5 Steps to Write Unforgettable Fantasy Villains

[@Jed_Herne]

Want to write better fantasy characters? Join my free 5-day course: jedherne.com/5-day-course

[@sirothtakanashi9707]

I think I'll be joining this course my friend. I very much appreciate all the advice, I spend hours on listening to advice and I write as I listen otherwise I just forget the advice , and your advice is sound. It feels fresh, I feel like other channels are just rewording old advice. Or using chat gpt, in fact I use chat gpt so much I can recognize it in their script. If your using it, nice, because I can't tell at all tbh. I'll gladly join the group so yall can destroy my main character lol. Looking forward to it.

[@johannageisel5390]

Sounds like something I could need. Sometimes I really like my characters but at other times they remain bland. Thank you for providing this resource.

[@Developesque]

I am so close to finishing my first fantasy novel, and I love it. Probably won't sell well (no audience yet), but its the first major milestone to a series of them. Thanks for the guidance along the way!

[@dukenukemforever6912]

Can you tell me the story in one sentence?

[@robsright4256]

Congrats, man! Slow motion is better than no motion! Keep it up!!

[@iwilldestroyjustiny6446]

Wdym no audience? Now I'm curious, would you mind saying what it is?

[@Developesque]

@@dukenukemforever6912 The Demon of Capra Town follows street-rat teenagers Callen and crew as they navigate the harsh realities of a dying port city, coming of age with no hope for a future while seizing power amidst crime and corruption-only to face the true cost of survival and revenge. Ran that sentence for all it had, haha.

[@Developesque]

@@iwilldestroyjustiny6446 Wrapping up the final edits, about to self publish as my first book. But my plan is to write a trilogy and promote that when the time comes. Not really thinking about money, just wanted to write a great story using as many best practices as I could master.

[@FCSchaefer]

That opening scene from Inglorious Basterds is a must see for anyone struggling to create a believable villain. Hans Landa uses no weapons or super powers, just his words to get what he wants.

[@PhoenixCrown]

Only Tarantino could write that scene =)

[@Makememesandmore]

Crystal (MC) is a Shadow wielder (nobody likes them) and is trying to hide her powers. So when Zara (bad person) finds out about that, she just blackmails Crystal into doing whatever she needs

[@Jed_Herne]

One of the best movie openings ever.

[@gabrieleriva_bboykappside]

A trope i really like with villains is the "flawless" idea: they have something in mind that can change society for the good and finally solve most problems that afflict it, but this causes a part to have to succumb to whatever the plan requires doing. It is a sacrifice, though, the villain is willing to make, if it allows to achieve great progress. It's a really used "trope" and rightfully so, it does offer quite a lot of discussions and points you might make where the villain might (or is) actually right, and not stupidity for not having consudered the consequences.

[@hanarielgodlike9283]

I love to hate those kinds of villains They resonate well with me because I had to deal with a lot of "the end justify the means" people in my life so much that I developed a hate for this types.

[@katgreer6113]

I thought that was cliché?

[@hanarielgodlike9283]

​@@katgreer6113 Whether something feels like a cliché depends on how often you've encountered it before and how tolerant you are of that particular idea.

[@DieBieneFranz]

I think more "one dimensional Villains like Sauron also work, when they are more a mysterious, mythological concept than a distinct person. There is no redemption possible with Sauron and he is the personification or the concept of evil itself. This makes the danger "he" creates much more inevitable. Predictable in goals, but overwhelming in the existential threat like a force of nature and near god like unbeatable

[@DarwinRoger893]

I love these kinds of villains

[@camdenthompson4307]

true, Pure evil villains are just as good, if not better choices in some stories, than just standard antagonists.

[@hebercluff1665]

​@@camdenthompson4307 You can also have pure evil villains with unique motivations. The demon lord in the book I'm writing doesn't care about conquering the world or destroying it. He's just really irritated with how the gods of creation "didn't do a very good job". He just wants to "fix things" by remaking them into "what they should've been". (The place this demon lord was born in was a special dimension where all forgotten thoughts fall. When the gods of creation were making the world, they had many ideas for things that they didn't end up going with. Many amazingly imaginative ideas were cast aside because "they didn't mesh well together", or a thousand other reasons. This demon lord was born from these forgotten ideas. He was infuriated that the gods chose all the most boring and mundane ingredients to build the world with. He's basically that coworker who throws a fit because the managers are incompetent, or don't do things the way he would do them.)

[@camdenthompson4307]

@hebercluff1665 true, the god I'm making actually starts with an incredibly simple motivation (he just wanted to rule the universe as he views himself as the perfect being), but later actually loses and decides to switch his plans from simple conquest to downright mass torture of the entire human race, specifically those who were responsible or connected to those responsible.

[@thesnatcher3616]

Sauron in lotr is definitely more or less a force of nature for sure. A constant reminder of what Frodo and company are fighting against. Gollum I feel is meant to be the more "grey" and "personal" villain within Tolkien's narrative.

[@justanormalhumanbeing1903]

I don't typically like writing fantasy, but all of your tips in most of your videos can basically be applied to any genre and they work so well

[@giuliaidiometri186]

Hi Jed. I don't know if you will ever see my comment. I write some fantasy stories, but I follow your channel ecause, even if I don't just write fantasy, and I post them in a free website online (not Wattpad, an Italian website because I'm Italian), your advice is so incredible, that I follow your channel and I'm subscribed to your newsletter. Tomorrow I will read Fires of the Dead and on Monday I'll start Across The Broken Stars. I'm a blind girl, it's not easy for me to have books, because I have to buy them and my dad has to scan them for months before I can have them, so I waited a long time, and finally I got this novella and this book. I love reading fantasy books, even if I read thrillers and romance, too. You have a beautiful voice! Thank you for helping writers like me.

[@Loki_Lover3000]

Ciao, anch'io sono italiana. Di cosa parlano le tue storie?

