The good, the bad and the ugly... (Part II)

Yesterday I made a list of the common types of antagonists that appear in stories. Well, today is going to the other spectrum and looking at the common antagonists/villains that our heroes might encounter on their journey.

1. The Big Bad
Ooh, don't you like the big and scary monsters? This is what vampires used to be like. These are monsters/villains that are purely evil. They don't have any reasons or motivations apart from being evil (most motivations stems around the need to feed or being more animalistic monsters).


These types of villains are okay to watch and follow if it's in a horror movie. These days though, villains need more motivation than simply "because I'm evil".

2. The "too stupid to live" villain... a.k.a the bumbler
These are characters that if they existed in real life they would probably be long dead by now. Some reason they always seem to screw up their plans, and it's definitely a shock whenever they catch the hero or temporarily defeat the hero.

This type of villain definitely does vie for the sympathy vote, but it's always funny watching what these types of villains will do next. Don't try to use them in anything but for humour, because they won't be respected as villains otherwise.

3. The chess master
These types of characters use something called the Xanatos Roulette, they set up elaborate plans that, if one thing doesn't align in perfect place, the whole master plan could fall to bits. Never taking the easy way out, they would prefer to set up five moves ahead and usually (for some surprising reason) their plans never fail.

Joker is a fantastic example, even though he mainly does his plans through chaos, he never physically carries out anything, he rather sets things up so that they'll eventually cascade into the ending that he wants... just think of his plan in the Dark Knight, I won't go through it just in case it spoils the ending for some.

4. The "I do have a heart" villain... a.k.a the anti-villain
These are the villains you are meant to feel sorry for. Sympathetic villains that has an elaborate and deep back story that allows you to feel sorry for them. They are not purely evil even though they still are the ones going around committing the crimes and killing people... they have a reason for it.

Japanese horror is great with this. All of the movies I've seen has the main villain someone who the viewer can definitely feel sorry for. Take Samara out of the Ring, all she ever wanted was to be loved... so you end up feeling sorry for them (seriously, I've nearly cried at the end of some because of such a sad ending for the vicious monster that's spent most of the movie killing people).

5. The "is it bad to want the bad guy to win" villain 
These villains are fun to watch, and even more fun to write about. Sometimes they can also be combined with the anti-villain, because these are the ones that you hate to love. These characters can be sympathetic or have characteristics that the reader/viewer can relate to.

I love Anime and one of my favourites is Death Note, in it there's the main character who eventually becomes the villain as he goes around killing people, but his plan is just as elaborate as the chess master and he is humourous to watch. Plus he also had morals, he was attacking those who were committing crimes because the police system wasn't working fast enough. He was just all around fun to watch... it nearly had me wanting him to win, but I liked the hero much better.

6. The "all the world hates me" villain
This type of character is the exact opposite of the Unlikely Hero. He has had a poor and rough life. Most probably abandoned or orphaned at a young age, or abused by his parents or carers, but instead of remaining sympathetic, they chose to get revenge on those that have hurt them and thus becoming villains.

Voldemort is a great example. His childhood could pretty much be identical to Harry's, with being orphaned/abandoned and raised by people that don't want them. The one difference is the choices they make, Voldemort chose to go the evil path, so he became the villain in the story.

7. The designated evil
Okay, so this character is just like the "Designated Driver", they only exist because the story requires them. Sometimes they can be minor/petty crooks that the hero foils at the beginning or they can be a school rival who has not done anything wrong, but the story does need a villain and they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time sort of thing.

For all those that don't know, the character to the left is Vayne from Final Fantasy Xii (video game), his only crime was wanting to stop the gods for the way they treated humans like puppets.


I definitely love reading or watching the Chess Master, the anti-villain or stories that gets me to root for the villain. In my writing I like to work around the anti-villain, I love sympathetic villains. I would love to work on a whole chess master move (actually I've got something planned for my Heroes novel... hopefully it can come together).

So, what sort of villains do you like to read about? What do you write about?

The good, the bad and the ugly... (Part I)

There are many sorts of heroes/protagonists out there, some I love, some I totally despise reading about. Nearly all characters out there fall into one personality trait. So, this is some of the categories I've seen heroes fit into:

1. The "nothing can stop me"... a.k.a the Superman
This is the hero who seems to be able to do anything, and their powers seems to be growing (especially if it's a series). Their strengths outweigh their weakness. Believe it or not, I've actually seen a lot of these characters around, and the one problem I find with them (don't get me wrong, being oh-so-perfect can sometimes be a good thing) is that most of the time they miss the one thing that makes a character "human". They don't have flaws, so how can the reader be expected to relate to characters like that?

2. The damsel in distress 
This character is very common in romances. She needs to wait around for her prince charming to come and rescue her. The one good thing about this character is that they end up with multiple guys vying for their attention in modern stories, and they usually find their "true love" with the guy who is rescuing them. I actually despise this sort of character (no offense), I would rather have a kick butt, take no crap from anyone heroine than

3. The "I don't wait for no one" damsel
 This damsel will solve her own problems (usually making more along the way). She will take crap from no one and do her share of butt kicking. Strong and determined, she often spends most of the story arguing with the guy and not following a word he says... and for some reason, she usually ends up with the guy at the end. I absolutely adore these sorts of protagonists. Most of the time they definitely have a lot of spunk, and a little bit of a rebellious spirit.

4. The "I'm not all evil" hero... a.k.a the anti-hero
 These can be one of the most interesting heroes to follow. The Antihero is someone with some of the qualities of a villain, up to and including brutality, cynicism, and ruthlessness, but with the soul or motivations of a more conventional Hero.

5. The "all the world's against me" hero
Who doesn't love an angst-filled hero? This type of hero are usually outsiders and don't fit in with anyone (or don't want to fit in). This type of hero often appears in paranormal stories where the main character has some kind of power that labels them as "freaks" among their peers. Sometimes they just don't want to fit in with everyone else, and they can be labeled as goth or emo.

6. The "life has never been kind" hero... a.k.a. the unlikely hero
Probably the most seen hero archetype in YA. This type of character has usually suffered a great loss in life and they haven't been treated well. Most of the time they are orphans who have to live with mean relatives who do not want them, other times they are shipped away to distant relatives/boarding school because the parents either don't want them or can't handle them.

There is something about this type of character that allows the reader to sympathize with them. Oh, don't I just love underdogs.

7. The "what the heck, it's only an adventure" hero
 These heroes just stumble into the action. They have no special power or involvement with the events prior to the start of their journey. Most of the time they are just looking to have an adventure, sometimes treasure hunting can be involved to get the hero involved.







When it comes to deciding my protagonists I love using the kick-butt heroines or the unlikely hero. I love adding flaws to my characters, the more the better. This is probably why I absolutely abhor the damsel in distress and the Superman, I don't like weak characters and ones that have absolutely no weaknesses (they don't make for interesting story lines).


So, what sort of characters do you use with your stories? Which characters don't you like reading about?