How To Write A Terrifying Villain — The Boys

Summary

This video script delves into the art of crafting a terrifying villain, using Homelander from 'The Boys' as a prime example. It explores the importance of power imbalance, credible motivation, a history of evil deeds, and the element of surprise in creating suspense and fear. The script emphasizes the role of uncertainty in making villains unpredictable and frightening, suggesting that characters with competing motivations offer richer drama and suspense.

Takeaways

• 😈 Homelander from 'The Boys' is considered a terrifying villain due to the unbearable tension he creates on screen.
• 💪 The presence of a significant power imbalance between the hero and the villain often leads to more suspenseful and terrifying confrontations.
• 🧠 Homelander's character has a special edge due to the psychological depth and unpredictability that surpasses other villains like the Joker or Darth Vader.
• 🤔 The audience's fear is heightened when the villain is more powerful, making the outcome of conflicts not just credible but probable.
• 🚫 Even with great power, a villain needs a credible motivation for their actions to be truly terrifying; power alone is not enough.
• 📚 The recommendation of 'Bird by Bird' by Anne Lambert for writers to improve their craft and conduct.
• 🔪 A villain's history of evil actions lends them credibility and makes the audience more inclined to fear their potential for harm.
• 🤷‍♂️ The unpredictability of a villain's actions is a key component of their terror; uncertainty keeps the audience on edge.
• 🤯 Homelander's unpredictability is further enhanced by his narcissism, which creates a conflict between his desire for power and his need to be loved.
• 👻 The fear of the unknown is a powerful tool in creating suspense and terror, whether in villains or horror movie monsters.
• 🎭 The importance of not relying on clichés or lazy writing, such as making a villain insane without a clear rationale, to create uncertainty and terror.

Q & A

What makes Homelander a terrifying villain in 'The Boys'?

Homelander is a terrifying villain due to a combination of factors including his immense power, credible motivation for committing evil, a history of evil actions, and the uncertainty surrounding his unpredictable behavior.

Why is the power imbalance between a hero and a villain important in creating suspense?

A power imbalance is crucial in creating suspense because when a villain is significantly more powerful, the audience is not just curious about the outcome but genuinely fearful that the villain might win or cause harm, making the situation more suspenseful and terrifying.

How does a villain's history of evil actions contribute to their scariness?

A villain's history of evil actions provides context and credibility, making the audience more inclined to believe that they are capable of causing harm to the main characters, thus increasing the fear factor.

What is the role of uncertainty in making a villain terrifying?

Uncertainty is key in making a villain terrifying because it keeps the audience on edge, not knowing what the villain will do next. This unpredictability is a major source of suspense and terror.

How does the character Thanos differ from Homelander in terms of scariness?

While Thanos is powerful, he is not as inherently scary as Homelander because he has a specific motivation for his actions and does not act maliciously without reason. Homelander, on the other hand, is unpredictable and acts on a whim, which is more terrifying.

What is the significance of a villain's motivation in their characterization?

A villain's motivation is significant as it provides a rationale for their actions. A well-defined motivation helps the audience understand why the villain behaves the way they do and adds depth to their character.

Why is it difficult to make a villain with less power than the hero scary?

It is challenging to make a less powerful villain scary because the audience may not fear their actions if the hero can easily stop them, diminishing the suspense and terror.

How does the element of surprise contribute to the suspense in a scene involving a villain?

The element of surprise contributes to suspense by catching the audience off guard, making them question what will happen next and heightening the tension in the scene.

What is the importance of a villain's mental condition in their unpredictability?

A villain's mental condition can make them unpredictable if it is well-defined and influences their actions in a consistent yet complex manner, making it difficult for the audience to anticipate their behavior.

How does the fear of the unknown play a role in creating suspenseful scenes?

The fear of the unknown is a powerful tool in creating suspense as it taps into the audience's imagination, making them fill in the blanks with their worst fears, thus increasing the tension and terror.

What is the role of a villain's public image in Homelander's character?

