Villain Help

My favorite bad guys have always been ones that fell apart from within. The kind that have some sort of deep flaw which in the end leads to their downfall.

- The perfect planner who always seems to be one step ahead of the hero gets a bit too cocky or complacent.
- The tortured villain whose inner demons eventually tear her down.
- A small crack of vulnerability in the past comes back at the end to unravel everything.

I suggest taking a really close look at your villain. Get to know who they are and what's in their complicated past. No one's perfect. If you take the time to sit down and figure out what makes your bad guy tick there's a good chance that it will be obvious how to out smart her.

Best of luck!

- A

Every strength can be a weakness when taken too far. I'd suggest you examine your villain, pick the trait you think best reflects his greatest strength and figure out what the negative would be when taken to an extreme. Determination can become obsession, courage can become wrecklessness, etc. Once you figure that out, you can find the vulnerabilities that weakness affords you. Plus, it's a natural extension of the character traits you've already set up so it seems like a built in part of your character.

I hope that makes sense. It made sense in my head before I typed it. Good luck!

You must give a good villain a logical weakness, but what this is depends solely on who and what the villain is, so its difficult to give advice.

The worst thing you could possibly do is cop out with a deux ex machina, but as for ways around it...if you dig the hole deep enough, you have to go back and create a way out. I will say that sometimes you have to out-think the villain, using brains and wit instead of just cutting their head off with a sword. If it fits the style or characters, that's one of my favorite ways around a deus ex. Also, sometimes you have to rely on the villain's ability to kill or whatever their strength is and use that to your advantage. If they're physically better, your main character can't walk in expecting to beat them so he/she has to plan for after they get beaten. If you create a good enough villain, though, a happy ending is incredible hard to get with any realism. Assuming you want the big showdown to end with the good guy alive, of course. Otherwise, go out with a bang. Hope this helps.