How to Write a Good Antagonist 

Evil at its core, is defined as leaving your shopping cart in the parking lot because you’re too lazy to put it back at the designated area.

What is evil? Well, it's a point of view. How many "bad guys" think they're the protagonist? *looking at murderhobos*

When I heard at the end “anyone can turn into a villain” my brain went “they just need one bad day”

"If no one appreciates my work, and they all live to mock me, why should I even consider them?" -every DM ever.

What if the real villains were the friends we made along the way?

Spiderman : "But with tech like that, you could cure cancer !" Dinoguy : "But I do not want to cure cancer, I want to turn people into dinosaurs !"

"Sorry that turned into a story" DUDE THAT WAS A HELLA COOL STORY!

Wakfu made a villain that I fell in love with: A man fueled by his regret of having ignored his family due to his research, who now scours the world killing innocents and gathering their 'essence' to power a time machine so he can go back in time to when his family was alive, his excuse for that being "once I go back in time, all the people I have killed will be alive again." Brilliant design in my opinion.

STEP 1: have the campaign start wtih the villain stealing from the PCs congratulations, you've created a lifelong bond of hate and the players will now burn the world down to get to your villain.

Everytime you said "from my point of view," my mind auto-completed the sentence with "the jedi are evil!"

"Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story" -Handsome Jack(One of if not the best videogame villain)

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain....”

Best antagonist twist is the one where it was the players, all along.

To quote the Joker, "All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy." "Madness, you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!"

"You're the villain is someone else's story" is a quote I can't remember who said it, but it make me think of my actions more. But it works in this kind of setting.

Megamind: "Oh, you're a villain all right. Just not a super one." Tighten: "Oh yeah? What’s the difference?" *Dramatic buildup* Megamind: "PRESENTATION!"

"I initially based this character on myself" "He becomes an inhuman monster" now I see why you make traps that TKO in 20 seconds

Runesmith: "Fear of the unknown" My Lovecraft nerd senses: *_I SENSE A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE_*

The best antagonist will point out the protagonist’s flaws.

“Any good man can be vengeful, if he loses his future.” Holy crap man

''Good is a point of view, Anakin...'' *Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?*

"there is no such thing as an evil person" griefers

Why is Jhin in the thumbnail? He is just a starving artist damnit.

Society sometimes creates it's own monsters and unsurprisingly is often surprised when one appears

11:20 Runesmith: All it takes Me: Is one bad day! Runesmith: Is a little tribulation Me: Oh...

Ah yes, I remember my favourite brightly lit campaign of Strahd.

This guy: "No one is truly evil." The Lich from Adventure Time: "I'm gonna stop you right there."

There are no heroes. There are no villains. There is only what I want and how I’ll get it -Magneeto

Because madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little... push!

Swiper the fox is actually one of the most scariest yet relatable anime villain. Like Loki he is constantly switching sides in most episodes he is the villain however there are episodes where he is not. For me at least I think Swiper the fox does not actually want to steal. If you say to a criminal "criminal stop stealing" he obviously does not listen but I think whenever Swiper heres the phrase he is wondering to himself whether stealing is the right thing to do so there are time where he steals and times where he does not. For me I think during his childhood he suffered racist insults because he is the only character that does not speak spanish and in spain foxes are more dark. He was forced to go to the woods and became a stealer when his parents died because we never see another fox in the episode. He is always wondering in what side he has to choose. If he knew the right decision to do he would have been a good guy.

"You either die as a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)

"All it takes is a little tribulation" A fancy word of saying "All it takes is a little push"

Wall of text time! Charismatic villians are almost always better than non ones. Handsome Jack, GlaDos, etc. Make them understandable. Ask why are they doing what are they doing? If you really know what makes your players (and their characters) tick and what pisses them off, use that. Abuse the fuck out of their pet peeves. One of my friends hate open-mouth chewing with a passion and guess what one of my minor villians do? One of my favorite antagonists wasnt even evil. It was just a friendly NPC that was bumbling and hurt the party with his incompetence. Having meaningful connections with the party really help. Have them buy from the same stores, spread some false rumors against the party. Even if it doesnt effect anything, people hate false rumors. If you want a "twist" villian, give foreshadowing. The worse you can do with twist villians is have it feel like it comes out of left field. Twist villians should always give you the thought of "Why didnt I see this coming? All this makes sense now! Thats why x happened!" Not "What? But why are you a villian? That makes no sense.." Remember with NPCs and Villians you dont have to follow PC rules. Have your Sorc BBEG have 30 known spells. The villian should feel more powerful than the heros. Just dont pull some bullshit deus ex machina.

