As you touch on a bit, my single favourite thing about the Salamanca family in these shows is that despite them all being these different kinds of crazy violent criminals, they all care so deeply about family. Look at how Gus treats Nacho in the series compared to the Salamanca family. Nacho only really got to be such a good informant for Gus because the Salamancas respected and accepted Nacho as family. It's yet another quality you'd expect more from your heroic characters.
@@internettraveler8666 Yeah Hector may be the shittiest, but to be fair he still values family really highly and is clearly very angry and hurt when any of them die. The scene where he abuses the twins was, maybe ironically, meant to show that family means everything and in his own very twisted way he was trying to make the cousins value each other. With Nacho and his dad, I think it shows how the Salamancas valued Nacho but also completly misunderstood how he saw them. I think Hector geniuenly thought this would be no problem with Nacho or his dad, maybe even expecting them to see it as a sign of respect and be grateful for it.
@@mudshroozeevil is a word people throw around to dehumanize behavior that doesn't agree with their morality. Sure most of the time. I would disagree with the morality of these individuals but let's not just dismiss them as human beings. They were much more "human" than Gus. Even though I think Gus was a bit less reprehensible, personally, he still would go to any lengths desplaying a complete lack of scruples.
@@cynicaltheastrocreep4504Are you saying the Salamancas weren't evil because they were human? Because they have different morals? Which involve ruthlessly killing countless innocents and running expansive drug empires? Because their narcissism involves preserving their legacy/family, they're okay people?
The best part about Lalo is that Tony Dalton himself is such a big Breaking Bad fan so him ending up playing as an iconic villain is his dream came true.
10:00 Because Better Call Saul tells the origin story of a misguided trickster and Lalo is the villain. The antagonist always embodies the greatest sin of the protagonist, which is Jimmy's willingness to do evil for the personal gain of himself or his loved ones. That's where Lalo's unpredictability comes from. He would do literally anything for the Salamanca family, anything far beyond Jimmy's capability for evil.
I like to describe Lalo as a "hate to love" character, as oppose to "love to hate" characters. You know he's bad, you know he's working against Gus, Mike and Saul, and you know he would kill you if need be. But you just can't help it when before the blow is struck he's being so charming and gentle with you!
My favorite scene(s) in BB was everything that went down in Mexico. Gus is competent and prepared. Gus genuinely cares for his people. Gus sharing a casual moment with Jesse. He's still the villain, but it's one of the few times Walt isn't involved, so the human in him gets to shine.
You don’t understand Gus dude. Gus is a stone cold ruthless sociopath. He doesn’t care about Jesse. He only cares about getting rid of Walter cause he can’t trust Walt. Jesse is the only alternative he’s got to getting Walt’s meth cooked, so of course he tries to manipulate him and get him on his side.
Savage books: one of the most insightful and passionate TH-camrs on the platform Lalo Salamanca: one of the most electrifying and engaging tv antagonists ever written. Match made in Heaven
I love Lalo, I cried when he died 😅 like I’m conscious of his actions and everything and he is the baddest baddie but he is so charming that I can’t help but like him
He's the kind of guy I would go out drinking tequila and dancing but otherwise would keep him a wide berth away from the rest of my life. (Unless I wanted to commit some funny crimes he'd appreciate lol).
Great analysis. Lalo and Gus are two great villainous characters. I have never watched any full episode of BCS or BB but, like you, am addicted to their clips.
One of my favourite moments in BCS is when Lalo goes home and has all these sweet interactions with his household. Its very sweet and dissonant from the actual character.
My cousin is a lot like Lalo in how he can let out a terrifying rage at the drop of a hat. It's a leftover from how his father raised him, but he keeps a lid on things right up until he decides someone crossed a line.
I first noticed the underdog villain trick you mention in the game Transformers Fall of Cybertron. During the chapters following the Decepticons, they’ve lost the upper hand to the Autobots, leading you to root for and sympathize with them despite having seen the depths of their evil earlier in the story.
I'm sorry the algorithm didn't like your other Better Call Saul video but I loved it and this one, and can't wait to see more! Big agree with all of this, Lalo to me was what put BCS over the edge to become a masterpiece.
I know you've done a lot of videos on Game of Thrones, but I really hope you do one on (book) Stannis one day. He's such a fascinating and divisive character, I can never get enough of people talking about how they love him, or hate him, is smart, dumb, good or bad or how they think he'd be an amazing king, or a terrible king, is the hero or is the anti-hero or the the underdog, or a villain...
Lalo is ICONIC I loved every second of his screen time. This is also what makes the Phantom Troupe in Hunter x Hunter so good!! Lmao at the brief Xaolin Showdown appearance. Loved that show when I was a child.
