The Secrets to Writing Unforgettable Villains

Create an Unforgettable Villain 

Look, screenwriting is hard. It can take me forever to finish a script and to really craft it in a way that connects with an audience.

So if people have "tricks" or "shortcuts" to do this stuff, I'm all ears. That's ehy I was pumped to watch this video.

1. Villains Believe in Something

The Joker, for example, is a twisted nihilist who believes that human morality is a fragile construct that he can bend if he puts people in the right situation. This belief system, however warped, provides a logical, albeit terrifying, foundation for his actions.

If you know what someone believes, you know how they're going to act. And you can write scenes around that.

2. Villains See Themselves as Heroes

this is a pretty old strategy, but one to keep in mind. They think they're doing the hard work in the script.

Take Gus Fring from Breaking Bad. He's a disciplined and methodical man who sees his brutality as a necessary component of his grand vision. Even Thanos, the genocidal warlord from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, believes he is the only one with the courage to make the difficult decisions necessary to save the universe.

These villains force us to confront uncomfortable truths and question our own definitions of good and evil.

3. Villains Target the Hero's Vulnerabilities

What's your hero's Achilles heel? If it's Achilles, I can venture a guess. Another example would be how Darth Vader's revelation that he is Luke Skywalker's father shatters Luke's sense of self and his understanding of his place in the galaxy.

Vader then uses that to continuously lure him to the dark side. And Luke uses that fact to try and Lure Vader back to the light.

By targeting what matters most to the hero, the villain creates a deeply personal and emotionally resonant conflict.

4. Villains are Unstoppable Forces

I think about The Terminator when I think about this idea from the video. How he just keeps coming no matter what, until you finally tear him apart.

But there are other ways to do this stuff, like how Amy Dunne from Gone Girl meticulously orchestrates her own disappearance and frames her husband, controlling every twist and turn of the story, or Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones relentlessly plotting the destruction of her enemies.

By being an unstoppable force, the villain forces the hero to rise to a new level and become the person they need to be to defeat them.

Summing It All Up 

By following these principles, screenwriters can create villains who are not just evil but complex, compelling, and unforgettable.