Villains vs. Antagonists

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

 (This post is excerpted from my upcoming craft book, The Villain’s Journey ~ How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate)

What is the difference between a villain and an antagonist? This question confuses many writers.

In the simplest terms: Villains are antagonists, but antagonists are not necessarily villains.

Antagonists don’t have to be bad guys with evil or malicious intent. They simply stand between the hero and the hero’s quest. They are obstacles the hero must overcome to achieve a goal.

Every genre needs antagonists. Without them, a story falls flat for lack of conflict.

Photo credit: public domain

The antagonist can be:

  • A rival (two suitors vying for the same lover)
  • An opponent (two sports teams fighting for a championship)
  • A competitor (Microsoft vs. Apple)
  • A situation or event (earthquake, volcanic eruption, hurricane, flood, wildfire, pandemic, war)
  • Self-doubt inside the hero.

Here are a few examples of antagonists that don’t have malicious intent.

  • In Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, sharks strip the meat from Santiago’s magnificent marlin. They are hungry, not evil.
  • In Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, Fern’s father isn’t being mean when he picks up an axe to dispatch a runt piglet. He’s a farmer trying to provide for his family.
  • In Sylvester Stallone’s film Rocky, Apollo Creed isn’t wicked. He’s a boxing champ protecting his title against underdog Rocky Balboa. In fact, the two opponents later become friends.

Various Genre Examples of Antagonists:

Romance needs someone or something that keeps the lovers apart.

  • In Romeo and Juliet, parents forbid the lovers from seeing each other.
  • In Casablanca, Rick, Ilsa, and Victor grapple with conflicts of love, loyalty, and duty during war.

Fiction for young readers often teaches life lessons like how to recover from failure, survive family breakups, or develop self-confidence.

  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney spans 19 books about middle-schooler Greg Heffley who suffers bullying, struggles with adolescence, and endures the trials of growing up.
  • Harry Potter begins as a powerless, downtrodden orphan. Through seven books, he discovers and develops his powers as a wizard, using his growing knowledge and strength to vanquish foes and come to terms with death.

Charles Dickens – public domain

Historical fiction captures the conflicts of a particular era.

  • Charles Dickens’s novels address social/political issues like children’s rights (Oliver Twist), revolution (Tale of Two Cities), and judicial reform (Bleak House).
  • John Steinbeck’s novels like Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row spotlight the effects of the Great Depression.
  • In Winds of War and War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk shows families caught in peril during World War II.

Mainstream fiction is an umbrella term for stories that explore the struggles of the human condition:

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
  • The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (features rape and murder therefore could also be considered crime fiction)

Photo credit: NASA

Science Fiction and Fantasy showcase imaginary worlds with unfamiliar, antagonistic  landscapes characters must navigate.

  • J.R.R. Tolkien explores Middle Earth.
  • Harry Potter studies at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
  • Star Trek and Star Wars “go where no man [or woman] has gone before.”

A major challenge for writers is how to characterize a villain without resorting to two-dimensional stereotypes. Snidely Whiplash is fun in cartoons but not all that interesting to crime fiction readers.

Snidely Whiplash

Try reframing the way you look at your villains. Instead of seeing them as evil, think of them first as antagonists. Climb into their skin and see the situation from their point of view.

Most villains feel their behavior, however horrible, is justified. Their reasoning may not make sense to you or me but, to them, it does. They view the hero as a rival, opponent, or competitor who threatens them or stands in the way of what they want or need.

Numerous authors have said, “The villain is the hero of their own story.”

Author Chris Colfer says, “The villain is a victim whose story hasn’t been told.”

Summing up:

Stories require conflict.

Antagonists provide that conflict.

All stories need an antagonist. Not all stories need a villain.

Villains are antagonists, but antagonists are not necessarily villains.

~~~

TKZers: Does your current work in progress have an antagonist or a villain?

As a reader, what do you prefer? Stories with a clearcut villain to boo? Or stories with antagonists who are more difficult to pin down? Or another variation?

~~~

Want to learn more about Debbie Burke’s upcoming book? Click the title for details about The Villain’s Journey ~ How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate.