[@Jed_Herne]

Thank you for the kind words! That means a lot. I hope you enjoy the books :)

[@Curiefeld]

I have two antagonists. One is a twisting of the pure of heart trope. He's an aspiring god who genuinely means well and is pure of heart. He wants peace. Love. For everyone to belong. But there's a problem. He can't grow up. He's forever mentally a child. Nieve. Trusting. Easily manipulated. Has a childlike view of the world. He doesn't understand how to persuade people because he's a child. He often resorts to magically charming people and charming away all culture and difference from entire universes to bring them on board. Not to mention all the people who manipulate him. This is villain 2's intent - a scummy American preacher based off of Kenneth Copeland.

[@PhoenixCrown]

Oooohh that sounds good. A bit of the wormtongue vibe there, or hades or the devil, a manipulator whispering in the ear of the figurehead or really powerful character. Keep on writing!

[@marketabartova8195]

I recommend checking some videos about Miquella from the game Elden Ring, as he is similar to yours - son of a goddes, destined to take her place, but cursed to be an eternal child. He sees the cruelty of his mom´s world order and wants to replace it with an age of love and compassion. The first part of his story is very well done, made him an intriguing character, but then a dlc released, which gave his story arch an unsatisfying end. He was very liked by the fans before the dlc, but after it he is seen by many as one of the worst villains of that game. You may find it interesting, I think it might help you with your idea.

[@joes_bankaccount]

Ahh yes Kenneth Copeland. Excellent, I’m intrigued

[@doge8825]

Have you seen the Owl House? Not going to spoil in case you haven’t but the second half of the show has a very interesting dynamic between 2 villains (or rather, a villain and an antagonist) that I think you’d appreciate

[@Jonnell01]

You were thinking of Miquella weren't you?

[@admiralcasperr]

8:50 I like to say "The Opposition", then it encompasses anything working against out character.

[@catwithquill]

I just realized a good way to do this. Start with the mentality that you're going to redeem them eventually, even if you aren't. I wrote a villain who i planned on redeeming from the get go, and he's a lot of the things you mentioned. So i knew i had to make him someone with qualities that could be turned towards good later, someone you admired who "had a point" even though he's not quite right, who just had a case of really screwed up morals and a grudge against the right people. The thing is, he's so complicated now that if i decided to not redeem him, he would still be so freaking compelling, and a bit terrifying because in so many ways he's not wrong, and his skills compliment the hero's so well. And though most people don't like him, those whose loyalty he gains is due to his wisdom and skill. He would be a terrifying sight to behold. Because good people begin to follow him before he's fully redeemed, and if he was never redeemed and just turned into a more well rounded villain, every single one of them would need to either become corrupt like him, or eventually turn against him when its possibly too late. The heroes would need to step up their game for sure.

[@safyullahjawid8592]

This sounds so exhilarating to me Do tell me the title so I can check it out. And your social so that I can keep up

[@milicadiy]

​@@safyullahjawid8592Same

[@anamazing2297]

I'm sort of doing this with one of my characters! Except, they don’t fully realize they're the villain, or why they've done evil until the end when they embrace their true self. They're a complicated soul 😅

[@milicadiy]

@@anamazing2297 Omg same. Do you want to tell me more about it?

[@alantrevor3658]

Also, I believe "Booktubers" or "Authortubers" or whatever the appropriate term is sometimes worry too much about "originality". Speaking ( well, actually... posting) not as a writer but as an avid reader, I find a hackneyed, cliched villain (or magic system, or world design, or whatever) that is WELL EXECUTED to be vastly preferable to an original one that is poorly executed. I don't know to what extent that is common or uncommon among readers in general.

[@PhoenixCrown]

Good point. As an amateur writer, it's easy to think we need something "original." Fortunately, I'm also a businessman, so I know ideas are cheap, and it all comes down to execution. I agree with you and will happily read an "unoriginal" story that's written well and delivers on its promises. EVERY story is original, because the author always has their own take on things, style, voice, etc.

[@katgreer6113]

That's true. Right now I'm worrying too much about being original. I need to stop that.

[@BoyKagome]

Ozzymodius wasn't locked in the room with Rorschach , Rorschach was locked in there with Ozzymodius.

[@cogliostro704]

Inspector Javert is such a disturbing antagonist. His dedication - with the right focus - would have done so much good, but instead he leaps to his death. You can fill reams of notebooks with a list of villains who earned their last minute redemption, by a sudden heel-turn followed by death. Javert might be the only antagonist to earn his "villain" title by leaping to his death. Both tragic and deeply infuriating.

[@PhoenixCrown]

So good. There's a reason this has stuck with us. The fact he cant reconcile what he dedicated his life to with this newfound worldview is powerful.

[@SirBoggins]

Being an aspiring author whose just started writing their stories, I appreciate this advice. My stories are based off of JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and LOTR, as well as GRRM's ASOIAF, so these tips will definitely help me with creating the villains I need to capture my future readers.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

My writing is inspired by Joe Abercrombie's works

[@SirBoggins]

What works does he do?​@@unicorntomboy9736

[@SirBoggins]

@@unicorntomboy9736 What books does he do?

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@SirBoggins You mean gene? A lot of them are grimdark and dark fantasy novels

[@SirBoggins]

@@unicorntomboy9736 Yea, that's what I meant. Any that you would personally recommend?

[@Unknown-27-28]

My villian has a simple motivation. Restore his ancient empire😢😢

[@johannageisel5390]

Realistic. There is a guy like that sitting in some bunker in Russia.

[@rolandsahlander2239]

Great video as always Jed. Can't wait until the next.

