What is it about women that just isn’t scary? It’s a fact that drives me to insanity. Perhaps it’s because women can represent motherhood and mothers are loving and caring. Or maybe it’s because we are (generally) smaller framed and not as physically strong as (most) men and therefore don’t epitomize the brutality of villainy. Whatever the reason, I have some sure fire tips to help you create awesome female villains.
Awesome Female Villains: Where are all The Baddies?
Whatever the reason, when I asked you to list villains in the Who’s Your Ultimate Villain post, you gave me a list… but it had barely any women in it. The list included (but wasn’t limited to):
Cruella De Ville, Ursula, Professor Umbridge, Annie Wilkes, Nurse Ratched, Miranda Priestly and Alex Forest
Rather a small list if you ask me.
What gives me hope is that the AFI (American Film Institute) has their own list: 100 years… 100 Heroes and Villains. This breaks down into a list of the top 50 pairings, rather than a list of 100 heroes and 100 villains.
In 4th place is the Wicked Witch of the West and in 5th is Nurse Ratched. So, 2 of the top 5 are actually female. Promising… but of the list of 50 pairings, only 13 in total had female villains, and only a quarter of the best villains were female. Better than I expected, but not as good as it should be.
Why?
Awesome Female Villains: Mental Health
I wrote a previous post about the 6 Most Sinister Villain Personalities in which I discussed mental health and its relation to villains. Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is frequently used as a mechanism to develop character in female villains. I think this is because it is widely seen as the more common female equivalent of psycho/sociopathy.
Examples of villains with BPD include: Eileen Wurnos from Monster, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction, Winona Ryder in Girl Interrupted and Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest.
Females can have psycho/sociopathy as it is not an illness constrained by gender but, it is less common in females. Perhaps this variance in gender distribution in BPD is why so many famous female villains have BPD instead of psycho/sociopathy. But isn’t this becoming a bit of a cliché? Shouldn’t we be developing a ‘different’, new and exciting kind of female villain rather than sticking to known stereotypes?
Briefly: BPD is marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships and typically more women than men have it. The four major areas affected are:
- emotional instability (the psychological term for this is affective dysregulation)
- disturbed patterns of thinking or perception (psychological terms for these are
cognitive or perceptual distortions)
- impulsive behaviours
- intense but unstable relationships with others
Crudely, I wonder if film makers and writers alike are entrenched in the societal concept that women are peaceful and caring, motherly, and to be ‘protected’ instead of writing stories with credible violent women?
What annoys me more, (and I’m trying not to get on my feminist soap box) is that they are all portrayed as insane, crazy, psycho bitches, often dressed in sexy clothes. It’s such a cliché, AND it’s boring.
So what can we do about it?
I refer back to my post discussing 6 Terror Tactics For Really Scary Villains. I focused on creating credible and believable villains. Personally, I don’t think you need to do anything different in creating a female villain to a male one. With one exception:
Awesome Female Villains: Create Credibility
The same core values that create good male villains also create good female villains. Not least of which is credibility. Female villains don’t have much of a reputation, they’re harder to market and less believable. It’s a sad fact, but it is true. But, credibility creates believability which means awesome female villains. So how do we create credibility?
1.Core values
Women as mothers (fathers too but I’m focusing on women) embody values. They teach and rear children and impart those values on their kids. Strong core values are therefore crucial to a credible female villain.
That doesn’t mean a juicy villain’s values aren’t messed up and insane. It means that whatever their values are, they need to stick to them like glue. If they do, then they will be consistent which builds character. It also means your female villain has a reason to fight—villains will defend their values to the death just as much as your hero will.
2.Integrity
Although integrity is about doing the right things for the right reasons, if your female villain has core values (even if they seem illogical) she fights for them anyway, so she has integrity.
A villain fighting with integrity and thinking what they are doing is right for the right reasons is terrifying. Especially if what they are doing is horrific like mass genocide or torture, and here goes an inbuilt stereotype but, doesn’t it seem worst if it’s a woman doing it?