Homelander's public image is crucial to his character as he is a narcissist who cares deeply about how he is perceived. This creates a conflict between his desire for power and his need for love and admiration, adding depth and unpredictability to his actions.

Outlines

00:00

😈 The Art of Crafting a Terrifying Villain

This paragraph explores the elements that make Homelander from 'The Boys' a uniquely terrifying villain, contrasting him with other well-known antagonists like the Joker and Darth Vader. It delves into the importance of power imbalances in hero-villain conflicts and how a villain's unpredictability, motivation, and history of evil actions contribute to their scariness. The paragraph also touches on the psychological aspects of fear, suggesting that a villain's power can be more than physical and can extend to other forms of control or influence.

05:01

📚 Embracing Uncertainty: The Key to a Villain's Terror

The speaker recommends 'Bird by Bird' by Anne Lamott and 'On Writing' by Stephen King as valuable resources for writers, before diving into the concept of uncertainty as a pivotal element in creating a terrifying villain. They discuss how a villain's unpredictability keeps the audience in suspense and how a history of evil deeds lends credibility to their threat. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of surrounding the villain with an aura of the unknown to maximize their terror on screen.

10:02

🎭 The Power of Predictability and its Absence in Villainy

This section examines the difference between suspense and terror, highlighting how predictability can diminish a villain's scariness. It uses Homelander's confrontation with a SWAT team as an example of a scene that lacks terror due to its predictability, contrasting it with scenes where the outcome is uncertain. The paragraph also discusses the psychological impact of the fear of the unknown and its role in crafting suspenseful narratives.

15:04

🤯 Strategies for Injecting Uncertainty into Villainous Characters

The speaker suggests various techniques for making villains unpredictable, such as deriving suspense from whether the villain possesses critical information or has a hair-trigger temperament. They caution against making villains too volatile or insane without a clear motivation, as this can come across as lazy writing. The paragraph emphasizes the need for a well-defined framework within the villain's psychology to ensure their actions are consistent and believable.

20:06

🧩 The Complexity of Villainous Motivations

This paragraph discusses the complexity of a villain's motivations and how conflicting desires can make a character more dramatic and suspenseful. It uses Homelander's dual motivations of wanting to be loved and exerting power through violence as an example of how these conflicting traits create an unpredictable and engaging character. The speaker advises writers to avoid making their characters too consistent, as this can lead to a loss of suspense and terror.

25:08

🌐 The Broader Implications of Character Motivation

The final paragraph expands on the idea that characters with competing motivations are inherently more dramatic, applicable not only to villains but also to protagonists. It suggests that this unpredictability generates more suspense around a character's actions. The speaker invites viewers to join their Discord server for writers to further discuss character development and other writing-related topics, and they also recommend using Audible for daily listening to enhance writing skills.

Keywords

💡Homelander

Homelander is a central character from the TV series 'The Boys,' portrayed as a terrifying and powerful villain. He is the focal point of the video's discussion on creating compelling and terrifying villains. His unpredictability and power imbalance make him a character that the audience dreads and fears, as he can act without consequence.

💡Villain

The term 'villain' refers to a character in a story who is the antagonist, often engaging in evil or immoral actions. In the context of the video, the script discusses the attributes that make a villain truly terrifying, such as power, motivation, and unpredictability, using Homelander as a prime example.

💡Power Imbalance

Power imbalance refers to a situation where one character has significantly more power than another, creating tension and suspense. The video uses this concept to explain why certain villain-hero confrontations are more suspenseful, as the audience is uncertain about the outcome due to the disparity in power.

💡Suspense

Suspense is a feeling of excitement or anxiety caused by something unknown or unforeseen. The script discusses how suspense is created through the uncertainty of a villain's actions, particularly when they possess a power imbalance and have a credible motivation for evil.

💡Uncertainty

Uncertainty in the script refers to the unpredictability of a villain's actions, which is a key element in making them terrifying. The video emphasizes that when a villain's motives and actions are unpredictable, it heightens the fear and suspense for the audience.

