Antagonists

Writing an antagonist is a daunting experience, and there are a few things about antagonists that can make them either a good antagonist or a bad antagonist.

When I first started writing, antagonists were simple. The bad guy that opposed the good guy, right? All I need to know was that the bad guy, the antagonist, was evil, and naturally opposed the good guy.

Of course, this gave me the reasoning that the antagonist did not need a reason for whatever actions they did, making them evil just for the sake of being evil. However, through writing, I’ve found that you need to give rational reasons as to why they are opposing the protagonist.

Many times, when reading a book or watching a movie, you will see the protagonist as a powerful lord, easily diverting and ignoring whatever the antagonist does to oppose him. Basically, the protagonist is more powerful than the antagonist.

A good way to make your story very interesting, and add a good bit of struggle, is to make your antagonist equally or more powerful than the protagonist. This requires the protagonist to get help to oppose the antagonist, and it creates interesting relationships along the way.

Another thing that could be used to your advantage is weaknesses. Every character needs a good weakness, especially the protagonist. Something that could increase the opposition between the antagonist and the protagonist is by making the antagonists extremely good at attacking that protagonist’s weakness. For example, in the Dark Knight Rises, the Joker is incredibly good at making Batman make the tough choices he doesn’t want to make, like choosing between a friend or a love interests life.

Something that is used quite often in the books, movies, etc. of stories is making the antagonist and protagonist have the same goal, making it a race to see who can complete that goal. Again, this is also done in The Dark Knight Rises between Batman and the Joker, both of them wanting Gotham City.

Then there’s relatability. Relatability is difficult to place in an antagonist, at least it is for me. Relatability is where you somehow have something between the reader and antagonist that allows them to make a connection with them. The antagonist could be an innocent doctor, but through complicated circumstances that might make the reader sorry for him, that innocent doctor is now a character opposing the protagonist. The reader needs to understand the antagonist, and maybe, at some point, even pity him! It is incredibly important for the reader to understand why he’s opposing the protagonist, and be able to relate to him, some way, somehow.

So: Make your antagonist equal or even more powerful than the protagonist, have the antagonist good at exploiting the protagonist’s weaknesses, make their goals the same but slightly twisted in one sense, and have your antagonist be relatable!

Let me know if this was helpful, and comment below on what you thought of it! Also, comment on what you think I should post in the future!

Good luck with your writing adventure! See ya!