Your female villain should be able to give reasoned logical explanations for why they are doing what they are doing. If it’s good enough, their reason and logic might occasionally even make you believe what they are doing is right too!
3.Authenticity
Your villain needs to do exactly what they say they are going to do. Especially if that means torturing your main character or killing off a couple of major minor, or minor minor characters. Without following through on their convictions they become weak and flaky, another total cliché for a female villain, but worse—it makes them completely defeatable.
4.Expertise
Having an intelligent villain with expertise in a particular area means they know more than you do, especially more than your main character, and this makes them unbeatable.
It is possibly more essential that a female villain seem unbeatable in order to give them credibility. This is because you are starting from a lower baseline of audience perception and assumed reputation.
5.Believability
Can come from playing on fears. I always think some of the scariest things in life are those that are the closest to reality, the ones that could almost be true.
A mother who lost her child and then lost everything else…driven to insanity, to murder…to villainy. Torture your female villains with their history. Make it intricate and detailed enough that their motives are believable and credible.
What do you think makes a credible female villain? Let me know in the comments below.
***
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Here’s a free infographic summarising the points above:
just starting out in this genre, all of your posts will come in very handy… thank you very much!
That’s just what I like to hear 🙂 glad you liked it. I love nothing better than sharing what I learn. 🙂
Great article Sacha! I agree with all these points. I’d like to add unpredictability to the list, even though it may seem incongruous with core values/integrity/authenticity. There is nothing more terrifying than an unpredictable villain, especially when the unpredictability is still somehow in line with these core values. Carrie Grethen is a good example, one of the villains from the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell. She is a computer genius and a sociopath and she can appear to be unpredictable, possibly due to her ability to stay one step ahead of Scarpetta. As the story progresses and new aspects to her character unfold, the patterns are revealed.
Thanks Grace, oooh thats a really good point. I hadn’t thought of unpredictability. I guess there is a fine balance between ensuring character consistency, and also being true to the nature of humans – which is in itself unpredictable.
I love Kay Scarpetta – but have only read up to predator – so think that character is in after no? I forget its been a while since I read them.
I love Scarpetta too. I believe Carrie Grethen is introduced during “The Body Farm”, one of the best in the series (IMHO). The first Scarpetta books in order: 1 – Postmortem, 2 – Body of Evidence, 3 – All That Remains, 4 – Cruel and Unusual, 5 – The Body Farm.
As something of an aside, I think we (sweeping generalisation alert) are too fast and loose with the word ‘disorder’, when we are frequently looking at a mindset that does not fit the societal norm. We don’t have to go back too far to find that a woman who chose to have a baby out of wedlock would be committed as insane, that homosexuality was ‘curable’ — and try googling “atheism is a sickness”.
I was recently moved by a blog post by ‘takingthemaskoff’ – http://takingthemaskoff.com/2015/08/09/stigmakilledrobinwilliams/ – that has set me thinking about so-called BPD and the like and looking at these ‘disorders’ in a different light. I think Della Jont has more possibilities, too.
couldn’t agree more. thats a really good point Keith. Anything out of the accepted norm is ‘weird’ or wrong or any number of other ridiculous statements. Sad state of affairs really. Will have a read of that post – thank you. and I do love Della :p no harm in adding a few more twists :p
Great post! My favourite villain of all time is Delores Umbridge. She’s pretty tame in the world of villainy admittedly, but she reminds me of a former boss I used to have – sneaky and underhanded and will stab you in the back at a moments notice to get what she wants, and will do so with a smile on her face whilst hiding behind self-imposed rules.
Thanks Suzie, ooooh Delores is a right good’un. She scares the shit out of me – punishments in the form of actual torture – which she patently enjoys. That is one scary bitch! Your boss sounds like a right dick. glad you are out of there 🙂 thanks for reading.
What makes a credible female villain? The same things that make a male villain credible (and there’s the equality you were looking for). Determination, drive, motive, and consistency, as you mentioned. Take the step-mother in Cinderella for a simple example. She was determined to see one of her daughters married to the prince. Her drive to make this happen meant sprucing up her daughters so that they were as attractive as possible while excluding the dirty little rag they called Cinderella. Her motive was climbing up the social ladder. She did everything in her power to manipulate events so that one of her daughters might obtain the crown. Voila, she becomes the ‘wicked’ step-mother, because we consistently see her without morals, without a sense of fairness, without empathy. Thanks for this post, Sacha, excellent points.
