So, this is something I want to learn too: Do you have any resoureces and tips on how to make a realistic, believable character.
I know that the villain must not be someone who is made of pure cartoonish evil, but rather more human and even relatable to some extent.
How do you guys make your villains and what books/resources/tips would you make on how to create one?
No matter what kind of villain you make, someone's going to find that character unbelievable. And someone's going to find that character just right. That's pretty much true of every element of your (or any writer's) writing: somebody will hate it, somebody will find it "whatever," and somebody will like it a lot. Readers bring their entire background and all their prejudices, attitudes, preferences, reactions to what they read (we all do) and they aren't alike. Write what is believable *to you* and see how it's received. If everybody hates it, and nobody likes it...that's a blow. If 80% like it and 20% don't, that's survivable.
That being said, I personally don't enjoy inhabiting the hearts and minds of those I think are bad enough to be called villains. And I don't agree that no bad person ever thinks they're bad, largely because I've done things I new were wrong at the time, and did anyway. I wasn't thinking of myself as the hero of my own story...I was thinking that I didn't *care* if it was wrong, I just wanted to do it. And I find, in observing others and also listening to them, that this is common in both small things ("I don't care..." is the common starting point for dieters, alcoholics, and people ignoring inconvenient realities.) Some villains are sure they're right...others know they're wrong and don't care as long as they can get away with it. They don't care who gets hurt if they're not getting hurt. Some will make up excuses, but others won't...or only if challenged by someone stronger. But that's my personal viewpoint and comes out of my experience. Others want to read psychological dissections of the villain, want to find something sympathetic in him or her. Write what you think it real, what makes sense to you.