How do you write a villain reveal?

The Immediate Reveal

1. Withhold the villain’s identity from the protagonist/other main characters.
2. Place the villain in a symbolically “unreachable” place, where he/she can taunt the hero at will.
3. Describe in detail the villain weaving his/her plot, right under the noses of the protagonists.

How do you write a sympathetic villain?

Play around with your villain for a while, treating them as though they were your hero. Discern their emotions, motivations, and good intentions. Give them at least one supporting character to reinforce the reader’s ability to connect on an emotional level (see Frodo’s sympathy for Gollum.)

How do you write an epic villain?

4 Tips for Writing a Great Villain in Your Novel

1. Choose a real-life model. Find a real person to model your villain after.
2. Put yourself in their shoes. When it’s time for your villain to act, put yourself in their place.
3. Consider their motivation.
4. Introduce a villain with a bang.

How do you write an evil protagonist?

How to Write a Villain Protagonist in 6 Steps

1. Mix character traits.
2. Keep the stakes high.
3. Use internal monologue.
4. Understand the character’s morality.
5. Build the backstory.
6. Consider your antagonist.

How do you write a charming villain?

Six Ways to Make Your Villain Likable

1. Make Them Cool and Competent. It’s hard to hate a villain with style.
2. Help Your Audience Understand Them.
3. Bestow Them With Moral Strengths.
4. Create a Tragic Backstory.
5. Give Them Justifiable Motivation.
6. Make Them an Underdog.

How do you write a fantasy villain?

4 Tips for Writing Compelling Villains

1. Make sure your villain has a strong connection to your hero. A true villain is inextricably connected to the hero and aids in the hero’s character development.
2. Make them a worthy opponent.
3. Put yourself in your villain’s shoes.
4. Consider your villain’s motivation.

How do you write a complex villain?

1. Strong Motivations. Your villain drives the plot so it’s vital that you give them a passionate cause.
2. Understandable Motivations. To be complex, the motivation must also be understandable.
3. Make Them Relatable.
4. Demonstrate Duality.
5. Show Humanity.
6. Follow a Character Arc.
7. Connected to Theme.
8. More Than Evil.

How does the author keep the villain from revealing their plan?

To keep the story moving, the author has the hero act as if they already know what the villain is up to. Then they make the big reveal and hope no one noticed the timing. Sometimes this pattern plays out with the villain changing their goals rather than revealing what they were all along, but it has the same effect.

What makes a villain’s goals unthreatening?

Most often, unthreatening goals are a result of poor plotting. It turns out the villain does have an evil plan that must be stopped, but it hasn’t been revealed yet. This is especially likely in mystery plots. To keep the story moving, the author has the hero act as if they already know what the villain is up to.

What does it mean when a villain doesn’t do anything?

It’s not actually clear, since the villain is never shown to be doing anything worse than a menacing cackle. When a villain isn’t trying to do something that the hero needs to stop, that means they have unthreatening goals.

How do you make a villain more threatening?

You can also make a villain more threatening by altering the type of conflict in play. If your story is a legal battle, it’s possible that a perfectly mundane human lawyer could be a deadly threat to your superpowered hero. However, you have to be careful that your hero’s skills actually aren’t applicable to the conflict.