If I had to decide who should have survived, Lalo or Fring, I'd definitely want Lalo to. Yes, Gus was awesome and I kinda liked him in Breaking Bad but seeing him in Better Call Saul made me realize completely how all his displays of sympathy and compassion are just plain fake. Turn your back on him and his smile vanishes in a split second. Lalo on the other hand is a cruel monster but he's capable of compassion and caring for those closest to him.
I remembered hearing the name Lalo before starting BCS (I started and finished it only months after the last episode aired despite my undying love for BB I wanted to wait until I could binge it like BB), and seeing him finally show up and hearing his name made me grin, only to see what he does after. The man is terrifying for reasons the other Salamanca's just aren't. He's extremely smart and observant, like he can read an entire room and understand everything with just a single glance. I love watching Lalo but my god does it also put me on edge because he's so damn unpredictable. Great video!
Lalo isn't a villain. Lalo is the anti hero of Better Call Saul and Gus is the villain. Lalo is a standup guy to Nacho. He cares for his family. And he almost beats the evil Chicken Man. Also he's got an epic mustache. Gus violently coerces Nacho. Kills Lalo's family. And is a souless degenerate goul with no familial attachments. And he has no facial hair to speak of.
Show me your facial hair and I'll tell you how bad you are. xD I absolutely agree with you though! Lalo might be cruel but Fring is just an evil monster incapable of honest compassion and sympathy. He's smiling at you? Turn your back at him and the smile vanishes instantly. Lalo is smiling at you? Turn your back at him and he's still smiling, maybe even shouting some funny joke as you're leaving (or he might just kill you.. xD)
Nacho's entire goal is to get out of the criminal life and escape to Canada with his father. Where do you get off saying he has no familial attachments?
I think a good way to describe this type of writing is that lalo is a character that you really really want to see do stuff and then you slowly get turned to the other side of not wanting him to do anything
Wow, this is a piece of writing advice I never have heard or thought of. Super underrated video! I LOVE Lalo's character and wanted to put some of his essence in my main villain, but this has helped me think about that in a more purposeful way.
The competency of the villain is a big part of what makes him great. This is the factor shared by both Lalo and Gus. This is the factor which leaves us on the edge of our seat unsure of the outcome (or at least in a state of anticipation to know how things play out) in their conflicts with Saul and Walt. Attention to detail and character development really pay off in BB and BCS. Glad they invested in those rather than cheap narrative tricks such as subversion of expectation or contrived plot twists inferior works engage in so heavily.
Very good video. These are great points and tips but also makes perfect sense. I love the point about letting them do other things besides being a villain, and treating them like a protagonist. I think that also helps with keeping them unpredictable.
On the other hand, when a villain is well written, but not like a human at all, more like a personification of fate, death, chaos, etc. it works great. John Ryder (The Hitcher), Anton Chigurh, Ledger's Joker.
Before i even watched the video, I had an idea of what you were going to say. I specifically thought something like "just make the villain seem like a real person, not just a one-note evil person who only appears to do evil. Make them have feelings, show their connections and relationships of others, portray them as human. It'll make the audience feel for them as if they were a main character." I figured this would be the case since characters like L or Tomura Shigaraki are very well liked, despite being the antagonist, or at least the foil to the main character. They're shown to be human, specifically Shigaraki. We grow with him as the series progresses, just as we do with the MC. He even gets his own arc.
I think it was so smart to make Lalo a different breed from the other Salamancas. Sure, he's just as violent, murderous and sociopathic as any of them, but he's also highly intelligent and crafty. That makes him stand out from characters like Tuco and Hector, while also being a great foil to Nacho as his latest obstacle. He operates more like a con man but because we know what he's capable of that friendly demeanor becomes so intimidating. Especially when he's obviously getting a kick out of fucking with someone knowing they can't do anything about it.
I think what makes Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul so iconic is that every major character is the Antagonist to each other. No one is the true protagonist really; everyone is the hero if you isolate their stories. Gus, Walt, Jimmy, Kim, Jesse, Lalo, Hector: they all could be their own shows isolated.
My favorite thing about Lalo was that he was a legitimate threat to Gus. We already knew what Gus was capable of, so seeing him actually scared made Lalo seem that much formidable.
What really freaks me out about Lalo is that he's a fusion of Gus and Mike. All the scenes where we're just watching him feel the same as the scenes where we follow Mike; he's extremely persistent, diligent, clever, and resourceful. When he's interacting with other characters, he's incredibly friendly and disarming, similar to how Gus acts the straight-laced goody two shoes to disarm people. We've gotten a detailed look at exactly how these characteristics are so effective at coming out on top, so when we start to see them in Lalo, that's fucking terrifying.
It's kinda funny. Lalo is easily the best boss Nacho could've had, yet he's only there because Nacho did something that Lalo would kill him for. They did such a good job creating his character that he feels like he would have handily thwarted Walter White if Lalo had run up against him in Breaking Bad.
You should make a video on the anime monster sometime. I would love to see a video of you analyzing Johan liebert's character and how to write a villan like him
ngl, I rewatched the entirety of both series with my girlfriend. In the end, Better Call Saul was leagues better than Breaking Bad. BB was cool, but it’s so over the top harsh with its characters that I feel like there’s no hope. I became jaded with the media. BCS was so much better because it used levity to give us hope. Kim is so much better than Jesse because she’s such an active generator of hope for our main character. Jesse was just an outlet to show how terrible Walter is for a majority of the show. So much more kindness and hope for people to do better even though we know everything is going to sink into negativity. It’s just such a difference of how the prequel did emotional balance leagues better than the original show. Sorry if y’all disagree with me, but tell me straight faced you’d prefer to see Come and See over Lego Batman.
This also highlights why the Puppet-Master villain type is probably the easiest to muck up: the idea has merit if you can balance it, but see the Daniel Craig 007 films with Blofeld (who literally claims he controlled EVERYTHING in Bond’s life) for how quickly the idea can collapse… Sure, a great villain has to be difficult to overcome, but if the reason they’re so powerful is author fiat (something that can also occur if they have sheer power far outstripping the heroes) then you lose your emotional investment because they don’t feel real.
I get this I can't remember the name but the villain in Heroes whose introduction was cooking because he likes cooking. Has nothing to do with the plot that's just him having a hobby.
I’m on my second watch of Saul, right at the point where Nacho switched Don Hector’s pills. In the back of my mind, I’m like Oh lawd he’s coming… If the Salamanca family had more Lalo’s and less Tuco’s, Don Eladio would be rendered pointless.
Before i watch i wanna say i agree with the title... This is why for me, i stand by HARD that to write a good story isnt hard but instead is time consuming because all you need is to look at and at least genrrally understand all the ways the real world works first and than make your world first in light of that knowledge. Essentially you have to make what brandon sanderson calls a 'REAL' world which essentialy is a world that could be DRASTICALLY different or even very similar to ours technically barring a few rogue variables that went differently. An example of this is my storys world im in the beginning stages of writing based on a similar apocalypse to what happened in the witchers world where aroubd modern day, a bunvh of different versions of the earth for an unknown reason were brought together and overlapped over eachother in odd ways not only srastically increasing the size of the planet but also having strange knock on effects where gravity hasnt chsnged much if at alleven though it should have as well as one hypothesised culpeit for why being aether (this worlds version of mana). The existance of aether is what drove the worlds drastiv alteration after whatever started it anf like a leash tied yo a pole, stopped the worlds from continuing to overlap more versions of the earth past a certain point as well as empowering all loving beings greatly and intwrtwinibg so much that even the least magical person has SOME aether now a days unless they literally have a curse preventing them from binding with aether which almost invariably for this new stage of life is just as lethal as too much aether for ones body to handle. In this new world many races were beought together after long trials and tribulations and baser fears and prejiduce taking hold during what is now refered to as the calamity ranging fron orks to goblins to kobolds to lycans and vampires to humans, dwarves, and elves as well as certain variations of humans that sprung up in the wake of the humans being brand new to aether beibg the devils and angels as well as the unknow and unique immortals with these races having been HATED by all races until very recently due to their intrinsice conncetion to the 3 parties known to have at least played a part in starting the calamity being the gods and their sivinites that power their holy magic (divinites are energy shed through prayers that those who are subject of enough prayers or blessed by those who who recieve enough prayers, this energy is thought to be brought about by happiness and joy as well as desperation and fear stripping away all the other types of magic from the raw aether one absorbs to the purest life mana it could be with life mana being considered akin to the epitome of all order in the universe.) With devils drawing from the miasma (the smoke of the magic flames of the hels that burns only life energy leaving all forms of magic to blend together into a thick, black, and volitle smoke that can be channels for use in hellflare magic that all devils can use) and of course the immortals who channel a unique form of magic that was once thought to exist by humans before the calamity being dark matter. It was discovered that this dark matter ACTUALLY is caused by the total abscence of aether in an area and by virtually all races is co sidered evil on the basis that it anihilates bot itself and any aether it comes into contact with however intentionally using it as anything more than fuel pyschic magic or as what is known as shadow magic is impossible. This world disnt just get aether but also the wildlife and fauna of all the other worlds which thanks to aether acting similarly to an over abundance of oxygen had led to a lot of gigantism amoung the other worlds wildlife and in this new world overflowing with aether beyond what any of the previous worlds held has led to these magical beasts growing in both size and power forcibg all civilization to protect itself from the natural world far more fiercly than it ever had to before consolidating most of civilization into cities built inside layers upon layers of walls or as the dwarves chose to do with their smaller size and more burly strength, inti caves both natural and of dwarven make or their natural defencibility that took advantage of their strength and stature to carve out sizable cities to them that dont require desteoying the sheer defencibility of uderground cities. All being said, this is just a BREIF overview of my worls with trade relations, specific cities, specific special locations, cultures, forms of magic casting, forms of magical crafting, types of magicsl beasts, types of work after the combination of magic and the humans modern technology, and so on and with this it becomes possible to make ALL characters as their own people simply placed in this well thought out and defined world like making a dnd character for example meaning you can maje all characters start on a 'im the protaginist of my own story!' Vibe before letting all theae characters just go about their own lives and letting them interact as one would expect them to react to events in their life and the lives around them and letting THAT be the story. Thats how you get a truly good story is when your world and characters are truely REAL and rather than forcibly writting a story first anf making characters to fit what will be a story herd a billion times before cause no story is unuqie aside from its world and characters at this point.
