What ho, humans!
Let’s review and move on
Step 1. Give them a distinctive feature
Step 2. Give them flaws
Step 3. Give them a placeholder name that speaks to you
So step 4 we now give the character a virtue.
You, humans, are probably like us sea creatures so there are very few people who don’t have any redeeming quality. Even sharks have their uses.
The best villains are the ones you can relate to, that includes when something good gets twisted into something dark. A villain is much scarier when you can see a bit of yourself in them.
Does the Jewel thief have a good sense of humour? Is the dark lord trying to spare people from dying? Is the villain secretly a cat lover?
Have a look at your favourite villains some time and have a look for the virtue hidden underneath the grime.
A good protagonist or secondary character’s virtue is more obvious, but care is still needed, the flaws always need to balance the virtue properly or they are unrelatable to us mere mortals.
Stay tuned for part 5
