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{Cover background to THE LEGEND OF VICTOR STANDISH by the lovely Leonora Roy}
I didn't say "villian" you will notice. Say villain and you have images of moustache-twirlers or evil geniuses.
For the most part, the best literary antagonists remind us that they, too, are human.
No matter how twisted or dark they might be, they are not so different than you or I.
The paths that separate the hero from the antagonist are complex, uncertain, and often frighteningly close.
Great writers are often able to accurately depict not only the evil done, but the humanity abandoned.
So what makes a great antagonist?
1) POWER -
Great antagonists are staggeringly powerful.
In other words, they have a way of making things bend to their will whether it is by mystic might, enormous wealth, or by seductive beauty.
2) INTELLIGENCE -
A truly great antagonist is always two steps ahead of the hero, and carefully considers every option.
This does not mean that they are above making mistakes. Otherwise they would be undefeatable.
But they certainly don’t make the obvious ones.
Great opponents pose a real challenge for the hero, and they do so by being on top of their game, moving on an agenda that usually remains shadowy.
3) IMMORAL or AMORAL -
A great antagonist's moral compass never points NORTH. Not that he or she does not have a mental grid that guides him or her. It is just one that skirts all boundaries of morality, clinging close to the jagged coastline of the antagonist's skewed world view.
4) WOUNDED -
A great antagonist is scarred by inflicted or self-inflicted wounds that twist the very fabric of his soul.
Having a wounded villain also prevents him or her from becoming a caricature. Villains who are driven by a lust for power is a fantasy cliché. Giving the character a reason for this lust makes it credible.
5) FORCE OF NATURE -
Imagine trying to reason with an on-coming tornado. That is a great antagonist. She or he has a path and that path will be followed no matter what. The word "determined" pales compared to a great antagonist's drive.
WHY ANTAGONISTS?
A) "Oh," you say, "there is no villain in my novel except for the internal conflict within my hero."
Then, all you are going to have is a melodrama. And soap operas are dying.
When there is no Core Story Crisis to motivate your hero, there is little way to ratchet the tension and keep the reader turning the pages.
B) MIRROR TO YOUR HERO -
Always remember that the bad guy is the good guy in his own story. One of the best examples of this is in the movie Law Abiding Citizen.
Your novel will be lent depth by having your hero harrowed by seeing himself in the person he is facing off against.
C) BURNING FUSE TO THE DYNAMITE -
Each scene is colored by the antagonist's presence or threats he/she reflects. It is the driving soundtrack of your novel.
"THE AUDIENCE WILL NOT TUNE IN TO WATCH INFORMATION.
YOU WOULDN’T, I WOULDN’T. NO ONE WOULD OR WILL. THE AUDIENCE WILL ONLY TUNE IN AND STAY TUNED TO WATCH DRAMA."
~Mamet
What do you think makes for a great antagonist? What do you do for your own antagonists in your novels? What's is your latest antagonist like?
In this clip, Kingsley, in voiceover, uses his signature line, "You'll never see me coming," but this time he doesn't lead-foot the l's and r's.
Instead, he breaks up the sentence with dramatic pauses, so he sounds appropriately dangerous as opposed to dangerous and destined to be a recurring Saturday Night Live character.
I've also read that it's great to give your antagonist the opposite qualities your protagonist exhibits, to set them off further. Great post.
ReplyDeleteCrystal:
ReplyDeleteMirror Opposites make for a great clash! Thanks for liking my post!
:-)
My antagonists are generally mirror opposits to my protagonists with the minor difference of that moral compass. You're speaking to my writers heart with this post Roland. I hate it when the antag/villian is either smarter than the hero - and hero wins through accident or divine intervention; or the villain and the minions is so stupid you wonder how he came to power in the first place.
ReplyDeleteSome other good examples of that mirror image antagonist is Justified's Raylen Givens (protag) and Boyd Crowder (antag); and The Walking Dead's Rick (protag) and The Guv'ner (antag).
.......dhole
To be honest, for me the most gripping stories are good versus good. The more the antagonist's perspective is incorporated, the more riveting the tale. As a reader, if I'm emotionally vested both in both the protagonist and the antagonist, I'm that much more wrapped up in the story. This isn't always possible of course, and a lot of readers (or at least publishers) want more than the antagonist's regret at the end, but I find the moral complexity compelling. Richard Price's CLOCKERS is great example of how enthralling this can be—not easy to accomplish on the page, however.
ReplyDelete~VR Barkowski
Donna:
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the duel betweeen Raylan and Boyd. In fact, JUSTIFIED is one of my favorite TV series. THE WALKING DEAD is also fun to watch for the crucible the characters endure and manage to survive. Elu just wants to scalp the Guv'nor and be done with him!
Samuel has his hands and wits full with dueling with DayStar, whose intellect is so vast. He manages to win at times because DayStar's ego matches his intellect ... and though he would not admit it, he is lonely and Samuel fills a void that a friend would in another being not so conflicted as DayStar.
VR:
I can understand your perspective. I try to make DayStar -- in fact, all my antagonists -- right in their own perspective and upbringing. A Sidhe reared in an environment where morality is what works cannot be expected to behave as you would expect from a human.
But I try to show some antagonists behave badly even according to their moral grid to obtain what they wish at the expense of their core values (High Queen Oyggia) -- and other antagonists reap the wrath of their peers to stay true to their own moral compass as with Sinend in END OF DAYS.
These comment discussions have been excellent fun. Thanks, Donna and VR! :-)