"... a GOOD villain drives the conflict of a story... without the villain, the hero cannot overcome obstacles and develop as a character..."
"You should always approach your antagonists (or villains, or whatever you want to call them - basically the forces in opposition to your protagonist, or hero) in the same way you do your heroes: you should understand their motives and what they want should make sense. They way they go about trying to get what they want ought to make sense as well. "
"People are endlessly fascinating and have an amazing capacity to talk themselves into believing things they really want to believe....I'm not a big fan of movies where the antagonist is just "evil" and wants to "control the world". As much as there are people in the world who crave unlimited power and money, they always have a specific reason why they turned out that way, and they always have a very specific overall goal they're heading for. "
-Mark Kennedy
Definitions:
Good Guy - Protagonist - Hero
Bad Guy - Antagonist ("ANTI"agonist) - Villain
Think of your Favorite Villains - Why? what makes them memorable?
Villainy by Degrees
Traitor
Thief
Misled
Pirate
creep
Demon
Crime boss
beast
Obsessed Genius
Serial Killer,
Just plain "Ick" - gross
what kind of hero matches each of these? examples?
STORY, STORY STORY
A Hero is only as good as his Villain. The Villain Defines the Hero
THE HERO
The Villain is the Hero's opposite. Without a villain, a story cannot have a hero. If the antagonist is in direct opposition to the what the protagonist wants. In other words: there's no way they can both get what they want. Only one can succeed. Against a the villain, we know the Heroes strengths weakness, character, values, morals, what he must learn, overcome etc.
THE VILLAIN
How does the Villain mix, match and collide with the Hero? (boss, nemesis, character growth, opposite etc.) consider Peter Pan vs. Hook. Starwars
Important story elements should affect your design:
Does the Villain eventually get redeemed or stay a bad guy?
What are his fears? Why is he a bad guy?
How did he get that way?
Why does he feel justified acting the way he does?
How must he be overcome?
How you portray your villain will determine how the audience views your Hero. if the Antagonist is too Silly, then too much fear on the part of the Protagonist will make him foolish. If the Villain is too scary (also consider your audience) and your Hero is ridiculously outmatched, then the Hero will still feel foolish rather than brave for confronting him. the Villain can be overcome, but not too easily, and now w/out growth on the Hero's part.
Remember, you Hero is only as good as his Opposite.
Discussions:
Rapunzel vs. the Thugs in the Ugly duckling
Gollem vs. Balrog vs. Sauron
Bad Guys vs. Good Guys: Wreck It Ralph, Megamind, Batman
Consider when a villain is not a villain:
WHEN DESIGNING - CONSIDER
1) Story
2) Shapes used - Diagonals, Triangles, small detail and sharp shapes vs. rounds and horizontals.
3) Silhouette - also consider different types of Straights vs. curves
4) Costume (also colors) -
Adversaries that represent different ideals should have costumes that represent who they are and contrast with what their nemesis wears.
5) Gesture
6) Props
Take all of these into account. for more on shape, refer to the Shape Language Post.
DEMO - showing 3 different kinds of Villain design-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2VCjqGcTFA
