Villains - A Rant

(Please pardon if this strays slightly off-topic, I just felt the need the type all this out...anyone else have thoughts on this??)

I see it everywhere: How to create a believable villain.  What motivates your antagonist?  How to write a villain that readers can understand.

This is all very fine and good.  Our stories need to be believable.  It doesn't make sense if we did hours of prep for the MC, and then just went "um...the villain wants world domination and he has uh...black hair."  The characters in our books (all of them) need to have motivations, and realistic ones.

But lately I feel as if I've seen the rise of "good" villains.  Of villains that readers actually fall in love with and even rush to defend.  Of people who are sometimes good and sometimes bad, depending on their mood or the circumstances.  Of antagonists who are just "misunderstood" or else excused.

(Now I really like redemption arcs.  It's great to see the villain realize the error of their ways and join the good guys in time to make a last stand against the chaos he or she has created.  It's great to see them repent.  And as Christians, we should be praying to that end for people, hoping that they would repent.  But that's not what I'm talking about.)

I'm talking about rooting for a character while they're bad.  Laughing when no one really knows what side they're on, because they're twisty and it's funny.  Excusing their actions because of some tragic backstory that made them do what they do so it's not quite their fault.

Have we grown so tired of seeing the hero do what is right, that we would rather sympathize with what is evil because it's new and exciting and entertaining?  What are we teaching ourselves?  That it's okay to do bad things as long as we help the good guys in the end?  That somehow we can be excused from our behavior because of what happened to us in the past?  That being bad is cool?  That killing is funny?

(Maybe I'm getting a few vibes from Gray's post on Bad Boys in YA, what do you think?)

 

But, people say, not everyone is completely good or completely bad!  We all make mistakes and have our own sins and struggles.  Some of us are naturally more inclined to do good, and others more inclined to do bad, and I'm trying to show that.  Our stories need to be believable!

Yes, they do.  I agree 100%.  But that's not an excuse.  As writers, we need to show things the way they are.  But we also need to inspire, encourage, and motivate our readers.

We need broken characters, to show us we're not alone.  They can show us the path of despair that sin leads us down.  They can show us that there is redemption for those who repent.

But we also need good characters, to give us an example.  They can show us that it's possible to remain steadfast and not give up.  They can show us how to help others.

But, others say, completely good characters are boring.  I want to read about characters with faults!  Not follow some perfect Mary Sue character who does what's right every single time!

Does anyone ever get tired of Aragorn always being so noble and kingly?  Does anyone ever get tired of Leith Torren galloping off to the rescue?  Does anyone get tired of people being kind and brave, despite the opposition?

You can have a character do the right thing and not have them be "sickeningly perfect."  Maybe they're scared, but they do it anyway.  Maybe they don't want to do it, but they do it anyway.  Maybe they do it, all the while asking for strength because they know they can't do it alone.

If every character we ever read about turns back, we will naturally follow in their footsteps and turn back as well.

So we need characters who push forward, to show us the way.  And we need characters who turn back and then realize their mistake and return to do the right thing so for those who make the same mistakes can realize there is a way for them to return as well.

Ultimately, everyone is completely good or completely bad (in God's sight).  We will all go to one of two places at death - those who have repented of their sins and received Christ's righteousness will go to be with God, and those who have gone on their own way will go to Hell.  And we need to remind readers of this as well.

That sometimes-good-sometimes-bad person might have gotten away at the end of the book with happiness.  The good person might have been horribly murdered and never seen joy.  Maybe the villain got what they wanted at last.  But at death, everyone will get what they truly deserve for eternity.  Things here on earth last for but a moment, but eternity is forever.