18 | The Writer • October 2019
but until the moment when Kylo Ren (spoiler
alert) does a complete character 180 in The Last
Jedi, I was pretty bored with the movie. It wasn’t
just the fact that he’d thrown Snoke, the large vil-
lain-y-type guy in the chair, into the vacuum of
space, deciding to save Rey instead of heeding the
calls of The Dark Side that perked me up; it was
the fact that finally a character had exhibited
actual change. But soon all that character devel-
opment went right out the window (or into that
same vacuum of space) and I was bored again.
Kylo Ren had been our antagonist for nearly
two full-length movies. We’d seen him struggle,
we’d seen him make other people struggle. And,
yes, he did some bad things, but it wasn’t until
that near-180 that he got interesting – only to
have him turn that 180 into a 360 and become
uninteresting again.
Characters are the backbone of any story, and
no one is more important to a story than its main
characters. Yes, the protagonist comes first, but a
well-developed antagonist can help drive a narra-
tive in many complex and compelling directions.
When crafting a story, it’s important to look at
the dimensions of the antagonist, or the “bad guy,”
just as it’s important to communicate the many
facets of your protagonist. We’ve generally started
to move away from the “mustache-twirling bad
guy” in both genre and literary fiction, characters
like the Smurfs’ Gargamel and all the Evil Queens
who want to do bad only because being bad feels
so good. Yet not every story calls for a redeemable
or redeemed antagonist. No matter which type of
antagonist you choose, it’s important to fully
understand both the character and their function
in your story so that they ultimately drive the plot
just like your protagonist.
THE FOUR MAIN TYPES
OF ANTAGONISTS1
THE ONE YOU LOVE TO HATE
Otherwise known as “the mustache-twirling bad
guy.” These characters just get in your hero’s way.
Your hero wants to save the world while this antagonist
wants to destroy it. Your hero wants to marry the prince,
this antagonist wants him all to herself – not because the vil-
lainess loves him, but because she wants to win, she wants
his money, she likes his powerful position, etc.
Another aspect of this type of antagonist is that they
often don’t have a good reason for getting in the protago-
nist’s way. Let’s say Protagonist and Antagonist are both up
for a job. Protagonist wants the job because they love what
they do or they need the money or they’re really good at
said job. Antagonist is usually independently wealthy, bored
with the job, and just wants to win for bragging rights. Typi-
cally, this antagonist hates the protagonist – and not always
for a good reason.
The Emperor from Star Wars is definitely a “Love to
Hate” type of antagonist. We learn from episodes one
through three that there’s more of a method to his mad-
ness, but even then, it kinda seems he just likes destroying
things for money and power. In literary fiction, there are
examples of these Love to Haters as well. Take Jason from
The Sound and the Fury. His first line to us is “Once a bitch
always a bitch,” when referring to a sympathetic character.
Then, a few scenes later, when a very young child really
wants to go to the fair but can’t afford the ticket, Jason
takes a ticket to said fair out of his wallet, watches the
child’s eyes light up, and then burns the ticket right in front
of him – and laughs.
These kinds of antagonists cause a reader to focus their
anger. They allow a reader to root harder for the protagonist
because so much is at stake. And most of what is at stake is
defeating this bully. But the problem might arise where a
reader wonders if your protagonist is really that good, or is
the alternative just so bad that they have to root for the
hero? These kinds of antagonists can help drive a plot, but
always be wary of making antagonists too bad for no reason
or they can start to look like a caricature.2
THE SYMPATHETIC ANTAGONIST
This model has become much more popular in
recent years. Part of this might be because when
you really sit and listen to a character, when you hear their
whole story, it’s hard to hate them. Few people burn tickets to
the fair while defeated large-eyed children watch. Most char-I don’t
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