Antagonists and Plot
I've been discussing antagonists and plot with one of my writer-friends, which has blossomed into ideas for this post. So here are my thoughts on antagonists...
1) What is an antagonist? Technically, an antagonist is anyone or anything that opposes a protagonist and blocks the way to a desired goal. This is sometimes framed as "man against man, man against himself, or man against nature." Most of the time, though, when we say "antagonist" we mean the bad guy in a story, the black hat, the villain. He makes the hero's life complicated and interesting by posing problems. This is brilliantly laid out in the song "Falconsbane" by Michael Longcore.
2) Whose story are you telling? Sometimes the story is really about the bad guy, and the heroes are just there to mess it up. Other times, the story is really about a specific hero, and the antagonist is just a tangential obstacle. Those plots have very different shapes and needs.
3) What is the antagonist's role in a story? The primary purpose, of course, is to make sure that the first thing the hero tries, doesn't work. But the best antagonists have more to them than a desire to mess up the heroes. They have a social niche of their own. The antagonist might be a pirate, a noble, an officer of the law, a serial killer, a politician, a business rival, etc. This helps define the antagonist's power base, area of influence, and goals. It also adds depth and dimension to the character, and thus the story.
4) Good, evil, or in between? In classic literature, heroes were good and villains were evil. Today, most readers prefer dappled characters, so that heroes are mostly good with some flaws, and villains are mostly bad with a virtue or minor sympathetic point. It can be hard to relate to someone who's pure if you yourself are not. So the hero's flaws make the character more accessible, and the villain's background makes their worldview more understandable.
5) Who is the reader supposed to root for? Readers enjoy seeing sympathetic characters triumph over the odds and struggle through calamity to win the day. This is a tricky point, because if you make your villain too sympathetic (or your hero too pesky) they won't know who to root for, and they're likely to feel disappointed no matter who wins. Do your best to indicate subtly who is "supposed to" win. Of course, if you're writing horror or tragedy, the sympathetic character may be crushed anyway; but you still need the same attachment of sympathy for that ending to work properly.
6) Why do we "love to hate" the antagonist? The best villains, after a scene or few, will have reader baying on their heels. "Can we kill him yet? Howbout now?" The best way to achieve this is to establish a resourceful villain who does not just block the hero's goals but personally affronts the reader, enough to make the reader want to kill him but not enough to make the reader stop reading. The villain should drag his fingernails screechingly down the reader's heartstrings every so often, by doing something wicked and vile on camera.
7) What is the antagonist's fatal flaw? In our world, evil makes it hard to function. Truly evil people are usually insane and not very functional. Good wins because evil cripples itself, not just because good is better. Most worlds (unless you're writing horror) work in similar fashion. So, look for the place in your antagonist's personality where evil has left a blind spot or other weakness. Make sure your hero is smart enough to exploit this. Hint the flaw for your readers early in the story, but don't reveal it to your hero immediately -- make the hero work it out as the story progresses. A famous example is that the Fellowship of the Ring made it into Mordor largely because Sauron was so power-mad that he was incapable of imagining that anyone would want to destroy the Ring.
8) How does the antagonist Come To A Bad End? The climax and/or denoument of a story should show the heroes achieving their goals but also the villain going down in defeat. A villain may be killed, bankrupted, publically humiliated, exiled, or otherwise wiped from the board (although some variation of "Curse you! I shall RETURN!" is also popular). This should be a moment of intense emotional gratification for the reader, who can briefly imagine the villain to be all the people who have messed up the reader's own life and gotten away with it, as well as a moment of victory for the hero. It feels good when Right vanquishes Wrong. That also reflects how the world works, when it is working properly, because doing bad things tends to yield bad results. Always remember: the end doesn't justify the means, the means determine the end. For maximum satisfaction, the antagonist should be destroyed by a combination of the hero's efforts and the villain's own flaws.
Here are some resources on handling antagonists in fiction:
"50 Greatest Villains in Literature"
"Antagonist"
"The Antagonist in Fiction"
"The Best and Worst Movie Villains of All Time"
"GURPS Villains"
"How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction"
"How to Write a Villain"
"The Motives of Villains and Heroes in Suspense Fiction"
"The Other in Fiction: Creating Wonderfully Wicked Villains"
"The Principle of Antagonism"
"Setting as Antagonist"
"Sleeping with the Enemy"
See also:
"Characterization"
"Characterization: How to Make Your Readers Love 'em Instead of Leave 'em"
"Effectively Outlining Your Plot"
"The Elements of Literature"
"Plot"
1) What is an antagonist? Technically, an antagonist is anyone or anything that opposes a protagonist and blocks the way to a desired goal. This is sometimes framed as "man against man, man against himself, or man against nature." Most of the time, though, when we say "antagonist" we mean the bad guy in a story, the black hat, the villain. He makes the hero's life complicated and interesting by posing problems. This is brilliantly laid out in the song "Falconsbane" by Michael Longcore.
