The Writer 10.2019

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acters have desires just like a protagonist, and when those
desires conflict with others, or if those desires are in some
way detrimental to the person or (more often) others, an
ordinary character becomes a villain.
So what makes an antagonist sympathetic?
Backstory is one way to garner sympathy for a character,
even if they’re doing terrible things. Take Frankenstein’s
monster, for example: We all know that the monster even-
tually goes on a killing rampage to try to destroy the life of
his creator, Victor Frankenstein, but when we eventually
learn about all the pain and ridicule the monster suffers
during his short life, the reader begins to understand the
monster better.
Desperately wanting something for a good reason (or at
least a good enough reason) is another way to make an
antagonist sympathetic. Catwoman, in Tim Burton’s retell-
ing, wants to take down the mob that destroyed her. Sure,
she hurts a lot of people in her wake, but at least she has
(kind of ) a good reason for what she’s doing. While a “Love
to Hater” wants the job just to win a power grab, a sympa-
thetic antagonist may want the job to prove something to
his parents, who never truly believed in him. Maybe he
doesn’t do nice things to get that job, but at least he has
more complex reasons.
Being conflicted also helps with the sympathy factor.
Let’s go back to that Kylo Ren scene with Snoke and the vac-
uum of space. He is obviously conflicted about his role in
the Dark Side. He might have acted badly, but he makes at
least some effort to change.

3

IT’S COMPLICATED
There’s a middle ground between an antagonist we
feel deep sympathy for and one we just hate. Some
antagonists are just in the way. We might decide to root
against them, but there’s nothing essentially villainous about
what they’re doing. Think of Boris in Donna Tartt’s The
Goldfinch, our protagonist Theo’s childhood friend who
(spoiler alert) gets involved in crime and steals things from
the protagonist. Still, there’s something charming about
Boris that makes you want to forgive him (even though he’s
an adult and should know better), because at the end of the
day, he does come through for Theo.

4

AN ANTAGONIST LARGER
THAN ONE PERSON
Antagonists do not have to be a single person.
They might be a group of people, like the three ultrapopular
alpha females in Mean Girls. An antagonist could be a soci-
ety or larger structure, like a company, government, or a
religion. Antagonists come in all shapes and sizes, so don’t
feel you need to stick to one lone “bad guy.”

WHAT YOUR

ANTAGONIST NEEDS

1 A good antagonist is a lot like a good protag-

onist. They need to have a compelling back-

story. Just as you build the world and the life

of your hero, the same should be done for

your antihero.

2 Antagonists should be really good at some-

thing. If they weren’t exceptional in some

way, how or why would they be able to com-

pete with your protagonist? Maybe they’re

brilliant, or they’re incredibly strong or fast

or...something. We need a reason to trust

that your antagonist is powerful enough to

go up against your protagonist at their best.

3 Flaws. Lots of flaws. Flaws are what make any

good protagonist interesting. Romeo was

impetuous, Anna Karenina was a bit vain,

Scarlett O’Hara was selfish. Your antagonist

should have imperfections as well. And

unlike a protagonist, your antagonist’s flaws

need not necessarily redeem them.

Think about creating an adversary your main

character deserves: Anyone big enough, cool

enough, smart enough, strong enough, to go toe-

to-toe with your protagonist should be a well

fleshed-out, fascinating, and, in many cases, com-

plicated character. Just as we spend time crafting

all the many facets of our hero (and other vital

characters to our story), it’s important to remem-

ber the bad guy. Make your protagonist earn your

readers’ affection and give them someone worthy

to fight. But the overarching rule of antagonists

(which is admittedly sometimes broken to great

results but should still be followed most of the

time) is to try not to let your antagonist’s story or

personality overshadow your protagonist. At the

end of the day, your complicated, flawed, complex

antagonist should help your even more compli-

cated, flawed, complex protagonist shine.

Jessica Stilling is a novelist and short story writer. Her sec-

ond novel, The Beekeeper's Daughter, was published in Sep-

tember 2019. She lives and teaches in New York City.