Lesson One

The Origin

Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph. 

- Roger Ebert

So, you want to become a villain and disregard most of the rules of society in order to eventually rule over the patch of land you are fond of, or maybe even the world? Look no further! But before we give you practical tips on where to build your secret lair, how to find your henchmen and how to avoid losing to superheroes, we need to go over some boring details and your origin story! No villain is complete without his or hers origin story.

vil·lain /ˈvilən/

noun: (in a film, novel, or play) a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.

This term usually defines a character who represents the forces which clash with the main character in order to thwart the main character's progress in a story. Now, of course it is possible that the villain is the main character, but nevertheless, the villain acts as a villainous foil to the perceived good guy of the story. But, what does that mean exactly?

In their role as an adversary, the villain serves as an obstacle the hero must struggle to overcome, so they exemplify characteristics that are diametrically opposed to those of the hero, creating a contrast distinguishing heroic traits from villainous ones. In short, the villain stands in negative relation to the spiritual, emotional, moral or financial progress of the main character, a character who is often described as the protagonist. You can best imagine the foil in a very clichéd dialogue that had become famous throughout the media: "We are not so different you and I, Mr. Bond.". Just replace Mr. Bond with any other protagonist of the story.

Motive

Now, your motive to be a villain is not necessarily the same as your origin story. They can be intertwined, but what made you a villain could be different from what drives you. Villain motives are not that different from a motive that any other character could hold. Desires such as wanting to be loved, to feel safe or even to get revenge can be a reason for both evil and good actions.

Some motives tend to be more villain-inclined, such as the idea that 'misery loves company', in other words, wanting others to suffer because you have. Your motive must underpin all your actions. However, you do not necessarily have to reveal it. After all, it could just be one more thing used against you in a fight.

This list contains some motivational forces that usually drive villains, some of which are rather basic, singular or can be combined:

• Failed career move
• Failed romance
• To gain acceptance
• Revenge
• Justice
• Fear
• Paranoia
• Flee or achieve destiny
• Desperation
• Curiosity

Dangerous Experiments (Preferably During Bad Weather). You have a pretty solid scientific background and one night you are alone in your laboratory, bad weather raging outside (preferably thunderstorms). You know that breakthroughs do not come to pass by themselves. Someone has to take the lightning by the tail and experiment with those volatile, potentially genetically altering chemicals. Either something unexpected happened, or it all went according to plan, but with unintended consequences. No matter, you are now extremely powerful and feel like taking over the world!

An Accident (Usually the Superhero's Fault). They say that accidents will always happen. Mishaps and setbacks are just a natural and inevitable part of life. Let us not mince words, most of the time, these situations will simply lead to death, terminal disease, and a massive laundry bill. Only in rare, special and important-to-a-narrative times will a super-villain emerge through the strength of their character.

Tragic Loss of a Loved One. Some wise soul said that caring is not an advantage and they are somewhat right. Caring about people, especially when you are working on a super secret project for the government tends to get those people shot or fall ill with diseases that you either cannot afford to treat or a cure does not exist yet. This sort of thing can leave a person a bit miffed. Especially when it rains at their funeral.

Being Tortured Makes You Evil. A rather archaic scenario that tends to bring out the most sympathy for a villain, it revolves around how a villain comes to being as product of torture or abuse, mental and physical alike. Motivation of torture that resulting a character become evil in this way ranges from simply mere amusement to more complex and systematic one, like indoctrination.  It all comes down to this simple theory: Pain is bad, so if you add enough pain to someone, they become bad! See why I said it was archaic? Nowadays with advances in mental health and sympathetic outlook on tortured villains, this origin was been steadily dwindling.

Rival Turned Evil. This route revolves around how a villain comes to being as mere rival of the hero. The degree of this rivalry can range from being one-sided, playful, to mutual determination to become better than the other. Nevertheless, the hero and the rival had little to no serious enmity to one another until a big even happens where the hero's rival went to the dark side. Reasons for this may vary, it can be a revelation that negatively affected whatever friendship the hero and the rival had, fighting over a love, or certain trivial issues which escalated to catastrophic levels. 

From Nobody to Nightmare. This origin story revolves around the villain who started off as either outcast or nobody before their shocking descent into villainy. They were either harmless or helpless, looked down upon, their existence was ignored, and worse, considered as an outcast or an individual that often being abused by other people. Every abuse and misfortune the character endured holds a role in their character development, but in stark contrast from a superhero, this development takes a negative turn which lead to their growth into a villain, often some of the terrifying ones. This origin is similar to a Being Tortured Makes You Evil, but differs in a way that this particular scenario often starts occurring in childhood or in developing years while Being Tortured Makes You Evil usually occurs with adult characters.

Name

You got your motive and your origin story, now the only thing that remains is the name. Many people will only know of you, or your organization, by name so a smart thing would be to choose one that reflects your aims and goals. 

First, do you want to be widely known and have thousands tremble at the mention of your name? Consider a normal person and how they behave. Use words that they will understand. Red Knight is a good example, while The Golden Sisterhood of Applied Quantum Sciences is not. On another hand, maybe you want your organization to be secret. To give the members a false sense of importance, you can choose a pretentious, inflated name that usually goes by the formula of "The ---- of ---- ----". Some common words are those that denote darkness and evil, while alliteration is a favorite way of creating a catchy, memorable name. Just make sure that your name does not rhyme. That is just tacky.

Villain Archetypes Part One