Heroes and Villains

Heroes:

• Not perfect - they do need to have a flaw.
• Lame middle name - makes them humble/laughable
• Base - who they are before they start - DON'T have your character exist just for the plot
• Relate to them or have sympathy for them
• Ideal - the reader likes something about them - maybe they admire the character or wish they could be more like them.
• Paradox / Inner Conflict - they need to be pulled in different directions, to make them interesting and (hopefully) this can be connected to the plot.
• Past, Present, Future (Back story, experiences that have shaped them; then who they are now; future motivations and desires)

 Villains
*Remember that not everyone who opposes the protagonist is a villain. They may just be misguided, or they may have good reasons for their actions as well.

•  It is not an interesting story without conflict - you ALWAYS want to have some inner conflict in your story. Then a good book will have some external conflict (with others or with nature)
• Don't have your villain opposing the protagonist just to go against the protagonist. They will have other reasons, self-interest, twisted ideologies/misguided principles.
• What threat do they pose to the protagonist?
• This will make them more believable.
• Try not to make "cardboard cut-out" villains - try to make them original.
• Villains NEED to have a backstory - as good as the protagonist's.*
•  Making your Villain relateable as well will make your story more complex - which actually makes it more believable because in real life people are complex and everyone has bad/good sides.

*But also remember, though just about every character should have a back story, note every back story should be written down in the book, necessarily.

Examples:
Megamind

• You might think he is simply going against Metroman (because they talk about it in the movie)
• BUT he identifies with the role of the villain. He "plays the game" to please himself, and because it's fun, and
• "If I was the bad boy, I was going to be the baddest boy of them all."

Sauron (Lord of the Rings)

• Wasn't doing things just to be evil
• He had motivations: for himself
• The ring is evil, but it still does things to rejoin it's master

Earlier Post: Being Unique with your Characters