[@alfredocheese8645]

I still in highschool using these vids to help with my dnd arcs but this is still some of the most useful stuff on youtube thanks Jed

[@NiteOwl2000]

I read a sample of Across The Broken Stars and it was so gripping I immediately ordered a physical copy on Amazon as soon as I finished reading all the sample chapters in one sitting last night. I could literally see you putting all your advice into practice in just those first few chapters. The Vahrian Inquisitor is such an intriguing antagonist, and you really weren’t kidding when you said you make your protagonist suffer lol. And this was your first book wtf! It’s honestly so good it makes me hate my current WIP 😂

[@Legend39]

Im kinda late, but im thinking of branching out my writing from Sci-Fi to fantasy, and i always like to start with the villain, so i thought i would post the draft here. Damon Reqiuem (born Daelen Aldrest of Hallowlight) was formerly a noble, who became a paladin of Valdross (God of Law and divine arbiter of justice). Daelen was the devout knight-captain of the Order of Dawn's Hammer, a paladin order of Valdross. On a mission into the nine circles of hell to rescue innocent souls, he found his sister Mira, his aunt and uncle, as well as his two cousins. Upon return to the order's monestary, his sister and cousins were condemned by Valdross for unknowingly benefiting from a forbidden pact, made by his aunt and uncle. Bound by duty, Daelen led them to the stage for execution, but as he heard his cousin's pleas, and saw his sister's grim acceptance, he forsook his oath and stood against his god. Declared a heretic, Daelen was stripped of his power, forced to watch as Valdross manifested an avatar, took his family’s lives, and cleaved him through the heart. Yet, due to either sheer willpower and determination, or some unknown force, Daelen awoke seven days later to find the monestary abandoned. Taking the name Damon Requiem, he reclaimed the grounds as a sanctuary for mortals betrayed by the gods. He discovered that he could not age, and dedicated his time to aquiring arcane knowledge and artifacts of power. Over centuries, he crafted six weapons capable of slaying gods: a scepter, a greatsword, a warhammer, an arcane tome, a longbow, and a spear. Now, he wages a war to liberate mortalkind from the tyranny of gods, as in his eyes, the gods are tyrants, blind to the suffering they impose on mortals for their own gain. He sees them as cosmic parasites, feeding on worship and souls to serve themselves. Edit: Forgot to mention, he has sworn to never kill a mortal that can be redeemed. He sees the value in all moral life, and only kills when he HAS to. The first time the MCs face him, they get demolished, but he revives them, telling them to look around the castle, as he only wishes to see them thrive. The MCs find their way to what used to be the prison, which is now a mausoleum for his family, and everyone else who has had their lives stolen by the gods. (also, his sister's ghost is a reoccuring character, she sends the MCs on the quest in the first place to try to stop her brother, as she believes that the gods are part of the natural balance, killing them would have cosmic consequences. But until she appears in the mausoleum, they have no idea that she's a ghost.)

[@RBunny-lol]

In my novel immortality means "live forever, but not unkillable." If you're immortal but your opponent is stronger than you, or at least on your level of power, you can die at their hands. And mortals who gain immortality without the blessing of the gods, their soul withers/erodes until they eventually die a few centuries later.

[@Makememesandmore]

This is perfect timing! I was just about to start writing my villain characters, so this is perfect! One of my characters relentlessly torments my protagonist and threatens to reveal their secret if they don't do what they say. But they only do this because someone else higher up told them to do it

[@safyullahjawid8592]

Bro don't spoil it before I even get the chance to read...😊 Do tell me the name, I feel like I'd like the book by knowing About this detail about the antagonist alone

[@milicadiy]

​@@safyullahjawid8592Yeah, I'd like to read it too. It sounds so interesting.

[@lawrence9806]

Not sure if anyone will see this, but I love writing interesting villains. One of the ones in a story I'm authoring is this great, extremely powerful hero from three hundred years ago who stopped the greatest threat to the world in all of history. Only problem being that his powers revolve around warping reality, and grew to the point of tearing the world apart at the seams just by him existing, leading to him being sealed away for three centuries until one of the main character reawakens him. His ancient adversary managed to cheat death, however, meaning that the great hero needs to quickly find a successor by any means necessary, leading to him destroying and fortifying the town he was imprisoned under to get the main characters to train hard enough to defeat him/prove themselves. If he can't, the damage to reality he causes will become permanent and all will be lost, forcing him into a villain role he doesn't really want to play.

[@milicadiy]

What an interesting villain and story. Please keep me updated.

[@lawrence9806]

@milicadiy Will do.

[@milicadiy]

@@lawrence9806 Thanks.

[@aidanwright9598]

I feel like a really good villain is Lord Sulleth from The Legends of Ace Ford The Northern Travels. He is similar to Sauron in the sense he is like a force of nature yet he is still very unique as a villain.

[@TheKulu42]

I'd say Little Bill, played so well by Gene Hackman, wasn't the typical corrupt sheriff. He was trying to keep the peace in the town, but ready to use brutal and amoral methods to achieve that goal. I like your advice about giving your "villain" originally.

[@scottcrysel]

Another awesome video. Thanks!

[@mr.dr0bot731]

The antagonist villain example i like to use is: Iron Man in Civil War - Antagonist Darth Vader - Villain

[@joelmartins5874]

Hello sir, I recently came across a video of a card game you created called “Not Chess”. I really liked the idea behind the game, so I went on the kickstarter website and saw it has been cancelled. I would still like to have a copy of the game and was wondering if there is any way I can get one. If so, please let me know!

[@Jack_Winters_Wintercold55]

Can you make a video about original conflicts because that’s the main thing I’m struggling with I can make the villain but what they are fighting over is what I struggle with thank Jed keep it up love from Pakistan ❤❤❤

[@jj-sc1kq]

This is very interesting. Thanks for the interesting video. Maybe I should join your 5-day course.

[@Marcela-tx7gh]

I've recently been interested in villains with flat motivations, like power for power's sake. It feels realistic, and maybe I'm tired of all these sympathetic villains even though villains make for some of my favorite characters lol I firmly believe you can get away with an antagonist with very little to them if you make their actions really impactful for the protagonist(s), which gets you a very hateable villain.

[@vgvegan9372]

Recently, I've begun to think that humanized antagonists are often more appealing than flat ones or sympathetic ones with the latter usually involving a cookie-cutter sob story and what if question in the background. An antagonist that is driven by power but also cares about their immediate family can often have interesting character dynamics and conflicts in a way sob stories don't provide on their own.

