 |
| The Joker is the property of DC comics |
One of the biggest driving forces behind most comic book stories are the villains. They pose or create the greatest obstacles for your heroes to over come. They have to be as dynamic or even more than your heroes. And the most successful villains are the ones that have levels of depth to their character. Here we are going to learn how to create villains with such sophistication in their quality of traits that your readers will love to hate them...or love them!
 |
| Bullseye is Property of Marvel Comics |
With villains we need to start at the beginning to see what makes them tick. In most, but not all, a tragic event or accident has somehow negatively affected the villain and twisted his or her fate. This is one of the best ways to begin to define the underlying foundation of your villain, but remember that characters are constantly changing so understand that you can always make changes later on that will be part of the character development. Marvel's own Bullseye's history is uncertain as he him self has only divulged small pieces of it for the sake of making the story interesting. Its not unheard of for a villain to switch roles and become a hero. Back to working on your villain's origin. The world is full of tragedy all you have to do is look around. From the despair of a father for a child lost in the unforgiving violence of war to the son who loses his father to an illness because of the negligence of a doctor or the pain of a grieving mother of a daughter raped and killed by an unknown assailant to the rage of a daughter for the senseless attack of a church or mall where her mother and family is slain. You don't need to look any further that the home page of any news site to get the latest dose of rampage.
After building a source of pain for your evil doer start forming their purpose or motivation. Did the illness that caused Billy's dad to die and the perceived lack of help or empathy because of Billy's our despair convinced him to want others to share in his own grief and so he became a terrorist to medical staff and hospitals. Was the puppy that just got run over by a careless and uncaring driver the only thing holding Diana from entering her life of an orphan assassin. Get creative!
 |
| Dr. Doom is the property of Marvel Comics |
Here's another fun part. What powers did your super villain gain from the incident. The plasma weapon test that kill Mark Danger's brother also imbued him with ability to manipulate electricity. The shock of Kendra losing her Government funding for her lab and life's work created the madness that lead her to create doom's day robots and eventually into a cyborg herself. The reason doesn't even have to be noble, sometimes people just snap. After Harry stole Frank's girlfriend Wendy, Frank decided to become his wrestling persona "The Viper" but as a bank robber and hired muscle for the mob. The Latverian Monarch known to many as Doctor Doom was born brilliant.
In a deal with the devil, his mother sacrificed her soul in return for
her son to be a ruler. He spent much of his life studying both dark
magic and science.
Whatever the case is keep it interesting. Stay away from generic bad guys, unless your just introducing thugs or underlings. Try to create at least three amazing super villains to keep your heroes on their toes and your readers at the edge of their seats!
