I recently discovered that you're not done crafting your villain until you can switch and tell your story from the villain's perspective and have the protag be the villain. (But then switch back because the villain really is the bad guy)

I was honestly looking for this, scary that you made it. Thanks Jerry.

Every person is the hero of his or her own story. That applies most of all to bad persons in real life; thus, the key to beleivable antagonists in fiction. That's what I get from your insightful analysis. Thanks. This will improve my writing a lot.

I'm far less advanced in the craft, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this isn't always true. Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, the Joker, all very effective villains. They're all primal, elemental evil. I know my examples are limited to horror movies and a comic book, but a villain doesn't always need to be humanized to be effective. To be clear, I'm not saying that complex villains are bad in any way, I'm just saying they're not the only way to go.

@SilverXT

7 ай бұрын

All of those are complex. Think of WHY they became evil. Joker's one bad day is a perfect example.

@ManiKais

Ай бұрын

Darth Vader worked even before we understood his complexities and backstory. I kind of liked him better that way. But only because the prequels sucked.

@bananian

9 күн бұрын

This is the problem with all these advice videos. They give niche examples and claim them to be a general rule.

Well-explained, Jerry. As I think back to my first book, my villain was basically a cardboard cut-out with a "Hello my name is 'bad guy'" label on his chest. As I revise for the next edition, I will add a background story to make my villain more relatable and his actions understandable.

I thank God I found you on KZread, every time I watch a new video. I'm writing my first novel....."The CC Killer"

Im learning english to write a book

You are always spot-on with your advice and explanations. Thank you for reaching out to motivate and elevate other writers! 🔥🎉💞

I went in search of one video and have watched a number of yours. This made my mind wander into books and shows where the villain was gripping and made me ask why, which you answered here. This is some of the best videos on the craft of writing I've seen yet. Thank you so much for them.

Thank you so much for this video. It has helped me organize a complex villan in a complex story. I will have to rewatch this video again, and may be third time. It is a great help because of your insight into why the complex villan works so well. Thank you again.

Thank you for doing this and the email! Not just for the subject, but it’s great to hear about different story elements. Great work!

Yes, awesome tips Jerry. I think I did about half off that while I was writing when I realised I needed to give him a background story and not make him 'disgusting'. Up to now he has a motivation, he's handsome and smart. Getting him and my main character on the same level is the hardest part 😅

Jerry - your insights are helpful to me.I had given my villian a backstory so readers will understand his motivations but hadn't made him likeable enough... doing the re-write starting today. Thank you.

Thank you Mr. Jenkins! I learned a lot from you already and your videos ALWAYS motivate me to keep writing and to keep working on my skills as a writer.

Thank you so much! I’m working on a book and this villain advice was amazing! I’m trying to make a very complex villain so this really helped!

Outstanding pointers. You have taught me a great deal about polished, deep writing. Thank you, Jerry

The advice you give is so golden, I feel I should be paying for it. Thank you!

I subscribed in less than 2 minutes into the video. this is the kind of video I've been searching for. Thank you so Much!

Yay! Another video, let's go... Thank you for this!

I’m loving these videos. I’m a seat of my pants writer starting off. I enjoy the by the seat of your pants approach because once I write what I want to do, I can go back and fill in blanks that could be better and add more to the story

thank you Jerry! very helpful and clear.

Gracias por tu visión! Me sentía atrapado pero con tu frase "haz un villano con el que te gustaría ser amigo" se resolvió todo

Thank you for this goldmine

Thanks very much, Jerry! Love your emails, tips, and videos!

You’re the best Jerry! Thank you once again for some helpful tips.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences. Being a teacher-researcher, I used to think I should write nonfiction. But you give me confidence to write more than nonfiction! Greetings and thanks from Penang (UTC+8).

A good teacher makes their students think. A great teacher inspires others to apply the teaching. You have done both my friend! I so appreciate you! As you spoke I created a villain for my protagonist. Thank you!

This was great. I've been trying to figure out how to add more dimension to a villian, without slapping the reading in the face with what smuck he is. Thank you.

This is amazing, thank you!

This video was very helpful! Thank you for making it! Have a great day! And take care!

A villain with personality and brains,, no matter how twisted and tormented. LOVE IT! Great video.

So many gems. Thanks Jerry!

As you were speaking, it came to mind that the character Mitch Leary played by John Malkovich was a very complex villain. Thanks for your generous sharing!

Thanks for your help, Jerry!

Thank you! This was helpful

Thanks Jerry I love your books this was a great help I am getting ready to do my next novel.