[@Marcela-tx7gh]

@@vgvegan9372 If you can understand where a character and have an interesting character study, yeah the character will be engaging to read. Right now I'm in the mood for stories where I don't "get" the villain and focus on protagonists, side characters, etc., but all types of villains have a space, depending on the story they're in and what the author is trying to do.

[@PhoenixCrown]

@@vgvegan9372 Good point, and @Marcela-tx7gh too. I think there's a place for both of them, and you need to choose your antagonist(s) based on the story you're trying to tell. In LOTR, for example, Sauron represents and absolute evil, corrupted, unyielding, unforgiving, unredeemable, an existential threat the mortals can't even fully understand but must defeat to save the world. So he's mysterious, has very little screen time, works through his "henchmen" largely, and certainly does NOT get a POV. In my story, the main antagonist is one of the MC's grandfather. He's trying to do right by his family and his people, but he's blindly following tradition etc. to the detriment of the planet. We get in his head more than once in the book, see his motivations and flaws. When the characters come together in a mostly-dialogue climax, we understand both arguments. We still want the protags to win, but their hesitations are realistic because the antag makes compelling arguments.

[@RBunny-lol]

​@@Marcela-tx7ghThe final antagonist of my novel is the older twin brother of the main character. His name is Vorin Ravenscar, and he was once apart of the group. But when his wife dies he slowly loses himself. Eventually after a quest goes wrong, he was thought to be dead. He actually survived but now he has a plan to brig his wife back. Only her body was destroyed, but her spirit remained. He tries to ascend to godhood by taking the souls of mortals, so he can create a new body for his wifes spirit to inhabit. His younger tiwn brother Eldric, and old friends try to stop him, and a war breaks out. Eventually Eldric and their friends stop him Bleeding out, Vorin has one last trick up his sleeve. He casts a spell, binding his brother and friends souls, cursing them. Once all of them are dead, their souls will be reincarnated without thier memories, and the cycle will begin once again.

[@swarple]

I think the issue is that those aren’t always flat motivations. There are a lot of real people who did horrible things just for money, power, etc. with no sympathetic motives, who pretty much knew they were scumbags but didn’t care because they benefited from it. Corrupt businessman and politicians, cult leaders… people like that. But these people were still, y’know, people. Real people who existed. And a lot of time they’re some of the most terrifying people who ever lived, because they knew they were evil and didn’t care. (Or they considered themselves above the concept of morality.) Not all villains need to be sympathetic to be well-rounded and three-dimensional. It can just be hard to pull off.

[@KauanHenrique-ie7nu]

My antagonist is a counterpart of the main character, in the way they both believe in the same thing but aplly it in complete diferent ways, they both wants to make their society strong, but while one believe in getting help from the ones that already are having sucess, the other just want to close them all so they cam prove they can improve just by them selfs. sorry about my english.

[@prathameshrana2099]

If you are writing a book on how to write fantasy. Please add ever questions that a newbie gets when getting into writing. Like what to work on 1st plot or character, Or How do I actually make conflict meaning full Etc etc.

[@captainsirk1173]

I have a 2000 year deity level villain who's trying to discover whether he could have chosen differently. The central theme of the entire story revolves around agency. Behind the scenes, the villain is putting the protagonists through the gauntlet he feels he faced in a desperate attempt to discover once and for all whether monsters are born or made. I don't think he'll ever get the chance to explain himself though, and I don't think the protagonists will ever truly understand, so I'm hoping I can imply it well enough via his cryptic riddles and the mechanics of the magic system he implemented for readers to get at least some of it.

[@milicadiy]

Sounds cool. Best of luck with writing your novel.

[@PhoenixCrown]

My antagonist is pursuing what he believes to be the greater good, and we learn at the climax of the story that "it's personal" too. He thinks concentration of power is really the best way forward for his society--and the only way he'll ever get his son back.

[@Saffi____]

A channel called Shadiversity has a book where basically a powerful ruler who is the worst of the worst, having committed some of the worst atrocities has a second chance at life and decides to try to redeem himself. Having to deal with former victims of his actions and his own personality,which is still cold and cruel, as he tries to change. I haven't had a chance to read it, but the part of the video on a villain's redemption reminded me of it.

[@johannageisel5390]

There is a two-part review of the book on the channel "Westside Tyler", titled: "Shadiversity's BORING Novel is also INSANELY CREEPY" and "Shadiversity's MOST DISGUSTING Opinions REVEALED". Just in case you are interested.

[@camdenthompson4307]

Currently been working on making several characters (pretty much on minor characters now), but I noticed one thing I often did with my antagonists is that I'd usually have multiple, and that I'd often try making each one different from the last, but still connected. So in essence if you have a sympathetic antagonist like an old, corrupted hero or a former friend, I'd usually attempt to try and differentiate them in comparison to not only the protagonists, but also other antagonists, such as using a sniveling rat-of-a-character, a cunning manipulator, a force of nature, even a pure evil villain, who you could even do some unique character connections like making the previous antagonist their protege, or being the ones responsible for a characters trauma, or even the Protagonists trying to redeem the new antagonist, only to later find out they're actually committed fully to what they want to do (think Venom from Spectacular Spider-Man, or Mahito from JJK, where they're contrasted by more sympathetic antagonists). The simplest example I could come up with was with the original Kung Fu Panda trilogy and its antagonists. You first have Tai Lung, who is a Snow Leopard with a tragic past who trained all day just to become the dragon warrior, and is known for his absolute perfection of Kung Fu, but was never accepted. Then in the second movie, instead of yet another powerful, Sympathetic antagonist like Tai Lung, you instead get Lord Shen, a Pure evil, highly intelligent peacock who's just a bit insane, but yet has multiple layers and almost passes the villain territory and into full on Nemesis territory (which is almost its own can of worms) which is completely different from Tai Lung. Then in the third, you do get the weakest antagonist being Kai, but ultimately he is different enough from the other two to be his own character, as he's focused on Spiritual abilities rather than something like Tai Lungs physicality or Shiens Intelligence. He's also kinda in-between Tai & Shien as he's not as personal to Po as Shien, but not as sympathetic as Tai Lung, making him kinda into a pure evil villain. So yeah, highly recommend that if you start writing, you try to make a diverse range of antagonists (also helps if you have a theme, like in Kung fu Panda where its Body, Mind, & Soul. or even with Batman, where each antagonist represents a different part of Batman but twisted in a certain way to become evil).

