Yesterday at Coyote Con I was one of the three panelists discussing creation of ‘bad guy’ characters in fiction.  Here is my take on the discussion.

What makes a good bad guy?

My personal check list of bad guys’ qualities includes: (1) a credible motive that is in direct opposition to the main character; (2) a proficiency that makes him dangerous or deadly to the main character; and (3) some likeable qualities that would allow the readers to sympathize with him. 

The correct term for bad guy would be ‘antagonist’ – but it isn’t nearly as much fun, is it?

So, a good bad guy has to be antagonistic to the main characters and their goals.  This is what really creates an impression that this guy is bad, while in other situations and from other perspectives this guy may be quite good.  And this ‘goodness’ in a bad guy creates dimension – a trick I find extremely valuable.  My visual image for it is that of a drawing.  An unconditionally bad person is like a black outline.  When you add some ‘white’ – i.e. something to like and sympathize with – you create shades of gray that make the ‘black’ figure more dimensional.

A bad guy has to be a worthy opponent – otherwise he/she would not be enough of a challenge and your characters would have it too easy (read ‘boring’).  Not a good idea. 

To be a worthy opponent, the bad guy has to be good at something.  Ideally, better than the main character.  Only then you would have the life-and-death stakes in facing the bad guy, making the outcomes unpredictable for the reader and keeping up the suspense.   Being good at something also creates a point where the bad guy can be admired — e.g., likeable — e.g., dimensional. 

Another important quality – the bad guy’s motivations have to be clear and believable.  It is not enough for him to want to oppose the main character for the heck of it.  He/she must be invested in something the main character wants to overcome.  Again, this rises the stakes and credibility of the story – both good for suspense.

In a general sense, the bad guy should be a shadow of the good guy – in a flat world, they would be black and white.  In a dimensional world they both have shades of gray that mirror each other.  Their depths have to mirror each other too.  Apart from being good characters they also need to be a good match.

In my upcoming novel “Ivan and Marya”  the bad guy is Kashchey, an evil sorcerer who feeds on the souls of sacrificed virgins to keep himself immortal. 

His motives are entirely ‘black’, in opposition to the main character, Ivan, who came to Kashchey’s kingdom to put a stop to the virgin sacrifice.  The stakes are high for both men.  Ivan wants to defend innocent girls.  Kashchey needs their deaths to survive. 

Kashchey is an extremely powerful sorcerer who can kill Ivan with a flick of a hand.  This proficiency makes him a deadly opponent.  Ivan has no chance when he first faces Kashchey – and that makes the story suspenseful and unpredictable.

But Kashchey has another side, a likeable one.  He is a charmer, a dark and handsome type.  Women fall for him.  The main female protagonist — his daughter, Marya, the head priestess of his cult, is completely drugged by his charm.  So, when Ivan confronts him, there is an additional dimension to their conflict.  Marya sees Ivan as an enemy, while from the traditional story point of view he should be an unconditionally good guy.