I couldn’t agree more – IT IS the same thing that makes a male villain credible – but then if that was the only factor – then why aren’t there more female villains? It’s such a shame.
But i agree – Cinders step mom was an evil whatsit! I should study her more. Thanks 😀
The lack of female villains might be connected to the stereotype of women as nurturers. But, that’s the BEST reason to use a female as a villain, as it creates such a shock to go against the stereotype. Annie Wilkes in Misery was a hit because the psychology behind her derangement combined nurturing with her psychosis (she was willing to play nice as long as her victim did as she asked), making her that much more believable. Interesting subject for sure.
Great post. Has given a light bulb moment for a story I have been thinking about. A dastardly female
ooh really? well glad to have been of service… care to enlighten or is this staying under wraps?
I wrote my second book as a very trad thriller. Bit too trad really. But you’ve made me think. If the villain was a woman, that might just lift it out of the mundane. The story entered on people trafficking but if I was to rewrite it I’d use those poor souls in Sangatte trying to get across the channel as the subject matter.
you’re so full of surprises. Is there any genre you won’t attempt? By trad do you mean traditional?
Yes, that’s right. It was an early attempt and while I enjoyed plotting it I suspect if and hen I go back to it it may be rather wooden and formulaic so Changing things up in that way may be what it needs.
Tough question because I always think a villain’s motives and tactics are what make them great regardless of gender. Never really wondered why there are so few female villains or why they tend to be the type to go hero or atone at some point in the story. I tend to like my villains cruel and determined, but that still doesn’t seem to be female specific.
Did nobody mention Maleficient, Mystique, the main baddie from ‘Willow’, Xenia Onatopp, and the Evil Queen? Then again, those are all older villains. I can’t even think of an impressive new female villain. Ma-Ma from the movie ‘Dredd’ is about it. Could people be avoiding using women as bad guys since there’s a big public outcry for more female heroes?
Great comment Charles. Now…. Maleficient came up on twitter – I would challenge Maleficient because I always thought she was an antihero? What do you think?
Mystique is an interesting one – she isn’t really a main character though – and pales behind Magneto… who is the real mastermind. I guess I was looking for lead female villains.
Where’s the evil queen from?
Its a really good point about the outcry for female heroes… thats another bug bear of mine – whats with all the identi-clone female heroes in YA fiction? sigh….
I always thought she was pure evil going by Disney and the Kingdom Hearts games. It’s only recently that she’s been made to be more sympathetic, which I didn’t really like. There are so few truly evil female villains that it was a shame to alter one of the great ones.
I was thinking comic book Mystique more than movies. She’s one of the big villains, anti-heroes, or whatever she wants to be at the time. Same goes for White Queen who was so poorly used in First Class and then killed between movies. Unfortunately, superhero movies have a habit of minimizing a villain when they’re in a henchman role. Toad, Mystique, and Sabertooth were all big villains in the comics with the former two leading bad guy groups and the latter just being all around menacing. Don’t even get me started on Lady Deathstryke and Dark Phoenix. Ugh. They couldn’t even get Calisto of the Morlocks right and I’m just angrily ranting at this point.
I was thinking the Evil Queen from Snow White, but I’ve been watching ‘Once Upon a Time’. So I might be off on that one.
The cloning is probably because movie was made on one and they’re going to milk it dry. Kind of like when Twilight was big, everyone went for vampire stories. Harry Potter kicked off interest in chosen one fantasy series. The big thing now is the ‘strong, female heroine for young girls to look up to’. It’s causing some really strange actions on the part of those trying to make money.
you’re like an expert, I didn’t even consider video games or comics! damn! wish I had now, but then I guess I wouldnt have known anything about them so I couldn’t have made any useful points.
yeah agreed – its the hunger games / divergent era now… I secretly adore that genre though!!