[@donalddwamae444]

i think power and legacy are intertwined in terms of motivation

[@Calebgoblin]

Ah, but have you considered: more number make algorithm go brrr

[@Gingy911]

The villain I’m using in my story is more of the force of evil type, and I’ve known that for a while now, but I saw the thumbnail to your video with the 99% rule, and I initially misunderstood it. I speculated that it meant make them 99% evil with just a hint of goodness. I put that together with what I’d been thinking about, and it helped me so much! Basically, the villain is the Devil, but he cares incredibly deeply for his followers-possibly more than the good gods do-so he weeps every single time one of them dies. He’s super sympathetic towards his followers, and I think it adds a new direction to his character. Thanks so much for all the awesome and helpful videos!

[@NickNab]

Hey Jed, what do you think about characters who don't speak the main language everyone else does, and have to learn over the course of the story, while they work with the other characters? Is it annoying?

[@PhoenixCrown]

Great stuff Jed. Anyone have thoughts on WHEN to use the 99% rule on the antagonist? Similar to the protag, one of their first scenes? This brings up something that probably varies greatly between stories--when we INTRODUCE the antagonist. The protag is usually in the first scene (or very close). Sometimes people start with the antagonist, but if not, I feel like it can vary a lot. Love to hear thoughts on when and how to do this effectively!

[@IllegalCheeseCake.]

Just finished reading a book called Skulldugery Pleasent where the villian is so unrealistically evil it gets kinda scary. He doesn't have a good motivation at all but he does stuff like kill the families of his enemies to kill his enemies while their in a blind rage

[@Sollisteria]

Good to know my antagonist was already designed with unique motivations and an interesting moral compass.

[@milicadiy]

As someone who's almost finished writing a fantasy novel with a villain protagonist, I found this video really helpful. Thank you for the amazing advice.

[@Auscher]

Hey Jed, I'm thinking of begining to write a book. I have already got about everything ready to write it. But this is a big project, and this is my first time trying to wrtie a full novel... so I don't know if I should wait and try to write a singular novel that doesn't interest me as much, or try and start on it. Because i want to have the bigger project "perfekt"... idk, what are your thoughts? Should i wait on writing the big project, or should i go ahead?

[@Soul_partner]

Thank you for a great, very interesting video ❤😮

[@guillaumejoly6469]

Thank you Jed!

[@lorettalynn2610]

I think you need subtitles, it helps

[@LimpAnarchist]

And we have a perfect, very captivating and completely bloodcrazed example -- Wildwood boys, by James Carlos Blake and capitan Anderson. Yes, yes, THAT Anderson, Bloody Bill, they called him.

[@bluejayblaze1180]

The antagonist in my current project is very much a villain-villain; he's meant to come off as a bit over-the-top and clearly morally bankrupt, with a bit of scenery chewing. But despite being legitimately soulless, he's still a person. You're introduced to him attending his sister's funeral; you see him interacting with his family and pursuing a romantic subplot and losing himself in his music. And his motivation for all the horrible things he does is fear---fear of death, specifically. Which leads him to do some horrible, horrible things.

[@milicadiy]

Cool. Best of luck with your project.

[@robynannmckenzie]

My most recent novel's villain was a "good" character from my previous book who pulled strings for seemingly beneficial reasons, all directly leading to the happy ending. In the second book, she realizes her plans worked a little TOO perfectly, preventing a war that MUST happen if her people are to be liberated. The only way to bring about this war now is to have the MC killed. She came about after a lot of stereotypical "mustache-twirling villains" in stories I wrote as a teen. You sympathize with her. Yes, she brings about a LOT of bloodshed, but in her mind the price of a few dead nobles is worth freeing thousands of people. She could easily be an anti-hero.

[@milicadiy]

Such an interesting story. What a twist. I'd like to know more.

[@louisaquino7565]

Two Great Villains would be Amon and Adam from Lord of the Mysteries. These two still gave a me a fear of monocles and the dangers of forbidden knowledge.

[@alexandertkachenko1432]

One thing I find intriguing is when the antagonist barely appears in the story. Take, Darth Vader for instance, who has only 11 minutes of screen time in the original star wars. Or, even better, Sauron in lord of the rings, who appears ONCE in the movies.

[@5BBassist4Christ]

I'm actually feeling pretty confident in my story's antagonist. He was a great warrior who wanted to be the savior of the world, but got told by his military advisor that it is not his destiny to be the sole savior of the world. In protest, he lead his most faithful followers into a series of military victories, until one crushing defeat killed all but three soldiers in his army. In search of redemption, he got into politics hoping to build a reputation there. He arranged for a certain woman to be his wife (their law code does allow certain forms of arranged marriages), but she was in love with the story's protagonist. So she ran away to be with her true lover, and the antagonists used his political power to create a controversy, elevating his own influence, and forcing the protagonist and his lover to flee as refugees across the world. I actually have the entire story condensed down to a single song on Spotify called The Human and the Elf by Kenton Park.

[@milicadiy]

Wow. This is so cool. Where can I read it?

[@5BBassist4Christ]

@@milicadiy Thanks. The book is not complete. I'm still working on the first draft of it. It's a passion project more than a career builder, so I'm taking my time with it. But the song version is available on any music streaming service.

[@milicadiy]

@@5BBassist4Christ Cool. Best of luck. See you :)

[@vastvideos7212]

My main antagonist is an self righteous anti villain in the novel I'm writing

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

I think the best villains are not really "universally" villains, but are just the worst person to go against for the protagonist. A foil, basically. But an extreme foil. Yes, this does have the effect of making your villain "Immoral" if your protagonist is arguably a good guy wanting to do good. But what if your protagonist if the baddie? What do you do with the villain them? Make them literally worse than Hitler? So thinking the villain in the restriction of "gotta be evil" limits what kind of protagonists you can write.