💡Narcissism

Narcissism is a personality trait characterized by self-centeredness and a need for admiration. In the context of Homelander, his narcissism drives his actions and contributes to his unpredictability. The video explains how this trait can create a complex and terrifying villain when it conflicts with other desires, such as being loved.

💡Motivation

Motivation in the script refers to the reasons behind a character's actions, particularly for committing evil deeds. A well-defined motivation is essential for creating a believable and terrifying villain, as it provides context and depth to their actions, making them more relatable and frightening.

💡Fear of the Unknown

The fear of the unknown is a fundamental human fear that arises from not knowing what to expect or understand. The video script uses this concept to explain why uncertainty in a villain's actions is so effective in creating terror, as it plays on the audience's innate fear of unpredictability and the unforeseen.

💡Dramatic Potential

Dramatic potential refers to the capacity of a character or situation to create compelling drama. The script discusses how a villain with competing motivations, like Homelander's desire for power and love, increases their dramatic potential by making their actions less predictable and more engaging.

💡Hannibal Lecter

Hannibal Lecter is a character from 'The Silence of the Lambs' who is used in the script as an example of a villain with a history of evil deeds. His past actions and the horror they inspire contribute to the audience's fear and make him a more terrifying character.

💡Competing Motivations

Competing motivations refer to multiple desires or goals that a character may have, which are often in conflict with each other. The script uses this concept to explain how a villain with such conflicting desires, like Homelander's need for power and admiration, can create a more complex and suspenseful character dynamic.

Highlights

Homelander from 'The Boys' is considered one of the most terrifying villains due to the unbearable tension he creates on screen.

The concept of power imbalance is crucial in creating suspenseful and terrifying villain-hero conflicts.

Characters like Darth Vader and Homelander are more terrifying due to their significantly greater power compared to the hero.

The unpredictability of a villain's actions, especially when they possess immense power, is a key element in making them scary.

Homelander's unpredictability and shocking behavior contribute to his terrifying nature, unlike some villains who are less suspenseful.

A villain's history of evil actions provides context that makes them more believable and frightening.

Uncertainty surrounding a villain, such as unknown motivations or unpredictable behavior, is a primary source of terror for the audience.

The fear of the unknown is a powerful tool in creating suspense and terror, whether in villainous characters or horror scenarios.

Creating a villain with a hair trigger can be effective but should be used carefully to avoid clichés and maintain unpredictability.

Villains should not act randomly just because they are mad; their actions should still have a clear motivation and make sense within their pathology.

The character of Hans Landa in 'Inglourious Basterds' exemplifies the use of suspense derived from whether the villain knows key information.

Homelander's dual motivations of wanting to be loved and being a narcissistic killer create an internal conflict that enhances his unpredictability.

A villain's public image and perception can be a powerful tool for creating tension and uncertainty in their actions.

The balance between a villain's incompatible desires can create dramatic potential and suspense.

Writers are encouraged to join a community for discussions, workshops, and sharing ideas related to writing.

Audible is recommended for writers to multitask and consume literature while performing other activities.

