Villains

Every story must have a good guy. As such, every story must also have a bad guy. Though villains, usually the antagonist for the most part, are not supposed to be the character that is to be liked by your readers/viewers/players, villains are actually one of the most important characters in any stories.
 As said by film critic Roger Ebert:

"Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph." - Extracted from Wikipedia

In other words, many protagonists share similar traits, such as personality, looks and goals. Villains, on the other hand, are mostly unique from one another, even though they share the same "stereotype", such as two mad scientists but both have different ways in combating the protagonists. 

For example, Green Goblin from the Spider-man series can be classified as a mad scientist, and so can Dr. Drakken from the Kim Possible series. However, Green Goblin is a more aggressive character, attacking Spider-man directly and cities little by little while Dr. Drakken is more passive and cowardly though scheming, making up plans that could terrorize the entire world in one go. Every villain is unique in at least one way and it is often hard to find two villains who are similar.

In addition, villains are generally the main cause of conflict within the story, hence the villain is the main drive behind the protagonist's goals and motivations.

Stereotypes:

As with protagonists, villains have their own set of stereotypes and though there is a large number of them, I will try and list out the more common ones:

• Mad Scientist or just simply a madman
• Rogue AI
• Messiah Complex (Look at Sephiroth)
• Sentient Starship
• Ugly and/or powerful monster
• Huge Monster/Person
• Many more...

Despite this, villains still retain an amount of uniqueness due to the sheer number of creative, and often non-foolproof, ways of getting or doing what they want. Making a unique villain is not hard, but making a good and potentially likable villain is the real challenge.

Tips:
If you wish to create a good villain, all it takes is a lot of creativity and realism. Unless your story is rather silly or for kids, your villain needs to be three-dimensional (having a background, personality, weakness like a normal person). Remember that even if the villain is a bad guy and thus, require almost no character development, a villain is still a character. Make them seem real. Here are some tips on that:

• Give him weaknesses. It may not necessarily be physical. Try a mental weakness instead, such as a psychological trauma or simply overconfidence.
• Give them a reason or a motive behind their villainy act. It is silly for them to be killing people for no reason.
• Give them a personality that easily identifies them. Making them a direct opposite to the protagonist is a good idea, like a foil.
• Avoid cliches and tropes, such as the villain doing the "evil laugh" while rubbing their hands together.
• Give them a background. They cannot just appear out of nowhere!
• If your villains are extremely powerful, explain where they get it. If possible, explain why they are not destroying the world with that power yet.
• Making your villains humorous, rather than being badass, is not a bad idea. In fact, it makes your story more interesting.
• When thinking of a villainy scheme, be as creative as possible. It is the factor that makes your villain unique.

In terms of gender, it is almost a rule of the thumb for villains to be male as female villains are a rarity. Regardless, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try it. Go ahead and try making a female villain.

Now, let's talk about a villain's fate. It is very common for villains to end up dying, either by the hands of the protagonists, their own backfired schemes or by other more natural means. Even if they aren't dead, they may end up incarcerated and hence, technically "dead" in the story. Rarely were villains given other fates, such as reformation or outright change of lives, negative or positive. Hence, it is pretty obvious how to make the fate of your villains original.

It is still acceptable for villains to die as chances are, your readers/viewers/players would want them dead. Regardless, a sudden twist of fate, such as redemption, could be startling, especially an insane villain. Of course, make their redemption or reformation meaningful and logical. Why do they want to redeem themselves? Why that moment of all times?

Anyway, that's all for this post. Good luck creating your ultimate bad guy!

Character Gender

Many people say, "Character gender makes no difference in stories." I usually laugh when I hear this. It makes me think, "So, if we replace that horny hero with a heroine, she will still try to impress that young lady?" It is generally surprising how character gender has an impact on how original our stories can get, especially the main protagonist.

Male:
Common roles given to male characters follows:

• Main character
• Main villain
• Minor characters
• "Love hunters"
• Planned soon-to-be-dead character

Common traits follows:

• "Badass"
• Big and muscular
• Virtually indestructible
• Handsome and masculine
• Full of scars
• Barely serious
• Many more...

If it isn't obvious to you now, males dominate basically any stories. They are capable of taking up virtually any role and can have varying traits. Not to mention the fact that most main protagonists these days are men. Still, female characters must not be overlooked.

Female:
Common roles given to female characters follows:

• Secondary character
• Main love interest
• The final survivor
• "Love hunters"
• Eye-candy

Common traits follows:

• Generally slim
• Improperly armored
• Beautiful and feminine OR very masculine
• Always serious or highly emotional
• Delicate-looking
• Dumb blonde

Unlike males, females are rarely given very serious roles and are usually treated as eye-candy. Even with the increase in female involvement in stories, they are still a minority. Those who do play main protagonist roles are so similar to men that they are rather hard to call a woman.

Personally, I think female characters brings out the most amount of potential for original storylines, since they are rarely used and often used the same way over and over again. Male characters are so overused, it is very rare to see one with originality, especially the main protagonist.

Female protagonists I recommend would be one who can look after herself, combat or no, but still retains her feminine side, instead of becoming so similar to a man. Male protagonists I recommend would be one who possess at least a few obvious weakness (that actually makes sense) and are at least emotional. Stoic protagonists are so heavily overused.

