I ran a search on IMDB.com to look for movie quotes about villains and came across the following. “One man’s villain is another man’s hero.” It’s from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and admittedly my experience with Star Trek is bleak at best, but whichever character said these words was oh-so-wise. You could take that one step forward and say that every villain believes himself (or herself) to be the hero in their own story.

I have far more experience with creating swoon-worthy heroes and heroines you’d love to be friends with, but I do know some things about villains. First, they should be as strong as your hero (or heroine, if they case may be). This doesn’t have to mean brute strength, it could be a battle of the wits, but they must be evenly matched or else when the hero wins the reader won’t be too impressed.

Secondly, they need the same elements your hero and heroine need minus one thing. This means they need a believable GMC – they need to be after something for a specific reason and they need conflict. The only think they’re missing is that character arc. They have no growth. That’s the main difference between heroes and villains when you boil it down to the basics. Heroes need to grow and change and villains don’t. (Obviously if you want to turn them into heroes at some point, then this “rule” won’t apply.) I’d add here that you really should focus on the villain’s motivation and make it as strong as possible. If you don’t understand why they do the crazy things they do, then your reader won’t either. Keep in mind that being totally bad, doesn’t mean they’re totally evil. They can have normal, functioning relationships with other people, for example, it’s just when it comes down to what they want and your hero or heroine getting in their way – they just won’t allow that. So they might be protective over their sister, but try to kill the heroine. The same action can co-exist in the same character if you properly motivate them.

There are plenty of wonderful books out there without any villains at all and that’s perfectly okay. But if there is a bad guy, personally I want him to be really bad. Think of John Doe in the movie Seven. He’s methodical and brilliant and so creepy my critique partner actually wishes the movie had never been made. Or consider Cruella Deville, yes, she’s a villainess for a children’s movie, yet still she’s firmly on the disturbing side. What about Voldemort, any redeeming qualities there? Nope, not even a glimmer. Those are the best baddies, in my opinion.

So while some authors will take a baddie from a previous book and then redeem them as a hero in another, that hasn’t been an option for my bad guys. Nope, no reformed villain turned heroes for me. At least not yet.

But I will admit that my latest villain, David Grey, aka “The Raven” truly tempted me in that direction. He’s so deliciously nasty, so compelling, I almost want to redeem him, discover the sort of woman that could soften that black heart of his. Almost, but not quite. For the time being I’ll let him stay within the pages of Seduce Me causing mayhem and all sorts of dangers for Fielding and Esme on their quest for Pandora’s Box. (that’s the inspiration picture for the Raven that I used because how can you go wrong with Alan Rickman?)

How about you? What do you look for in villains? And do you like it when authors redeem their baddies and give them their own happy endings?

**this content originally posted on http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/ on my blog tour.