(Yes, I know there has been an influx of literature-awareness articles on dA News as of lates, but lets not forget the honey BBQ sauce on the baby-back ribs! )


Antagonists—-villains—-are the motivators of the hero/heroine and, ultimately, the plot. Frankly, if your villain is not so good, your story may possess the high probability of turning sour, also.


For such a crucial character, there is an unfortunate decrease in the quality of villains. The startling rise of derivative-villains is one of many factors that are endangering the creative genre of fantasy. We writers continue to promote the rise of derivatives by recycling old, worn out ideas? Isn’t fantasy a wide-open genre of infinite possibilities?


All of us are capable of creating an original fantasy story—-no excuses!


Below is a brief list compiled of villain clichés gained from research and observation. A handful of these elements aren’t necessarily evil, but a large amount can cause significant damage to your story (i.e. worst case scenario, the reader being turned off):



Villain Cliches :


Name :

• Is the “Dark Lord”
• “Dark”
• Is Italian
• Is Latin
• An adjective or noun
• Means something bad or horrible in another language
• Contains a malicious, dark tone, such as “Sinisterio”, “Darkoth”
• Contains an apostrophe
• Lucifer (with the story containing no Biblical connection)


Occupation :

• Emperor/Empress
• Deity or second to one
• Wizard, Sorceror, Enchantress
• High Priest/Clergyman
• Assassin
• Is the hero/heroine’s father/mother/uncle/twin (somehow related to hero)
• Demoted/Fallen
• Was a beloved pupil of the hero’s mentor
• Ex-mentor of the hero
• Fiance/Fiancée of the hero
• Exiled



Appearance :

• Hair style is long dark hair accompanied by a goatee
• Hair style is unusually elaborate and required more than one jar of gel/can of hairspray
• Long, white or silver hair
• Wears glasses/spectacles
• Eyes of differing color (one eye blue, the other green)
• Flaming, red eyes
• Icy, blue eyes
• Yellow, cat-like eyes
• Is horribly misfigured
• Is extremely handsome
• Possesses a thick Romanian/German/British accent
• Wears black and/or red
• Wears a long cape/hood
• Wears a leather outfit
• Wears armor, despite the fact that his minions do all the fighting, or that he uses magic
• Is masked or hooded at all times
• Possesses a vanity cane
• Possesses a cat for the sake of stroking its fur endlessly
• Possesses a snake/dragon



Abilities :

• Able to shapeshift into a bat/wolf/cat/raven/snake/dragon/sexy woman/clone of the hero/heroine or someone dear to the hero/heroine
• Able to teleport in a flurry of sparks, smoke, fireworks (some sort of fantastic “I have arrived/am leaving” display)
• Can communicate/command spirits
• Can control minds
• Illusionist
• Can immobilize/drive one mad/kill with his/her eyes
• Is the ultimate master at magic/sorcery
• Can shoot fire balls
• Can play a mean song on his/her gigantic organ
• Drinks blood
• Can give a blood-curdling cackle



Crimes (or recreational activities) :

• Gives long speeches, containing his/her plans (giving the hero time to escape)
• Slays random civilians on his/her every whim
• Kidnaps and imprisons young, beautiful virgins—especially the hero’s girlfriend
• Zapps or crushes little birds/rodents to show power or anger
• Destroys whole cities
• Tearing down cities/forests to build a new tower, castle, or set-up a new weapon
• Feeds citizens or minions to his pet dragon, snake
• Genocide
• Experiments on certain races, which render prisoners deformed, ugly, mentally-ill
• Spies on hero/heroine, yet cannot see that they are getting closer to defeating them
• Loves creating weapons that are destined to destroy them

Behavior :

• Minions are punished by death for every insignificant mistake
• Is rather lazy; minions do the dirty work
• Angsty
• Stubborn and unable to reason


Minions :

• Orcs or something goblin-like
• Flying monkeys, griffons
• Black-hooded spirit-creatures (aka Nazgul, Dementors, Ra’zac, did I miss one?)
• Some sort of dark race that whole world despises
• Lack intelligence


Location :


• Imprisoned in a block of ice/stone/crevasse
• Volcano
• Dark, scary forest
• A dismal desert/volcanic region in the east of the realm
• A lonely island in the middle of a raging sea
• Resides in a rather large castle with gothic-architecture (spindly towers and elaborate buttresses, etc.)
• Resides in a castle made out of ice/hewn stone from a cliff



Motivation :

• Vengeance for horrific childhood experiences (orphan, abuse, parents killed before his/her eyes, etc)
• Vengeance for a magical accident leaving his/her face terribly burned or scarred (usually by hero or hero’s predecessor)
• Just pure insanity
• Obsession, usually love, for the hero/heroine


Our All Time-Favorites :

• Is spared by the hero/heroine
• Is killed by a 'Deus Ex-Machina'
• Is killed by a magical object, which happened to be the creation of the villain
• Deliberately commits suicide (i.e. lets go of the hero’s hand) when the hero graciously tries to save them
• Turns good, joins forces with good guys
• Comes back to life, to the dismay of the hero/heroine
• There’s a higher evil (the villain has a boss—-whoopie! )





Villains are important characters that need your TLC, too ! Instead of totally focusing all of our time and energy on the qualities of the main character, let us also devote our attention to Mr./Ms. Malevolent. The more dynamic and original your villain is, the more elaborate and engaging your plot becomes.


Links (from research) that you should check out :

The Fantasy Cliche Meter: The Bad Guys (sort of a 'Mary Sue Litmus Test' for Villains)

Everyone's Most Hated Fantasy Fiction Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliches to Avoid

Not So Grand Cliche List


My Personal Favorite :

The Fantasy Novelist's Exam




--liquid

Save the Fantasy Genre. Hug an imagination.


(Next article (hopefully) will be focusing on the dominance of 'Eurocentricity' in the worlds of Fantasy Literature)