[@johannageisel5390]

If you have a villain protagonist, then the antagonist does not need to be villainous by objective standards. They can be just an antagonist. For example, they could be a cop (or fantasy equivalent thereof) who really wants to see the protagonist in prison and the key on the bottom of the ocean.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

One of my favorite fictional villains is Scar in The Lion King. I feew up watching the movie, and the character was a heavy influence for me writing the main antagonist of my book, who is essentially Scar, but as a dark elven instead. The villain in my book is supposed to be a slimeball of a person, and a creepy uncle, acting in a very creepy manner towards the protagonist, who is a young pre-teen princess.

[@PhoenixCrown]

Scar is so good. He's overt with the fact that Mufasa is stronger than him--but he's smarter. The Lion King shows both the strength of cunning and deceit AND it's weakness when the Hyena's tear Scar apart. Sorry for the spoiler, just 30 years or so old?

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@PhoenixCrown The Disney Renaissance movies overall are a big influence for my writing, especially how character driven they were, and how unforgettable most of the villains were. Just for fun the other day, I asked Chatgpt to come up with a "I want" musical number for my protagonist (an introverted, timid grimdark fantasy princess) inspired by the 90s Disney Renaissance movies, and it was fairly decent. Edit: I am worried my book's villain will come off as too derivative. However, I am sticking to it, because Scar as a villain just worked so well, and I want to replicate that in my own story. My book borrows the basic plotline of The Lion King anyway, at least in a loose sense, so it fits perfectly.

[@PhoenixCrown]

@@unicorntomboy9736 Esp if you're a newer writer, I think it's awesome you're using a "masterwork" like the Lion King. Add your own flair, setting, characters, style, morality, tone, voice, and it will not be too derivative if you execute =) Good writing!

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@PhoenixCrown I am not sure how far to take the "creepy uncle" part I mentioned earlier. I am worried it would be too controversial, but then again it is meant to be dark, hence the genre "grimdark". The antagonist is not actually blood related to the protagonist though, since the MC's father is his adopted brother.

[@PhoenixCrown]

@@unicorntomboy9736 I hear you. The climate right now is... touchy lol. Put as much in as serves the narrative. Don't go for shock value, but don't pull punches either! I hear everyone say "hurt your protagonist, badly!" and then at the same time the snowflakes complain about too much violence, r4p3 etc. I get it, it's sensitive stuff. It's also pervasive throughout human history and continues to be relevant today. (Just 1 guy's opinion.)

[@MrDJFlyHi]

How do I contact you to get more advice

[@Nuggs-and-Fries]

Im watchin rn!

[@henrynewton8267]

A question sir. I have a post apocalyptic fantasy world that I hope is unique 😅. One of the pov characters starts in a military industrial city and becomes a cyborg before escaping said city (something akin to city in the stars) and entering the wider world. Ive had this as a short opening scene but think it could easily be a short novel on its own. I don't want it to feel misleading though. He is unaware of the wider world so it's meant to be a kind of surprise for him and the reader. Quick thoughts? if a may be so cheeky 😊 Love your work by the way. I'd sign up for the course if I wasn't so poor haha

[@Dino-god]

Hey, Jed what are your thoughts on Wattpad? I know that many write on it just for the fun and not really take the craft as seriously as others might in this comment section as u but do you believe that it’s a decent place to write good original stories since the most dominating genre there is romance.

[@Watcherobot]

My villain has very generic ambitions but I'm going to try and make the way he gets to his ambitions unique. He's literally manipulating every event and bad person in the world. Every assassination, war and murder he caused it. He's biding his time and weakening the world until he thinks it's weak enough to attack.

[@trekkie1701c]

Kimd of doing something similar, but rather than 'every' event being manipulated I'm having them largely wing it. There's an end goal and they take advantage of whatever opportunities arise. Primarily, they seek to fan the flames of conflict so that people fight one another and they don't particularly care who wins so long as the winner is weaker and feels at least mildly indebted to them. This ensures that when they're ready to take over, the people fighting them fall into three categories: 1) Allies who will help them 2) People who will try to oppose them, but who are now too weak to do so 3) People who are so tired of the conflicts that they'll submit just to be done with it. The antagonist promises that those who disarm and give them what they want will have their security assured and will receive stability, which is a tempting proposition. Direct assassinations are mostly focused against potential stabilizing elements who run the risk of creating an inconveniently powerful faction opposed to them; although even then it can be simple enough to just reveal information to another faction that puts them in a position to remove the problematic people from power of their own accord. The motivation behind this all is also quite simple - they were created by an extinct species. They were ordered to find a place to resurrect that species. So they found a place, and want to make sure the inhabitants are compliant to reduce the danger to the reborn species. This is not some ancient demonic horror; rather, the dying wish of a people who didn't want to die, carried out without empathy.

[@Raintamp]

I want to make a story where the antagonist is trying to stop a technological golden age because the stories they grew up on. Kind of a tongue and cheek way of pointing out the absurdity of people who say, cloning dinosaurs for a zoo would be bad because of jurassic park, or we can't have robots because in I robot, things went bad.

[@AmardeepGIL]

I was thinking of a power system where everyone has a soul bank which is finite that is used by casting spells. Some animals have a bigger soul bank than others,some use body enhancement to make their soul bank larger,or some absorb others soul banks.

[@racheltheradiant4675]

Do you have any advice on how to add romance to your fantasy novels, that isn't the mellow dramatic or "fever touch" fair we get in Romantasy?

[@jonathancampbell5231]

I think better questions would be a) How do you make evil villains interesting, and b) How do writers make bad "anti-villains"? I think some of the worst villains in fiction are "supposed to be" tragic, sympathetic etc, but the reader / audience just doesn't buy it (or care), and many such villains even get dismissed as generic evil bad guys.