That may actually be why one charater in FF14, Emet-Selch became so beloved during Shadowbringers. Emet was an antagonist at rest most of the game. Where he ltierally banters with the heroes in non threatening ways that are philophey conversations and why they do what they do. When the party first meets him he's like "I come in peace, Just let me talk with ya for a time." In his snarky way but not trying to invoke them, it's just how he is. but then the unpredictabilty hits, and you do see why he was feared in the first place when he was first Emperor of Garamald. (It may actually be why I've gotten so much fun out of writing one Villian because he does have something akin to a close friend that he banters and teases, and respects the most out of anyone, He knows how to keep up the mask around public events because of the genuine interaction he has with said person. He may have low empthey, but he's far more dangerous because he knows how emotions work vs someone who just pretends. And can read a person for filfth by their reaction to things alone.)
LOL, I iust started my Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad binge like a week ago! I've never seen either and I'm really enjoying Better Call Saul (Im on the last season). Great show and great video!
AoT has many characters who do morally dubious or outright morally evil acts, yet are deeply compelling and likeable. Magath, Erwin, Zeke, Levi...Even Kenny. It's so hard to pick one genuinely reprehensible and vile character from the cast. Perhaps King Fritz.
@@庫倫亞利克Eren is truly evil and truly stupid. He killed everyone and what did he gain? His friends are traumatized, the war continues and his country ends up beeing nuked. He could see the future and control the past. Everything that happened was his fault, he killed his own mom, he made his father kill inocent people. He has absolutely no motives but he has to "keep going" because he was "a slave to his own future decitions" ??????
@@庫倫亞利克King fritz is more likeable than Eren. At least he has a logical motive to his villiany. He wants power and knows he is evil. Eren tries to justify himself.
1:27 I agree; Mr. Dalton was incredibly charismatic and fun to watch, which makes Lalo terrifying. Here’s a guy who is so charming and friendly that you’d never think he could kill you in a heartbeat if it served his purpose. However, the invasion of his mansion made him seem superhuman, only getting a limp from the whole ordeal. If the idea was to make him a force of nature, Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men was a better portrayal in my opinion.
The thing about Lalo is he was always unhinged. I think he didn’t try to kill people unless they stood in his way. The guy at the trac phone place was just another causality to him. I honestly don’t even think Howard would’ve died if Nacho didn’t betray him and kill his family. I think after that moment, what remained of him that at least had some moral sense despite being a killer was all gone. That’s why I think he’s more evil at the end there. He is a man with a mission and nothing left to lose. Howard was a means to an end to inspire fear in jimmy and Kim to get Gus, his final target for Hector. Sadly we all know Gus doesn’t die in that moment but it was still intense that Lalo came so close to outplaying Gus which shows us that Gus had a formidable opponent before Walter came along. Both shows compliment each other in ways that are good.
And write your hero like a villian,got it!!! (Wait...?,that actuelly makes sense?...,writeing videos=if the hero isnt trying to do something,the story is worse. (???)). 2:06(i dont remember watching or seeing a picture for the john wick video,=i was just makeing it a joke.).
Great review, thanks for sharing. Is this only applicable to TV series? In the context of a single movie or a movie, when is the best time to expose the true motivations of an antagonist? In the beginning of the 3rd act or much sooner? Keep up the good work.
