The Convincing Villain
Good afterevenmorn, Readers!
Side note, autocorrect keeps trying to fix my nonsensical greeting and it’s quite annoying. Back to the post!
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. It’s dangerous. I do not recommend it. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on the nature of fictional villains and morally grey heroes, and how to write them convincingly. While it’s sometimes fun to read a simple story where good and evil are very evident, and we’re all firmly on the side of the heroes here. The fight (and eventual victory) against Evil™ can sometimes be exactly the hopeful escape we need. Please note, I’m not looking down my nose at those kinds of stories. I enjoy them myself.
My favorite reads, however, are stories where good and evil is not so simple. It’s not all cut and dried. This isn’t just about creating complex characters to counter your protagonists, but also about creating a safe space to explore all the nuance that we find in real life. It’s a good, safe place to grapple with ideas of heroism, morality and villainy. What makes a hero? Or a villain, for that matter? If the end result is good, are morally questionable actions justifiable? What are we willing to sacrifice for the greater good? Is it acceptable if the answer to the previous question is, “Everything”?
