Good vs. Good? Doesn’t have much of a satisfying ring to it, does it? Just as we need someone to root for in a novel, we also need someone to root against. For what is a protagonist if she doesn’t have an antagonist to force her to become her best self? How can we know a story is over unless the bad guy gets his comeuppance?
Stay with me here as I explore this idea a little further.
I don’t believe that most people are 100-percent good or evil. Even good guys have their flaws, some of them are downright bad bordering on evil. Nobody is a hero all the time. In fact, I believe that the best heroes are the ones with the most flaws, the most to overcome, past missteps that require redemption. Frankly, if a character has no flaws I just can’t get into the story. Even though I’m reading fiction or watching a movie, I want the main characters to be relatable, real.
It’s the same with a story’s antagonist. If she is purely evil, then the character comes across as shallow, undeveloped, unreal. In fact, I am using the term “antagonist” deliberately. The definition is simply someone who opposes someone or something. Well, that describes me. A lot. I’m opposed to global warming. Am I evil against the good oil companies? I oppose paying different wages for the same job based on gender. Am I the villain in corporate America’s story?
Let’s use a few popular works of fiction as examples:
Think about Rocky IV. I know. I know. It wasn’t the best entry in the series and certainly didn’t have the grit and heart of the amazing original. But what it lacks in “America is stronger than Russia” plot, it makes up for with a great antagonist in Ivan Drago. You may not recall his name, but if you’ve seen the movie, you surely remember his infamous line: “I must break you.” In the movie, he is made out to be the villain, but is he really? Isn’t he just a boxer trying to be the best and make his country proud? Isn’t he just like Rocky himself?
And what of Harry Potter’s sworn enemy, Lord Voldemort? Let’s ignore the fact that he is a grown-ass man hellbent on destroying a kid for a second and look, instead, at his motivations. He wants to be in power. He does not believe in mixing wizard and muggle worlds. Now, I know this is a very thinly-veiled allegory for racism and I do not agree with this or with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but does that make him evil or just wrong and ill-intentioned? There is a difference. Perhaps if he got the resources he needed as poor, young Tom Riddle, he would have grown up to use his powers in a more constructive way.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is another great example. Wonderful book and movie. Loved Jack Nicholson in this one. And, man, is Nurse Ratched an amazing antagonist. But is she a “bad guy?” Sure she lacks empathy, but I’d argue that many of us would after years of being put down by chauvinistic, condescending doctors on one side and over-the-top psych patients on the other.
And finally (although I could go on for hours), Netflix’s Cobra Kai provides the perfect example of my theory. In this amazing series, Johnny Lawrence is the hero, and Daniel LaRusso is the out-of-touch rich guy who uses his past karate glories to sell luxury cars to other rich folks. It perfectly exposes how point-of-view can change our perceptions — even of characters we thought we knew.
Regardless of what we call them, as an author, I think “bad guys” are some of the most fun characters to write. They often have the richest backstories and the fullest character development. But, again, what is a “bad guy?” If you’ve read my debut novel, “A Killer Secret,” you know that this is one of my favorite areas to play around in. All three of my main characters believe they are the good guy. All three of them could easily be the bad guy. I think they’re all both. Because, to me, that’s not only the most realistic but also the most fun.
Who are some bad guys from your favorite books or movies that you secretly love (maybe even more than the good guy)?
