Villains

Most villains in stories today are not well-written. Despite being supposedly evil and intelligent, they often come across as complete idiots who are more likely to make the reader laugh instead of quake in his boots. I will give a few examples of bad villains.

1) They often become evil because of either an abusive past or because of some traumatic event in their lives; an example would be Galbatorix from "The Inheritance Cycle" who turned to evil because his dragon got killed. While this can offer one reason for a villain's motives, this has been overused. And, also, not every person who was abused as a child or had something bad happen to them turns to "the dark side". For a point in case, look at some of the following characters from "Lord of the Rings": Frodo's parents drowned when he was a child, Faramir was passed over by his father in favor of his brother, Aragorn's father was killed by orcs when he was a child, and Galadriel has been exiled from Valinor for centuries and forbidden to return; these are examples from only one book, but all of these have had traumatic experiences in some form or another in their lifetime and none of them became evil.

2) They are often considered insane or not in their right mind. Galbatorix is another example of this, but I am sure there are others as well. An issue with this is that who would follow a mad leader? Let me play devil's advocate here; say that a former warrior who had a nervous breakdown during a war escapes from the asylum where he has been living and starts proclaiming himself to be king. Even if he kills a few people, do you honestly think that people would believe him? Even if the man somehow managed to get into power, how would he be able to maintain it? How would he get the military to his side to support him in his position? When considering an insane ruler, keep these questions in mind. You could, however, use this if either the ruler goes crazy while he is already in power or if someone else is in the true power seat and is merely using the king as a puppet.

3) They wear black. In most stories, the villains always wear black and walk around with a swish of their cloaks or their robes. Unless your villain has OCD or some other mental problem (which, see above), they will not stick to one color. So add a little more color to their clothing.

4) The villains more often then not send their worst servants and underlings to do the dirty work; but the hero (or heroine) always manages to escape, and then the villain send out someone only a little better than the last guy, and he too will fail. If your villain is rational and truly as intelligent as he seems to be (because if he is not, then how will he maintain support or even get into power in the first place?), then he will send his best servants, assassins, trackers, or whatnot to do the job right the first time.

5) The villains almost somehow always reveal their "grand, evil scheme" or something of that nature to the hero, which usually will aid him in defeating the evil. This is not rational thinking: to reveal everything just because you've captured the hero and are going to kill him (though you'll fail in that too) is stupid. If your villain is intelligent, he will keep his plans to himself. Having the hero or one of the "good guys" to figure out the villain's motives or his ultimate plan without him actually telling it out loud would be much more interesting, in my opinion.

6) They often sit inside their grand palaces and on their thrones, waiting for whatever news they want or need. In reality, villains, whether kings or not, do not sit around and let everyone else do the work. If they truly want their plans to succeed, they will be far more active in making sure their purposes are fulfilled. Sure, they may not leave their place of residence, but keep them truly busy.

7) They are not evil for the right reasons. If you want your villain to be truly evil, then he has to act that way. And it has to be more than "he killed the last king", "he has high taxes", or "he forces people into his army". In this case, you have to show it rather then tell it.

I am sure I could think of other examples, but sadly my brain needs time to recuperate from this difficult college semester. In the end, however, I hope these tips will help you think more about your villains and how to make them truly evil instead of relying on stereotypes.