My buddy's D&D campaign prompt made me rethink how I write villains

He said 'your bad guy should think they're the hero' and that one line hit different because after 3 years of writing mustache-twirling villains I realized I never gave any of them a real reason for doing what they did, so how do you guys make sure your antagonists have a point of view that actually makes sense?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliahall2mo ago

Heard a buddy say his villain was just 'trying to save the town from itself.'

taylor.paige2mo ago

Wait, so his villain is basically doing a DIY version of "I had to destroy the village in order to save it"? That's not exactly breaking new ground, is it?

ellis.susan2mo ago

Jumping in here - I don't think it's about making the villain a full-on "destroy the village to save it" type. It's more that every villain has THEIR OWN REASON that makes total sense to them in the moment. Like your buddy's "trying to save the town from itself" thing - that CAN work if you flesh it out enough so it's not just a cliche one-liner.