Doc Oc from Marvels Spiderman is a brilliant example of Tribulation creating a villain

You can have a good villain without them being sympathetic

"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Step 1 of not becoming famous: Not publishing your screenplay

technically everything can be "solved" if you stab enough people and lets not sugarcoat things, some people just are assholes, but it takes particular strength of character to be a hero and sometimes there are just two "good guys" who will never agree

“The only truth I’ve found is that the world is a giant tinderbox: all it takes is someone to light the match.” - Cpt. Price

I think you are missing a key archetype of villain, though: the sadist. They may be uncommon and not compelling when badly written, but we cannot forget about the villain who delights in the villainy. The person who is malicious and insidious because he enjoys the suffering of others or because he just wants to see what he can get away with.

As the video title says, this explains how to design a good antagonist, and it explains it well, but sometimes a good Disney-style villain (if we're talking about D&D) can be great! Someone who's unabashedly evil, who knows they're doing bad things, and loves being cruel and eee-vil, is super memorable. It's why I could name a ton of Disney villains and what they're doing without issue, because of how much they enjoy being evil. While it isn't nuanced, and it certainly isn't fashionable in this day and age, it is both tons of fun as a DM and for the players to deal with. And then the players can feel good about defeating them! Ripping the rug out from underneath the players by having them realize they could've been the villains doesn't feel as satisfying. But keep in mind, this depends on the campaign. If you're running a gritty game, a Disney villain will be super out of place. I just think that people are much too averse to, and are given advice to not have, a villain who relishes their evil deeds.

"When we examined our logs, we found the difference between the Geth that rejected the Reapers and the Heretics was a single algorithm resulting to 3.00450121 instead of 3.00450122." - Geth Infiltration Platform Legion

I have a few ideas for villains. Here’s one: Someone who was conceived, born, and empowered by several people willingly sacrificing themselves in the hopes that he would be the instrument of a dark God. However Fortune allowed him to be raised normally, and despite instinctively being aware of what the intended purpose for him was he does not wish for such things. So he grows up, becomes a loving husband, a loving father, a well respected member of his town, and a well liked Teacher. But tragedy stikes when a small group of adventurers went to a nearby mountain to slay a dragon. Not because it was a danger to the area around it, but because it was a gold dragon. And they felt that if a normal dragon had a huge pile of gold then a gold dragon would not only have even more, but they’re very body must be made of gold. So in their greed they attacked it only succeeding and angering it and wounding the party. Unfortunately they manage to escape causing the dragon to chase after them, and they decide to go to the nearby town for shelter bringing the dragon along with them. In the span of a single day everything the man held a dear was taken from him by rampaging dragon. And it was after the smoke has cleared and waiting through the bodies of all of his friends that he discovered the truth from the wounded and weak adventurers. With two of them passed out (cleric ranger) and the other twoto stupid or greedy take care (barbarian, rogue) about all the lives lost. Is the moment when he finally snaps. And it’s because of this that this particular villain has a deep hatred of adventurers.

You're missing the most important type of villain motivation: "Boy I sure love blowing stuff up :D"

The best way to make villains is to think of protagonists and heroes from other stories or even past games you've played and enjoyed. Most heroes have noble ideals and motives that are shadowed by tragic circumstances. You may have to twist a few things that made them heroic or take away friends that kept them moral, but it takes less than you'd think. Whenever the players throw me a curveball and I need a villain on the fly that will last a few sessions while I scramble to make up something new, I present them with a new memorable antagonist to take up their time. I prefer to build far more complex & original villains but when I needed to make something up on the fly, here's a few I ran with: - A dark and brooding vigilante who is actually a powerful businessman who takes out his hatred of criminals by using his vast wealth to fund a private revenge crusade to violently end them, if not killing then at least magically crippling them. (Batman - The party being framed for crimes they hadn't committed at the time) - An "archeologist" who violently murders all competitors in his way to steal relics and sacred items from the cultures they belong to so he can gain money and fame by giving them to museums (Indiana Jones - the party having gained permission from the locals to quest for the relic to save them from great evil) - A young baron who spent years in hiding after his uncle murdered his father who has been convinced by a former flame to stage a violent uprising to reclaim his title and lands. Once he achieves it, he will reinstate the old status quo, casting out people of different races and cultures that his uncle has intergrated into their lifestyle (Simba - the other races basically being the hyenas that in this instance were Orcs. Adding to the complication was the party had three Half-Orcs who'd found relative peace living in the barony for several months.) - A young woman and her companions who are blindly following the instructions of a hag, believeing that she will grant them what they most deisre - home, love, intelligence and bravery - and in the process causing mass mayhem and killing important figures that they have been tricked into thinking are evil. (Dorothy Gale)

