Tip for April 19, 2010; How to Make an Evil Villain, Part 3

This should be my last post on villains. But I can't guarantee it. :)

Besides the making of villains, there are types of villains you can make. Here's most of the common ones;

Main villain(s); The villain that is the ultimate enemy for the main character. The Nameless Evil named Gnag in the Wingfeather Saga is an example. These villains are in both stand-alone novels and series of any length. They have all of the traits and more that I described in my previous posts.

Temporary Villains; These are villains that are in a series, but aren't the main villain. They usually represent the main villain, but the main villain doesn't actually come into play.

To continue the Wingfeather Saga theme, in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, the temporary villain is one of the lesser Fang officers. In North! Or be Eaten, the next book, the evil guy is another officer, but this one reports directly to Gnag the Nameless. But through all of these books, Gnag is still the main villain, but he doesn't come into play.

Lesser Villains; These are evil people that are usually allied with the main villain. Thorne's lieutenant, Chillevard (I think I spelled it wrong), is a lesser villain. In Isle of Fire, Edward Teach is a mate on Thorne's ship. Thorne is still the main villain, but Teach is a villain too. There's usually only a couple of these.

And, of course, there are a large assortment of evil characters not usually described as 'villains'. Spies, traitors, crew members, soldiers, etc.



Besides this, there's a few more things needed to consider when making a villain. One of which is, how far are you going to go?

I described, in making a chilling villain, about the villain's acts. But I don't necessarily need to describe the acts in any great detail. Like the amount of good and bad in a villain, the detail needs to be very delicately handled. Too much, and it'll make your readers want to stop reading. Too little, and the horror of it won't have the desired effect. But ultimately, it's up to you and God. Pray about it.

Okay, I think I'm done. If you have any more ideas or topics to address about villains, feel free to comment. I might even make another post! :)



***Oh, and here's an update on the poll on the sidebar (20 votes);

'How in the world do you expect me to PICK!?!?!' is still surging ahead with nearly half the votes, 45%.

'C. S. Lewis' is determinedly trailing behind with 20%.

'Bryan Davis' and 'Wayne Thomas Batson' are tied with 15% respectively.

'J. R. R. Tolkien' is falling behind with 5% of the votes.

And finally, 'Christopher Hopper' and 'Brian Jacques' are still in last with 0%.