The Freezer Bunny Club - A Reading Circle

"Duvelina;c-17555559" wrote:

I also have a discussion question for the group. How would you write a nuanced morally grey villain, a villain with a soft side? You don't want people to dislike them outright. You want to create some likability so it's hard to hold on to a grudge even though you really want to. He/she does some evil stuff one moment, but shows a vulnerability you can't ignore the next. How do you write someone like this in a subtle way so it doesn't seem wildly out of character?

Hmm… you could make it a villain whose intentions are noble, and whose goals could even align with the hero’s, but who completely goes overboard on the means to get there. Or you could have them develop a relationship with the hero, either before or during the story, that endears the reader to them.

Or it could be someone you follow from the beginning, and slowly twist into being the villain of the story through events that happen to them. A lot of people aren’t inherently evil, but become that way. There’s Darth Vader from Star Wars, but Buddy from the Incredibles also comes to mind (though that one’s way more over-the-top, I guess xD)

Maybe someone whose goals are opposite to the hero’s, but there’s such a relatable side to their “side” that you end up understanding where they’re coming from? I’m thinking of Magneto in X-men as an example.

It’s difficult, though. If you write them as too likeable, the reader may no longer want to see them fall, or even root for the villain instead of the hero. Which can be interesting if that’s what you’re going for.