This video came out in the perfect moment, cause I really need to start writing a villain for my first campaign. Thank you Runesmith.

"Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story."

"Life is what you do with what's been done to you." -Spec Ops: The Line

"Your only one bad day away from becoming someone like me" -punisher to daredevil... at least, i think thats the correct quote.

I was just writing the BBEG of my campaigns so this came like sent from the Heavens. Thanks Runesmith!

"I'm misunderstood. Beauty can't be evil." -Best boi Khada Jhin

Dude, I have so much respect for the fact that you used your own characters. As a screenwriter, I know how personal stories are and the fact that you used them for a study on evil gives you so many brownie points. Nicely done!

I’ve been writing a book and I’ve fallen in love with the antagonist I made, I don’t really like making typical dark antagonist, but instead my antagonist is up beat and acts like a kid, but when it comes to a terrifying antagonist it’s when they are in complete control of the situation that makes the protagonist do desperate things to get out of it. This is exactly how I made my antagonist and I love it, it makes for some great discussions between the characters and fights, it also makes the protagonists have doubt about themselves

My favorite characters are usually villains because they have cool and dark backstorys most of the time

Every time you said "there is no good and evil" I kept expecting you to end it with "only power and those too weak to seek it"

Fantastic summary of making a true villain. I always try to remember that the villain is the hero of their own story, as no one really thinks they're evil, but you've broken it down in far more detail, and given me so much more to think over.

My favorite villains to write are individuals with either tremendous power or recourses who act like children.

Welp, this just makes me more confident in my writing ability... Thanks Runesmith!

Wheatly is my favorite twist villain. He came out of nowhere, but you slowly realize it would always happen, it's even hinted right at his turn. GLADOS becomes less aggressive upon being disconnected while wheatly becomes evil. Even at the end, we learn this isn't what he wanted, he just wanted to be accepted and not be pushed down. But alas, he's lost In space

That sounds like an absolutely amazing story with really interesting characters and character dynamics! Looking forward to maybe eventually seeing it one day.

Missed a good time for a Dark Knight quote "All it takes is a little p u s h"

There’s nothing wrong with making Pure evil villain they can be fun and often more complicated than a lot of hero villains the point of the story Isn’t to be clever it’s ultimately about being entertaining and complex villains and entertaining Tropes talks has a very good video on this

1:41 actually, darkness literally means the absence of light, darkness has been around before light and will be around when light disappears and the universe dies, light needs darkness to have a visible effect, darkness needs light to be gone in order to continue being dark.

“I’m sorry little one” “I will watch the sun rise over a grateful universe” “They would simply cease to exist” Thanos! (Probably misquoted) Edit: this refers to 9:00

"Anyone can become a villain, all it takes is a little tribulation." Wasn't that Joker's thesis in The Killing Joke?

I'm literally starting my first campaign this Sunday, so glad this video just came out. I've been binging your videos recently too!

That guy at the office you accidentally spilled coffee on could be the next BBG.

3:50 had me cracking up. "Hmmm.. How can I make my paragon character suffer so that he becomes a despicable shell of his former self?" In all seriousness, the current literature climate seems to love fallen heroes way too much for some reason. I miss my infallible paragons.

Thank you Runesmith, very cool!

