The Perfect Enemy

[Ireth]

My latest WIP has a main conflict that's Human vs. Human, and a subplot with Human vs. Society. The MC, Cadell, is primarily focused with doing his part along with the other good guys to vanquish the evil black-elves; at the same time he struggles with his choice to reject the selfish and often violent ways of his kind in favor of peace and friendship with the humans they typically see only as playthings. The other Fae he associates with are largely unhappy with him because of this.

 

[SineNomine]

I think that the prime reason Sauron works in the LotR is that the conflict is more man vs nature than man vs man. In a genre where both "nature" and "man" can be incredibly broad, the prime differentiator in my mind is that of motivation.

Nature opponents don't have any motivations. They serve simply as a near insurmountable obstacle that the hero must beat with tenacity and resourcefulness. Man opponents have to have motivations, and ones the reader can understand and, on some level, sympathize with.

So good villains always need to be multifaceted and the only ones who aren't and we still enjoy pull it off by simply being a "force of nature".

 

[Canz]

The perfect enemy, at least for me, is that one I really LOVED when he was a good guy, so much I relate to his suffering and understand his decitions. I don't agree, but understand.

 

[Justin Cary]

I think an antagonist should be as well written as a protagonist. Some people are drawn to the bad guy and some to the good. If you commit to both characters with equal diligence you can capture the minds of either type of reader.

 

[Addison]

The perfect enemy, at least for me, is that one I really LOVED when he was a good guy, so much I relate to his suffering and understand his decitions. I don't agree, but understand.

Like Regina or Mr. Gold in "Once Upon a Time". In a way, in that story, magic is also an antagonist. It taunts and it has a high cost.

 

[Tom]

I just realized that my villain needs some work.

For my WIP I gave my villain a similiar personality to my hero, so often my hero finds himself sympathizing with the villain, who took the wrong path and is regreting it but wants revenge so much he tells himself he can't turn back. Being a Christian, I believe in redemption, and I allow my villain to realize his mistake before the end. However, sometimes you gotta face the music, so he also dies.

 

[Mindfire]

I just realized that my villain needs some work.

For my WIP I gave my villain a similiar personality to my hero, so often my hero finds himself sympathizing with the villain, who took the wrong path and is regreting it but wants revenge so much he tells himself he can't turn back. Being a Christian, I believe in redemption, and I allow my villain to realize his mistake before the end. However, sometimes you gotta face the music, so he also dies.

So what exactly needs work?

 

[Mythopoet]

I think that the prime reason Sauron works in the LotR is that the conflict is more man vs nature than man vs man. In a genre where both "nature" and "man" can be incredibly broad, the prime differentiator in my mind is that of motivation.

Nature opponents don't have any motivations. They serve simply as a near insurmountable obstacle that the hero must beat with tenacity and resourcefulness. Man opponents have to have motivations, and ones the reader can understand and, on some level, sympathize with.

So good villains always need to be multifaceted and the only ones who aren't and we still enjoy pull it off by simply being a "force of nature".

Except that Sauron is a sentient being, not a part of "nature" as we moderns tend to use that word and he has plenty of motivation. Tolkien just doesn't go into it because Sauron isn't really the main antagonist of the story, the Ring is. That's what people don't seem to understand. And the Ring as an antagonist mostly manifests its power as a Man vs. Himself type conflict. Sauron and Saruman and their armies are secondary sources of conflict. The main story is always Frodo and Sam and the Ring.

 

[Tom]

@Mindfire:

I realized he needs more good points and fears so he won't seem like a completely inhuman monster. I also want to give him interests other than "making war on the good guys!"

So yesterday I went through and edited him a bit. Now he's interested in art, music, and literature as well as "making war on the good guys!", and I developed his personality so he's evil, but still human and therefore sympathetic to the reader.

 

[Tom]

Except that Sauron is a sentient being, not a part of "nature" as we moderns tend to use that word and he has plenty of motivation. Tolkien just doesn't go into it because Sauron isn't really the main antagonist of the story, the Ring is. That's what people don't seem to understand. And the Ring as an antagonist mostly manifests its power as a Man vs. Himself type conflict. Sauron and Saruman and their armies are secondary sources of conflict. The main story is always Frodo and Sam and the Ring.

I never thought about it that way. But now I see you're right--the Ring is the source of the conflict.

 

[Addison]

...the Ring is the source of the conflict.

That's the point. Conflict, like all things, is in many shapes and sizes.