How to write compelling villains

YA fantasy novelist Vanessa Len looks at how to create the antagonists in your stories and make them ring true.

In Alien, Ellen Ripley transforms from an ordinary crew member to a hero when faced with her acid-blooded antagonists. A compelling villain can make a hero shine. But how do you create a memorable villain?

First, let’s consider the role of heroes and villains in a hero’s journey narrative.

In this structure, we meet our hero in their ordinary world, often among their friends and family. From the beginning, we’re primed to view the story from the hero’s perspective. We experience the world through their reactions and emotions.

But what about a villain’s role in the narrative?

Villains provide an alternative view of the world, and crucially they provide stakes (they threaten the hero’s ordinary world, often including the hero’s loved ones). As the major antagonist in the story, the villain is often the only character other than the hero with genuine agency (they can make decisions that affect the plot).

In fact, the villain tends to drive the first part of the story, while the hero reacts. For example, in Star Wars, Luke Skywalker’s call to adventure (a plea for help from Princess Leia) is a direct result of the actions of Darth Vader, who has captured Leia. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo is given a dangerous ring, created by the villain, Sauron, and must go on a journey to destroy it.

So how do you craft a memorable villain?

In general, compelling villains have an interesting origin story (an event that put them on the path to villainy); a clear perspective on the world (usually one that contrasts with the hero’s); and clear motivations for their actions.

They are also difficult to defeat – the more powerful, competent and implacable the villain, the more danger we feel. Additionally, memorable villains may have a distinctive appearance (for example, Darth Vader’s helmet; the Joker’s clownish makeup).

Consider your genre here: a comic-book supervillain would generally be more extreme in their origin story, motivations and appearance than a villain in a rivals-at-school story.

When developing your villain, you’ll also want to consider their relationship with the hero. Here, there are three main kinds of villain: mirror villains (in which the villain and hero have similar abilities and backgrounds); foil villains (in which the villain’s strengths match the hero’s weaknesses); and villains, or antagonists, that evoke feelings of primal fear in the hero (such as the aliens from Aliens and the shark from Jaws).

Mirror villains share strengths, and often histories, with the story’s hero. (For example, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Moriarty both have superintelligence; the Doctor and the Master from Doctor Who were childhood friends and have similar abilities.)

Mirror villains can offer insights into the hero’s character, particularly if they share a backstory and then took different paths in life. Consider what caused them to diverge from the hero. Did they fall away because of a different view of the world? Were they tempted away or hurt? Are they seeking revenge? Can they be convinced by the hero to change their ways? Could they tempt the hero from a righteous path?

Foil villains are opposites to the hero. These hero–villain pairs often have contrasting appearances and personalities, and come from very different backgrounds. (For example, Katniss Everdeen and President Snow from The Hunger Games represent youth versus age; poverty versus wealth; powerlessness versus power; and idealism versus cynicism.)

When creating foil villains, consider how the villain’s strengths can work against the hero’s weaknesses to make them a formidable opponent; and how their view of the world can render them unmoving against the hero’s ideals. Also consider how you can create connections between the hero and villain to make the relationship more compelling. Are they related (secretly or otherwise)? Did the hero harm the villain in some way in their past, or did the villain harm the hero? Does the hero remind the villain of someone they once knew?

The third kind of villain evokes primal fears of injury, death, abandonment, loss of autonomy, mass extinction and existential terror of the vast unknown (or all of the above, in the case of Alien). These kinds of antagonists can be hungry monsters (such as the shark in Jaws or serial killers), or forces that can’t be reasoned with (such as supernatural evils and apocalyptic events). When creating this kind of antagonist, consider how it activates the hero’s own backstory, including any personal traumas and fears.

About the author
Vanessa Len is an internationally bestselling Australian author and educational editor who has worked on everything from language learning programs to STEM resources to professional learning for teachers. Her series ‘Only a Monster’ has been translated into ten languages; it follows a monster who must fight against a hero to save herself and her family. The final book in the series, Once a Villain, was published on August 21 2025 with Hodderscape. You can visit the author online at: vanessalen.com