I'm a simple man, I see Jhin, I like the post

Y’know I once made a story about a hero vs villain setup with a twist. When a skilled diplomat joined the “villains” side, he finds that all the villain wanted was to become the mayor of the town in which the story was set. Of course, things weren’t that simple. Due to neglectful parents and, in his later years, being framed as the villain made his methods harmful to others without him knowing/understanding. But the diplomat gives him the wake up call he needed, so he changes his ways and people start liking him. However, the “hero” doesn’t understand this, as he has only ever seen the world as good vs evil, so when the “villain” changes his ways they still as usual attack him and his followers, which is now most of the town. This causes his reputation to go down the drain. He ends up getting arrested for assault, murder and attempted murder, as people don’t see him as a hero anymore, so they don’t justify his actions. Anyway, I’ve been typing this for about 15 minutes now so I’m gonna stop.

I love that whenever I try to learn about how to make characters/campaigns/etc i end up watching long philosophical commentaries. D&D really strikes at the heart and soul of its DMs and players

Soooo? Can we see that screen play? Because it sounds awesome. Like Umbrella Academy awesome. please?

Best video yet, incredible job, Runesmith! Thanks for all your help

I got so invested in that story. You are an incredible writer and you inspire me to write stories of my own, stories that constantly float in my mind. You are incredible and I wish I could write a story that could hook someone in 5 minutes like you.

So... Write a hero. And let them fail.

wow, you really outdid yourself this vid, love the jump youre making from dnd to writing in general

This only really covers the tragic villain trope, which is a good one for sure but not the only one. The joker is a good example of a villain that isn't tragic. There are just genuinely bad people both in the real world and in fiction; sometimes a person is just made incompatible with all norms of morality an decency that can be assosciated with good. Other examples could include psychopaths; people born without the capacity to do true good, essentially, and sadists; people for whom the act of doing evil is both the method and the whole point of what they do.

This is just a good way to write a character in general

A villain is a corrupted hero. That is actually amazing, I never thought about that. Thank you for this video!

“How to write a good antagonist.” Wat? So they can get one shot by my party? And have all their motivations and character building ignored? Nope.

Dude...your videos are simply the best. Always entertained. Good job

Genuinely one of the best and most informative videos I've seen on RU-vid. I love Villains and especially writing them. This has truly helped greatly and given me a lot of insight into how to do it effectively, thank you!

"If no one appreciates my work, and they all live to mock me, why should I even consider them?" Well, seems like I'm already a "villain" then!

This has to be one of the most intriguing videos you’ve ever made!¡!

“Madness is a lot like gravity: It just takes a little push...” - Joker

One of your best videos yet.

Honestly the example plot sounds like a great idea for a potential superhero movie (with a few modifications).

The moment you made your villain have schizophrenia, you lost me.

I lowkey became attatched to your character examples, I want to find out what happens to them!

"Good and Evil is just perspective" In short, adhere to the Watchman style nihilistic story writing...

This really reminds me of one of the main villains from my favorite book series. From his point of view, he just woke up after almost 2000 years and comes to help his people back to glory and fight against the people who put them into so much pain. In reality, he was the thing that right before he disappeared for 2000 years, scared his people into hiding and pain with his powers. The people who put them into that pain? That was a simple war that went away soon after he left. The people were actually starting to get along again. I love when you look at the villains POV and see a hero’s story.

here's the thing, evil IS an absolute in dnd. there's a plane made entirely out of it. there are gods who are built out of nothing but the universal aspect of evil. asmodeus doesn't have the ability to see himself as the hero. asmodeus is undeniably evil and doesn't have the agency of mortals to be able to change himself or how he behaves. evil is a real tangible concept in dnd that things are literally made out of. that said, all of this is why I find generic demon lords to be boring antagonists. because they never had the choice, they never had an option, they're just playing out the role given to them.

I love how you pick jhin for the screenshot

I'm overwhelmed that this applies to basically any story that one wants to create. Nicely done, sir.

In about 12 minutes you had me loving the story of these characters. If you wrote a book or dnd campaign around this concept, I'd definitely buy/read that. I came here looking for help with my dnd campaign without realizing that my character is already following in the footsteps of Allen and is set on revenge. I now know how to better map out my character so thank you.

Very little of your wonderful comedy. This was amazing.

I havent watched the video yet but this is exciting. A large portion of my over arching plot is oriented around villains, all with very distinct goals and personalities. They mold the world as much as the players (In a way, theyre my DM NPC but without actually making it less fun for the players since its all in the background).

"You're one bad day away from being me" - The Punisher

This is one of the most useful writing videos I've ever seen. Thank you.