Transcripts

homelander is the most terrifying

villain i've ever seen every time he's

on screen in the boys the tension is

unbearable and the audience can't help

but dread what he'll do next there is

something really special going on under

the hood of homelanders character that

gives him a major edge over characters

like joker and darth vader and today

we'll be exploring what that is as well

as tackling the question of how do you

actually write a terrifying villain well

firstly i like to think there are two

kinds of hero villain conflict one where

the power levels are pretty close and

the other with the power levels are

vastly different take for example when

captain america fights bucky in the

winter soldier in this fight they're

very similarly skilled and yes there's a

compelling struggle as to who'll win but

it's when there is a true power

imbalance when darth vader ignites his

lightsaber and stares down the terrified

rebels when homelander confronts oh well

pretty much any other character in the

boys or when omniman fights invincible

or in a less combat-oriented kind of

conflict when hans lander the german

colonel stares down the powerless french

farmer generally these kinds of

confrontations have way more suspense

than the former hanslander is a

considerably more terrifying villain

than the winter soldier in their

respective scenes because the relative

power difference is so much greater but

when we have iron man and captain

america duking it out we're on the edge

of our seats asking who will win this

fight but when homelander is furious a

character we care about we don't ask

who's gonna win the fight the power

differential is so insane that we know

there won't even be a fight we instead

ask what will the villain choose to do

knowing that what they choose to do is

exactly what is going to happen when you

have a villain just as powerful as your

hero that can work great for your story

and don't get me wrong it can be quite

scary what's going to happen but when

you have a villain be quite a bit more

powerful now things are getting scary

we're genuinely fearful the villain will

win such as iron man fighting thanos but

it's when the villain is ridiculously

more powerful than the hero that is when

they become truly terrifying as the idea

that the villain will get everything

they want that the main characters may

die it feels more than just credible but

probable and again don't perceive power

to be too literal here yes it can be in

the terms of having laser eyes or being

a super soldier but it can also take any

other form of power perhaps a boss who

can fire their employee and ruin their

life you could even pull this off in a

toxic relationship where the

manipulative character has complete

control over the others finances giving

them total power over them one thing's

for sure though if your villain has less

power than your hero you're going to

have a very hard time making them a

scary one there's a reason why you

almost never see stories do this because

how can we fear what the villain will do

when the hero can stop them with total

ease but then again one punch man does

exist so uh even if you do go against

this rule you still can tell a great

story but while a power differential

really does grease the wheels in terms

of making them terrifying it's not

everything it's only one piece of a

larger picture i mean when you see

homelander in a scene with literally

anyone else we feel dread around what

he'll do but then you compare that to

thanos someone who's also ridiculously

powerful and there are quite a few

scenes where he isn't really that scary

for example when he chats with gamora

about his plans in infinity war both of

these heroes are arguably the most

powerful person in their respective

universes but why is that scene just not

very suspenseful when homelanders

routinely are in the boys clearly power

isn't everything here and i reckon

what's missing is that thanos is not

like joker or vader or homelander his

personality is what matters here not

just because he loves gamora but because

he isn't the sort to kill someone

without a strong reason for someone

who's seeking to kill trillions of

people he will only do evil in the name

of what he perceives to be the greater

good

only if he deems it absolutely necessary

you could go up to thanos and punch him

straight in the face if you wanted if

your death does nothing to help him

achieve his end goals he can actually be

relied upon most of the time to spare

you thanos despite his incredible power

level is not as inherently scary as

other villains we know and love because

he needs to have his motivations be

properly set up in each scene otherwise

we won't be terrified by him but compare

that gamora seen to the others where he

confronts star-lord or doctor strange

and now suddenly those scenes are filled

with suspense thanos is now incredibly

terrifying because he's hitting all the

criteria the power differential is huge

and crucially these guys are in the way

of his end goal so he's got his

motivation to do harm established which

introduces the prospect that something

terrible will probably happen to our

characters

villains like these can go down

incredibly well but even if your villain

is powerful and has the motivation to

inflict harm that's still barely

scratching the surface of what makes a

villain a scary one and i want to

recommend something to you guys because

this week i've been reading bird by bird

by anne lambert and i've gotten a lot

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king's on writing less so craft more so

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closer look to 500 500 but back to it if

