Creepy Antagonists

[Nessa]

The writing group wants me to make my main antagonist 'creepy.' I have no difficulty writing the rest of the story, that's easy and fun. But making the antagonists truly nasty, I've discovered, is rather painful. I can come up with truly awful stuff, but I'm not enjoying actually writing it. It creeps me out just to type this stuff out.

How does one portray a truly nasty antagonist in a realistic way?

[MsFish]

How NOT to do it:  Don't just have everyone spend the story talking about how evil the character is.  It doesn't work.  Inkheart is a good example of this.  The "evil" character is constantly being referred to as this monster, but he never actually *does* anything evil.  So I feel no tension in the book, and I don't respect any of the main characters, because they seem to be terrified for no reason at all.  

Actions speak louder than words.  Creepy characters do creepy things.  If they don't do creepy things, I don't believe they're creepy.  

[stacer]

Fish, have you ever read Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak?  I'd say that's one example in which the antagonist is definitely creepy, but we don't know what he did till the very end. He does a couple things that creep you out over the course of the book, though, that justify why Melinda is so freaked out by the boy, so that's probably not a good example. But anyway, my point is that even if they don't do anything in the course of the narrative, they do need to have done something sometime that makes the reader understand why he's bad, even if the explanation is a long time in coming. In the case of Speak, it's the whole point of the book, the why. (I'm trying to dance around exactly what it was so that if people haven't read it, I don't give it away. Please let me know if I've said too much.)

And I think you just have to get past the creepy and remember as you're writing it that you have a purpose in writing it--that eventually good will win out (I hope!).

[Eric James Stone]

Creepy characters do creepy things.

That pretty much pegs it.

Now, in my mind there's a difference between "creepy" and "truly nasty," which means a character can be creepy without being truly nasty.  (Of course, it's possible to be both.)

As a quick example, a stalker can be creepy even if he never actually harms anyone.  On the other hand, a mobster can be truly nasty without being creepy.

So perhaps you don't need to have your character do anything truly nasty.  If you just have him do things that make him weirdly obsessed, that might be "creepy" enough.

[Tekiel]

Creepy characters are the ones who you're afraid of because you don't know what they'll do to you.  Scary, nasty characters are scary because you know (or have seen) what they are capable of doing to you.

[MsFish]

I agree with Tekiel, but would add that they have to do unpredictable things, then, that are in at least some measure bad, because if they don't, then you can't be afraid of what they might do--i.e. Inkheart.

I haven't read Speak, but I've seen it and been interested in reading it.  Is it worth a read?

[Archon]

Could you give us a vague synopsis of the plot of your book Nessa, or at least give us a brief synopsis of the character's role in the story? It is hard to generalize, both because what is creepy in one age and world is not in another, and because some strategies work better for Sauron-like villains than for say Hrathen-like villains.

[Nessa]

Synopsis: Main character Lysa is the protagonist and has powers. The main antagonists are necromancers, and the head bad-guy, Drakken, is a major nasty dude. (I won't give more specific than that at this point unless the reading group wants spoilers!) I'm still pinning down the necromancer specifics, but basically they kill people to make themselves stronger magically.

The writing group wants more specifics about the things Drakken has done so that when he arrives on the scene, that the readers will be properly freaked out and scared for Lysa's well being.

I know what he's done (don't want to give spoilers) to a small extent, so I need to write some proper terrible stuff he's done. Only, it's freaking me out to write it. My simple Mormon girl sensibilities are in danger of corruption. But I still want help.

As for creepy vs nasty. I need him to be more nasty. The writing group said 'creepy', but that's not really the feel I'm going for. I don't want it to feel like Sauron, all-powerful and completely corrupt. Drakken has motives that make sense to him, and he's more rounded out than that (ok, can't say more, spoilers...).

[Eric James Stone]

If you want nasty-creepy, I suggest some variation on "I'm doing this for your own good."  (Cheesy example: "I'm sorry to have to torture you to death, but you're becoming part of something greater: me.")

[The Jade Knight]

I think it's a good thing it's creeping you out.

That's just my 2¢.

[stacer]

I haven't read Speak, but I've seen it and been interested in reading it.  Is it worth a read?

Definitely. It's the voice that makes it worth the read. I think it's right up your alley, too, MsFish. You know how it ends, having seen the movie, but the book does a much better job of internal dialogue because in the book Melinda really doesn't speak *at all* for almost the entire school year. She's talkative in the movie compared to the book. The movie just can't get the flavor of her internal voice the way that the book can, just due to the nature of the movie.

[MsFish]

If that's the case then I'm damned.  I love to write creepy/disturbing stuff.  It's generally my favorite part to write.  

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

My creepiest villain (imo) was based on Batman with a dash of Venom tossed in.

He had this strict code of honor, and a vendetta against someone who had wronged him.

But this honor thing was mostly his justification for a selfish, violent personality. He claimed he only hunted criminals, but he really enjoyed cutting them up and beating them down.

I showed this by having him stumble on a rape about to be in progress in one of his first scenes. First thing he does is take out hte baddies. Then, noticing the condition of the woman, who is thanking him and trying to cover up, he nearly commits the crime he just prevented, stopped only when his faithful protege shows up.

Does that jive with "creepy?" and if so, does it help to have a clear example?

[Nessa]

Hm. Yes, SE, that helps a little. I guess I'm just fishing for ideas. I have a few, but they need rounding out. I will need to research a little, I think. I've already had to research about demons, which was something I never thought I'd have to do.

Back to work for me.

[Tink]

Synopsis: Main character Lysa is the protagonist and has powers. The main antagonists are necromancers, and the head bad-guy, Drakken, is a major nasty dude.

Nessa,

Just out of curiosity, did you purposely make your villian's name the same as one from Disney's Kim Possible?