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Guidelines for writing Poems, Stories and Tales

Sympathetic portrayal of an evil protagonist with good motivations

What is an evil protagonist called?

What Is an Antagonist? In storytelling, the antagonist is the opposer or combatant working against the protagonist or leading character and creating the main conflict. An antagonist is different from an antihero, who is a protagonist lacking traditional heroic qualities.

What do you call a sympathetic villain?

Anti-villain: The anti-villain is a villain archetype in which the bad guy has a sympathetic motivation or appealing characteristics. In the same way that an anti-hero is ostensibly a good guy with villainous or immoral tendencies, an anti-villain may have justifiable, noble goals or even a good side.

How do you make an evil character sympathetic?

5 Tips for Writing a Sympathetic Villain

  1. Make them believe they’re the hero. …
  2. Craft a tragic backstory. …
  3. Give them an internal conflict. …
  4. Employ supporting characters. …
  5. Show them doing a good deed.


What is it called when a villain turns good?

A redeemed villain, otherwise known as a villain turned to the good side or former villain, is usually the end result of a villain exposed to a Purely Good hero, a Messiah, a Hope Bringer, and occasionally a Charismatic Hero.

Can a villain be nice?

These bad guys prove that just because you’re not a hero doesn’t mean you can’t be nice. They say it’s good to be bad, and in the world of comic book characters, that can certainly be true. As Suicide Squad showed movie goers, villains can absolutely do good things in the world.

Why do I feel sympathy for villains?

From the University of Southern California comes a study that says the human brain feels more empathy for villains than people we actually like. Watching evil doers suffer activates that part of the brain involved in empathy far more than watching a liked one.

How do you write a good motivational villain?

5 Tips for Writing Villain Motivations

  1. Use backstory to explain your villain’s motivation. …
  2. Explain your villain’s relationship to power. …
  3. Give your villain a strong connection to the protagonist. …
  4. Make sure your villain has weaknesses or vulnerabilities. …
  5. Root your villain’s motivations in real life.


What makes a good evil character?

Clear morality. Every villain needs to have his own morality. If a villain spends part your story killing people, you need to give him or her believable reasons for doing so. Make the reader understand exactly what desperation or belief has driven him to it.

How do you make an evil protagonist?

How to Write a Villain Protagonist in 6 Steps

  1. Mix character traits. …
  2. Keep the stakes high. …
  3. Use internal monologue. …
  4. Understand the character’s morality. …
  5. Build the backstory. …
  6. Consider your antagonist.


What do you call a villain who becomes a hero?

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What is it called when a hero turns evil?

Forced into Evil, whereas the character was still a genuinely good guy, but had his own reasons to be on the bad guys’ side while still maintaining a good heart, whereas a character who did a Face Heel Turn is a character who not only goes to the bad guys’ side, but also become a genuine bad guy at heart.

What is a Contagonist?

The contagonist is an antagonistic character who will get in the protagonist’s way, try to lead him astray, and just generally cause conflict and tension. He differs from the antagonist in that he isn’t necessarily directly opposed to the protagonist.

What’s another word for anti hero?

What is another word for antihero?

rogue scoundrel
villain desperado
baddie nasty
wretch reprobate
outlaw criminal

What is an arc villain?

The Super-Trope to Filler Villain, an Arc Villain serves as the antagonist for one Story Arc, having an Evil Plan to threaten the heroes.

What is anti villain mean?

anti-villain (plural anti-villains) (fiction) An antagonist who has or may have noble or honorable aims, but pursues them destructively.



What does it mean to villainize someone?

To villainize someone is to make them out to be the bad guy. This implies that they aren’t necessarily as bad as they’re being described. So, when someone says that a certain person is being villainized, they usually mean that that person’s bad qualities have been exaggerated in order to make people dislike them.

What is the synonym of Calumniate?

Some common synonyms of calumniate are asperse, defame, malign, slander, traduce, and vilify. While all these words mean “to injure by speaking ill of,” calumniate imputes malice to the speaker and falsity to the assertions.

What is the synonym of slander?

Some common synonyms of slander are asperse, calumniate, defame, malign, traduce, and vilify. While all these words mean “to injure by speaking ill of,” slander stresses the suffering of the victim. town gossips slandered their good name.