How to Write Anti-Villains (Writing Advice)

Learn how to write compelling anti-villains--with examples from Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight, and more!

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Writing Villains #1 - Start with Your Hero

Writing Villains #2 - Goals

Writing Villains #3 - Motivation

Writing Villains #4 - When to Introduce Your Villain

Writing Villains #5 - Plot Points for Villains

Writing Villains #6 - Impacting the Hero

The Anatomy of Story REVIEW:

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[TheZetaKai]

Roy Batty from Blade Runner, hands down. Sympathetic motives, depth of character, and a speech for the ages. He's arguably more morally correct than the protagonist, making the audience question whether we're routing for the right team.

[pferdebert]

Magneto from X-Men. He has a tragic backstory which renders his character choices understandable and human. He often teams up with the heroes. Sometimes for heroic reasons, sometimes for more sinister reasons in disguise.

[HerbyRuths]

The Hound from A Song of Ice and Fire does such a touching 180. He never betrays who he is but little by little reveals a sympathy for Arya.

[lizxu]

Nebula from guardians of the galaxy fits this role from anti villain to hero

[DangericeDreams]

You really can’t go wrong with a Brandon McNulty writing video

[racheltheradiant]

My favorite female Anti-villainess is Sorcha from the original Willow movie. She's fully dedicated to her mother, enough so that she'll hunt down an innocent baby to help her mother stay in power. But when she's exposed to Willow and Madmartigan's bravery, she changes her mind and helps them defeat her mother. The movie didn't focus much on her feelings, but i could always imagine how hard it was for her to finally acknowledge that her mother was evil and in the wrong.

[Theechoknightslibrary]

My favorite would be Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Could you do a video where you cover writing from the villain's perspective, where information is given to the reader but not known to the hero? Would this be a good idea, and is there anything to be mindful of when writing this way?

[chrischuba]

Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a great anti-villain. Even without a soul, he had a strict code to 'keep his word'. You could see it in his eyes. He tried to be bad but his past good nature was always there. He did terrible things, he was a villain but I always wanted to see more of him.

[RandomPerson-sfvd]

One of my favorite anti villains is the Penguin from the Batman animated series from the 90’s. He follows much the same arc as Jaime Lannister, but instead of joining the heroes, he stays firmly in the grayest of gray areas at best, often hinted to being very dark gray.

[robertmurrhee]

My favorite anti-villain is the Operative, from the movie, Serenity. He is after River Tam for the dark military secrets rattling around in her head. He will use any tactic, however unsavory, to attain his goal. He does vile things, commits atrocities, to achieve his ends, & believes those ends justify the means. He is a monster, & knows it. He says as much to Mal. He tells him he knows there is no place for the likes of him in the better world he is trying to bring about, a noble goal, but one he commits vile acts to try to accomplish. Once he is shown the dark truth of his "better world", he lets the Tams & the rest of our protagonists go free & lesves them in peace. He is neither entirely good, nor entirely evil. He is simply a man who believes the noble goal he seeks to attain justifies the vile acts he must commit in pursuit of it.

[zombifiedpariah]

Hey Brandon. Here's something I can't find anyone else talking about: what are some writing tips for Femme Fatales?

[willimberg]

I feel one who is either under appreciated or not known as an anti-villain is Shishiō Tsukasa from Doctor Stone. He is, in my opinion, a great example of an Anti-Villain.
He has a tragic backstory, understandable and even somewhat good or decent motives, and even kills as quickly and painlessly as possible and, in the case of killing lions in self-defense, made sure to eat them so they have more purpose even after life.

[FishmanMeme]

Hey Brandon, can make a video on how to create an effective final battle between the Protagonist and Antagonist? I find that a lot if the time the final battle just feels unsatisfying in a small percentage of stories. Btw, great videos as always!

[tylerpettit]

I'm a more recent writer, and Harry Potter is my biggest inspiration. So Snape is my favorite Anti-Villain! In fact, in the end of my 23 Ch novel, the 'final boss/dark lord' of my story was inspired by Snape.

[mr_indie_fan]

Hero: selfless for selfless reasons

Anti-hero: selfless for selfish reasons

Anti-villain: selfish for selfless reasons

Villain: selfish for selfish reasons

It's as simple as that folks

[owatchman]

Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias from Watchmen (not the TV series) is a great example of an anti-villain.

[straznikmysli]

It's more about comic book character, but I think the Red Hood character depicted in animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood is one of the best anti-villian characters I've ever seen. His tragic past made him cruel in pursuing a goal that was right but pursued in the wrong way. His motivation, action style and final interaction with Batman make him a great and memorable but also sad character.

[TheMightyPika]

Favorite anti villain is Silco from Arcane. He'a ruthless drug kingpin who kills and threatens to keep his status, but his goals aren't selfish. He't trying to build up his city to be strong enough to gain independence from the oppressive state occupying it. He doesn't want fame or glory, he wants his people out of slavery. He genuinely doesn't see a better way of doing it as every other attempt has ended in horrible bloodshed. 😊

[nimnone]

It isn’t obvious to distinguish between the types. You did a good job explaining it. I like the graph in the beginning.

This reminds me of quote from Poetics by Aristotle: “Some characters are all good, some are all bad and some are in between”

[burieddreamer]

Kreia, from the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords. There are many anti-villains and anti-heroes in that story, and they are all amazing.