Amazing, interesting and helpful as usual. Keep the videos coming plz 🙏

Thanks so much for your words.

Excellent information, thank you! Villiains are normally fun but difficult to write.

Thank you Jerry!This was so very helpful!

I needed this so bad! Thank you.

Thank you so much for all your knowledge Mr. Jenkins. It has been so incredibly helpful to me. God bless you!❤

Your tips are such powerful that when I listen to them, i automatically inherited a villain arc in me 😭🦇💓

Glad to hear from you

Thank you I value your advice. This is very helpful! Seeing the protagonist in the villain is key!

Thank you Jerry, you've got such a lovely voice! Your videos are so helpful, I have liked, left a comment and shared all because you've helped me so much. Watching from New Zealand.

Thanks Jerry like. You're view's on well thought out subject

Good stuff. Thanks for posting.

What an amazing video. Thank you, Jerry.

Thank you❤

I really do like and understand how to create an excellent villain. Your advice is right on what I need to do.

Awsome, thanks for the advices and tips!

Thank you very, very much for your content.

Thank you!! Very helpful 😊

While what you say is indeed mostly true, I would argue that a good villain does not always have to be likable in any way. Look at a character like Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones, he was absolutely vile. Beating, Torturing and disfiguring people for his own personal pleasure. He's sadistic, cruel and does not care at all about anyone else, nor does he care about his role as a king or a husband. He blames others for every one of his own faults. He's a character with no redeemable qualities at all, and while the Game of Thrones tv show was still airing, he was probably one of the most hated villains ever created. He does not do things because he thinks they are right, but simply because he wants to. He seems more than aware that much of what he does is very wrong, and wouldn't go over well if others knew about it. He hides it, he shifts the blame on others etc. When he was finally murdered, fans genuinely rejoiced over his demise. It felt good to watch this abhorrent character die, so suddenly and unexpectedly, and in such a seemingly agonizing way. He was a villain whom no one really could say a single positive thing about, a villian everyone loved to hate, and everyone loved watching him die. I would argue that he was an amazing villain, because it was a character that inspired strong emotions in the readers and the viewers of the show, a character more hated than any I have ever come across before or since, and because it was believable that a product of incest, who's extremely spoiled and doted on, and who's born a psychopath/sociopath, could turn out the way Joffrey did. He is believable, which is one of your points, I'll give you that. But there's nothing good in that boy, not in the tv show and not in the books, yet he is indeed an amazing villain.

Thankyou, Mister

Thank you sir 🙏🏻

Thank you for your wonderful videos Jerry, you are an inspiration. :)

Wonderful advice. Tnx.

Thank you for your knowledge

Thanks

Loved It!

thank you for sharing you wisdom and experience

In time I sat to each my lunch and then this comes out. Perfect timing, thank you, sir!

Thanks Jerry❤

Thank you

Good stuff, thanks!

Thanks professor

@Jerry Jenkins I am a blossoming novel author with 3/half short novels under my belt. I believe by accident, I have done half of the things that you advice on doing. 3 of my novels have a actual antagonist, which include: A brother who gets more powerful after his betrayal and his death, and hunts the rest of his brother's eventual bloodline. A little girl who passed away from unexplained illnesses too young, and strangely revives to revolt against god after death. And a Japanese yokai rabbit, who just wanted to play, and "invites her friends," to come and play.

Great stuff!

thank you

I found this inspiring, Thank you!

Thanks again!!!!

This is really helpful and insightful. Thank you sir for sharing

very helpfull, thank you Mr. Jenkins.

Brilliant. I shall base my next villain on you. Thanks!

Woah! If I get published, its thanks to u! 🥳

Just when I needed❤

Thank you, Jerry.

Thank you.🙂

Sir thank you for the priceless advices.

Excellent

Tnx for the tips 😃👌

Im leaving a comment just to give you more friction, quality content like that deserves it!

I made three villains for my story, I'd like to hear your thoughts: One is the main character himself, who due to feeling insufficient in his mission, his well-meaning decides do distribute power to all which ends up very badly and for so falls on the misnaming of anti-villain and ends as a true hero Other is the first antagonist, who developed the plan to distribute power originally, he masks his plan under a facade of being a direct enemy to the main character, bent on destroying him but turns out he's a gentle person (much more than the main character himself he's a lovable loving person) who's trying to allow people to protect themselves And the final one used to be a friend of the main character but the same circumstances that started the main character's journey also caused him to develop a split personality, losing his own mind to what's basically a demon who decides that the weak ones must be cleansed so true equality can exist. But in the end both personalities are so damaged that their final form is but an unstoppable power-hungry beast, any trace of humanity being lost and all that's left of that dear friend is an empty shell and a danger that needs to be destroyed

