There are many design aspects to setting up a world and putting it on paper. Villains are the hardest yet the most fun to create. Most of the conventions I’ve attended lately i get asked “How do you mange so many villains and yet still keep them interesting and intertwined in your story?” also I get, “You like to pit your villains against each other. How do you determine which villain wins?” I am here to say that it is no easy task yet it is a part of the story telling process I enjoy profusely.
Firstly let me emphasis what a villain means to me. It is an element that is vile. It brings out the worst feelings in a reader whether it be remorse, fear, hate or disgust. I try to amplify these feelings to an extreme. I want the reader to see and taste the evil and understand why the villain needs to be vanquished. With that being said the villain is just as resilient as they are vile. They deserve luck and skill equal to our protagonist. If they fall too easily then what’s the point? In my world there is no rule saying that the villain can’t win.
Managing villains can be tricky. Unlike support characters my villains fight for face time. It is important I give each of them the limelight. It takes a master plan that is flexible and spans multiple books. For example a critic of my first book wrote that the character Mir felt more threatening than the main villain that was introduced in the later half of the book. This was very intentional. Mir was full of fire and rage! That was her personality and she is a character i didn’t want the reader to instantly forget. The Shadow King Khardis was introduced later on but in a less fiery way. His personality is shown in a more subtle and underhanded way. In the second book “Death to the Gods” you finally get to see the extreme methods he uses to cause grief and disaster. The threat this character presents is firmly cemented in the 2nd book. Then there is Veter. He is a different kind of villain when compared to Mir and Khardis. He has an obsessive personality. This leads him down a dark road which he feels justified in traveling. He will do anything to possess the Warrior Queen . He feels entitled to her affections. This makes him an easy character to write as he exclusively revolves around the Hygenian Warrior Queen.
Another habit I have formed is pairing my villains with a protagonist. For instance Mir blames Keigarr, Dill and Mesen for her current conditions. She also hates Nathan to an exponential degree and she will make sure his punishment is the most severe. The Shadow King has a vendetta against everything he sets his eyes on! His secret wars firstly makes him the enemy of the Hygen kingdom. That makes him the Ash Queen’s responsibility. She must eliminate any threat to her homeland. Through political prowess the Shadow King also manipulated the Vanjil kingdom into persecuting the god-sworn race. As their reluctant leader Nathan is also in line to cross swords with Khardis. Then there is Veter who is obsessed with Ashley (the current Warrior Queen of the Hygen).
In the world of Legend the villains will often cross paths. This happens in the 2nd book. The Shadow King Khardis squares off against the Dark God Wilder! There are two ways I handle such a clash. I either make it to where the reader wishes that both villains perish in the fight or I actually humanize one of the factions. I give the reader a whiff of something that makes one of them seem less evil. In the case of the Dark God Wilder it is his pride and his obscure code of ethics that makes him more relate-able. I then play upon their emotions. The intensity of each villain really tells me who comes up on top. I get inside of their heads and the battles plays out like a movie inside my head. There really is no pre-planned winner. The bricks just fall into place as I go.
So these are my villains in a nutshell. The process is long but the outcome is always grand. That is the life of the villain. They are like an explosion that can not be contained. They should be an unforgettable driving force that throws your world at the reader!In book three there are more villains to be introduced! I hope you are prepared!