This guest post comes to us from gamer and writer, Marc Pieniazek. Enjoy!
The bad guy. We hate him and yet we all want to play one. And why not? Bad guys get to say cool lines, they have vast amounts of power and they stir up a whole load of trouble.
Now, I’m not talking about the stereotypical baddie here – no evil aliens intent on wiping out the human race, no robots gone haywire or any two-dimensional villain from a cheap B movie.
I’m talking real baddies, villains including famous great ones like Darth Vader, Gollum, Mrs. Danvers, and Count Dracula. (Béla Lugosi anyone?) Those kinds of bad guys.
So how do you roleplay one, and how do you create the kind of bad guy that everyone loves to hate?
The Secret to Being a Good Villain
A good villain has one defining characteristic that all the above bad guys listed share. It’s rather straightforward and a common trait, too: The best villains are convinced that what they do is for the greater good.
In fact, for many villains, it’s the literal corruption of their innate ‘goodness’ that makes them such wonderful antagonists. Would Anakin Skywalker have become Darth Vader if he didn’t love his wife so much? Maybe. And then again, maybe not.
When you roleplay an evil character, don’t be evil for the sake of being evil. Be evil for the sake of ‘doing the right thing’. Ask yourself questions about why your character is the way he is. Why is he evil? What kind of person was she before she turned to the darkness? What corrupted his beliefs? What beliefs does he hold now?
Despite the existence of truly evil characters in literature, a person is never born evil. Events shape each of us into the people we are today, and that goes double for villains. Be sure to explore those events and maybe even write them out. Nothing makes for a good story more than a character’s fall from grace.
The Villain Pitfalls to Avoid
If you decide to play a villain, there are certain pitfalls to avoid. Falling into them quickly ruins your character’s credibility, and it ruins the fun of playing for other people as well.
Power-gaming
This is the biggest and easiest trap to fall into headfirst when playing a villain. Power-gaming is the process of building an overly-powerful character, like Superman without Kryptonite. The villain has to have the strength and resources to rival the hero, to be the person that provides a challenge, but he can’t be invincible, else the game’s balance between good and evil skews and becomes no fun at all.
Power-gaming also refers to violating roleplay etiquette, such as taking control of other characters. Abusing the control of characters that aren’t yours is a strict no-no. Find other ways to take control, such as seeking your fellow players’ approval and co-operation behind the scenes before roleplaying an action that might remove ability to react.
Meta-gaming
A baddie is all-powerful, right? And they say knowledge is power, so it stands to reason that the villain knows things that other characters aren’t privy to. Meta-gaming is applying the knowledge that you, as a player, have access to but that your character doesn’t.
A player may know that the villain murdered your character’s best friend, but your character can’t go making any accusations until he’s learned the facts himself. And while the rules can sometimes be bent when it comes to the villain’s knowledge, even a bad guy should have clear gaps in what he knows.
Bear in mind that the greatest baddies are the kind that are distinctly human. They have flaws, weaknesses, fears and emotions. That means the best tip to playing the ultimate villain is to maintain your evil character’s humanity.
Now go on. Create a villain and wreak some havoc!
All very good points, playing evil is not about cartoon evil but a willingness to do what is needed for your cause. The pitfalls to avoid is solid advice, for all characters not just evil ones.
I discussed this theme here: http://tinyurl.com/ya7lnkq
Sean Holland´s last blog ..Interesting Thoughts from Other Gamers (5)
This post is spot on. I think villains who are impossible would get me frustrated and it takes the fun out of the game. And if a game causes me to get stressed or frustrated then I wouldn’t want to play.
I mean who wants to write post after post of something their character does to get out of a situation with the bad guy, but nothing works.
This post makes me want to play a baddie.
Of course I now know it is fun to play some different from myself and now I want all the experiences.
So far my experience with ER has been wonderful. I’ve learned a lot and this just keeps adding to my knowledge. Thanks you guys.
Great post,
Keeping that human side is something I think is integral to creating a villain that we just love – and love to hate. There have been some bad guys who reach the pinnacle of almost achieving their goal and who fall at that point, and I find myself feeling sad for them, wishing they could’ve had *some*thing of their goal – even though it was evil! Sheesh!
This post is not only useful to RP’ing baddies but also relevant when it comes to writing them as well.
I can think of a favorite movie where the bad guy wipes the floor with the hero and turns his life into a living hell, yet it’s impossible to hate him because he does have a good side. His evil side stems from a variety of factors, and his ambiguous feelings towards what he’s doing and how he tries to justify it all contribute to a multi-layered, believable character.
A flawed antagonist makes for a baddie you love to hate and can’t help feeling a little bit of empathy towards.
I agree with Tracy’s comment. This definitely puts me in the mood to play a deliciously evil villain. I already write them so it would be awesome to be able to take it a step further and RP a baddie just for the hell of it!
Excellent post Marc!
I don’t know if you are aware that the link to this article is being passed around Twitter among the writers. This is great advice to them.
I always said the scariest villains are the ones who think they are doing right. Nazis, terrorists, anarchist, inquisitors–all thought they were saving the world. It’s easy for anyone to fall into that trap.
I think your points about the humanity of a bad guy are great. In fact, I would say they apply to every antagonist, whether that person is an “evil character” or just simply the foil for your main character during the course of one story. No?
Hell, take it a step further, and every one of your characters needs a bit of humanity in order for us to give a rat’s ass about them, right? To keep them from coming off all flat and boring? Applying those types of details is what makes a character, any character, come alive.
Give me strengths AND weaknesses, by god! *fist shakes*
(Heh, I get carried away.)
Nicole Brunet´s last blog ..NaNo: Day #1
@James Good point. When I saw Star Wars Episode III, I think everyone in the cinema audience were silently pleading for Anakin to let Palpatine be killed.
@All: You are right. All great characters need to be human, or layered as Nicole is fond of saying
But it’s amazing how, for the sake of being evil, inexperienced writers tend to forget this.
Well Marc,
I have to say, you are well qualified to be writing this article. Your characters are nice and evil and ones I love to hate! ( that’s a compliment )
And I agree. The most interesting characters are ones that are neither all good or all bad but a creative mixture of both.
@ Wendy: there’s nothing more to say than that!
This post is spot on. I think villains who are impossible would get me frustrated and it takes the fun out of the game. And if a game causes me to get stressed or frustrated then I wouldn’t want to play.
I mean who wants to write post after post of something their character does to get out of a situation with the bad guy, but nothing works.
This post makes me want to play a baddie.
Of course I now know it is fun to play some different from myself and now I want all the experiences.
So far my experience with ER has been wonderful. I’ve learned a lot and this just keeps adding to my knowledge. Thanks you guys.
Great post,