The Bad Guy

I actually really like villains. And I'm not necessarily someone who needs the villain to have big deep motivations, either.

If he's a big part of the story, then yes. He can't be a cookie-cutter psycho. That would be rather dull, sure.

But in a shorter story, or a story where the villain is unseen or even unimportant for most of the book?

Let me put it this way. My medieval romance (release date TBA from Cerridwen Press) has a bad guy. But I didn't spend a lot of time on him, because I honestly didn't see the need. He's a minor character; in fact, he only comes into the story because of the acts of a different bad guy who did have motives and thoughts etc. No, this bad guy is essentially a contract killer who enjoys his work. He's...empty. His motives are purely selfish; he wants what he wants, and he has a job to do that he plans to enjoy, and that's the way it goes. Think of James Gandolfini in True Romance--although my bad guy isn't as amusing, I don't think.

My friend Erica Ridley posted this list about villains as her Thursday Thirteen yesterday, and I thought it was pretty interesting. Very good stuff to keep in mind, as well.

My favorite movie movie villain, I think, aside from the Nazi guy who had his face melted in Raiders of the Lost Ark, is Hans Gruber from one of my favorite movies of all time, Die Hard. (Incidentally, I had the distinct pleasure of showing this movie to my thirteen-year-old stepdaughter at Christmas [because it is a total Christmas movie]. It was awesome; she was enthralled, just as I had been when I saw the movie in the theatre when I was about her age.)

Why is Hans so awesome? Because he's so smooth. He has a plan. He's very smart, he's cultured, he's just the kind of man I normally write as a hero; he's sexy, self-assured, wealthy and powerful, and...okay, yeah, selfish and arrogant.

In fact I've wondered if my Hans-lust hasn't gone so far that my heroes are Hans, just slightly less larcenous.

Point is, what separates a hero and a villain is only where their actions take them. Something to keep in mind, eh?