[@safyullahjawid8592]

5 key principles to creating a good antagonist, I will try and give examples for each of them too 😅 1. A Unique motivation A. Redemption: Harlock from the 3D animated movie Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Even tho it's his name in the title, he's not the protagonist. But if I tell U how, it'll be a spoiler. B. Greater Good: Kira from Death Note can be a great example of it C. Legacy: not really a Fiction but Herostratus D. Love and family: Lower Moon 6 Rui the spider demon from Demon Slayer. E. Restoring the natural order: Zaheer from The Legend of Korra. F. Curiosity: Victor Frankenstein, Classic. 2. Their Methods Let's only provide examples for this A. Zemo from Captain America Civil War B. Johan Liebert from Monster, anime/manga C. Shubh Joshi from Indian web series Asur. 3. Daily lives of antagonists Examples A. The Cursed Spirits in JJK, some say the heros look more like Villains because of this portrayal of antagonists 😅 B. In a Lot of Tamil and Telugu movies these days there are lots of antagonists who are loved and respected by people around them when they're not actively in opposition to the main character. 4. Rethinking "Villain" A. There can simply be NO better example for this than the anime, novel and manga of Overlord. In Overlord we actually follow the story of the "Bad Guys" the Villains are literally the "Protagonists" of the story and the Heros or the "Good Guys" are the antagonists, it makes it so memorable and give us a new perspective. B. Another good example could be Lelouch from Code Geass too. 5. The 99% rule. A. One of the Greatest examples of this is The Joker from The Dark Knight. B. Vishwang from the Indian Movie Saaho, is my personal 2nd favourite after Joker.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

2:48 the lonely forrest witch reminds me of the Star Trek DS9 Episode "Paradise"

[@HunterGargoyle]

in my novel the antagonists don't even know who the protagonist is and are just an indifferent upper class cult of alchemists who have a stranglehold on society and don't care that their highly addictive "Gloom" is killing people they think giving powers is more important because "next stage of evolution" and such things

[@StormsofPeril]

I'm thinking about combning the first and last motive. Like maybe they started out with the last motive- being driven by curiosity, but then the first thing happened (wit the village) and it changed their view. Now, they only seek to destroy it

[@alantrevor3658]

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

[@J.P.Robles]

I am planning on writing a horror fantasy series based on well known fairy tales but twisting them to where they are very different from the source material One story combines Snow White and Sleeping Beauty The villain is named Carabossa like the original Sleeping Beauty She was a queen without a a king and it bothered other kings from surrounding kingdoms who had wanted to marry her but she turned them down because they couldn’t replace her husband who died being burned by a dragon The kings banded together and they buried her in a cave Years later after a prince from one of the kingdoms became king of her kingdom and had a daughter who was the main character and was promised a prince from one of these kingdoms who bears resemblance to the old queen’s husband The old queens body had been missing because old followers had moved her to the outskirts of the kingdoms She had acquired magic by way of a liquid made from various plants, minerals, and livestock which led to a mystery in many kingdoms as to where all of their food was going The liquid made her young, immortal, and magical for the liquid had been enchanted with such spells She had to drink it and wash in it and using magic would deplete her and she would be returned to her decrepit self She eventually met the prince who had looked like her husband and when seeing that he was betrothed she plotted to do whatever it took to get rid of the princess

[@robertsmiley2207]

We said restoring the natural order of things at the exact same time so that's the part of the video I'm going to capitalize on 😉

[@gothicwriter9897]

Excellent, (rubs hands together and forces a smile) and a free course also. But. What is it that you want from me? Because I don't have much time. I have to write my fantasy novel and take over the World. Mwa ha ha...

[@germanwulf40]

1:14 Kinda reminds me of Superman in the story mode of the Injustice game series. Sure, he put a stop to most crime on Earth, but he had to set up an authoritarian regime compose of meta humans to do it.

[@deckardcanine]

I've come to realize that fantasy is the genre most likely to include pure evil characters. Makes sense, since they're hard to come by in RL. I have no interest in writing one.

[@TheDoomKnight]

I have a trilogy of books in the works: The Doom Knight, The Doom King, and The Doom Knave. In the first one, both the protagonist and antagonist are paladins and close friends. As the story progesses, events happen that leads the antagonist to take actions against his friend, specifically wanting to find his little brother whom he believed to be dead. When his little brother accidentally dies by his own hand, it tips him into becoming a full-blown villain, and he sets onto a path to become an outright tyrant so he can rid the world of all he deems evil so what happened to his brother will never happen again. In the second book, the protagonist of the first, due to choices he made in that book, becomes the antagonist and his wife is the protagonist. He sets out to rid the world of all "magic", as he deems humanity too corruptible to use it. Meanwhile, his wife, not believing he has completely fallen into darkness, searches for a way to bring him back, even if it means stripping him of all his power. The third book, the villain is Hell itself. With the protagonist from the previous book having been successful, the two try to live a normal life together and get back what was taken from them in the first book. But Lucifier seeks to claim the last remaining source of power on Earth for himself. When they realize that even with the combined military might of the greatest kingdoms in the world, and the power bestowed upon them by the source, they are still outmatched, and the protagonist from the first book must make a decision: become The Doom Knight once more or watch all he loves crumble beneath Hell's heavy fist.

[@fruitfulconnoisseur]

In the elder scrolls universe the motivation to become a necromancer can be power, curiosity, or the desire to be with a loved one but it always messes with them psychologically. Leading them to do horrible things. In the end they lose their morals and a bit of their sanity.

[@matityaloran9157]

0:53, like Prince Zuko

[@dariusreaper1458]

An antagonist can be a villain, or can be the guy that steals your lunch in school, the neighbor that throws beer cans to your yard. So, an antagonist doesn't have to be a villain, it could be a rival, or a person who dislikes certain traits of the protagonist

[@TheAutisticBrick]

do you have any tips on writing YA/adult horror

[@yohanrives3752]

What if the "vilain" is not a person but your characters flaws or a curse they have to fight?

[@PhoenixCrown]

Brandon Sanderson describes "flaws" as things the character needs to overcome throughout the course of the story. I don't know what the "curse" is, but this might be what he refers to as "limitations," which are not things to overcome but to work within or around. I encourage you to use both of these character traits to design an antagonist that exploits your protag's limitations and forces him to overcome his flaws in order to reach his goal.