I haven’t gotten into that era, but I’m a superhero fan so I have those movies going for me. Then again, next year looks rather excessive. Comics are interesting with female villains in that there have been a few for a while, but they tended to go under the radar outside of the fandoms.
Interesting post Sacha. It is true what you say about the usual female villians – they are often deranged/unstable/psychotic. Strength (physical) may not be necessary, but logic and wiles may be. Steampunk seems like a genre suited to strong female villains. But then it depends what sort of villains you are talking about.
That Norah, is an excellent point – I should read some more steampunk and examine their villains. Thanks for the thought 🙂
You’re welcome. Glad to be of assistance. 🙂
These are all good points. You have me rethinking my own novel now.
Thanks Rachel – which novel is this? How is your writing going?
George Florence. I’ve been rewriting it since the end of June. One of the villains is female and she’s kind of a wimp. It was something I always knew I needed to work on and figure out how to make it work better and fit the plot. Reading your villain posts help. 🙂
well I am really glad it helps 🙂 that makes my day 🙂
Very good points, Sacha – and, strangely, apply to male villains too. Personally, I’m not averse to the crazies, but any villain is much more interesting if you can get into their past and build up reasons for them being bad guys/girls
oh 100% apply to males – I think thats the whole irony in this – its the same things that make male and female villains credible and scary. The problem is that doesn’t seem to be enough to make female villains stand out and successful with audiences… that seems to be the million dollar question….
Funnily enough, there is a female villain in the story I’m working on at the moment (I know, it’s exciting!), and I’m still curious to see how that pans out.
Nurse Ratched. But, the ones that get me are the ones like Prof. Umbridge–sweet and “feminine” and sugary and pure evil. That body language that contradicts their actions. Creepy. Also…pink fluffy kitten decor? Great touch. Love the post and it made me think that, although there are some fantastic female villains out there, I’ve just chosen two who have already been mentioned so I’m either not thinking hard enough or there aren’t enough to choose from.
There are some amazing female “villains” in Buffy (some could argue): Drusilla, Darla, Professor Walsh, Glory, and, for a short time, Willow (brilliant). Don’t know if Faith counts but I’m counting her. I love the backstory for all these characters. So vastly different.
Umbridge scared the shit out of me – well… kind of. If I had been younger I would have been terrified! I love that reminder about body language. It’s a REALLY good point – I can just visualise Umbridge’s mouth – the way the corner edges up just a tiny bit when she’s torturing harry – perfect – utterly perfect.
It’s not you – there just isn’t enough out there.
Drusilla was good – but she was the iconic crazy psycho – so doesn’t stand out the crowd for me. I did love buffy though. Now Willow… willow rocked my world and not just cause she was a lezza!! haha, but because of what drove her to evil, because it was true and real and believable. That Sarah, is an awesome example of a villain.
I think the Evil Stepmother from Cinderella is one of the most truly scary villains…Disney or otherwise. And she hits most of the checkmarks…she was all about her daughters, but just a meanie on top of that. Far scarier to me than Ursula (who was also scary) and the other magical villains.
There are a lot of ways to approach a villain, they can be the over-the-top crazy-ass psychos who blow up worlds, or the family man who is involved in organized crime. I think the key to a really good villain is the commitment and integrity angle. They believe in their cause and view the hero/heroine as blocking their path to their goal.
Lots of people have mentioned Cinders step mom. It actually wasn’t one that came to my mind initially. I wonder if the recent film has made her a more salient villain again.
Commitment is a great point. I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. Commitment to goals brings authenticity to villainy. Thanks for reading 🙂
Annie Wilkes. OMG.
Thanks this is really helpful one of my possible villains is a woman definitely not flake and in control. I take your point about core values and integrity a bit of re-writing might be in order.
Well thank YOU for taking the time to read and comment 🙂 and I’m glad you found it interesting 🙂
I enjoyed reading this. The section on integrity really got my attention. I never thought of a villain having integrity.
It’s an interesting thought I suppose. I have tried to come at character creation from a psychological perspective I heard a phrase somewhere – ‘Villains are people too’ so I tried to think about what real people are like.. even when they are bad!
