Ddaug
Lord of Altera
Roleplaying is often compared to writing a story. We are all collaborating and interacting together, playing as individual roles in one larger and greater story. The backbone to any great story, however, is a good villain.
In this thread I will discuss three major points:
1. The importance of a villain in roleplaying.
2. What makes a good villain?
3. Why you should either play as a villain, or let the villains win.
The Importance of a villain in Roleplaying
Think of almost any great story, legend, or tale. From Batman to The Iliad, each has an interesting, diverse, and powerful enemy that the protagonist must attempt to overcome. This enemy, or villain, is what drives the story. Without a good and powerful enemy a story becomes stale and predictable. With a capable and complicated villain the story suddenly has purpose. The protagonist must fight and struggle against an unpredictable enemy, which is what makes a story interesting.
It is this struggle that makes a story, and also plays as a critical piece in roleplaying. A villain offers something for our characters to struggle against. It brings purpose to our roleplaying, and keeps us interested and engaged.
More often than not, we want to play the protagonists in the story. However, if we all played the good guys, there would be no villains to struggle against, and thus our story would become dull. This problem can fixed with a well-made villain. Playing a well-made villain is often far more interesting than playing a protagonist. However, making a good villain is not easy. Thus, the next section..
What Makes a Good Villain?
The most important aspect to a good villain is motive. One could play a mass murderer who, yes, incites roleplay and gives something for protagonists to struggle against; but without motive this villain lacks complexity and purpose. Without motive it can be incredibly hard to enjoy roleplaying as a villain.
For example, I have been able to play actively and engaged with my villain character Andal because of his robinhood-based motive. With this motive, despite killing and stealing, Andal still views himself as the good guy. He is able to justify theft and murder because he has a good motive to do it. This allows me to feel as if I am playing the protagonist, and makes the roleplaying experience interesting and enjoyable for both me(the villain), and the characters Andal fights against(the "good guys").
With a good motive the line between "good" and "evil" should become fuzzy. While I still classify my character as a villain, one could argue that considering his motive, Andal is in fact a good guy.
Once a proper motive is established you can begin making the villain around it. This process is the same as making any interesting character. A good back story, an interesting personality, quirks, and flaws all play into an interesting and well-rounded character.
Why you should either play a villain, or let villains win.
Even knowing this most people will still play the typical "good guy" protagonist characters. There is nothing wrong with that, and playing as a villain simply isn't for everyone. However, if you have never played as a villain, I urge you to give it a shot. And if you have tried, but didn't enjoy it, perhaps give playing a villain another chance using the guidelines I just offered.
For the majority who simply don't want to play as a villain, you can still make a huge difference by allowing villains to win. It is far too common for people to become overly attached to their character and their characters struggle against an enemy. Players will often make their characters enemy their own enemy, and strive both IC and OOC to bring this enemy or villain down. With this and the usual overwhelming amount of "good guy" characters, villain characters often get defeated before they have the chance to bring about their awesome roleplay potential. So simply put, let the villains win. When villains win it brings about incredible roleplay experiences and gives the chance for even better roleplay down the road.
Thank you for reading through. I'd love to see other peoples opinions on villains in roleplay, suggestions on how to make a good villain, and villain concept ideas.
In this thread I will discuss three major points:
1. The importance of a villain in roleplaying.
2. What makes a good villain?
3. Why you should either play as a villain, or let the villains win.
The Importance of a villain in Roleplaying
Think of almost any great story, legend, or tale. From Batman to The Iliad, each has an interesting, diverse, and powerful enemy that the protagonist must attempt to overcome. This enemy, or villain, is what drives the story. Without a good and powerful enemy a story becomes stale and predictable. With a capable and complicated villain the story suddenly has purpose. The protagonist must fight and struggle against an unpredictable enemy, which is what makes a story interesting.
It is this struggle that makes a story, and also plays as a critical piece in roleplaying. A villain offers something for our characters to struggle against. It brings purpose to our roleplaying, and keeps us interested and engaged.
More often than not, we want to play the protagonists in the story. However, if we all played the good guys, there would be no villains to struggle against, and thus our story would become dull. This problem can fixed with a well-made villain. Playing a well-made villain is often far more interesting than playing a protagonist. However, making a good villain is not easy. Thus, the next section..
What Makes a Good Villain?
The most important aspect to a good villain is motive. One could play a mass murderer who, yes, incites roleplay and gives something for protagonists to struggle against; but without motive this villain lacks complexity and purpose. Without motive it can be incredibly hard to enjoy roleplaying as a villain.
For example, I have been able to play actively and engaged with my villain character Andal because of his robinhood-based motive. With this motive, despite killing and stealing, Andal still views himself as the good guy. He is able to justify theft and murder because he has a good motive to do it. This allows me to feel as if I am playing the protagonist, and makes the roleplaying experience interesting and enjoyable for both me(the villain), and the characters Andal fights against(the "good guys").
With a good motive the line between "good" and "evil" should become fuzzy. While I still classify my character as a villain, one could argue that considering his motive, Andal is in fact a good guy.
Once a proper motive is established you can begin making the villain around it. This process is the same as making any interesting character. A good back story, an interesting personality, quirks, and flaws all play into an interesting and well-rounded character.
Why you should either play a villain, or let villains win.
Even knowing this most people will still play the typical "good guy" protagonist characters. There is nothing wrong with that, and playing as a villain simply isn't for everyone. However, if you have never played as a villain, I urge you to give it a shot. And if you have tried, but didn't enjoy it, perhaps give playing a villain another chance using the guidelines I just offered.
For the majority who simply don't want to play as a villain, you can still make a huge difference by allowing villains to win. It is far too common for people to become overly attached to their character and their characters struggle against an enemy. Players will often make their characters enemy their own enemy, and strive both IC and OOC to bring this enemy or villain down. With this and the usual overwhelming amount of "good guy" characters, villain characters often get defeated before they have the chance to bring about their awesome roleplay potential. So simply put, let the villains win. When villains win it brings about incredible roleplay experiences and gives the chance for even better roleplay down the road.
Thank you for reading through. I'd love to see other peoples opinions on villains in roleplay, suggestions on how to make a good villain, and villain concept ideas.
