What happens to the antagonist afterward?

Samsonet

Just visiting
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
1,391
Reaction score
184
Location
See my avatar? The next galaxy over.
Hello!

I've been thinking about reader satisfaction and what happens to the antagonists at the end of a story, specifically mystery/detective stories. Recently I read a short story from the 1910's where (spoiler warning and a trigger warning for suicide)
the detective intentionally drives the criminal to suicide.
I'll fully confess to being sensitive, but it was definitely a surprise in contrast to the other detectives I read about.

There was a novel late in a series where the characters discuss the murderer of the series' first book. He killed two people, once of which was a teenage girl, and was in prison for twelve years before getting parole. It was the first time I'd seen the murderer of a detective story having actually been through the legal system in a series that didn't focus on law.

With most stories I read, I'm usually satisfied when a criminal is arrested by police and taken "offstage" from the novel, so to speak. I've been rethinking whether that's enough for me, though.

Do you ever think about the fates of the antagonists of stories you read/write? What has to happen to the antagonist to satisfy you as a reader?
 
Last edited:

frimble3

Heckuva good sport
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
11,574
Reaction score
6,396
Location
west coast, canada
Hauled off by the police is usually good enough for me.
Maybe even escaping, if the crime was non-violent, or the victim 'deserved it'. Flambeau in the Father Brown stories, for instance - he was a jewel thief, and entertaining, so, let him escape to perhaps return in another story.
Or, there's Lord Peter Wimsey, who got upset when the criminals he caught were found guilty in court (20/30's Britain = the death penalty).

In general, I'm reading for detective/detection - the criminal is of no further interest to me.
 

ChaseJxyz

Writes 🏳️‍⚧️🌕🐺 and 🏳️‍⚧️🌕🐺 accessories
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2020
Messages
4,524
Reaction score
6,203
Location
The Rottenest City on the Pacific Coast
Website
www.chasej.xyz
I, too, am fine with them being "caught" if the setting/tone is such that I can believe that the justice system would do the right thing (the courts will hold a fair trial, find them guilty, and then do whatever punishment). Because of my own morals I don't feel that it's necessary for me to be told that the bad guy was killed (whether by the good guys or the justice system or through karma), but if it was, say, a very rich, very influential bad guy who has many politicians in their pocket then I want to know that they do, indeed, get what they deserve. Unless it's a super hero comic book I would assume someone like that would be able to escape justice and not knowing what happens will feel like an incomplete ending.
 

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Messages
23,079
Reaction score
10,775
Location
Where faults collide
Website
doggedlywriting.blogspot.com
I think it depends entirely on the story, including the nature of the crime. Sometimes having the person hauled off at the end and just knowing justice will be served is enough. This is often the case in mysteries and some other crime genres. If the person is an especially horrible type, knowing that the punishment fits the crime can add something to the story. It's more common in thrillers, of course, for the protagonist to actually kill the antagonist. I recall, for instance, in Stephen King's The Dead Zone it was revealed that while the evil would-be POTUS survived and the protagonist died, the baddie was utterly ruined politically because he held the baby in front of him when the protagonist tried to shoot him. (in the movie version the protagonist has a vision before he dies of the villain eventually committing suicide). That felt fitting, because the antagonist was deprived of the thing he wanted most.

There are also stories where the apparent antagonist turns out to have a justification for committing their crimes that makes them more sympathetic, and in those cases, a "just" ending may involve them escaping or being allowed to escape by the person pursuing them. Thinking of that Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact.

Of course, sometimes not knowing the fate of the antagonist for sure is intentional, as it leaves the story open for a sequel. Moriarty and Holmes over the falls anyone?
 
Last edited: