Writing a rounded villain

Antilles

Hi guys, I'd appreciate a little help on a sticking point I'm having. When you write a story, how do you stop your villain being over-the-top evil (and thus distractingly unbelievable), while still making his actions twisted and villainous?

For example, in a story I am writing now, the villain is a millionaire, who's missionary daughter dies of malaria in Africa. Seeing how little money goes into the search for a cure for malaria, his plan is to detonate a series of "malaria bombs" in major cities around the world, so that when its a problem rich white men have to deal with, the issue will get more funding.

I keep coming back to the thought "that is ridiculous, who would do that??", but when I try to rework the character into somebody who /would/ do that, the villain seems very false.

How do people get around that?

Or alternatively, is the villain's plan just so idiotic that I'm encountering problems with plot rather than motivation?

Thanks!

EileenG

Well, the first problem I see with that is that if he's a millionaire, why isn't he pouring his own money and resources into looking for a cure?

Plus, millionaires with missionary daughters tend to be thin on the ground.

If he was poor, doing something to make it a rich white man's problem would make more sense. Also, if he was poor, he'd have to work a lot harder to pull off something like that, so he could get tunnel vision, stop thinking logically, just concentrate on each bit of the problem of how to assemble his "Wake Up Call" to the West.

But yes, I think a series of bombs is overdoing it. One strategic bomb, aimed at a big summit or assembly, might be more effective. Particularly if it's likely to affect some of the people who cut third world aid.

pickarooney

Maybe the guy has made his money from shares in a pharmaceutical company and has spent his whole life in the ruthless pursuit of money in order to take care of his family, but in so doing has completely neglected his kids. His daughter, lacking in self-confidence and in need of reassurance, gets involved in the church and vows to do everything her father didn't - forgoing material wealth and giving her help and attention to human beings.

The guy loses it one day when the company goes tits up and he looks at the calendar and sees it's his daughter's birthday and he's completely forgotten her, away doing the Lord's work while he's in cahoots with the devil.

Now to make him evil... a series of severe frustrations involving him going to visit his daughter and realising how much good could be done with the money the pharamcorps are churning out, if only they had some interest in curing malaria, calls to 'old' friends' in the business that end up in nothing.

The bomb(s) - he'd need to get close to some organisation specialising in this kind of thing, some radical group whose original aim was to raise awareness through peaceful protest but who have splintered and gone rogue. Together they come up with a plan for a biological weapon...

Black-and-white villains/heroes are no good; even in comic books the bad guy tends to have some goodness locked away and some pain from a tragic event driving them to commit acts of Bad.

Antilles

Thanks guys. Its very difficult to write somebody believable but also evil!

EileenG

You've got to work out what would make you (or someone real you know) act in that way, and put yourself into that mindset. If you know a couple of people who seem able to do the most awful things, and rationalise it, spend time with them, and try to get into the way they think.

For instance, I've got a relative who can selectively remember or forget anything. So anything she wants to do, she can dredge up a memory of someone doing something which justifies what she plans to do. She wants to forge a cheque of her fathers? He deserves it, the way he forgot her 12th birthday, and then thought it was funny.

Halla Basin

i think that if you make him also have a soft side. for example he might have a dog that he loves really much or something. or maybe he he's struggling with a drug addiction and it could be in black and whiter whenever hes triyng to take his drug wchich makes it kinda sad, you know?

Hrududu

Take some time and rethink the story from his point of view. As if he were the main character. That might get you more inside his head. Once you do that you might start seeing him as a human rather than just the actions you've set out for him.

ToasterSparks

If you want your villain to be more rounded - then make him more realistic. That probably sounds like the same thing, but try to imagine what a real-world character would do.

You shouldn't need to have to make the villain rounded, you should already have a character who has natural, seemingly understandable motivations. You kinda do already. In his mind, he wants to set off a malaria bomb to encourage rich white men to find a cure for the disease. Like what was said above, his motivation would be more believable if he wasn't rich himself.

baalthor

I am not convinced by your "malaria bomb" concept.

The disease is acquired by being bitten by certain species of malaria-carrying mosquito, how will your "bomb" transmit it?

Most of the victims of malaria are African children. This is due to poverty,lack of medical care and proper disease prevention.

Westerners travelling to malarial areas usually take precautions that make it less likely that they would contract the disease and would normally have access to anti-malarial treatment if they do fall victim to malaria.

I have met people who suffered from chronic (recurring) malaria. The symptoms were quite severe but nothing that sitting for 12 hours in a chair in the Mater A+E couldn't "cure".

So your bomb might not have a huge medical effect in a Western country.


PS: Rich white men are spending money on eradicating malaria.

me-skywalker

you want a believeable disease or toxin to kill and has high risk with low cure rates... botulinum!

kmick

me-skywalker wrote: »

you want a believeable disease or toxin to kill and has high risk with low cure rates... botulinum!

+1 Malaria is curable
Botulism is a toxin so its not really going to have a cure as such.
EBOLA is pretty nasty but a bit cliched.

I always find the best villians are the ones who do what they do for no obvious reason apart from it amuses them. Villians with good intentions are actually heros in waiting and if the end of the book concludes with the hero being pardoned by Arnie in the White House then you have a problem as far as I am concerned,

pickarooney

It seems obvious that the malaria bomb is technically impossible, but do you have any answers on the main question? I can think of dozens of possible motivations for people to commit such an act while still retaining some humanity, be it out of frustration, revenge, misguided idealism, boredom or a quirky sense of humour.

My own favourite villains are (TV) characters like Vic Mackey of The Shield or Tony Soprano.

Irlandese

EileenG wrote: »

Well, the first problem I see with that is that if he's a millionaire, why isn't he pouring his own money and resources into looking for a cure?

Plus, millionaires with missionary daughters tend to be thin on the ground.

If he was poor, doing something to make it a rich white man's problem would make more sense. Also, if he was poor, he'd have to work a lot harder to pull off something like that, so he could get tunnel vision, stop thinking logically, just concentrate on each bit of the problem of how to assemble his "Wake Up Call" to the West.

But yes, I think a series of bombs is overdoing it. One strategic bomb, aimed at a big summit or assembly, might be more effective. Particularly if it's likely to affect some of the people who cut third world aid.

Naw, the daughter went cause she hates being rich n privelidged and thinks daddy is a parasite.
The malaria bit is a bit off though, as it is parasie carried, which parasites, mosquitoes, have a hard time surviving with air condo or cold climates and is quite preventable/treatable so I would go for ebola instead.

No more unless I get a piece of the action...................yahoo

dawvee

I'm actually pretty sure that malaria is treatable/cureable, as already pointed out. The issue with so many deaths from it is availability of treatment, which quickly opens up a massive geopolitical mess that your character's plan wouldn't really address. It would likely require a huge perspective shift for him to even acknowledge those issues.

The main thing that occurs to me is that this guy is a freakin' millionaire. He likely works in terms of big ideas and strategic plans of action, mobilizing forces of people and so on. In short, he's probably used to getting things done in a direct, no-nonsense kind of way.

His evil plan, on the other hand, sounds like something a disgruntled postal worker would come up with. "I'll blow something up and then someone else will fix things for me!" It's a plan of desperation by a powerless individual. This man is not powerless. If he's faced with a situation where he is powerless, it seems to me he'd be more likely to break down than act out.

ToasterSparks

Maybe you should consider anthrax or something. Deadly, probably requires lots of funds to source and smuggle into the country, and a possible 'bomb' candidate.