Siddharth Saoji Alice: You know what’s wrong with most stories these days?
Bob: The coffee shop meetings where writers complain about other stories?
Alice: Ha. No, it’s the villains. They’re terrible.
Bob: Define terrible.
Alice: Lazy. Generic. Forgettable. Like the writer just needed someone for the hero to punch at the end.
Bob: Okay, so what makes a good villain then?
Alice: First off, it doesn’t have to be a person. Could be debt crushing your protagonist. Could be their upbringing. Health limitations.
Bob: So basically… life?
Alice: Exactly. But here’s the thing, you have to make it crystal clear what they’re up against, then let them struggle.
Bob: Show me what you mean.
Alice: Take two bakery stories. Version one: Baker bob has some money problems opening his shop. Gets a loan from his aunt. Opens bakery. Everyone’s happy.
Bob: Sweet. Literally.
Alice: Version two: Baker Bob is opening this bakery to honor his family heritage. He’s buried in medical debt, fighting a slumlord, and there’s this city council guy blocking his permits because he’s getting money from big restuaurant chains.
Bob: Ouch. Version one suddenly feels like a greeting card.
Alice: Right? Heroes who just keep winning are boring as hell. Nobody relates to that.
Bob: But people want happy endings.
Alice: They want earned endings. When your protagonist suffers, readers start thinking about their own problems. They slip into the character’s shoes without realizing it.
Bob: Is that the psychology thing? About remembering villains better?
Alice: Yeah, we remember antagonists more than heroes. Heroes are us, villains are the weird ones. Our brains latch onto weird.
Bob: And good villains elevate everything?
Alice: The stronger the villain, the better the hero’s journey. Look at The Dark Knight, that’s not about Batman’s toys, it’s about the Joker being absolutely unhinged. Harry Potter works because Voldemort is genuinely terrifying.
Bob: Is that why AI makes a good villain in sci-fi?
Alice: Perfect antagonist material. Smarter than us, no emotions, potentially everywhere, completely alien. Way more interesting than making it R2-D2’s helpful cousin.
Bob: So what’s your formula for a good villain?
Alice: Complexity over power. Portray the nuances of it, that crash directly into your hero’s goals. Make the stakes feel real.
Bob: Ok do you want to push this further?
Alice: The best villains don’t just make problems, they force your protagonist to discover who they really are when everything’s on fire.
Bob: Great. Now I need to rewrite my entire manuscript.
Alice: That’s the spirit.