All stories need a strong antagonist, regardless of theme or genre. From epic fantasy beings to mob bosses and serial killers, there needs to be some kind of enemy or rival to pit against the protagonist and create conflict.
But what if you want to write from the point of view of the villain of the piece? Or to create a protagonist who isn’t necessarily the chivalrous knight in shining armour who always does what’s morally right? Then give a warm welcome for the anti-hero! After all, they say all villains are the heroes of their own story.
And what about monsters? Not necessarily the kind with big fangs and claws, but also human monsters capable of filling either role of anti-hero or villain. Exploring the character of a ‘monster’ can be fascinating, whether serial killer or supernatural creature.
I want pieces centred around an interesting anti-hero, villain or monster. You don’t have to write from the point of view of someone ‘evil’, but if you go with the stereotypical hero as your protagonist then I’d like to see a complex antagonist – someone more than just your black and white monster/bad guy. Unleash your dark side!
Anti-Heroes
From the dictionary on Google: A central character in a story, film, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.
“With the age of the anti-hero, baddies and goodies became less distinguishable from one another.”
Basically the opposite to the aforementioned knight in shining armour. Anti-heroes are typically in it for their own reasons rather than out of a sense of duty or wanting to do the right thing, and when it comes to conflict they usually focus on their personal motives above all else. They may not have much in the way of morals and they may not be particularly likeable characters as a result, but the reader should at least be able to understand why they do what they do. What the reader should feel about that is up to you, whether it’s empathy, disgust, pity, etc.
Often all that separates an anti-hero and a villain is the perspective you write from, e.g. we might empathise with a killer on a quest for revenge when seeing the story through their eyes (even if we don’t agree with their methods), but from the point of view of one of their victims they might look like just another villain.
Villains
We all know what villains are, but what makes a good villain? I think it’s a bad guy who’s complex and nuanced. ‘Evil’ characters who just love power and murdering can be fun, but they can be made even more interesting with some depth to them. Maybe they were once a ‘good guy’ until someone wronged them, leaving them bitter and twisted, and with a desire to hurt others. Maybe they’re simply misguided or being manipulated (or corrupted) by others – in their eyes they might believe they’re doing the right thing, e.g. a serial killer who believes they’re saving their victims by killing them. Or maybe they took a darker path in life to protect a loved one – a fallen hero who sacrificed themselves to save another.
Some characters are just cruel by nature (‘born evil’ as it were), but even so, they still need an interesting backstory and a strong motivation for everything they do.
Monsters
Not all villains are monsters, and not all monsters are villains. While there is a lot of crossover here with villains and anti-heroes, I wanted to make monsters their own category because, well, we all know I love a good monster!
Monsters can make great anti-heroes, whether we’re talking in the sense of a creature with inhuman traits (fangs, claws, wings, scaly skin, etc.) or the human kind. Louis in Interview With the Vampire and Dexter Morgan could both be considered anti-heroes.
And while it goes against the rest of the theme of the competition, it’s worth pointing out monsters can be friendly too! Stephen King’s The Talisman features a good werewolf who helps the hero of the story and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series has a range of ‘good’ characters we’d consider monsters, like vampires who’ve substituted blood with coffee.
In Fiction
A few examples of anti-heroes, villains and monsters from fiction:
- Dexter Morgan of the Dexter book and TV series can be considered both anti-hero and monster (in the human sense). He’s a psychopath, i.e. he lacks empathy, remorse and guilt, and he has a need to kill stemming from witnessing the brutal murder of his mother when he was young, but thanks to his adoptive father Harry he only kills following a strict code, which means he only goes after other killers. Both the novels and the TV show adaptation make him the protagonist, and are done in such a way as to get the audience on his side.
- Frankenstein – both creature and creator. Victor Frankenstein wants to create new life, ultimately with the goal of ending death. It’s a noble goal but he goes about his experiments with little thought to the morality of what he’s doing, and once he does successfully give life to his creation, he ignores his parental responsibility to the creature because he’s too horrified by the creature’s grotesque appearance. The creature, meanwhile, starts off almost childlike as he doesn’t know any languages nor how society works, and acts purely on instinct, until eventually he’s able to learn these things for himself. In the novel, he does commit murder but only twice, and only after being driven away multiple times because of his appearance. Humanity’s treatment of him pushes him toward violence, but he remains a tragic figure rather than the monster Hollywood eventually turned him into in the earliest on-screen adaptations (before filmmakers started being more faithful to the original story).
- Jax Teller in TV show Sons of Anarchy is the son of one of the founding members of a motorcycle club. At the start of the series he’s Vice President of the club and wants to move away from the criminal activities they’re involved in, primarily gunrunning. Events drive him to commit numerous brutal acts over the series but in his mind he’s doing what it takes to protect his family, and always with the intention of bringing the club closer to his father’s original vision for the organisation, and away from gunrunning and the like.
- From Wikipedia: Comic book anti-heroes have become increasingly popular since the 1970s. The comic book version is generally a variation on the formula of superheroes. As Suzana Flores describes it, a comic book antihero is “often psychologically damaged, simultaneously depicted as superior due to his superhuman abilities and inferior due to his impetuousness, irrationality, or lack of thoughtful evaluation.” Particularly well-known comic book anti-heroes include John Constantine, Wolverine, Punisher, Marv, Spawn, and Deadpool. These characters have all been adapted into feature films, as well.
- Cersei Lannister could be considered one of many villains in A Song of Ice and Fire (the books)/Game of Thrones (the TV series). I’ve never hated a fictional character with such a passion as I did this woman when she insisted one of the Starks’ dire wolves should be put to death for biting her son Joffrey (even though Joffrey was entirely to blame), BUT I still enjoyed reading her chapters in the books as they offered a fascinating insight into the way her mind works and why she is the way she is. I couldn’t quite bring myself to empathise with her when I learnt of certain things that made her the villain we see by the start of the story, but I did understand her more as a person.
- Darth Vader of Star Wars is considered one of the greatest villains of all time, due to his journey from Jedi to Sith Lord. His story is ultimately a tragic one, and while he has no problem with killing and torturing, he’s not what we’d consider true evil. It’s revealed in the prequel movie trilogy he turned to the dark side to save the woman he loved.
- Jack Torrance in Stephen King’s The Shining has a dark side to begin with, and takes his family to stay at a hotel in the hopes of mending his relationship with them as well as finding new motivation to write. Unfortunately the hotel is haunted, and a combination of alcohol and the supernatural sends Jack back into the darkness, causing him to go on the attack.
- The vampires in Anne Rice’s books would come under monsters, but Louis and Lestat often struggle with their nature. Louis attempts to feed on animals to begin with and grapples with guilt for the humans he does kill.
- Werewolves can often be similarly tragic figures, doomed to turn into monsters (in modern literature under the full moon but in ancient folklore it was usually down to witch’s curses and the like) and hunt people, even if the human part of them doesn’t want to.
In Non-Fiction
- Historical figures (as well as a few modern day ones I could mention!) like Hitler, Charles Manson, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, etc. would all be deemed monsters and can easily become villains of historical fiction. Basically any serial killer or tyrant you can think of would fit the bill.
- A couple of names I found for anti-heroes:
- Lelia Khaled, known for the hijacking of TWA flight 840 (1969), El Al flight 219 (1970). Why she’s an anti-hero? She committed an act of terrorism but was instructed not to hurt anyone. The goal of increasing the rights of Palestinians is a noble one.
- Charles Lindbergh, known for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight and invention of the perfusion pump which made organ transplantation possible. Why he was an antihero: He was both an avowed racist, particularly against Jews.
The Workshop
Spend thirty minutes writing about a dark individual. Do they have any redeemable qualities like an anti-hero? If not, are they villainous or downright monstrous? Try writing from their perspective. How do they view the world? If it intrigues you, keep going and see where the story leads.
Nick Stead – March 2025
Huddersfield Authors Circle 
Leave a comment