16 thoughts on “Villains vs. Antagonists”

  1. Thinking about what I write, I lean toward antagonists rather than clear-cut villains, especially since I never include POVs other than the protagonists. (Except for once.)

    • Terry, I also like complex antagonists. My characters don’t necessarily set out to do wrong but are driven by greed, jealousy, fear, etc. to step over the line into crime. They don’t ever see themselves as villains.

  2. I think a good way to create a believable villain is to give him/her a mission that makes sense for his life. I’m working on one now where he is trying to improve his kinds situation. The problem is that he is a werewolf and kills humans.

  3. I lean more toward villains. Then again, my favorite villain morphed into an anti-hero. You never know what can happen when you create a villain readers end up rooting for! 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • Bwa-ha-ha, Sue! Your answer doesn’t surprise me one bit. I really like how you’ve developed Mr. Mayhem–a polite, vigilante serial killer on a mission.

  4. Good morning, Debbie! Great info about the villain vs. the antagonist. (I love the title of your post.)

    In my four mystery novels, the villain isn’t identified until the end of the book. Sometimes, it isn’t even clear that a crime has been committed, so I would say the antagonist in all of my books is the cloud surrounding the truth.

    Can’t wait to see The Villain’s Journey!

    • Thanks, Kay,

      “…the cloud surrounding the truth.” What an excellent description of a mystery!

      Traditional mysteries have a Hidden Villain whose identity is secret until the big reveal at the climax. That’s a different challenge for the author who must drop enough clues to play fair yet still keep the reader guessing. The Villain’s Journey has a chapter devoted to the Hidden Villain.

  5. My romances didn’t have villains or antagonists. The hero or heroine had an emotional flaw they must overcome to find happiness so it’s an inner struggle shown through their relationship.

    The rest of my novels had a villain usually with a squad of goons doing the dirty work until they are dispatched, and he/she must show themself. Psychopaths make great goons because they are so busy playing with their victims the victims can win.

    If you ever need to explain a melodrama during promotion, accordion a piece of paper and place it above your lips. In an evil villain voice say, “You must pay the rent.” The piece of paper then moves to the hair like a bow, and the heroine says “I can’t pay the rent.” Repeat twice. Then turn the accordion into a bow tie and say in a manly voice, “I’ll pay the rent.” Heroine: “My hero!” Villain: “Curses! Foiled again.”

    This is particularly good skit for kids. I had middle schoolers rolling on the floor laughing and begging for an encore.

    • Marilynn, a character’s inner doubts and fears can sometimes be tougher to overcome than an external villain.

      BTW, in 2023 I wrote this post: https://killzoneblog.com/2022/09/the-villains-journey.html

      In the comments, you’d asked if there was a Villain’s Journey that was the flip side of the Hero’s Journey. Your great question started me on the road to write the book.

      What a great skit idea! I’ll try that at an upcoming workshop I’m teaching.

  6. Great post, Debbie!

    My current WIP cozy has an apparent villain or villains–are they actually villains? Are they actually the murderer? My first two mysteries had more clearly obvious villain types. This might be why this one is harder to write (along with the complexity of the plot).

    As a reader, I like villains that aren’t just mustache twirlers but rather doing the wrong thing for what they believe are the right reasons. Or, they are doing the right thing but the very wrong way.

    • Thanks, Dale.

      The apparent villain who turns out to be innocent is a fun twist. I just edited a manuscript where the nastiest, most disagreeable character appeared to be the killer…until he himself was killed. Whoa!

      The wrong thing for the right reasons and the right thing the wrong way add wonderful complexity to villains.

  7. Does your current work in progress have an antagonist or a villain?

    Hmm. Well, I’m only on page 4 of my new Western, but have 4 nasties already. The MC is a drifter and may not be wearing Marilynn+Byerly’s bow tie anytime soon. He’s the great or great-great grandfather of Lucie, the Sheriff MC of my almost finished Western.

  8. I almost always have a hidden villain with a POV. And I try to keep their gender hidden as well. I also usually have a big cast of characters, but I lay enough clues that if the reader is watching, they can guess the villain…at least one of them because I usually have two villains.
    Can’t wait for your book! Is it up for preorder yet?

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