2) Whose story are you telling? Sometimes the story is really about the bad guy, and the heroes are just there to mess it up. Other times, the story is really about a specific hero, and the antagonist is just a tangential obstacle. Those plots have very different shapes and needs.
3) What is the antagonist's role in a story? The primary purpose, of course, is to make sure that the first thing the hero tries, doesn't work. But the best antagonists have more to them than a desire to mess up the heroes. They have a social niche of their own. The antagonist might be a pirate, a noble, an officer of the law, a serial killer, a politician, a business rival, etc. This helps define the antagonist's power base, area of influence, and goals. It also adds depth and dimension to the character, and thus the story.
4) Good, evil, or in between? In classic literature, heroes were good and villains were evil. Today, most readers prefer dappled characters, so that heroes are mostly good with some flaws, and villains are mostly bad with a virtue or minor sympathetic point. It can be hard to relate to someone who's pure if you yourself are not. So the hero's flaws make the character more accessible, and the villain's background makes their worldview more understandable.
5) Who is the reader supposed to root for? Readers enjoy seeing sympathetic characters triumph over the odds and struggle through calamity to win the day. This is a tricky point, because if you make your villain too sympathetic (or your hero too pesky) they won't know who to root for, and they're likely to feel disappointed no matter who wins. Do your best to indicate subtly who is "supposed to" win. Of course, if you're writing horror or tragedy, the sympathetic character may be crushed anyway; but you still need the same attachment of sympathy for that ending to work properly.
6) Why do we "love to hate" the antagonist? The best villains, after a scene or few, will have reader baying on their heels. "Can we kill him yet? Howbout now?" The best way to achieve this is to establish a resourceful villain who does not just block the hero's goals but personally affronts the reader, enough to make the reader want to kill him but not enough to make the reader stop reading. The villain should drag his fingernails screechingly down the reader's heartstrings every so often, by doing something wicked and vile on camera.
7) What is the antagonist's fatal flaw? In our world, evil makes it hard to function. Truly evil people are usually insane and not very functional. Good wins because evil cripples itself, not just because good is better. Most worlds (unless you're writing horror) work in similar fashion. So, look for the place in your antagonist's personality where evil has left a blind spot or other weakness. Make sure your hero is smart enough to exploit this. Hint the flaw for your readers early in the story, but don't reveal it to your hero immediately -- make the hero work it out as the story progresses. A famous example is that the Fellowship of the Ring made it into Mordor largely because Sauron was so power-mad that he was incapable of imagining that anyone would want to destroy the Ring.
8) How does the antagonist Come To A Bad End? The climax and/or denoument of a story should show the heroes achieving their goals but also the villain going down in defeat. A villain may be killed, bankrupted, publically humiliated, exiled, or otherwise wiped from the board (although some variation of "Curse you! I shall RETURN!" is also popular). This should be a moment of intense emotional gratification for the reader, who can briefly imagine the villain to be all the people who have messed up the reader's own life and gotten away with it, as well as a moment of victory for the hero. It feels good when Right vanquishes Wrong. That also reflects how the world works, when it is working properly, because doing bad things tends to yield bad results. Always remember: the end doesn't justify the means, the means determine the end. For maximum satisfaction, the antagonist should be destroyed by a combination of the hero's efforts and the villain's own flaws.
Here are some resources on handling antagonists in fiction:
"50 Greatest Villains in Literature"
"Antagonist"
"The Antagonist in Fiction"
"The Best and Worst Movie Villains of All Time"
"GURPS Villains"
"How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction"
"How to Write a Villain"
"The Motives of Villains and Heroes in Suspense Fiction"
"The Other in Fiction: Creating Wonderfully Wicked Villains"
"The Principle of Antagonism"
"Setting as Antagonist"
"Sleeping with the Enemy"
See also:
"Characterization"
"Characterization: How to Make Your Readers Love 'em Instead of Leave 'em"
"Effectively Outlining Your Plot"
"The Elements of Literature"
"Plot"