If you want good examples of stories with good female characters, look at the following games:

• Portal and Portal 2 (Chell and GLaDOS)
• Final Fantasy XIII (Lightning)

I can't point out good examples of male characters, however, since most of them are so similar to one another.

Romance Genre

Ah the romance genre. One of the most versatile genres and also one of the most heavily used genres. It's really a wonder how it can easily mix with other genres such as action, adventure, sci-fi or even horror. As such, romance is also one of the most repetitive genre.

The Bad:
Within most non-love stories, romance is extremely predictable, especially movies and video games. I've seen enough of it to invent my own list of how it begins and ends.

1. The ever-important protagonist meets a beautiful young lady and was quickly mesmerized by her looks.
2.  He tried to impress her in any way, somehow forgetting his all-important mission or quest.
3. Getting the girl and/or keeping her happy is his new mission. And I mean, keeping ONLY the girl happy.
4. When the girl has a problem, the guy tries to fix it, even if it means he must sacrifice something important.
5. The duo fall in love somehow, regardless of species. E.g. Alien + Human, AI + Human etc.
6. When the story reaches its climax, one out of three things will happen: Something bad happens to the guy, to the girl or they hold hands and live happily ever after.
7. When they are finally together, they treat each other very differently from before.
8. All of the above happens very quickly; probably a few days. Faster than it usually takes to make new friends.

Even if a story with romance isn't always true to the list, it will subtly follow it somehow. And somehow, regardless of how serious the story may be, romance seems to be a MUST to include for many movies these days.

In fact, from my own experience, predictable romances has always clashed with other genres when the main protagonist is a male and the secondary is a younger, good-looking female. It is almost as if these writers are telling us that their main guy is a horny bastard who would rather set his eyes on a beautiful lady rather than a meteor heading straight for the planet.

Even in love stories, romance is highly predictable. Most love stories features young women, or even young men, who met someone they like and wanted that person to be his/her romance partner. Some of these protagonists even claim that "they CANNOT live without their love". Pathetic huh?

Now, know that everything that I've mentioned above is my own personal opinion. You may not agree with everything I say but there is one thing which I want you to understand from my previous rantings: Originality and logic in the romance genre is seriously lacking. That is not to say that romance, as a whole, is a bad genre.

The Good:
Some stories portray romance so well that despite how tired I am of love stories, I cannot hate it. Final Fantasy X, a game I recently played, has a romance which I especially like.

Throughout the story, the two main protagonists were never so distracted by their love interest that they forget about their mission or the safety of others. In fact, the duo were so focused on their mission, they are often oblivious to one another's advancements. The girl even considered sacrifice, saying that the loss of one life for many means a lot more than the loss of many lives for one. This thought helped comfort her emotions when the guy eventually dies. Nothing totally unbelievable happens, such as the girl saving both the guy and millions of lives. The guy's life was sacrificed for millions.

There are many stories that offer very original romantic stories and they are all not necessarily famous movies, novels or even love stories. Heck, most love stories that I like comes primarily from games, such as Dragon Age: Origins, Warcraft series, Final Fantasy series, Left 4 Dead series, Star Wars series and several others. Some of the stories are downright wonderful and original.

Tips:
Ok, enough ranting. Time for some tips from yours-truly. These tips are focused on keeping your love stories original, unpredictable and likable:

• When choosing pairs, a good idea would unexpected pairs, unlikely pairs or pairs that have never been done before, such as a school bully with a nerd.
• Ensure that the protagonist isn't a horny bastard. Make him/her love someone by who that person is, not by their appearance.
• Sometimes, it is a good idea to show your readers/viewers why the romance is absolutely necessary, such as continuity or world-breaking situations.
• Make the romance logical. Explain why they fall in love and why it is logical or even possible
• Making both characters share their own problems is a good way of advancing a relationship, instead of the guy going all-out hero.
• Ensure that the protagonist is still committed to his/her mission, not to their love interest. For romance novels, do not make the protagonist rely so heavily on his/her love interest, or vice versa.
• Try switching the gender roles: A female main with a male secondary. You'd be surprised by how different your stories will end up when compared with others. This leads to good originality.
• People usually like seeing friends getting along. If you can ensure that your protagonists still treat one another as friends despite their relationship, that would be good. No excessive kissing or cuddling. Just typical teasing and playing.
• Normally, the guy dies for the girl. Make the girl die instead and see how readers/viewers would react.
• If you want something different, try making the romance very subtle instead of very obvious. Show hints or signs that the protagonist likes someone and vice versa, instead of making him/her confess outright or confess at all. This keeps the reader/viewer guessing and even prompts discussions within the community. Trust me, it keeps the story and characters realistic and original. Left 4 Dead and Final Fantasy 7 are good examples.

That's all for this post. Leave any questions or discussions to the comment section. Otherwise, I hope these tips are beneficial to you.

About the Blog

Welcome to the Writer's Helpblog. My posts will be focused on helping fellow writers in keeping their ideas original, either by pointing out repetitive elements or sharing ways on how I get story ideas. Of course, everyone generate ideas their own ways and it is up to you if you wish to take my tips.

Here's the link to another blog of mine, dedicated to sharing my stories with others, if you are interested:

http://lonewolfhbs.blogspot.com/