A  while back  I created a podcast episode about  Villains and their motivations  and could  they be redeemable or  are they better off staying pure evil. You  can listen to that podcast here.

But  today I’m going to go further  in analyzing  this notion.  

The first question we need to ask  ourselves is what makes a villain evil?  Are they  born  evil or  influenced  by  their  environment?

In my work in progress   novel  During the Blue Hour  about  werewolves  none of the villains  are born evil.  They are more the 2nd option .   Influenced  by their  environment .  I ‘m going to   go  in detail about why a character might turn evil  based  on their environment.

So  let’s  start  off with this  notion that  every character  is a  hero of their  own story. They never see  themselves as the villain.

For example (spoiler) in my  work in progress series  my  main villain  throughout the series , a  she were wolf  supposedly is doing  all  her  villainess antics  for love.  That’s  right  folks  she turned  evil because  she is being  forced  away from her  true love.

Everything  she is doing   is  only justifiable  to her.  But  she is no way a sympathetic character  and cannot be redeemed able   because  her love turns into madness  which thus turns into insanity   where  there is no coming back to.

Examples  outside  of my  work in progress  would be :

Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.  Do we  actually think she was just evil  for  the sake of being  evil.   There had to be  some motivation behind her  villainous actions   to turn her that way  and  I’m not talking about the live action movies  either.

 Another   example  is 

The Wicked Witch of  the West from the Wizard of Oz.

She is not just evil either.  Something  deep inside of her  made her that way . Some  versions of this story  has strategically   expanded  that notion  over the years  .  Giving a  clear reason . My  guess is jealousy.

From  my research and writing  my own villain  I have come to the conclusion  that a  writer  cannot  possibly write a  villain  that is born evil.  There  always  has to be  a reason  or  motivation  behind their actions   whether  it be something deeply rooted  in their  childhood  or their  overall  environment.

If you liked this blog post and you want to  see more content involving my work in progress During the Blue Hour Follow , Like , share  . But first  LET’S START A DIALOGUE

 What is your Villain’s motivation for their  evil  actions  in your novel  ?  

 I  want to know so let me know in the comments  below.

 You can also interact with the podcast on Gab @duringthebluehour