When it comes to character arcs, the villain can not be a static character. Though length of the story and how often the villain is mentioned in the book or movie may change how much growth this one character is able to get, he or she, being human, is always changing in some way. Confidence grows with every victory, and shrinks with every defeat. Anger, though sometimes a constant burn in the villain’s soul, explodes and subsides in fits. Tears dry up over time, and love dulls. Anxiety consumes and abandones. To keep a villain from growing as the plot progresses makes their character feel more stale and predictable as the story goes along. As emotions mix and leave scarring memory, it fuels the villain’s motivation to reach his or her goal.
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Maybe the villain is a revenge hungry teen who tries desperately to destroy the hero after the hero let his or her family die. Or maybe the villain is a power hungry mob boss who won’t rest until he or she is on top. There always must be some form of clear motivation. What the motivation is and how it is portrayed should also hint to the villain’s past, and tells his or her story. For instance, three motivations that are seemingly the same on the surface, such as the the lust for power, may be portrayed very different due to the villain’s past. For example, Villain One may have gotten their lust for power when they grew up in power loves it so much he or she feels like they must have more. Villain Two might have come from a middle class family and all their siblings are successful, so they do anything in their power to be seen as equal or better than the people he or she grew up competing against. Villain Three might be someone who grew up with nothing on the streets and was tired of being the lowest of the lowes. Though the general motive is the same, how they are portrayed in the story would be very different. These different ways of showing who the villain is will keep the storyteller from having to give away the backstory, and will be able to keep the villain from feeling flat. When done right, the different ways the motivations are presented will help the audience piece together a back
Maybe the villain is a revenge hungry teen who tries desperately to destroy the hero after the hero let his or her family die. Or maybe the villain is a power hungry mob boss who won’t rest until he or she is on top. There always must be some form of clear motivation. What the motivation is and how it is portrayed should also hint to the villain’s past, and tells his or her story. For instance, three motivations that are seemingly the same on the surface, such as the the lust for power, may be portrayed very different due to the villain’s past. For example, Villain One may have gotten their lust for power when they grew up in power loves it so much he or she feels like they must have more. Villain Two might have come from a middle class family and all their siblings are successful, so they do anything in their power to be seen as equal or better than the people he or she grew up competing against. Villain Three might be someone who grew up with nothing on the streets and was tired of being the lowest of the lowes. Though the general motive is the same, how they are portrayed in the story would be very different. These different ways of showing who the villain is will keep the storyteller from having to give away the backstory, and will be able to keep the villain from feeling flat. When done right, the different ways the motivations are presented will help the audience piece together a back