you want to create a villain who's

reliably terrifying like homelander well

all they have to do is be on screen and

that's enough to get the audience racked

with anxiety another great thing is to

give them a history of evil all too

often you'll have a villain who may tick

off all of the previous things like

having power and having a good

motivation but even then they're not too

terrifying because they've never really

done anything terribly evil before a lot

of kids cartoons have this problem where

it's um a villain may be incredibly

powerful and will have a great

motivation to do something evil but it's

incredibly hard to be terrified by them

because they've never actually done

anything like terribly bad but then you

compare that to say uh the silence of

the lambs where we see a hannibal lecter

and yes the performance is terrifying

and it's a very well written script but

what makes hannibal so much more

terrifying is the knowledge of the

despicable repugnant things he's done of

put him into this high security prison

when a villain has a history a context

of doing horribly evil things it gives

them a certain credibility which makes

the audience more inclined to believe

that they may do something truly

horrible to our characters uh homelander

again takes all of these off with flying

colours he's made all the more

terrifying by the context around him by

the despicable things he's done like

killing a gunman who's already

surrendered to him by allowing a whole

plane full of people to die by burning

the brains out of the woman he

supposedly loved and god i'm going to

have to be uh so careful when i edit

this aren't i to make sure i'm not

demonetized by all the gore but there we

go that's point three on the list give

them a history of evil and yes we're

doing a list now apparently and again

point one is to give them power and

point two is to give them a credible

motivation for committing evil but

here's what i believe to be the most

effective way by far to make any

villains scary in fact i think it's so

important a thing to get right the

entire rest of this video will be

nothing but breaking this fourth point

down and that is to surround your

villain with uncertainty whether is a

great deal around the villain that is

unknown it's when we don't understand a

villain or at the very least can't

predict what they'll do next it's when

you as a writer ensure that uncertainty

is around them in whatever form that may

come that is when any villain is at

their most terrifying to your audience

like one thing's for sure homelander has

this quality in spades he is endlessly

surprising us and this the fact his

character is so good at just shocking

and surprising the audience again and

again is a major part maybe even the

most important part as to why he's so

scary uh of case and point when he meets

that blind superhero when everyone is

all smiles it's all going great this guy

is meeting his hero homelander he's

smiling back like oh this is actually

quite a nice moment

that is until suddenly what happens if

uh i don't know if i do this

and it got a reaction out of everyone

like it works great because if we had i

don't know like a tarantino-esque

build-up of tension where he's making

his hatred for the disabled known and

he's he's acting all sinister and saying

ominous things we would have seen it

coming and not doing that going for the

shock over suspense approach reinforces

the idea that homelander is truly

unpredictable like he's capable of

murdering anyone at a moment's notice

with no apparent reason it'll make

perfect sense after as to why he did it

in this case we realize that he hates

ordinary heroes enough anyway as they're

all weaker than him but this guy is just

an insult in homelanders eyes he's

disabled after all and how can someone

as pathetic as him dare claim to be a

hero and aspire to join the seven no

less he should have known his place

that's what was going through

homelanders mind because his mere

existence triggered homelanders

narcissism in all the wrong ways but

interestingly we learned this motivation

after the act not before and because of

that as well as because of the many

other moments like this how he murders

so many people at the drop of a hat they

reinforce the idea that he could kill

anyone he's with on screen which again

plays back into point three because

we're acutely aware of the degree of

evil of which he is capable but we've

seen no end of scenes where homelander

basically just sits someone down and

there's a threat that oh he might hurt

them he just might kill them and terror

is derived from that but what i feel is

a scene that's way more interesting to

look at here and what reveals something

fascinating about writing terrifying

characters is the one at the end of

season two where he confronts a swat

team inside his home and despite the

fact this scene ticks off every prior

point you know the power differential is

insane uh he has this history and

context of doing evil he's got a great

motivation to inflict harm there's very

little suspense in this scene it had

very little terror but by all means

though this is a fun scene like it's

perfectly entertaining but compared to

his other scenes it's just not very

scary and yes a part of the reason why

is obviously that we just don't care

about these characters right they're

basically red shirts who we don't care

if they die but i reckon the main reason

why is because this scene failed to tick

off point four on the terrifying villain

