Villains By Annette Dashofy

A few days ago, I had a discussion with a friend about the villains in my fiction. It’s a subject I always quickly warm to. Heck, I even teach a workshop about these bad guys. 

One thing I always keep in mind when creating a villain is that everyone is the hero of their own story, including… and maybe especially… the antagonist. They believe they’re right and the hero is dead wrong. The villain’s goal and that of the hero are in direct conflict. 

Another tidbit I try to remember is that every bad guy needs to have some good in him. On the flip side, every good guy needs to have some bad in them. 

One of the characters from my Zoe Chambers series isn’t a “bad guy” in the true sense of the word. I’m talking about Zoe’s self-absorbed, demanding mother, Kimberly. Readers have told me they love to hate her. Zoe tends to revert to being a teenager when Kimberly’s around. However, Kimberly’s backstory explains and perhaps excuses her behavior. And in Under the Radar (2020), we finally get a glimpse of Kimberly’s protective mother side, as well as a peek at where Zoe’s kickass tendencies came from.

 

The conversation with my friend actually started with a question about Charles Davis, another recurring character in the Zoe series. In this case, the question surrounded his origin story. The truth is, he was supposed to be a one-and-done. I introduced the abrasive, pushy know-it-all in Til Death (2020), which was supposed to be the last of the series. I didn’t come up with a character arc for him until my agent wanted to shop the series to other publishers, which meant coming up with a three-book proposal. Charles, while truly despicable, occasionally showed a glimmer of having some redeeming value. He did, after all, help Zoe get elected as county coroner. Granted, he had his own agenda, but don’t we all?

All of this talk about villains with some smidgeon of good in them has led me to think about the bad guy in my upcoming The Devil Comes Calling (Detective Honeywell #3). I’d set up this character in both of the previous books, although a reader might need to be sharp-eyed to catch the hints. I dare not say more for fear of divulging spoilers. Let’s just say the title is justified. My working title was Beyond Redemption, which also speaks volumes.

Fellow Writers Who Kill, do you delve into your villains’ heads and hearts when you write? Or do you prefer to keep them at a safe distance? And readers, can you name any villains you’ve loved to hate?