Website design By BotEap.comIn order for your script to have any sort of emotional resonance and thus be exciting to an audience, you need to know how to write characters. You need to have an antagonist who challenges the entire mission of the protagonist. They not only need to be in contrast to each other; they need to be opposite mirrors of each other. Take Loki from the Thor movies: he’s not as intimidating, physically, as his brother, but he’s much, much smarter. As a result, Thor knows that he is in danger if he looks away from Loki for too long. In turn, we as an audience love him for it.

Website design By BotEap.comYour Villain Should Be Everything Your Hero Isn’t: How to Write Characters

Website design By BotEap.comSimply put, if you know how to write characters, you understand that your villain must be the Yang to the Yin of your hero. If the hero is a policeman, the villain must be a criminal. If your hero is super powerful, your villain better have a few tricks up his sleeve. Otherwise, it’s not going to be a good fight and nobody wants to pay to see a story resolved in a hurry. Your villain must be able to challenge the very essence of the hero at every available opportunity while providing them with a sense of structure. Think of how many times the Joker has had the opportunity to kill Batman over the years, and yet he never brings himself to do it. Why? Because he would have nothing to do all day. Less opponent just wouldn’t be a challenge for him. Without Batman, there is no Joker. They are two sides of the same coin, and if you get rid of one of them, the other has to go too. This is essential to understand how to write characters.

Website design By BotEap.comLet’s take a moment to define antagonist and broaden your understanding of how to write characters. It doesn’t mean “monster” or “evil”; it simply means “opponent”. Your villain doesn’t have to be the most menacing creature to ever grace the big screen. At the end of the day, they just need to provide a visible contrast to the protagonist. Worry more about making them diametrically opposed than your antagonist’s intimidation factor, and you’ll find yourself a much stronger character when all is said and done.