bizarre, quirky, and certainly from a world of fantasy, but he is the king of backstory and getting his audience to empathize with his “bad guys.” This is because he gives each of them a clear motivation and a clearly defined reason for their behavior. To give you a brief list of his villains’ reasons:
Racism and prejudice (Arlong)
Grief and regret (Señior Pink)
Lost privilege and entitlement (Donquixote Doflamingo)
Enabling behavior, abandonment, and grooming (Big Mom)
Conceit, pride, and manipulation (Axe-hand Morgan)
Loss (Gecko Moria)
One of these characters is on my Favorite Villains list, but I don’t like any of them. They are all very much the villains. They do terrible things, treat people horribly, and the means they take to reach their ends go against every moral fiber of my being. They are villains.
But…
I have felt for each of them (except maybe Morgan). I understand why they are the way they are, and there were tears for some when I found out. And even if I didn’t cry for each backstory, they all gave me insight into the characters’ behaviors and beliefs.
5. Power
I encourage you to think of this more as influence rather than literal power. Your villain’s power can be tied to authority, money, popularity, magic, etc. There are many great villains who are charismatic and manipulative, or use their intellect to influence the people around them.
This power should be directly integrated into who your villain is, their goals and motivations, and their behavior. But the power is also a tool for you to use against your hero. Power suggests an advantage, another obstacle for the hero to overcome.
Not every hero needs to be an underdog, but readers won’t enjoy a story if they feel the hero can easily defeat the villain.
“Pirates are evil? The marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! … Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!” - Donquixote Doflamingo
6. Morality (or immorality)
This goes back to the idea of a villain being a character with malicious intent. Your typical villain is going to be immoral, evil; but they don’t need to be. There’s no hard-fast rule that says villains can’t have a moral bone in their body. In fact, I encourage you to play with morality in your villain-creation process. Make them a more complex character by exploring their moral compass, their values, and what their world considers "moral."
Are they morally gray, do they play both sides, or speak hard truths? Perhaps they actually have the same goal as the hero, but the two don’t agree on the how or why. Is there a line that even they won’t cross? Or are they so dead set on reaching their goal they’ll trample anyone and anything that stands in their way? How has their past shaped them morally?
Some of the best villains are those with “good” intentions. Sometimes, they’re the ones you want to root for…if only they’d go about things a little differently. Other times they’re the ones that are so sure they’re doing what’s right they can’t see the damage they’re actually causing. But all of them pique readers’ interest because they have depth, purpose, and are more than just "evil."
7. Proactivity
This is an important quality that is often overlooked. Remember that the villain acts in direct opposition to the hero’s goals and motivations, which means that the villain needs to act. The hero often doesn’t directly interact with the villain until later in the story, sometimes not even until the climax. But that doesn’t mean there’s a villain sitting in his secret lair twiddling his thumbs and waiting for his cue to jump in and start monologuing. Their power, their decisions, and their actions should influence what the hero is doing—even if they aren’t actually present.
Voldemort is only physically present on about 4% of the pages in the entire Harry Potter series. Darth Vader is only on screen for about 10% of A New Hope. But both of these villains are proactive in their respective stories, even when the hero doesn’t know. This villainous proactivity, this sometimes invisible or unknown influence, urges the hero and the story onward. But it also allows readers to begin forming a relationship with the villain, even if they aren’t on the page. The villain can be building fear, anger, frustration, dread within the reader by their actions and influence alone, without dialogue, without violence toward the hero, without drama.
The Monster Unmasked
Readers want to love your villain. They want to see them for who they are and understand why they turned out the way they did. In order for them to feel truly real and believable, they need to feel human. They need to have complexity—emotions, vulnerabilities, motivations. When they have all of these things, or any combination of them, readers will be able to empathize with them or their cause. You don’t need readers to agree with them or feel sorry for them. You just need them to understand.
Creating a villain that has all of the qualities listed above, means giving your readers a villain with depth and personality—even if it’s a horrible one. And that means giving your readers a villain they’ll remember.
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