 Action/Adventure: December 13, 2006 Issue [#1433] |
  Action/Adventure
This week: Edited by: John~Ashen  
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Action/Adventure! It comes in many forms, not just books and movies. However people get their thrills, in this genre it's our job to bring more excitement into their lives through writing. In this newsletter, I point out some aspects of villains in fiction. Enjoy 
“An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.” ~ John Locke |
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Villains
Villains are the "bad guys" in your story, also called the "heavies" in slang. They work against the hero of the tale, usually for evil reasons. It's important to distinguish between a villain and an antagonist, though. An antagonist works against the hero/protagonist, but not to such an extent that we hate the character. A villain seems purely evil and cannot be redeemed.
As an example, Severus Snape from the Harry Potter books is definitely an antagonist but not quite a villain like Voldemort. At times we even like Snape, but never does Lord You-Know-Who evoke our sympathies.
“Difficulties show men what they are. In case of any difficulty remember that God has pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and this cannot be without toil.” ~ Epictetus (Greek philosopher)
Despite being a character that the reader will hate, the villain is important as a plot device. The villain contrasts to the hero's virtues and also provides a challenge to be overcome. As the foil to the hero, the villain in effect defines the central theme of the plot.
“An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards.” ~ John Locke (English philosopher)
There are some stereotypes associated with villains. Deformity is a major one (third-degree burns, missing limbs) as is impeccable dress (austere yet tasteful suits to contrast with maniacal state of mind). Often in fiction, villains feel the need to over-explain their actions. They're not satisfied just to do evil; they have to justify themselves morally.
“As for an authentic villain, the real thing, the absolute, the artist, one rarely meets him even once in a lifetime. The ordinary bad hat is always in part a decent fellow.” ~ Sidonie Gabrielle Colette (French writer)
When writing a villain, we should not think of him as pure evil. After all, no one considers himself evil. Think about the character's motive. He must at least think he's doing what must be done, even if for selfish reasons. Otherwise the villain is not realistic and therefore is more of a plot device than a character.
As an example, Anakin Skywalker sought to save his wife, not kill her. He intended to bring justice to the Republic, not deliver it to a chaos-loving Emperor. Later, pride and delusions of order kept Darth Vader working against the side we consider just.
“A villain must be a thing of power, handled with delicacy and grace. He must be wicked enough to excite our aversion, strong enough to arouse our fear, human enough to awaken some transient gleam of sympathy. We must triumph in his downfall, yet not barbarously nor with contempt, and the close of his career must be in harmony with all its previous development.” ~ Agnes Repplier (American essayist)
Just as heroes have their less-noble foils, try playing around with some likable antagonists to contrast with your ultimately evil villain. I am particularly remembering The Princess Bride in which Count Rogen and Prince Humperdink were rather boring villains. However, Fezzik the Giant and Inigo the Spaniard made things interesting with their antagonism (and later redemption).
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Some villanous tales I found:
A couple of the newest Act/Adv items:
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Ara Crae  wonders: My biggest problem in writing Action/Adventure stories is dealing with villians. What makes a good or bad villian? Or one that readers will love to hate? What advice can you offer me? Any advice would be helpfull!
 I think I shall leave the advice-giving to the master, Alfred Hitchcock: “In the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don't want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face. They want an ordinary human being with failings.”
Breezy-E ~ In College comments: I noticed that you left out another good reason to go adventuring: wanting to help someone. As an example: in one of my book ideas, a young boy goes off to find an incredibly rare herb, which is the only thing that can heal his deathly ill sister.
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