Unmasking the Villain

by Hannah Gilead @ NouveauWriter

“Bad guys” are expected to look repulsive and to live in dark, eerie places. Superhero adventures and fairytales make villains easy to detect. Haven’t we all seen their brooding expression, occasionally offset by a smug smile, suddenly explode into an arrogant laugh as they bask in the pleasure of having successfully created chaos?

Foes are not so obvious (or comical) in real life. We cannot so easily spot the child abuser, the terrorists and the thieves among us. It’s hard to predict if someone is about to “go postal” or is simply on the verge of a burnout. Neither is it evident to tell the religiously devout apart from the dangerous fanatic or the animal rights champion from the brash, pied-piper activist willing to use terrorist means of coercion.

In our day and age, principles of morality and ethical responsibility are considered relative; standards for one person may not necessarily apply to another, given the priority assigned to the values in question and the particular circumstance surrounding each case. The boundary between right and wrong has become increasingly foggy, and traditional values are more likely to be abandoned than upheld. Despite this trend, the battle between good and evil wages inside the very heart and soul of humanity’s integrity and extends outward to encompass our every social connection.

Considering evil

Evil comes in many forms and intensities. Not one of us has any claim to perfection; we carry within us the daily struggle to fight our selfish tendencies and the potential to hurt others, as well as ourselves. We analyze these many gradients of “wrong” and come to a conclusion about whether someone is sufficiently hurtful to be labeled “bad”. There’s blatant evil, the likes of Hitler whose mass genocide caused the deaths of upwards of eleven million people. But what do we make of the office manager whose nepotism cost the job of a single mother with three kids? How much turmoil must be caused before we consider a character to be “evil”? And what of those acts that did not result in negative consequences or whose victims were deemed to be deserving of it? Do we judge Robin Hood for his actions, his motives, or the end result? Do we make allowances for the occasional lapse of judgment (lying) or is one act (rape) already too much?

My purpose is not to disclose where I stand on any of these issues. Instead, I hope to demonstrate that there are many levels to examine when considering evil. I have listed below the various forms in which it can be found within a storyline, and most importantly, within the psyche of any one of its characters. Perhaps it might inspire you to create conflict scenarios in your story plot that are both rich and intricate while remaining universally relatable. Characters that are sculpted from multi-dimensional layers of desires and motives have thoughts, words and actions that are infinitely more interesting to read about than the quintessential adversary focused solely on revenge or the joy of watching others suffer.

Gray is a good color

Nothing is more compelling than a villain you hate to love. Why that is so is not clear to me, although I have some theories. The mental struggle produced in trying to resist the pull towards empathizing, forgiving, or maybe even justifying a person’s wrong actions, feeds into our experience and enhances the overall effect. Is it born out of hope and the need to maintain an idealized perspective about the intrinsic goodness of humankind? Thus the motto: “There are no bad persons, only bad choices.” Is it because on some level we connect with their weaknesses? Might our capacity to see past those faults be an act of self-compassion? In other cases, we may find ourselves in awe of the mastermind’s intricate strategy and flawless execution (the Moriarty to our Sherlock Holmes) making the adversary worthy of respect.

Psychiatrists have found that most child abusers were abused themselves, that racism is taught, and that nothing numbs a heart more to the suffering of others than abandon and parental neglect. Does understanding the forces that shaped the villain make him less of one? Perhaps. I can’t help but worry that understandable is on a slippery slope to excusable; not every victim of abuse becomes a perpetrator. Along with criminologists and profilers of law enforcement agencies we desire to unmask the psychopath as if we were searching for some magic formula or some likely equation we can then proceed to avoid in the future. It’s all about the illusion of control. Gray just feels less disconcerting.

Now don’t go worrying about watering down the ugliness of your villains; gray is still bad—wicked even! Think in terms of quality, complexity and depth. Aim for layers of motives, disclosing a little at a time to the reader until you reach that core reason that binds the layers together—the very purpose that impels the character. I’ve compiled a list for you to examine:

Establishing motive

• Feelings of superiority, elitism (prejudice, racism, social rank, nobility, intelligence level)
• Financial greed or any kind of struggle that arises over scarce resources (water, food, gold)
• Competition where only one person or team can be crowned the best/the winner
• Selfishness, inflexibility, manipulation of events/people in order to pursue a personal agenda
• Cowardice, fear of disapproval, brownnosing, aiming for power through social affiliation
• Boredom, disdain for predictability and monotony, desire for chaos/emotionality/distraction
• Lack of self-regulation (violent outbursts, sexual gratification at any cost, addictions to activities or substances)
• Beliefs (spiritual, cultural, philosophical) and support for causes (environmental, health, animal, or social issues) in opposition to the values and interests of the opposing party
• Rebelling against established authority/traditional values to gain independence, respect, personal sense of identity
• Revenge for past wrongs personally experienced or against a group (cultural, religious, economic) the person identifies with
• Desire for prominence, celebrity, attention, glory, praise, flattery
• Fear of reprisal, dodging responsibility, denial, perjury, refusing to make amends
• Force feeding the medicine, ramming down someone’s throat what is felt to be in their best interests without consideration for their free-will and right of consent
• Laziness, apathy, abandon, carelessness, neglect, tacit approval and sanctioning of wrong
• Protectionism, insecurity, overwhelming anxiety, tendency to run away from challenges, fear of failure/intimacy/ vulnerability/loss
• Jealousy and envy, also wanting to possess what belongs to someone else or worse yet, wishing it away from the other person completely