Writing Great Villains — 3 Archetypes of Villainy from Nolan, Fincher, and PT Anderson

how do you create a memorable villain while there's no guaranteed recipe we've isolated some characteristics that recur in some of the best movie villains the world is changing in this episode of page to picture we tackle how to write a villain here he comes we'll be identifying and breaking down three villain archetypes for each type we'll evaluate their defining characteristics and examine how writers have tackled these villains previously it's a very nice suit to be ashamed to ruin it we've imported the screenplays into studio binder to see how these villains actually get written on the

page we'll be spoiling the following movies let's get started first up the mirror these are the villains that are the opposite of the hero but also share certain traits values or methods they are two sides of the same coin this is magneto to professor x kylo ren to ray and voldemort to harry potter here's km wyland's definition mirror characters tend to share several qualities and are used to complement and highlight each other's traits because of this unique and close relationship mirror villains are best utilized when not only creating external conflict within the plot but also

internal conflict within the development of the hero himself for a fantastic example of a mirror villain let's look at the dark knight written by jonathan and christopher nolan start by assigning parallel traits to the hero and villain you complete me both batman and the joker are relative outsiders to their own kind the joker lays out this comparison on page 86 to them you're just a freak like me they need you right now when they don't they'll cast you out like a leper next decide how the villain will challenge the hero's sense of purpose do they

challenge the hero's world view or sense of morality here's christopher nolan on the joker's role as the mirror he's a very human monster as the joker does things in the story it tests the characters he forces them to confront things about themselves the joker forces batman to break his one rule of no killing by making him choose between saving harvey or saving rachel don't worry i'm gonna tell you where they are you'll have to choose he's at 250 522nd street and she's on avenue but being the mirror villain the joker knew he would pick rachel

and tricked him to the wrong address no this sequence of events ultimately pushes batman to question his very purpose i was meant to inspire good not madness not death the joker also challenges harvey dense sense of morality in this scene when you know the thing about chaos it's beer harvey succumbs to the joker you die now we're talking and becomes a villain of his own so when writing a mirror villain remember to assign parallel traits and determine how the villain will challenge the hero sense of purpose moving on villains that are more felt than seen

the looming threat these are the villains whose threat is constant despite their limited presence in the story and yet the danger they pose hangs oppressively over the hero think of the eye of sarah the zodiac killer two vallejo killings now there's one in napa why napo what the hell is he doing in some cases we never see them at all like it in it follows this thing it's gonna follow you this villain archetype requires a lot of imagination from the audience which when done right can create an even more terrifying or imposing threat a great

example of a looming threat villain can be found in seven written by andrew kevin walker let's see how walker builds a character that we almost never see first and most obviously the goal is to keep the villain absent as much as possible in walker's script john doe makes two brief appearances before his grand reveal on page 61 doe poses as a photographer crime scene get the [ __ ] out of here i gotta be here [Music] get out jack jeez you got your picture man oh yeah and on page 71 mills and somerset are ambushed

after they discover his apartment it's not until page 103 that john doe officially presents himself you're looking for me out of 132 pages and an over two hour movie we're only seeing john doe for a very small fraction of the time so in order to keep him a looming threat from the beginning of the film we need to focus on showing the aftermath even though we don't see the villain we can witness what they are capable of here's screenwriter andrew kevin walker on this approach it was in the script that you didn't see the things

happen and that just seemed to me more horrifying to have to sit and imagine what it was like if you were forced at gunpoint to eat as much spaghetti as possible for all the horrific violence in seven we see very little of it actually occur this again activates our imaginations and makes us part of the storytelling for example here's how walker describes the pride victims crime scene to paint a horrific scene in our mind in the sink objects covered in blood a pair of scissors a hypodermic needle first aid tape and gauze bandages a bottle

of anaesthetic a straight razor and a tube of super glue the other way to sustain a looming threat is to hear from characters who have experienced the villain first hand this way you continue to add to their villainous mythology while still relying on the audience's imagination he had a gun on page 94 we get this nightmarish eyewitness account that thing on me oh god oh god just like walker said it can be more horrifying to not see these things happen next the motivation behind these villains is usually ambiguous not knowing why these events are happening