checklist because the outcome of the

scene is entirely predictable like he's

already been riled up because he was

lured away from his house with a sonic

noise and when he comes back he finds

his son missing and a swat team in his

stead and when homelander just calmly

closes the door like we know everyone in

the room is already dead like there's no

question about it and the fact we know

that robs the scene of the terror and

suspense it could have otherwise had and

i know this is a really odd comparison

to make but when you have an illness

right you've got some persistent symptom

that's just never going away knowing

precisely what the cause is is

infinitely easier to deal with mentally

than having absolutely no clue like even

if the diagnosis is rather grim because

it's the not knowing it's when you have

no clue what's going on or what's about

to happen that is the most terrifying

thing in the universe the fear of the

unknown in this scene it wasn't terribly

scary because every last thing was known

it was totally predictable that they'd

all die a fact the writers seemed to

know full well as they skipped showing

the fight entirely and just cut to him

walking out later smeared in blood but

in order to go deeper here on why

uncertainty is such a terrifying thing

and why you should always ask how you

can inject more of it into any given

scene of yours is how suspense and

terror go hand in hand so often that you

might as well think of them as the same

thing if we had to define it in a

practical term suspense is fundamentally

a question the question of will x

terrible thing happen or will it not and

skimp out on including this at your

story's peril because when you boil it

down this question is at the heart of

all great stories will they save private

ryan will woody and buzz make their way

back to andy's house will the characters

survive jurassic park and so on it's the

probability of us getting a bad answer

to those questions changing over the

course of any given scene or story that

is the increasing or decreasing level of

suspense and correspondingly terror for

all intents and purposes the shifting

probability of getting a bad answer to

the core question is the rising action

of any given story or at least that's

the way i perceive it but here's the

thing if suspense is all about

uncertainty and if your villain can

always be relied upon to act with malice

suddenly your villain is no longer that

terrifying like they're not suspenseful

anymore because now the audience can

predict everything they ever do and

because suspense is so tightly linked

with terror in a sort of way a

predictable villain is rarely a

terrifying one for exactly this reason

but how do you make your villains

unpredictable like what are some

practical ways you can inject

uncertainty into their makeup well there

are so many different ways i couldn't

even dream of listing them all here a

proven and great approach is to derive

it from whether or not the villain knows

key information which would prove

disastrous should they turn out to know

it the main question of whether or not

they know this certain thing can be fuel

for great suspense a case in point

pretty much all of hanslander's scenes

in inglorious bastards do exactly this

or you could derive it from whether or

not they'll kill someone after they've

triggered homelanders narcissism you can

even derive uncertainty from whether or

not a coin toss will turn out to be

heads or tails provided you've set up

what's at stake before the coin is

flipped another method you can take is

to give them a hair trigger where they

do depraved things even when given only

the lightest motivation while this is a

potentially great approach a god knows

homelander is like this don't take it

too far for example if you have a

villain who kills his underlings every

time they ever make even a minor mistake

that gets all quite fast and is honestly

pretty cliche did you guys know that in

return of the jedi there was a scene

where darth vader strangles yet another

imperial officer but lucas deleted it

because he recognized that vader

strangling his underlings as routinely

as one brushes one's own teeth was

getting pretty boring to watch like even

homelander routinely spares ashley

because yes she's annoyed him many times

so much so he'd definitely kill her if

she was anyone else but she's just too

useful for him to kill off i'm just

saying having your villain killing their

underlings doesn't make them terrifying

it makes them just look like a woefully

incompetent employer so uh probably

don't do it too often but this is a

possible approach for you to take

establish very clearly that if they're

given a reason for malevolence and no

matter how slight no matter how tiny

someone disrespecting them someone

simply saying the word no to them they

have the capacity to act upon that with

the utmost prejudice doing so will mean

they're less like thanos and more like

homelander where all they have to do is

merely exist in the scene and suddenly

everyone's walking on eggshells trying

desperately to not piss them off and the

moment someone says something even

slightly poorly worded homelander just

gives them a dead stare and the tension

ratchets way up for it this being said i

i can't help but think that hans lander

is also a terrifying villain but he

doesn't really have a hair trigger does

he he's a relatively composed guy who

has full self-control yet he's widely

acknowledged as one of cinema's most