Reblogged this on and commented:
Sacha Black is a UK friend who seems to have more time in a day than I have in a week. In other words, the woman needs to relax. But if she did we might not have this article to share with you today. Check it out.
You do make me giggle, thank you so much for sharing this Ronovan :)… p.s. you’re right. I NEVER sleep!
I found with my looks that humor is all I’ve got going for me. ;=P
Another fabulous post, Sacha! You really know what makes your villains tick. I have 2 female villains in my second book, but I feel a bit nervous about them now, having read this post, lol! ?
Hehe thanks Ali – I’m starting to wonder if all that money I spent on a psychology degree might of been worth it after all! :p p.s. don’t be silly I’m sure your villains are awesome.
I’m going to check on them. Will this be another Pinterest winner???
you lost me, your going to check on what?
My female villains
LOVE this post. Never thought about it much, but you are so right. Authorities /profilers always talk about men are serial killers, not women…hmm, could it be that a female villain is so far away from the nuturer that no one wants to think about it? Just too horrid?
Some of the old old fairy tales/myths have some pretty evil/fierce/dangerous women – who have be made much milder in modern versions. In the original story, Hansel and Gretel’s mother/step mother was pretty scary. “Simply to evil and bad and would frighten the children…” So rewrite. Medusa? (Can’t remember her whole story…must review)
Oh, the bad gals have been hidden and chained in Bedlam for too long. Time is right to release them.
it’s an interesting point really. I do wonder whether its something like that – our concepts of women as care givers.
ooh Medusa is a good one, I didn’t think about that, will look up her story, thank you 🙂
Lol, the time is right to let them out! thats brilliant!
Was always fascinated by Banshees, too
I loved reading your post both as an author and as one having first hand experience with BPD. So thankful to see you discount female villains being portrayed as having BPD! My sweet mother lived with BPD and so my whole family lived with it too. She was NOT a villain, she was sick. If anyone reads my posts about her, they will find only loving words of a woman who cared deeply about her five children. She did her best, fought the hardest and loved her family more than anything in the world.. Never, ever was she a villain. Thank you, Sacha.
Well thank you for reading my post. I studied psychology for 6 years, and it does frustrate me that people discriminate or associate wrongly. No one with a disorder is a villain. It’s not something you can control, and I find it irritating that hollywood has glamorised mental health in a negative way.
Thanks for your kind words 🙂
Thank you once again, Sacha.
Such an interesting post. One of my favorite female villains came long before Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Jessica Walters played a jilted one night stand lead in “Play Misty for Me”. It’s from 1971, with Clint Eastwood. I still think of her in that role whenever I see her. Memorable. ☺
Thanks so much, glad you liked it. I haven’t seen Fatal Attraction but I hear she is one evil biatch! I must make the effort and watch it 🙂
Great and helpful points. Thank you for posting. Enjoyed it
Thanks for reading.
Reblogged this on sherriemiranda1 and commented:
Actually I used most of these traits for my protagonist and all of them on my other characters. Not in a villainy way, of course!
Thanks Sacha for a great post!
Sherrie Miranda’s historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” is about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador: http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch5chkAc
Thanks so much for the reblog I really do appreciate it 🙂
No problem! I have no idea how I found you, but I’m glad I did! 😉 <3
aww, thank you. I’m glad too, its lovely to meet you 😀
Sacha, 44 people read your post on my FB page “A Page A Day” https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Page-A-Day-Lets-all-write-just-one-page-a-day/103970129720405?fref=ts
Normally, I’m lucky if 10 people read a re-post!
Best,
Sherrie
Hi Sherrie, thanks for letting me know. and thank you for sharing my post. One of my frustrations with wordpress stats is we never know who shares things ob facebook, only that something has been. That post has been exceptionally popular, far more so than any other post I’ve written for ages. I’m not sure why, it exploded on pinterest too. thanks for telling me though, I really appreciate it. 🙂
Thanks so much sally I really appreciate you sharing this article 🙂
Hi There, thanks for reading. I am really glad that despite not being a fiction writer. Thats a great quote – I heard another, ‘Villains are people too’ and thats the thing – its about creating a villain that is a real person too, which means integrity – or not as the case may be!
hahaha, there are some very scary women out there, but I like to say something controversial to make sure people debate with me :p
Thank you for reading.
