My Novel Thread

[Adder1234]

I've mentioned it before, but I'm writing a novel and I recently realised that I needed some more villains for the story. I suck at thinking up villains and I don't want to do use anything too cliche. The novel is set during current times and is based around a secret war between humans and demons that has waged for as long as the human race has existed. There's magic and demons are formed when a human dies with regrets about their lives and those regrets determine what kind of a demon they are. I don't mind if the villains are demons or human sorcerers, one of the focal points in the story is that not all demons are evil and not all humans are good. So, any one have any ideas?

 

[Full Steam]

Has the book got any humour in it, or is it serious?

Are you looking for the demons to have personalities and motivations which are twists of their human lives?

 

[Adder1234]

A bit of both, I want all kinds of characters, both good and bad in my book. But most of all, I want villains that the readers can respect, not the kind of villains that people outright hate.

 

[Full Steam]

So maybe a government official in Indonesia responsible for selling off jungle for demolition becomes a demon with napalm coming out of its hands an the desire to scorch the earth.

Or an officious council worker turns into a demon counting and judging humans to be tortured and executed.

An intelligence operative that turns into a demon that can take its eye balls out and fly them around to gather Intel.

Rupert Murdock turns into a wizened and hideous demon that tears the soul out of people, families, communities and even nations, showing no remorse or glimmer of his long lost humanity.

Oh wait a minute! No need for a transformation there!

His death scene is great, as he spends a seemingly endless time in purgatory as he's visited one by one, by every soul, human and other wise that his evil has touched. His immortal soul stretched on a rack and poked by ferrets with burning sticks.

Heh, sorry about that! Got carried away.

 

[Adder1234]

All nice ideas, but I also would like to know reasons why they are evil in the first place. Honestly I just want to know the kinds of bad guys that people like and enjoy reading about.

 

[tree]

What Makes a Good Villain? Here's Your 15-Item Checklist
Villainous Traits and their Virtues

The two links provide insights into the 'villainous' character.

The 2nd was particularly interesting to me because it described
the positive aspects of the negative traits. The first is a
checklist that outlines directions to explore when
developing the character.

 

[AGXStarseed]

The motivations and stories behind the villains what get people interested in them, moreso than if you simply state the villain is evil just because he's evil.
Here's some examples from the DC Universe:

Mr Freeze: A great example of the 'tragic' villain. Freeze's backstory is of a man committing criminal acts to try and save his terminally ill wife and get revenge on those who caused the accident that transformed him into what he is.

Manchester Black: Leader of a superhero/anti-hero group called the Elite, Black is an anti-hero who is memorable not just for his appearance but also his similarities to Superman; both are individuals who want to make the world a better place, but while Superman sticks to his morals and hands over defeated villains to the justice system to be judged, Black instead believes in killing the villains to stop them coming back at all - putting the Elite and Superman at odds with one another.

Ra's Al Ghul: A near-immortal who is responsible for creating the clandestine organisation The League Of Assasins, with Ra's motivation been his belief that he can restore order to the world by killing most of humanity. What makes him interesting is that he hates Batman for constantly interfering in his plans, but also admires him and ultimately wants Batman to succeed him as his heir.



The following also might help you:

 

[Riley]

*Pops up out of a hole* If I may have a suggestion...

A demon who, in life, was either a young child, parent, or lover. A tragedy befell their closest loved one(s). They were so desperate in the aftermath that they transformed...Into a powerful demon.

 

[Adder1234]

I've changed the title, because I don't want to create a new thread every time I have a question, and I'm often going to post ideas and concepts that I want an outside opinion on. I always like other peoples opinions, because if I just rely on my own ideas, my writing ends up being very predictable and repetitive.
My current question is; I've already asked about villains, but what about heroes? Is there any qualities or characteristics that all heroes should have, or are there any ideas that you think could be interesting for a hero?