WHAT DRIVES YOUR VILLAINS?

Most games need a villain, and that villain should be as interesting, important and memorable as your main hero. Too often I have played a game where the villain is living definition of the word evil, with no real motivation or character. This article is designed to help you make your antagonists that little bit more interesting and believable.

First things first, what is your villain's goal? What do they want to achieve? This has to be well established before you can continue, because once you know what your character wants, you know how they might go about fulfilling this goal and how they might act. You should also figure out a way in which they can achieve their goal too, even if you have to make up some mystical mumbo jumbo about stone tablets or something to do so. This gives them a purpose and direction.

This is extremely important because a villain that just acts on a whim doesn't seem overly threatening, and a villain that doesn't know how to do what they want to do just comes across as being frustrated and useless.

Don't assume that world domination is too cliche to be a valid goal. Any goal is a valid goal so long as you can justify it and provide a means for them to be able to do it. Your villain can want anything, but there has to be a reason for it, and they have to be presented with the oppurtunity to do it.

OK, next, we'll tackle a question that will really help to build your character. Why do they do whatever it is that they do? If you know your villain's past, their backstory, you know their motivation. If you know their motivation you'll find it becomes that much easier to write their lines and direct their actions.

It can just be that they're insane. Some of the best villains ever give off the sense that they're a little mad, particularly villains in Batman, but they always have a hint of genius and sophistication behind it all. A madman with a gun isn't an issue, a madman with a gun who's smart enough to quickly figure out the most efficient way to use it is deadly. It could be that they feel they have something to prove, it could be that they're plain disgusting by humanity for a variety of reasons. So long as it's believable, it's A-OK.

OK, so we know their goal, we know their motivation. What means do they have to complete their objective? What makes them a genuine threat? A dog can bark as loudly as it likes, but if it's not got teeth or claws then it won't matter.

They could have an army, they could have important and valuable knowledge, they could have access to a power only a select few possess, hell, it could even be a mixture of these things. A threat isn't a threat unless the person making the threat can follow through on it.

What's important is that your facts should be adding up by this point. If your character is a thief who wants to gain treasures to force his way into high society and be known and respected, then why wuold they have an army? If your villain is a king who has been brought up by his parents to never let anyone question them, and that he is superior to all other life, why would he dirty his hands by fighting his enemies himself?

Now you have a lot of the main facts about your villain, it's time to narrow things down. What weapons do they use? What, if any, are their powers? What's their hair colour? Build? Clothing? It should all be relevant to the setting, their origins and their goals. Everything about the physical design and look of your villain should communicate something about them.

A man from a rich kingdom would more likely wear gleaming armour and have pretty good equipment, a man from the desert would likely wear robes to protect themselves from sandstorms. A person with a slender build would use agility to their advantage, a person with a larger build would likely use brute strength and technique, taking their enemies head on. An agile character would not want heavy armour weighing them down, and a tank of a character would have no use for running shoes.

Your vaillain could even be a woman, have you ever angered one? I know my girlfriend is the person I fear most in this world. There are lots of powerful men in games and few strong women. Off the top of my head I can think only of Natla from Tomb Raider.

Everything in this article seems like common sense, but a lot of people fail to consider any of this and their villains often seem like they little thought or development put into them. Hopefully, reading this article will have given you some ideas or made you change something about the current design of your villain. Also, please remember their henchmen should be quite well thought out too.