Great advice Sacha, but can I also add that it isn’t only in books and movies where some of the best female villains have been created. I watch a lot of soap operas and they have have had some of the most scariest of female villains I have have ever seen or read about. In fact I’ve seen more female murderers than male murderers in my time of watching the soaps and it still always comes as a shock because we always think a woman could not have possibly done the crime. They are living everyday norman lives (or we like to think that are), and it is that concept alone which makes them so bloody scary (excuse the swearing there).
Now that Hugh, is an excellent point. I didn’t even think to consider soap operas. Haha don’t worry about the swearing I am terrible for it! Who’s your fave soap villain then?
That honour has to go to Tracy Barlow in Coronation Street. That lady has got away with more murders than I care to mention. Lets not forget Ena Sharples either, although many would never class her as a villain.
Never watched an episode of Coronation street, but I’ve heard the name!
I’ve a character I’m writing who’s a female anesthetologist who’s masquerading as a surgeon socially and was abused as a child. She’s taking back her power and abducting boyfriends after carefully checking them for loved ones who might miss them within a day or two. Of course she gets through victims but manages to use her contacts at the hospital morgue to dispose of the remains…
Wow, you have a well complex character already – sounds well interesting good luck with the writing 😀
Jason’s mother in Friday the 13th fits, especially your last point.
I should add he hadn’t killed anyone in that movie, but she had. She’s consistent (keep the camp from opening thus protecting the children) as well. She spends years doing this. Actually the only quality she doesn’t have from your list is expertise (although I imagine she’s learned the most effective ways to do it over the years).
fascinating – and I take it you class her as a good example of a villain. Thats really interesting to know she has all those qualities – gives weight to what i was saying. Wish I had thought to add an example of a real villain with all these qualities – thanks for your comment 🙂
THIS! I want to get every one of these tattooed onto my forehead before I start writing my next book. Thank you so much.
hahaha Barb, you are funny, not sure i recommend a tattoo on the forehead though… can you imagine the pain?! :p hahah. good luck with the book.
I’m just curious dose anyone think daisy from the great gatsby is a pyscopath or just vain and ingorant I also was wondering is it me or dose her bff Jordan show signs of being on the high functioning autistic spectrum I know the official diagnous of aspburgers syndrom did not appear until 1994 and Fitzgerald wrote gatsby in 1925 am I crazy for thinking this
Good question. I haven’t read the book, only saw the film a while ago… I reckon you probably have something though… 😀 great thoughts 😀
I think I will have to look up these villains, I only know Belatrix on your list. Love a new villain, have to get my study notebook out 😀 thanks for reading.
Looks like you need to start watching some TV, especially American shows! 😉 <3
haha anything you recommend? 🙂
Great post, Sacha. I have female characters that do very bad things as a result of their convictions, but I haven’t created a female villain yet, which I find interesting. Food for thought. Your list is excellent and applies, I believe, to female and male villains. You’re right though that the female villain requires more careful attention as she’s bucking stereotypes and there aren’t as many “role models.”
Thank you 😀 interesting, that concept of almost villain – or at least villain like acts without being a villain. I agree – the list does apply across the gender barrier. It’s a toughy actually, I have to really not jump on a soap box but it’s a sad truth that we need to pay more attention to a female villain than a male one in order to get it right and all just because they are female. Very frustrating.
I think I would have to work harder at it because it would seem so foreign to me. I would keep wanting her to discover her humanity and change her ways at the last minute…and that would be soooo lame! 😀
lol – its hard isn’t it. I find it hard to torture my characters, I guess because I secretly like them! but you have to, otherwise theres no conflict or rollercoaster! sigh.
I’ve seen some of One who flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and i had trouble completely accepting Rachet as a complete villain. She kept being provoked. As I see if a good villain won’t see themselves as or evil, but sometimes their actions are necessary.