[@ManFromThePits]

"Start with an original motivation" Lists unoriginal motivations. I think what you mean is "Start with an understandable, relatable motivation", the idea being to humanize your villain, making them more believable as individuals, and less cartoonish.

[@Makememesandmore]

2:28, 3:01 don't question it

[@swarple]

Unpopular opinion: I kind of miss the classic villain, who is just really rotten to the very core. I know a lot of people see this as unrealistic or one-dimensional, and they certainly can be, but I think when done correctly the character can still be perceived as human. The sad truth is that not everyone sees themselves as a good guy. My go-to example is cult leaders. Literally all they want is power, they want to rule over other people who will give their money, bodies, and lives for them. They want to be a god. And that’s it. That’s the end goal. A lot of these people are pretty messed up even as children (Jim Jones killed animals as a kid) and when they don’t get help, that continues into adulthood. Some of them believe what they’re preaching, but others don’t, and don’t care who they hurt as long as they get what they want. Nothing sympathetic about them. But as irredeemable as they are, they are still people. It’s hard to pull off, but I think you can write an evil, evil person who is still interesting. I usually suck at writing antagonists but the one I’m actually rather proud of has gradually developed into one of these characters. I think it’s the psychology of a character like this that I find fascinating. How does a person like this see the world, and the concept of morality? How do they view the people around them? I think a character like this can be hard to write, but if a writer takes their time to answer these questions in a compelling way, they can pull it off. My only hope is that I’ll be able to.

[@SCPilot]

Could an example of a good well written villain be an evil sentient magical item who tries to corrupt people into becoming ironfisted tyrants as the sentient magical item believes that the weak should bow to the strong and that might makes right and that this villain sees those who believe that ideal of the strong is to protect the weak and that might makes right should be tempered with compassion and tolerance goes against the natural order and the villain sees its actions as just or would this be a bad villain archetype?

[@alantrevor3658]

Make the protagonist the villain, though neither he nor the readers realize it until the last chapter.

[@Reealos]

There are already video games like that.

[@alantrevor3658]

@@Reealos Fair enough. But I wasn't trying to create a TRULY ORIGINAL villain so much as trying to suggest an idea that is mot commonly used. Even Mr. Herne described his first principle as "Start with an original motivation", but then went on to describe his motivations as "motivations that we don't see all the time". Because the ideas he suggested weren't really "original" in the strongest sense of never having been tried before. His "original motivations" (You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means...) would more accurately be described as "less often used" motivations.

[@Reealos]

@@alantrevor3658 Oh dont get me wrong, i did not mean to be rude or something with that comment, i just remembered that ive read an article about the top x games where you are the villain (without knowing it) and i thought what a cool concept.

[@alantrevor3658]

@@Reealos No problem. I didn't think your comment was rude at all.

[@Warhawk198]

1:24 Sooo Amaram? From the stormlight archive? What he thinks is that the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few so after the main character saves his life from a “shard barer” he offers the main character the shard plate and shard blade BUT when the main character refuses he kills his squad and brands the main character as a slave and takes the shards for himself and tells himself it’s for the good of Alethkar. But he’s still the worst little POS that I have ever had the displeasure of knowing about

[@Meirstein]

The advice for part 1 is simply describing the archetype of the anti-villain.

[@inukithesavage828]

Nox in Wakfu hits number one

[@SolutusImmortalem]

Jed has cooked again

[@sakshamsingh4576]

Can you tell me about some other book recommendations that aren’t yours.

[@robsright4256]

Doesn't like the word villain, but puts it in the title. Interesting 🤔

[@live4twilight4ever]

Did you just say the well-intentioned extremist is a fresh original rarely-seen character concept?

[@SakwalaTube-Tube]

Madara Uchiha ❤

[@baylamakarov8701]

My villain just wants to be accepted good and bad… too bad he’s a sicko and not even his allies can get over his lascivious tendencies

[@YourGuardianPier]

If had a nickel for everytime jed started with I published 4 books I'd be very rich

[@Treehouse298]

I get what you're saying with point 4 but the definition of Sauron, one of the most well know villains of all time, is "pure evil" he has been evil from the beginning of time. He exists, in universe, to be evil.

[@jonathancampbell5231]

Elrond: "For nothing is evil in the beginning; even Sauron was not so." Tolkien (letters): “Sauron was of course not ‘evil’ in origin. He was a ‘spirit’ corrupted by the Prime Dark Lord (the Prime sub-creative Rebel) Morgoth. He was given an opportunity of repentance, when Morgoth was overcome, but could not face the humiliation of recantation, and suing for pardon; and so his temporary turn to good and ‘benevolence’ ended in greater relapse, until he became the main representative of Evil of later ages.”

[@Treehouse298]

@@jonathancampbell5231 oh wow, thanks for correcting me. I apologize for not knowing every one of tolkein's notes off by heart. I still feel as though my general point stands, Sauron has no motive, at least from what you've said here, he may have been "not evil" but he was created by "big evil" (who ever that may be, as I say I don't know a lot of the specifics of tolkein's world) and turned evil when he did (seemingly for no reason)

[@MitchT97]

My “villain” believes he’s truly the one in the right, a good person, even though he knows his methods are in a sense evil. Believing this world is not worth saving, but that the next one will be the real and better world, so what happens in this ‘old’ story of a world does not matter. To him it’ll all be washed away leaving only those devoted to this single cause with a clean new world where things will be better. In essence he’s the type to tell the hero: “you are not the hero in this story for there is no evil to be overcame. If anything your opposition to the betterment of existence puts you in the place of moral ambiguity and selfish idealism that everything can just be fixed if you try hard enough. You can’t make darkness light. You can’t make evil good. You can’t save what’s already dead. You have to move on. Like I have.”

[@TheJadedFilmMaker]

'other' isn't pronounced like that 😅 love the videos though.

[@joes_bankaccount]

How about just pure evil