scary antagonists so giving them a

volatile personality seems to be an

optional yet perfectly tenable way

nonetheless to make your villain a

terrifying one oh wait uh now i'm

remembering eddie redmayne's character

in jupiter ascending well they did

exactly this and he just screamed all

the time and it didn't make him scary it

more just made him come across as a uh

pathetic man-child

double security deployment to destroy

any ship that comes near the planet

i think a big part of why that villain

is such a weak one is because he was so

volatile it made him come across as

completely incompetent

like congratulations you've made him

unpredictable and you've done it at the

expense of making him so incapable of

self-control and being so childishly

immature it's hard to not laugh every

time he's on screen

i create life

and i destroy it

so be careful with this one while it's

true that volatility is a trait that

works great in some villains it's not

necessary for them to be scary and it

even has the potential to backfire

horribly if you go too far with it

another way writers totally fail at

injecting uncertainty into their

villains is by making them insane now

obviously it's perfectly fine to write

mad characters but the problem here

arises because the writer may treat

their madness as free license for them

to do literally anything to act randomly

to effectively commit the cardinal sin

of characterization that is to have a

character who doesn't have a motivation

for what they do because being mad on

its own is not just a bad motivation it

doesn't even classify as a motivation

thankfully most writers don't make this

mistake though when they're writing in

the same villains but i feel it's a

common enough mistake that it's worth

bringing up here look i hate to break it

to those writers and i also hate to

break it to eddie redmayne but that

isn't the way the human brain works even

if someone is clinically insane they

will have their own unique pathology and

within that pathology they will be

consistent and they will have a

motivation for all they do like while

it's a perfectly fine approach to have a

truly volatile villain who needs only

like the tiniest of motivations to

inflict harm never under any

circumstances have it so they don't

actually need a motivation and

especially never justify nonsensical

choices by saying well they're mad

therefore i can be as lazy as i like

with my writing like that right there is

incredibly lazy writing because you're

not doing your due diligence i'd say if

you're writing an insane character and

you don't even know what the condition

is they're suffering from or at least

the terrible philosophy that drives them

you're doing something wrong instead

make the effort to establish a framework

they think within their pathology and

have everything they do make sense

within that pathology look at the joker

from the dark knight christ i

i can't go two videos without mentioning

this bloody film can i but he has a very

well established nihilism about him with

alfred talking about how some men want

to watch the world burn and this

motivates all he does a then look at no

country for old men like that film has

an absolutely bone chilling villain and

he's a textbook psychopath a purely

selfish man who cares only for his

personal benefit and by the way like the

coen brothers absolutely nailed

psychopathy in this film while other

writers take the laziest path and have

their villain act randomly because and

only because well they're mad the coen

brothers did their research and they

couldn't have done a more perfect job at

depicting someone with this condition

like everything javier bardem's

character says and does in this film is

something a true-to-life psychopath

might do in the real world he is an

unpredictable villain one with a major

mental condition yet everything he does

makes sense nothing is unmotivated like

honestly no country for old men is a

great example of another way to

introduce uncertainty into a villain

because when you nail a mental condition

such as this these kinds of characters

become terrifying in their own unique

way because yes they have their

well-defined pathology but the audience

doesn't quite grasp exactly how that

pathology works which means we never

quite know what they'll do next if you

don't understand the character that

means you can't predict them and that

makes them all the more terrifying this

advice applies to writing horror too as

well as writing great villains because

look at aliens in the scene where the

marines are creeping through that alien

nest it's a terrifying scene because

it's using this approach this scene is

suspenseful not just because they're you

know about to be attacked it's also

because we're glimpsing a whole aspect

of this monster's life cycle we've never

seen before we know exactly what the

xenomorph looks like we saw one in the

prior movie but nonetheless they're

terrifying here because the audience and

the characters once thought they

understood these monsters but now

realize they have no clue what they're

up against

what is that

i don't know

the fear of the unknown is the greatest

fear of them all and great writers will

not just exploit this fear when writing

in horror but also in general when

writing terrifying villains no matter

what genre they're in and if you're

writing a monster for a horror story all

of these points still apply just as much

ensure that somehow there is incredible