Hi William – thanks for the comment – I didn’t see it pop in here, sorry for the delay. Thanks for reading and the comments about Nurse Rachet 🙂 I agree about their perspective.
Well thank you so much for saying so. And thank you for reading. I completely agree by the way. It is equally important ?
Very true…all of these thins make villains that are terrifying, all too real, believable and credible. Without having a sense of reality to your villain, there is no point in having a villain.
Thanks for stopping in and reading my post. Glad you agreed with the post. 🙂
I like flipping things on their head as far as appearances go. Specifically, in one story I have the hero looks like the Jason Voorhees/ Michael Myers villain (he’s even mute due to a birth defect). He’s also severely dyslexic, limiting his ability to write anything. Despite appearances though, he’s highly intelligent and does understand language even if he can’t initially communicate (he ends up learning sign language in the story which is why everything comes out). His sister is a high-functioning violent sociopath though of the religious extremist sort. She loves her routines, staying on top of the latest fashions and generally just fitting in with the society around her (volunteers a lot, receptionist at the local college, upstanding member at the local church, that kind of thing).
Your villains sound awesome Brigitta – I especially love the fact you have a female villain – she sounds terrifying – goof luck with the novel
Coming from several generations of a law-enforcement family, I know of statistics showing that there is a significantly higher instance of men committing crimes than women in general. This is not to say that women do not commit crimes; it’s just saying that of those who do commit crimes and are convicted of them, the vast majority are men. I’m not saying that women don’t make great villains; they do (if written correctly) as I have written many in various novels and stories. I think that the stereotype of women not being villains is more based on this particular statistic than what it is society’s general stifling and objectification of women. Not to say that the latter isn’t an issue; I just don’t think it’s the main issue in this scenario.
Hi Tom, thanks for the comment. Interesting facts about crimes too, very interesting. I loosely knew that men commit more crimes than women because I studied a bit of forensic psychology in my degree, but its nice to have it confirmed by someone in law enforcement. Thanks again for stopping by
I feel like every villain has a typical backstory (bad childhood, dead/scorned lover) or a typical reasons like their own ethics and such. How would you go about creating a villain that is evil just because there was nothing better to do? A villain that doesn’t have BPD, had a normal childhood, and is just evil to cure their boredom. Or would that not make a convincing villain?
Absolutely. Although not specifically mentioned here I allude to it, but I have another couple of posts about villains that says just that. You’re totally right. Backstory is essential. Thanks for stopping by
Exactly what I needed to read. I’m fine-tuning a bad-girl turned heister, right now. This is CANDY. Thank you!
Ahh shucks, I am so glad to hear that you liked it and you found it helpful ?? hope you manage to smash your edits.
You are… INCREDIBLE!!! I agreed the whole way while reading this and saw where I made mistakes with one of mine. Thank you so so much!
Gosh, thank you 😀 I am so glad you enjoyed this post 😀 lovely to meet you William 😀
I LOVE an anti hero! I’ve written about them before – I am actually writing a non-fiction book on villains as we speak and theres a section on anti – heroes in there.
Lovely to meet you – what’s your name? I took at look at your page – awesome trick getting the music to play 😀
Sacha,
Thank you so much. My name is Chris and right now our ‘anti-hero’ is in the middle of some pretty horrific stuff in the third installment to the series. My love of music plays into all of my books and the ‘Intermission’ inside of the second book is actually a real song by a real band I grew up listening to. Each page on our website has music that is featured inside each book. Thanks for taking the time to visit and check it out! CG
(I normally read for a week between books when I am not writing, is there one you can recommend, hint, hint)
Ummmm. As much as I’d love to recommend my own book! It’s not published yet! I mean thats a hard question otherwise. SO many books.
What is the premise of your book?
It’s a young adult fantasy book, about when fates wrong, love and saving the world!
Look me up when you are finished. I will read and review it for you in between novels if you wish. I do it quite a bit of reviews and I always look for first time authors. I also beta read. I don’t ask anything in return except a return review one day.
ok thanks I will 😀
For a female “villain” who’s completely terrifying, look no further than the “number one fan” in Misery.