@yanceyricks2601

2 жыл бұрын

While I am not Mr. Jenkins, I’ll lend my thoughts. The first two sound like they have enough room to cooperate, at least when the need calls for it. While I do not understand “power” (political, magical, or otherwise) I say that cause it for some reason reminds me of the the Chinese civil war between Capitalists (Chang Kai Shek, misspelled his name) and Communists (Mao Zedong). Both were bitter rivals until the Japanese invaded in the late 1930’s. That war bled into world war 2, and afterwards the fighting occurred again. Today the capitalists were bailed out by America, making Taiwan their new home with communist China taking the mainland. If the main character and second villain are the first two factions I mentioned (not literally, comparatively) then the third villain could be something like Imperial Japan. Imperial Japan was a vile nation that had to be stopped, the atrocities they did to the Chinese were so brutal that even Nazis thought they took things too far. (Look up John Rabe). If you want to compare the third character to a “demon” then Imperial Japan might help you in crafting this character. Furthermore, the rivalry between Japanese army and Japanese Navy might offer some clues on how “personalities” act towards one another, in Japans case, highly competitive to the point of detriment. Since the main and third character know each other, it might be a good idea to show some modicum of humanity towards each other. For this example I think of the American Civil War. There was a moment known as the “battle of the bands” where what at first started as a rivalry developed into both armies singing “home sweet home.” The next day they were at each other’s throats. One of the themes of the American Civil War was brother vs brother. Some people in that war literally found themselves staring at relatives at the other end of the barrel, one example was a son who found himself taking his father prisoner. If you could show the main and third seeing each other’s humanity that might make for a fascinating story that I have no idea how to pull off… yet anyway. Let me know if you have any questions. Hope this helps! Have a blessed day!

@CanaldoPortador

2 жыл бұрын

@@yanceyricks2601 Ok... You have no idea how everything you said hits home in the way I'm conducting this narrative Yes, the main and the second does end up working together when a war falls upon them and in fact the three-way conflict also bleeds into the major conflict (the aforementioned war) Yes, the "demon" goes exactly like Imperial Japan, not even the most aggressive parts of the war ever even thinks of siding with the demon no matter how powerful he is (both magical and political, he's a speedster with an army of living zombies) and he has to be stopped at all costs. Also because the demon is corroding itself into the beast that he becomes because of his competitive nature to be the single most powerful being in detriment of his own body and mind. Now, I don't know for sure if this bit is on the same page but after discovering the demon's true identity the main character has a vision of his friend withering away inside the demon's mind. Nothing of his consciousness left, only a body made out of agony but the friend instead of the beast nevertheless. It's the moment he realizes the demon has to die so his friend can have his pain ended, shared between them in a dream. His friend's last wish. Is it something like this you're talking about with the battle of the bands? But anyway this is going to help me SO MUCH, thank you. I didn't knew about this time of history. I'll look further for more inspiration. Thank you!

@yanceyricks2601

2 жыл бұрын

@@CanaldoPortador You are most welcome. While I agree with the assessment that the "Battle of the bands" does not neatly fit with the kind of story you're crafting, the sentiment of it might be borrowed. The idea of two radically opposed yet brotherly beings sharing a moment of calm before the storm is an idea I like, feel free to use the concept no pressure. Since your using Imperial Japan, I recommend looking up Emperor Hirohito. He is not as vile as his military, in fact if he had his way, they wouldn't have even invaded China. It took two nukes and the threat of invasion by USA and Russia to actually get the Japanese military to ask THEIR Emperor what to do, even that decision cause a small revolt. It may help if you know the scale of the second world war in Asia, if your story used historical numbers in a zombie apocalypse... kzread.info/dash/bejne/dqt_sqiNXbXPn7g.html Keep in mind that the Chinese were fighting each other BEFORE the Japanese invaded. If you want to learn about World War 2, there is an AMAZING channel called... "World War 2" where they break down the war week by week. I've been watching it for a while and the war in China is brought up sometimes but mainly focuses on the war in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. If this interests you, check out the "Great War" channel which breaks down World War 1 week by week. I don't know how much of this will be used but hope it goes well. God Bless. Let me know if you have any other questions.

