How To Write a Group Of Villains - A Brief Summary
I always see lists on how to write villains alone, but never about groups. So Iâd like to give a few pointers on how to write these characters from what I do know about them.
One thing Iâve noticed from all the stories Iâve read, video games I played, and movies I watched is that you can automatically pinpoint each individual within a group. They all have their own quirks and fall into common tropes. Tropes are not a bad thing as long as they are done well.
Hereâs a list of all the tropes Iâve seen done in any type of media, both properly and poorly:
Is usually the level-headed one in charge of all the other villains. May have a weird personality trait of their own, or depicted as completely serious. Either way, the leader does not mess around and is single-minded towards his/her/their goal.
*If you want to write this character as serious, you should be careful to not make them too bland. Explain their motives and show their drive to succeed in a subtle or obvious way, depending on how the story itself is written.
Almost every story Iâve seen tends to have a villain whoâs sanity is questionable, or they simply arenât sane at all. Whether itâs from their past or they chose to be that way, they tend to be the most entertaining to watch. For me, anyways. They are often reckless and quick to act, with little to no regard for the well-being of others (or even themselves). They can be used either for comedy relief or to make an already grave situation worse. Itâs both of these most of the time. The Leader can have trouble keeping this character under control, since their actions can be unexpected.
Can also be a hybrid of The Crazy One, or they can be a separate chracter entirely. Not much I can say about this one. They like to make jokes and use quips in anything they say. May get on The Leaderâs nerves.
Can also be The Leader, but does not have to be. They come up with all of the plans for the group (with approval from The Leader) and help to determine what the best course of action would be. Could also be considered âThe Smart Oneâ, since The Strategist is commonly depicted as a scientist or some other form of higher intelligence. This trait tends to make this character full of themselves and think they are above their cohorts (aside from The Leader, whom they may be afraid of). They usually despise the idea of failure.
Can be any of these characters aside from The Leader. They often surface if they are not on board with The Leaderâs plans. They will turn against The Leader, sometimes bringing other members of the group to join them. This will either cause the group to fall apart or will have The Leader remove this character from the group entirely (through death, exile, enslavement, etc).
Is the most powerful of the group, or at least appears that way. Can sometimes be The Leader. Can either be depicted as the silent, serious type who doesnât speak much (if at all), or the dense type who has to be told things multiple times. Even then, they may misinterpret the information and ruin The Leaderâs plans.
Can be any of these characters, or simply one separate individual. They are known for taunting and harassing the protagonist in several ways, ranging from mild to downright twisted and insane. They can push the protagonist to their breaking point. Sometimes they can even corrupt the protagonist by making them do something that goes completely against everything they believe in. This leads to the protagonist questioning their path and motives for their own primary goal.
The member of the group who doesnât seem to hate the protagonist as much as the other villains do. Still follows The Leaderâs plan wholeheartedly, yet also seems to understand the protagonistâs plight. May or may not have some sort of important connection to the protagonist. Could be any of the characters in this list, even The Leader. Can be a separate individual as well.
A member of the group who used to be close to the protagonist(s), but has now joined the villains. Whether it was willingly or because they had no other choice, they may either:
*Want to join them again, but canât for a specific reason
*Wish to leave their old life behind, cutting all ties with what made them who they were before.
*Once again, can be any of the characters on this list or another individual.
-Whenever you write any of these characters, keep these three things in mind:
Give them all motives. I cannot stress this enough. It doesnât have to be an essayâs worth of explanations for each and every villain, but they should all have some sort of reason as to why theyâre even there. Otherwise, why did you put them into the story?
Show, Donât Tell. This is much easier when it comes to video games, tv shows and movies since you can literally show whatâs happening without saying a word. When writing, give a clear and concise explanation of things involving the villains and their situations, but donât start rambling about, letâs say, a villainâs favortie pair of socks for five pages. The story will become too much for a reader to digest, as well as lose the appeal. Make it short, sweet, and to the point. Your audience will thank you for that. But donât be afraid to sneak in a one or two extra details for foreshadowing, if you want to make things more interesting.
The villains can be likeable. Just because they arenât who the audience should be rooting for, it doesnât mean that you canât give them a few redeeming qualities. Have one of them enjoy nature. Have them make the readers laugh with their antics, like hitting each other or robbing from some rich dude down the street. Make them have some human qualities so that the audience can relate to them. If one or two of them are unlikeable, thatâs fine. But if the entire group is unlikeable to the point of being unbearable for the audience to watch/read, you are doing something wrong.
Thanks for listening. Feel free to add some opinions of your own!
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