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How
to Run a Good Bad Guy - Part 1
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Pradeep Chennavajjula *
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Scum of the
Earth or Tragic Antihero? Is the villain redeemable or irredeemable?
Does the villain "just need killin'," or can s/he be convinced of
the evil of his or her ways? Some villains—demons and devils, for
example—may be evil because they were created evil and have no free
will to change their alignment. I do not find those kinds of villains
to be worthy of archvillain status, though. Too shallow, too unidimensional.
Take Indian Cinema for example, all of the most interesting villains
in them are multifaceted characters with complex histories. They
all had reasons for becoming villains.
That's the kind of archvillain you want to decide whether or not
your villain is redeemable, you must first determine the villain's
motivation. Why is the villain doing whatever s/he is doing? There
are three classic motivations for villainy: culture, psychology/history,
and misguided ideals.
All three motivations can lead to the villain either being scum
of the earth or a tragic antihero, depending on the villain's personality.
However, you will find that it is harder to hate somebody whose
motivations you understand. For example, the audience instantly
forgave Sanjay Dutt for his crimes in Khalnayak as soon as they
learned he was a frustrated son. Consequently, it is always a nice
touch if Jackie Shroff manages to reveal the archvillain's motivations
to the characters before The Final Showdown. Try to avoid those
longwinded James-Bond-movie diatribes from the villain, though.
Leave the cheap theatrics for the minor villains. Far better if
the characters learn the archvillain's motives from the archvillain's
spouse, child, parent, ex- lover, best friend, mentor, trusted servant,
or personal diary.
Archvillains should never whine or seek to explain themselves to
others. Archvillains have confidence. They are cool. They do not
ask permission to be evil. So, let me look at the possible factors
that influence a good guy and make him bad.
Culture. This is an uncommon motivation, but it can provide an interesting
ethical twist to the game. This villain comes from a culture or
has a personal background that provides good reasons for doing what
is considered criminal in the player characters' cultures. Hindi
Horror movies are perfect examples; in that, the vampire characters
may not have chosen to be vampires, and they may being doing all
they can to promote good, but like it or not, they have to drink
blood to survive and they have to obey the rules of the Masquerade
or be hunted down and killed. They're victims of circumstance; victims
of their natures; and victims of the vampiric culture.
As another example, a villain might come from a culture where all
elves have sworn their souls to evil, and it is considered a good
and holy act to kill the pointy-eared little demon-worshippers.
Now, the villain has come to the culture of the player characters
and is still killing elves, not realizing that the elves in this
land have never made such an unholy pact. The villain is not intrinsically
evil—just misinformed or unable to break out of his or her cultural
assumptions. Culture can also be blamed for a villain's racism,
sexism, or other forms of prejudice. Good players should realize
that they may be able to change the villain's cultural beliefs without
resorting to violence.
Psychology/History. We all know enough pseudo-Freudian cliches to
come up with psychological motivations for villainy. These motivations
tend to be a little gritty, though. The villain was abandoned as
a child, abused in a series of foster homes, finally found a "family"
in the local street gangs, and the rest is history. The villain
was molested by her father and has grown up hating all men, especially
those in positions of authority. The villain suffered a series of
terrible life crises, turned to drugs for comfort, and now commits
crimes to support the habit. Take any movie of an angry young man,
you will find this kind of a villian.
The villain was mocked as a child for being (choose your minority
social category of preference—race, gender, religion, sexual preference,
physical difference from the norm) and now seeks to prove he is
just as good or better than anybody else. The villain had trained
for years to become a paladin (a cleric, a mage, a fighter) but,
when it came down to the crunch, failed to live up to her ideals—and,
as a result, has abandoned them completely. There are thousands
of possibilities here.
The director of the movie may need to decide whether such a psychologically
motivated villain can be "cured" of his or her social maladjustment
by magic. I feel that it's ridiculous to argue that villains who
are motivated by past mishaps in their life are insane, but if there's
a high-level priest with a Cure Insanity in the party, a thoughtful
director may want to decide where "sanity" ends and "insanity" begins
before the question comes up in the game.
Misguided Ideals: In this case, the villain is completely convinced
that what s/he is doing will better the world—that the ends justify
the means, no matter how terrible the means may be. In this category
can be found the villain who says "no woman has ever started a war
in this realm, so I'm going to kill all the male heirs to the throne
until they have to put a woman in the seat of power" ... the grown-up
survivor of abuse who murders abusive parents and takes in their
abused children, promising the kids that they'll never be hurt again
... the vigilante who will kill any number of innocent bystanders
to take out that single corrupt king ... the drug smuggler who channels
all proceeds into the campaign funds of some politician s/he feels
will really make a difference if elected. Misguided villains may
or may not be able to be reasoned with, and good characters may
feel some qualms about killing them out of hand.
After you determine the villain's motivation, you have to decide
whether the character can be convinced of the error of his or her
ways. Keep your decision loose—the actions of the characters are
likely to affect the villain's attitude. Cold, callous characters
may make the formerly redeemable villain irredeemable; reasonable,
sympathetic characters may make the irredeemable villain do a little
soul-searching.
You should have an idea of how you'd like the adventure to play
out (e.g., the characters finally kill the villain, the characters
convince the villain of the error of her ways, characters and villain
both team up at the last minute to save the city/kingdom/world against
a greater evil), but you should always remain flexible.
If I decide to make a villain redeemable, and drop plenty of hints
to the players that the villain isn't completely heartless or evil,
and the players don't try to negotiate with the villain ... well,
then I'm afraid I start docking experience points. In my opinion
- and in the Indian movies - there's far more merit in redeeming
the bad guys than in killing them. |
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End
of Analysis
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| * Pradeep Chennavajjula
works as the Dean, ICFAIan Business School, Mumbai. You can reach
him at [email protected] |
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