Villains Better be Worth the Trouble

When it comes to bad guys, (or girls), I think there is a distinction between the bad guys who are just plain bad, and the bad guys who are bad for a good reason.

In Killer of Killers, the main plot follows the MC, Trent Smith, who goes up against two main "villains." Neither one of them start out bad. It's the turn of events that define their "badness." Sure there are some mad dogs in there, but their parts play out in subplots.

In Killer Eyes, Trent meets a new antagonist - Ming Sang, and she is something to behold. She's an expert in Martial Arts, like Trent, drop dead gorgeous, and the leader of the Killers Guild. But who are the Killers Guild? Do they kill for the heck of it? Are they just hired assassins? Were they always like that? Who formed them and why? The answers to these questions create a three dimensional antagonist.

The bottom line is that your antagonist(s) better be worth reading about. What makes them bad? Are they evil just for evil's sake? If so, that's kind of shallow, imo. Something should drive them to evil.

It's best to remember, that your hero is defined by his enemies. A weak enemy makes for a weak hero. It may not necessarily be true in real life, but in a book or story, it's almost always true.

But even in real life, the heroes we remember most went up against impossible odds. I can think of two off the top of my head.

King David and King Leonidas.

It would have been no big deal if David slew a guy the same size as himself.

And who would have cared if King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans went up against an army that also numbered 300?

The villain(s) better be impressive, or your story won't be.