Raptors are some of the most successful predators on the planet. From owls, eagles, and vultures to hawks, falcons, and other birds of prey, raptors are skilled hunters with incredible senses, like binocular vision, that help them detect prey at far distances.
The secretary bird even carries mouthfuls of water back to the nest for her young — one of the few avian species to quench a chicks’ thirst.
If a raptor was a character in a book, they seem like the perfect villain on the surface. After all, they kill and consume adorable critters like chipmunks, squirrels, mice, monkeys, birds, fish, and old or injured animals. As readers, we’d fear the moment their shadow darkened the soil.
What we may not consider right away is how tender raptors are with their young, or that they only take what they need to feed their family and keep the landscape free of disease from rotting meat and sick animals, or what majestic fliers they are. Raptors have many awe-inspiring abilities.
Take, for example, the Andean condor, the largest flying land bird in the western hemisphere. In the highest peaks of the majestic Andes, the largest raptor in the world hovers in the sky in search of its next meal — a carcass or old/injured animal to hunt. Andean condors have a wingspan of over ten feet. If one flew sideways through an average living room with eight-foot ceilings, the wings would drag on the floor!
How could we turn a massive predator like the Andean condor into a hero? It’s difficult to offset their hunting abilities and diet with the innocence of their prey, but not impossible.
A layered characterization holds the key. It doesn’t matter who your protagonist is or what they do. With proper characterization, a raptor or killer can play any role.
Go Deeper than the Three Dimensions of Character
1st dimension: The face they show to the world; a public persona
2nd dimension: The person they are at home and with close friends
3rd dimension: Their true character. If a fire broke out in a cinema, would they help others get out safely or elbow their way through the crowd?
A raptor-type character needs layers, each one peeled little by little over time to reveal the full picture of who they are and what they stand for. We also need to justify their actions so readers can root for them.
A perfect example is Dexter Morgan, vigilante serial killer and forensic blood spatter analyst for Miami Dade Police.
Why did the world fall in love with Dexter?
What makes Dexter so fascinatingly different is that he lives by a code when choosing his victims – they must, without a doubt, be murderers likely to strike again. But he didn’t always have this code. In the beginning, he killed to satisfy the sick impulses from his “dark passenger.” If it weren’t for Dexter’s adoptive father and police officer, Harry Morgan, who educated his son to control his need to kill and established tight guidelines for Dexter to follow (the code), he would have been the villain.
Readers accept his “dark passenger” because he’s ridding the world of other serial killers who could harm innocent people in the community. And that’s enough justification for us to root for him. We’re willing to overlook the fact that he revels in each kill and keeps trophies. We even join him in celebrating his murders — and never want him caught.
Jeff Lyndsay couldn’t have pulled this off if he showed all Dexter’s layers at the very beginning. It worked because he showed us pieces of Dexter Morgan over time.
The Characterization for Vigilante Killers Cannot be Rushed
When I created this type of character, he started as the villain for two and half novels while I dropped hints and pieces of truth like breadcrumbs. It wasn’t until halfway through book four that the full picture of who he really was and what motivated him became evident.
So, go ahead and craft a raptor as the protagonist of your story (as an antihero). When characters are richly detailed psychologically, readers connect to them. Perhaps a part of us wishes we could enact justice like they do.
If crafted with forethought and understanding, your raptor may become your most memorable character to date. Just go slow and really think about how much of their mind to reveal and when. Who knows? You may create a protagonist readers will analyze for years to come!
*Perhaps it’s unfair to draw a parallel between raptors and vigilante killers but the idea came to me while watching a nature documentary. Make no mistake, I adore raptors.
Have you ever crafted a raptor character aka antihero? Who’s your favorite antihero (movies or books)? And why?
Morally ambiguous heroes don’t really work in the romance market, and I’m not really a fan of them either so I’ve never written one. My personal favorite moment of turning a very dangerous character into a “Wait a moment, what?” is in a romantic suspense novel where the heroine breaks into the dangerous bad guy’s home to snoop and finds a well-loved teddy bear on the floor of his living room as well as other evidence of a visiting child.
Excellent use of the teddy bear, Marilynn!
Yeah, readers either love antiheroes or hate them. Rarely lands in between.
Terrific post, Sue! I love your description of the raptor as anti-hero. I’ve not crafted one myself–my hero Mat began the Empowered series as a recovering anti-hero. In the prequel, “Renegade,” she is a teenaged one, with plenty of angst to go along with it.
My favorite anti-hero from movies/TV is Omar from “The Wire,” the lone wolf who in Season 1 who wages a campaign of revenge against the drug king pin and his gang. Omar’s single-minded sense of purchase as a sort of avenging angel was something to see.
Thanks, Dale! I watched The Wire so long ago, I can’t recall Omar. Might need a re-watch.
I think you mean Jeff Lindsay, not Jeffrey Deaver as the author of the Dexter books.
I once attended a workshop with James Frey. He stated that readers wouldn’t accept a hero who was a serial killer/mass murderer even if the hero acknowledged the wrongness of their acts and were seeking redemption. No one in the room agreed with him. This was before Dexter became a smash hit, so I guess he was proved wrong.
Cal Dion of the BC Blues series by RM Greenaway is an antihero that sticks with me. He’s a Canadian detective who has a brain injury and a dark secret in his past. He’s part of an ensemble cast that I came to love, although I almost didn’t keep reading the first book until Cal showed up on the page. I highly recommend the series.
I do mean Lindsay, KS. Nice catch. I was working on very little sleep when I wrote this post. 🤷🏻♀️
Thanks for the recommendation of BC Blues. Haven’t heard of that series.
My villain is Hollywood’s sweetheart, a beautiful young actress who is, of course, the heroine of her own story, and has risen to the top by doing what she needed to do to get there, and has decided to make herself invulnerable by allying with a rising Irish actor.
Her methods, ah, wouldn’t pass muster – but she tells herself if he knew, he would have to approve.
But just in case, she’s not planning to tell him.
Reviewers have commented on her work ethic and use of her talents.
It’s been fun because she is so, so right – and so wrong.
I adore characters with plenty of shades of gray. Sounds excellent, Alicia.