| Sometimes writers mistakenly devote most of their | | | | sense of what's good in the world. |
| attention to developing the main character while | | | | Torment plagues most protagonists from time to |
| leaving the antagonist flat and underutilized. Yet so | | | | time. Bad guys should experience torment as much |
| much of the meat of a story can be found in the | | | | as, if not more than, the good guys. Torment is |
| doings of a well-written bad guy who experiences | | | | what keeps that dark flame of hate burning like a |
| hatred, pain, torment, and even the opportunity for | | | | wildfire. Maybe it springs from letting a girl he truly |
| rehabilitation. | | | | loves slip through his fingers or from the investment |
| A character's hatred can be triggered by a variety of | | | | he scoffed at that has made others millions. True |
| circumstances, big or seemingly insignificant. Perhaps | | | | torment lies deep within, and it's something he |
| someone once neglected to offer him a ride home | | | | refuses to acknowledge even when faced with his |
| from work, or kicked his dog, or even killed his sister | | | | own demise at the hands of the hero. It is the |
| in an unforeseen accident. Whatever the hatred is, it | | | | driving force that keeps his goals at the front of his |
| must be visible to the reader right from the start. | | | | thoughts at all times. |
| Even if the antagonist is able to maintain the | | | | Keep in mind that the antagonist doesn't always have |
| subterfuge in outward appearances that he is a good | | | | to be the one readers love to hate. Maybe as the |
| guy, writers should weave in hints of his true shady | | | | story progresses so does his rehabilitation from hate. |
| character for readers to detect. It is never a good | | | | He might find himself helping others because of an |
| idea to blindside an audience with an action that | | | | experience he had, or nagging thoughts at the back |
| seems to have no actual potential of happening until | | | | of his mind. Gradually, a begrudging hero could |
| BOOM, it's there. | | | | emerge. He becomes the guy readers hate to love, |
| Be it mentally or physically, we have all felt pain at | | | | yet can't help but admire anyway. |
| one time or another. It is up to the writer whether | | | | No matter what the root causes of the antagonist's |
| or not the antagonist shows his pain. The pain could | | | | actions are, it's important to develop them as much |
| be pushed down deep inside, thus helping to fuel the | | | | as the protagonist's. Readers then can find things to |
| ember of discontent into a bright flame of hate. | | | | hate and relate to in both types of characters. They |
| Maybe an accident several years ago left him alone, | | | | can contrast each character's motives and decide for |
| or with a defect that has made getting a decent job | | | | themselves whom to root for. Likely they'll choose |
| difficult. Perhaps at a young age he was bitten by a | | | | the hero, but who knows? If you've developed the |
| rabid raccoon, or forced to care for an ailing parent | | | | antagonist well enough, probably they'll find something |
| that had no hope of recovery. There are countless | | | | in the bad guy worth cheering for after all. |
| painful reasons why a person could lose his or her | | | | |