Awesome I will check it out, thank you 😀
I stumbled across this article and so pleased I did. Great post. Just want to add that there is a female villain who fills this description beautifully. She is so good at being the villain you describe fans of the series complain when she’s not in the story line so they bring her back in. She is bad to the bone but strangely heroic and makes not only Luther, but anyone who watches the show, fall for her. I’m talking about Alice from the brilliant British tv series Luther. One of the most unique and finely drawn villains, male or female, I’ve ever seen and portrayed to perfection by Ruth Wilson – nothing weak or stereotypical about her but at the same time never crosses into any feeling of being too “masculine” or just a male villain transplanted onto a female character. Probably my favourite female villain of all time at this point
Hi Jacki,
Don’t worry, your comment is safe! I approve all comments to avoid spambots and also to make sure I don’t miss any and fail to respond. I haven’t watched Luther, but now I absolutely have to. Thanks for the recommendation 😀 😀
There is nothing I want more right now then to create a terrifying female villain on the top of the food chain because she’s intelligent and cutthroat. Your article makes it crazy possible and has given me lots of inspiration! You will definitely going to be one of my go to bloggers for now on!!!! ???
I am so glad you liked the post and thank you for subscribing too, I’m actually writing an entire book on creating better villains as we speak :D. What genre are you writing? I hope you have a fab writing week 😀 😀 😀
I am kinda bouncing back and forth between suspense and sci-fi ( or combining the two of I can’t make up my mind !) ?
Villians are important to me so my genere may be built around the characters I create and their personalities
well I look forward to hearing about your progress. Let me know how it goes 😀 <3
I just wrote the most terrifying and sarcastic female anti-hero in science fiction. The entire series is based around strong females, both the protagonists, and antagonists. Emerald was released today and the main character, Xanthe, is based on an actual friend of mine. It was a blast using her personality for this character. She wrote the Foreword for the novel and it is hilarious. The main antagonist in the entire series is a female AI who is pissed off at any human with a Y chromosome. Good luck with your writing. The villains are a heck of a lot more fun to write. I get to take my frustrations out on other people through bloodletting and phosphorous spiders that eat your brain matter. Have a great day, CG 🙂
amazing, it sounds fantastic, there aren’t enough strong female villains/anti-heroes at the forefront of popular fiction. Good luck with your novels 😀 <3
Thank you Sacha. So, have you written your book yet?
Ive written one which is with betas and will finish another by the end of the year. But I’m choosing not to publish my series till I have 3 finished ones. So hopefully end of next year. Although the book on villains should be out in late spring next year. 🙂
I am going to share this with my high school creative writing class. I always speak on writing strong female characters. What movie would you show to illustrate the strong female character. It must be pg-13
Hi William, I’m just preparing to release my writing craft book all about villains, but it is most definitely not PG 13!!
That is a good question, there are so few good female villains, and fewer still that are PG rated. Cruelly deVille is a classic, I like her because she’s not ‘boy’ obsessed. But often she’s portrayed as nuts. So depends on which version you watch.
What about Fester’s wife from the Adams family?
Or my personal favourite, although I am cheating because she is actually an anti-hero not a villain, but Maleficent (Angelina Jolie’s recent portrayal was awesome). I will continue to ponder on this because none of those are from books particularly
Fester’s wife would great and many of my high school won’t have seen it. Plus Wednesday and Morticia are not typical damsels
Exactly 😀 love Wednesday. Glad I could help 🙂
I thought Kate Winslet was a very good ‘evil woman’ in the otherwise unconvincing film ‘Divergent’, which apparently is a based on a series of books. Winslet’s character comes across as a very elegant and considerate person, but you can feel the edge. In the end, it becomes clear she is a tough and determined lady who doesn’t mind people die as long as her goal is reached.
She’s not bad actually. Yes, she is based on the books of the same name by Veronica Roth. I’ve read the books, they are fantastic, but I am a little biased, as that’s the genre I read and write.