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