uncertainty around the monster whether

it be us not knowing where the monster

is as our heroes navigate the

never-ending jungle in predator or us

not knowing the gruesome details of

their life cycle like in the alien

series or the sheer paranoia of

determining who the monster is

masquerading as in the thing

that right there is how you make truly

great horror as an aside i've seen a

fair few film critics say that you must

never show the monster on screen else it

will ruin the audience's fear of them

like as an ironclad rule only show

partial glimpses of the monster and save

the full body shot of them until the

climax this i think is frankly bollocks

this is terrible advice because it's

failing to display a full understanding

of the issue as an example look at the

thing what many people claim as the most

terrifying movie they've ever seen yet

we see the monster fully in action fully

on screen time and time again throughout

that film worked so well because john

carpenter understood its uncertainty

around the monster that makes them scary

not the ability to merely see them with

your eyes and that runs contrary to what

some people out there would have you

believe but to boil the entirety of 0.4

down into a single sentence uncertainty

in the villain is invariably terrifying

inconsistency however is always to be

avoided but on this whole topic of

unpredictability there's a really

important lesson we can take away from

homelander on this one because why is

homelander just so much more scary than

other villains what specifically makes

him so unique well firstly he ticks off

every single point we've mentioned so

far in the video but there's something a

lot more going on under the hood of his

character it's not how he's fine with

mass murder in gbh because there are so

many characters in fiction who are fine

with all of that what makes him so much

more scary is because he has incredible

motivation to not indulge in those

things he's a through and through

narcissist who cares incredibly about

how people perceive him he loves to

murder people for it reinforces the idea

that he is indeed superior he loves

exerting power by harming others because

it bolsters his perception that yes he

really is the most fabulously perfect

living thing on planet earth however he

also loves being loved in fact arguably

loves that more than he does killing and

if he indulges in that first love of his

too much it will ruin his public image

the one thing he cares about most in the

world it's all narcissism but these two

sides of his narcissism compete against

each other in all the right ways like

it's kind of yin yang like these two

motivations of his are endlessly

battling against one another maximizing

his dramatic potential as a character as

we truly don't know which side will win

out giving him an unpredictable quality

that villains like darth vader for

example

simply don't have it feels kind of

inevitable that at some point down the

line homelander is going to break bad

fully abandoned his efforts to be loved

and become a tyrant that everyone fears

it's going to happen at some point but i

reckon the creators should do everything

in their power to stave that off until

the very final season of the boys to

keep homelander in his current status

quo for as long as possible because if

the show does go down that path of him

trying you know trying to take over the

world all of a sudden homelander is now

way less suspenseful as a villain

because he's now lost these two

competing motivations now that isn't to

say he'll suddenly become a boring

character

but it is to say this finely tuned

balance of incompatible desires will be

completely gone when this happens and

instead he'll now have these two highly

compatible motivations to kill those he

doesn't like and be feared those two

would naturally feed into each other

making him far more predictable meaning

the scenes he's in are a hell of a lot

less terrifying for it

but that's another important takeaway we

can get from homelanders character and

it's so important actually it's bleeding

out from the main topic of terrifying

villains and in how to do good

characters in general any given

character who has multiple motivations

that compete against each other is

inherently more dramatic a character

than someone who merely has

one even if this person is your

protagonist if one of their motivations

is good and the other evil and the two

cannot be fulfilled at the same time the

unpredictability that generates means

there's gonna be so much more suspense

around what they'll do as opposed to

someone who merely has one motivation no

matter how evil that motivation is but

if you want to carry on the conversation

don't bother with making a comment

because i've got a discord server geared

for writers and we talk about you know

our characters and we work shop ideas

and all as well as all the movies we

like anyway i'm on this server every day

so if you want to talk about this video

ask me questions and frankly just

discuss any writing related issue you're

dealing with me and my growing community

of writers would love to have you on our

server and there is a link down below in

the description also if you haven't

checked out audible already i really do

recommend you give their site a go i

genuinely use audible daily because it's

just so useful to me and you can find a

link for that in the description too but

anyway thanks for watching keep writing

and i'll see you guys next time on the

closer look