They need to have a motivation, for one thing. They can't just be evil for evil's sake. A villain doesn't even have to be evil, per se. The protagonist and the antagonist simply have to keep the other from reaching their goals.
A personality would be nice, too. 2-dimensional characters are even more boring when they're villains.
I think the best villains are the ones that you find yourself liking - and then feel utterly squeamish about liking. Or, if you can't like them (some villains just aren't likable) then they have to be able to command respect.
It's good if the villain has a motivation that they find logical and is consistent with their own beliefs. It's better if your reader finds themselves attracted to or agreeing with their motivation, if not their methods. When your reader can say, "He/she gives me the willies, but I can understand where he/she is coming from," that is when you have a good villain.
I actually think that unless you're writing unashamedly genreish fiction (and I love genre fiction with a mad passion, so that's not a criticism as such) the antagonist should never be a villain; or shouldn't be conceived as a villain, anyway. If the antagonist is a person, you should still get where s/he is coming from, even idenitfy with him or her. Tinfoil villains made of nothing but evil are just boring, to me at least.
I guess I try to write my villains in a way that, if they were the heroes, the heroes would be the villains of the story, if you know what I mean. The antagonist has to be in opposition to the protagonist but that doesn't necessarily imply evil. Even if they are "evil", the evil doesn't come from nowhere. I want to know why they eat babies, and "they're tasty" is not quite enough of a reason. A little bit of this approach, I think, helps in genre fiction as well, unless you're writing comedy/parody.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-21 12:56 am (UTC)A personality would be nice, too. 2-dimensional characters are even more boring when they're villains.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-07-08 12:27 am (UTC)It's good if the villain has a motivation that they find logical and is consistent with their own beliefs. It's better if your reader finds themselves attracted to or agreeing with their motivation, if not their methods. When your reader can say, "He/she gives me the willies, but I can understand where he/she is coming from," that is when you have a good villain.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-11 10:34 am (UTC)I guess I try to write my villains in a way that, if they were the heroes, the heroes would be the villains of the story, if you know what I mean. The antagonist has to be in opposition to the protagonist but that doesn't necessarily imply evil. Even if they are "evil", the evil doesn't come from nowhere. I want to know why they eat babies, and "they're tasty" is not quite enough of a reason. A little bit of this approach, I think, helps in genre fiction as well, unless you're writing comedy/parody.