@africanamericanwargreymon6341

Жыл бұрын

Yancey Rick's really happy to see someone in this website acknowledges the vile cruelty of imperial Japan. Kids these days are so in bed with nazis that they ignore and straight up deny the sheer brutality of imperial Japan. Which at BEST matches the nazis and at worst are infinitely worse than any nazi. Thank you for bringing awareness to the topic, more people should know about that

For the novel im writing i decided to make my villain a cunning, power hungry, fearless villian. The twist i had is near the end of the book, he attempts to "get into" the main characters head. Instead of the sidekick coming over saying "dont let him get to you" , ending with the villain being spared. I decided that the sidekick isn't there, and that the protagonist does in fact exact his revenge, but really the villain won cuase ve got to our protagonist before someone could stop him.

You tips and advice is gold Mr. Jenkins. Thank you. Your teachings has enlivened my writing in progress.

@naliesnikas

2 жыл бұрын

not to throw around hurtful words, but I think you should revise writing in the literal sense - grammar, punctuation.

@tlwilson32

2 жыл бұрын

@@naliesnikas English may not be this person's first language. Perhaps they are trying to respectfully thank Jerry in his own language.

@naliesnikas

Жыл бұрын

@@tlwilson32 then they would... use their own language? This is english - crude though it may be - not some other tongue. Once again, I mean no disrespect to the aspiring man or woman. I think it's great that he or she is trying to get better at these things. I just wanted to leave this observational if not slightly condescending piece of my mind.

Awesome

The way you described the villain types was a story in itself.

Thank you for the gems sir

Villains don't always need redemptive qualties. Sauron and Emperor Palpatine are two of the most iconic characters. Neither of them have a single redeeming quality. Both of them are pure evil.

@faultyinterface

7 ай бұрын

Same with the Beast from Over the Garden Wall, Erebus (ESPECIALLY Erebus) from WH40K, and SO many serial killers from real life. Some people are just pricks for no good reason.

@NoahSprague

4 ай бұрын

Dang I was about to mention Sauron! I think almost if you have your villain be a believable threat to the hero then you got a good villain it doesn't matter if he's complex or one dimensional as long as he makes you believe that he can harm the hero then I feel like you've done your job

@anurag3619

4 ай бұрын

They also belong to allegorical fantasies. In the video he's talking about reality

@cj-cv7zv

3 ай бұрын

hence the word "complex". Those villains are great, but they don't exactly have the most depth...

@dariotrujillo777

25 күн бұрын

But they were each unique and memorable. Palpatine is THE Evil Galactic Emperor and Sith Lord, complete with sorcerer powers, almost a throwback to arthurian tropes, and sauran was a literal demigod semi divine fallen angel taken almost straight out of myth by a genius philologist Tolkien. So they were "Complex" not to mention Palpatine's manipulation of the galactic senate highlighting dangers within democracies without a constitutional representative republic. He was a political villain in ep 1-3 not just a mythological villain like in ep 4-6. But you brought up an interesting point.

One of the best villains of all time: Gus Fring

I'll try to keep these tips in mind. Even before I started watching/listening to this, I started getting an idea for an antagonist. I'm thinking that they're gonna start out acting like a bully and later on start having a crush on the protagonist (similar to Amity with Luz in The Owl House), but when they catch on that the protagonist actually likes someone else, they're determined to have their crush, so they become manipulative.

Great video, and advice. Lol now I want to write a story about a villain who is the main character. Would that be an anti-hero?

You are an amazing writer.😁I want to read some of your books...Can you recommend some?

so majority of us came here because we all are struggling haha. nice video, helped to understand how to write a villain story.

Hi! I absolutely love your channel. I have a question, I'm currently writing a novel with a Villain-to-hero story arc, that starts at the beginning after the character has changed, with various flashbacks and interactions revealing my character's backstory and reason for change. How do I work with this? I want to make this believable, and I don't want it to be boring but I don't want it to move too fast. How do I work towards making my character trustworthy for the heroes? How do I reconcile their past misdeeds to myself, my readers, and my characters? I always wondered if Darth Vader had survived, would people ever really trust him? How do I accomplish this?

I started thinking about a story concept/idea the other day that I'm wondering could actually work or not. I've been researching manipulation lately: what tactics a manipulative person would use, what they would do and say, and so on, and doing so so I can write a manipulative character. Usually in a story: book, TV show, movie, the manipulator is the antagonist. But with the concept I thought of, by the end of the story, it would turn out that the manipulator was actually the protagonist the entire time. (and in case anyone's thinking it, no, Light Yagami from the anime Death Note doesn't count)

Hallo im sophia from holland en i love your video’s thank you

Thanks, Jerry. Would you say voice is an element consistent with the writer's personal style, while tone is the stance the writer takes on any one particular story? Thanks again.