has two direct effects one it creates anticipation from the audience to learn the truth and two it helps maintain the villain's power over the hero who is left struggling to understand no fingerprints no witnesses of any kind which i don't get on page 116 mills and somerset finally get some answers i won't deny my own personal desire to turn each sin against the sinner in the final sequence just like he has from the beginning john doe has the upper hand what he wants you to shoot him no no the conventions dude nah she's all right

you tell me become wrath mills is lured into doe's tangled web in a way he never expected so remember one way to tackle writing a looming threat is to keep them absent as much as possible and build their mythology through their actions firsthand perspectives and unclear or unknown motives let's move on to our final villain archetype the villain protagonist this is simply a protagonist who exhibits villainous traits they're the quote unquote hero but also the bad guy these are characters like alex in a clockwork orange [Music] patrick bateman in american psycho i just had to

kill a lot of people and tony montana in scarface in paul thomas anderson's there will be blood our villain protagonist is daniel plainview an oil man whose ambition is so excessive it becomes his ultimate downfall ladies and gentlemen if i say i'm an oil man you will agree now you have a great chance here but bear in mind you can lose it all if you're not careful when creating any protagonist villain or otherwise they need certain elements including a goal an antagonist you have abandoned your child get out of your devil out devil out sin

and a character arc daniel pursues wealth and power until it eventually corrupts him completely in a negative change called a full arc km wyland describes a fall arc as such the protagonist in a fall arc will reject every chance for embracing the truth and will fall more and more deeply into the morass of his own sins his story will end in insanity oppressive immorality or death for deeper dives into these character arcs you'll find a link to our four ending series in the description [Music] now with a character arc chosen the most important consideration when

tackling a villain protagonist is the balance between sympathy and villainy villains by definition are bad people who do bad things but for a villain protagonist they should possess some redemptive quality to keep the audience invested in their journey here's pt anderson on his approach to writing daniel's character when i set out i was trying to write a movie about fighting families there's brothers fighting but at the center of it is this father and son plainview's sympathy comes from his intense desire for family and his villainy is born out of his even stronger desire for wealth

and power i have a competition in me i want no one else to succeed in the very first sequence we witness daniel solitary at pure ambition he literally drags himself through the desert to cash in a bit of silver on page six an accident makes young hw an orphan and daniel takes him as his own which would be a purely selfless and admirable act if daniel didn't go on to use hw as a salesman's prop i'm a family man i run a family business this is my son and my partner hw plainview we offer you

the bond of family that very few oil men can understand despite this exploitative relationship daniel appears to genuinely care for his adopted son he confides in him and mentors him in the oil business this is what we do and we don't need the railroads and our shipping costs anymore you see yeah you see that yes then on page 57 daniel gallanty rescues hw but he then leaves him to celebrate a marvel at riches that await him i'll be back i'll be back in a minute you wait here oh you're gonna be fine wait for me

here what are you looking so miserable about there's a whole ocean of oil under our feet no one can get at it except for me this is a pivotal moment in daniel's character arc choosing business over family he takes a large step away from sympathy and towards villainy on page 79 daniel sends him away to a school for the deaf [Music] i just have to go and have a word with the conductor [Music] i'll be right back this abandonment plagues daniel with insecurity and aggravates his violent impulses make you rich you spend time with your

boy you just tell me how to run my family it might be more important now that you've proven the feeling we're offering to buy you out one night i'm gonna come to you inside of your house wherever you're sleeping and i'm gonna cut your throat what what are you talking about have you gone crazy i heard what you said tell me about my son why are you acting insane and threatening to cut my throat don't tell me about my son now prior to all this with his adopted son on page 67 daniel meets henry can

i help you a long-lost brother he never knew he had but after discovering him to be an imposter daniel spirals further and becomes a murderer and 20 years later at his lowest point rich and alone daniel goes off the rails completely whatever sympathy he may have earned is dashed away in this final sequence with his son you're an orphan from a basket in the middle of the desert and i took you for no other reason than i needed a sweet face to buy land did you get that as well as his murderous impulses which he

now does without remorse i'm finished as you write your own villain protagonist remember to give them a complete character arc and to find a balance between sympathy and villainy no matter which villain archetype you choose to write there are a few characteristics that are always important to focus on and remember that this guide is just a jumping-off point a villain might fit more than one archetype or defy expectations that's a bingo what types of villains should we cover next let us know in the comments i ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice

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