How to Write Villains With Credible Motivations

An authentic, three-dimensional villain has clear motivations. Their motivations help us understand their goals, desires, and character traits. If you find yourself experiencing writer’s block when trying to determine your villain’s motivation, try following these tips to help clarify their aims and goals:

1. 1. Use backstory to explain your villain’s motivation. The most interesting villains have compelling backstories that explain how they became bad guys in the first place. In Marvel’s Avengers comic books and film series, the supervillain is Thanos. We learn that Thanos used to live on the planet Titan, a world ravaged by overpopulation and resource scarcity. He believes that the rest of the universe is primed to suffer the same fate, so he develops a plan: destroy half of all lifeforms in the universe, thus sparing the remainder the same fate that befell his home planet. In this way, Thanos’s motivation to do evil things is explained through his backstory and point of view about humanity.
2. 2. Explain your villain’s relationship to power. Most villains share a desire to obtain power. Some villains only want to have power over your main character. Others want to take over the world and achieve ultimate power. When crafting your big bad, you should analyze your evil villain’s relationship to power. Why does the bad guy in your story seek power? Are they trying to prove something? Are they trying to mask a childhood wound or deficiency? What do they hope to accomplish by achieving power?
3. 3. Give your villain a strong connection to the protagonist. The best villains are inextricably linked to the protagonist in some way. One of the reasons why Voldemort is such a great villain is his strong relationship with Harry Potter, the story’s protagonist and main character. After Voldemort tries and fails to kill Harry as a baby, he becomes obsessed with enacting revenge and spends the rest of the series trying to finish what he started. Thus, the main antagonist’s motives are directly linked to the protagonist, and his villainy throughout the series is fueled by his desire to finally defeat Harry Potter.
4. 4. Make sure your villain has weaknesses or vulnerabilities. A good villain should feel like a real person, and real people have vulnerabilities. Their vulnerabilities might be internal, such as an abundance of pride or a willingness to trust untrustworthy people. Weaknesses can be external as well: In The Lord of the Rings, Sauron is greatly weakened if he is without the One Ring. These vulnerabilities have a storytelling purpose: If your villain is invincible, then the protagonist’s goal of defeating them can never be realized. These weaknesses can also serve as good motivations for your villain, as the bad things that they do throughout the story may be rooted in a desire to overcome their vulnerable character traits.
5. 5. Root your villain’s motivations in real life. Few people are evil for the sake of evil. Villains who appear to be psychopaths or criminal masterminds usually have motivations that are rooted in real-life struggles that normal people face every day. Perhaps they began as a good guy who was corrupted by greed. Maybe their dark side can be explained by a fear of losing their loved ones. Whatever their reason for doing evil deeds, your villains and antiheroes’ character motivations should be rooted in a relatable desire or emotion. Readers are more likely to be engaged in your villain’s own story and character development if they can recognize seeds of themselves in your antagonist.

Become a better writer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by literary masters, including David Baldacci, Joyce Carol Oates, Dan Brown, Margaret Atwood, James Patterson, and more.