Robert McKee wrote: 

“A protagonist in a story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.”

Put another way, the Joker made Batman. Not the other way around.

I’ve never had more fun writing than building the villain in the novel I’m working on. Something about laying the foundations, leaving the breadcrumbs, for a character to turn into an evil mastermind is oddly enjoyable. It feels like peak world building – crafting a villain worthy of a great hero.

So I went down a rabbit-hole picking apart 3 of my favorite villains ever created. What makes them tick? Why are they so effective? What can we take from them and apply in our own stories?

• The Joker

• Killmonger

• Anakin Skywalker

Let’s dig in.

3 keys to creating an effective villain

1. Believability

We have this myth of obvious evil. That the bad guys know they’re the bad guys. Maybe, deep down, they do. Who knows. But publicly, many of them both throughout history and within stories argue that they’re the good guys. And many convinced hundreds if not thousands or millions of people to follow them.

This is a very uncomfortable truth. And yet, I believe, it speaks to something about villains.

Every villain is a hero in his own mind, as Tom Hiddleston said. True in history, and true in stories.

Villains cannot simply embody Evil. Today’s audience will see right through this. Have you ever gotten so fed up with a villain that the rest of the story loses its luster? Many of the superhero movies of the last few years fall into this trap. Malekith, Steppenwolf, etc pull down the entire story because they are one-dimensionally evil.

Contrast that to Killmonger in Black Panther. When he learns of his true homeland’s advanced technology, he’s furious they didn’t bring it to everyone of African descent around the world. And that leads him on a destructive, but understandable, path.

Couple that with his childhood in Oakland, and you get powerful scenes like this, where I’d argue Killmonger feels more like the hero than the villain.

Imagine if Killmonger didn’t have that backstory. Suddenly, he becomes a one-dimensional dude on a murderous quest for power. Far less interesting than the multi-dimensional villain we were given.

He may not be “likable,” but he becomes more “empathetic.” You get his motivations.

2. The path to darkness

Some villains, like Killmonger, don’t show you the whole path in the story. It’s hinted at, breadcrumbed enough that you understand what happened. 

But we have a very famous path to darkness to look at – Anakin to Darth Vader – that had books and movies dedicated to it.

Anakin's journey to the dark side is a masterclass in gradual corruption. It's not a switch that flips; it's a series of small compromises, each justifiable in the moment:

1. The slaughter of the Sand People – driven by grief and rage.

2. Killing Count Dooku – a moment of weakness, manipulated by Palpatine.

3. Choosing to save Palpatine – motivated by the fear of losing Padmé.

And Anakin’s path to darkness led to this legendary scene with Obi-Wan, which acts as his point of no return. After this, you’re bought in on Anakin’s conversion to the dark side. He goes on to blow up worlds and you say, “yeah, that fits.”

The lesson? Great villains aren't born, they're made.

Tip: Create a 'corruption timeline' for your villain, mapping out key events that pushed them towards darkness.

3. The dark mirror

Remember the Joker’s iconic line to Batman, “You… you complete me.”

The best villains aren't simply obstacles to be overcome. They're reflections, inversions, or exaggerations of the hero’s own traits.

Take the Joker and Batman:

• Both are products of Gotham's darkness

• Both operate outside the law

• Both use fear as a weapon

They're two responses to the same broken system. Batman represents Order, the Joker represents Chaos.

Their methods diverge drastically, but their core motivations aren't so different. This similarity makes their conflict more than just good vs. evil – it's a debate about means and ends, about reaction to trauma, about the lengths one will go to stick to their moral framework.

The Joker is the perfect villain for Batman. He wouldn’t be as effective in any other story, because he wouldn’t be the hero’s mirror.

To see how universal this concept is, let's look again at Killmonger and his heroic counterpart, T’Challa:

• Both are of royal Wakandan blood

• Both lost their fathers to violence

• Both want to address global injustice

See? It’s the same idea. The villain is the dark mirror to the hero.

I’m doing my best to incorporate each of these ideas. But, in practice, it always turns out to be much more difficult than it sounds on the page. This idea helps keep me on track:

The most chilling villains are the ones we can see the hero becoming, under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

Have an awesome weekend,

Nathan

PS. I’m still having email deliverability issues. If you reply with your favorite villain, that’d help make sure you keep getting these letters. Thank ya!

Trivia — A Sentence I Wish I Wrote

We’re sticking with the villain theme. Here’s a line from a famous antagonist. Who said it? Tap your best guess.