Savage Books, I’m not sure if you would be interested in the topic, but I have been researching writing tactics for how to craft deliberately hateable villains (e.g. Lotso, Belos/Philip Wittebane, Joffrey Baratheon, etc.). So I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter if you have any insights into the topic?
I love this approach and really see it with Lalo, but I gotta say, if Lalo wasn't set up to be this endboss of a villain, how interesting / threatening would he have been? Would we still praise him as a good villain if we were first introduced to him in BCS, and didn't know about how things are gonna end because of him through the BB scene?
![On Writing: Villains [ Zuko l Joker l Watchmen l Vikings l Game of Thrones l Javert ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/16eJZmW_cGE/mqdefault.jpg)
As you touch on a bit, my single favourite thing about the Salamanca family in these shows is that despite them all being these different kinds of crazy violent criminals, they all care so deeply about family. Look at how Gus treats Nacho in the series compared to the Salamanca family. Nacho only really got to be such a good informant for Gus because the Salamancas respected and accepted Nacho as family. It's yet another quality you'd expect more from your heroic characters.
Fair and cool points. But evil people loving evil people really isnt a virtue. Least my opinion
Except for Hector who is shown to disregard nacho’s father and abuse the twins
@@internettraveler8666 Yeah Hector may be the shittiest, but to be fair he still values family really highly and is clearly very angry and hurt when any of them die. The scene where he abuses the twins was, maybe ironically, meant to show that family means everything and in his own very twisted way he was trying to make the cousins value each other.
With Nacho and his dad, I think it shows how the Salamancas valued Nacho but also completly misunderstood how he saw them. I think Hector geniuenly thought this would be no problem with Nacho or his dad, maybe even expecting them to see it as a sign of respect and be grateful for it.
@@mudshroozeevil is a word people throw around to dehumanize behavior that doesn't agree with their morality. Sure most of the time. I would disagree with the morality of these individuals but let's not just dismiss them as human beings. They were much more "human" than Gus. Even though I think Gus was a bit less reprehensible, personally, he still would go to any lengths desplaying a complete lack of scruples.
@@cynicaltheastrocreep4504Are you saying the Salamancas weren't evil because they were human? Because they have different morals? Which involve ruthlessly killing countless innocents and running expansive drug empires? Because their narcissism involves preserving their legacy/family, they're okay people?
The best part about Lalo is that Tony Dalton himself is such a big Breaking Bad fan so him ending up playing as an iconic villain is his dream came true.
dude we're so blessed to Tony Dalton as an actor!
Man, Lalo pretending to be shocked when Gus says he’s the owner is just golden
10:00 Because Better Call Saul tells the origin story of a misguided trickster and Lalo is the villain. The antagonist always embodies the greatest sin of the protagonist, which is Jimmy's willingness to do evil for the personal gain of himself or his loved ones. That's where Lalo's unpredictability comes from. He would do literally anything for the Salamanca family, anything far beyond Jimmy's capability for evil.
Lalo isn't the villain, Gus is.
@@LoganLS0 Gus is Walt's villain, a kingmaker who balances his day job with his night job. Lalo is Jimmy's villain, an unpredictable trickster.
@@badconnection4383 They are both an exaggerated, more evil version of the main character. Good observation.
And Lalo is directly involved in Jimmy's descent into becoming amoral, particularly with the "Justice Matters Most" -> "Just Make Money" scene
Loved Lalo since his first appearance making some bomb looking tacos
Fantastic video, please do more better call Saul videos
I like to describe Lalo as a "hate to love" character, as oppose to "love to hate" characters. You know he's bad, you know he's working against Gus, Mike and Saul, and you know he would kill you if need be. But you just can't help it when before the blow is struck he's being so charming and gentle with you!
Even villains need hobbies. I mean being evil is a full-time job and a lifestyle. You can't retire and you gotta do a lot of work to plan stuff.
Except the Joker, him being evil is both a job and a hobby
@@WhyTho525 Plus he has better plot armor than the hero. Or somebody is laundering money for Arkham Asylums security budget.
@@WhyTho525 You know what they say; 'Do what you love and youll never work a day in your life'
My favorite scene(s) in BB was everything that went down in Mexico. Gus is competent and prepared. Gus genuinely cares for his people. Gus sharing a casual moment with Jesse. He's still the villain, but it's one of the few times Walt isn't involved, so the human in him gets to shine.
Gus has no humanity. He's a hollow shell of a man. He was the most evil of them all. Except for the Nazis.
You don’t understand Gus dude. Gus is a stone cold ruthless sociopath. He doesn’t care about Jesse. He only cares about getting rid of Walter cause he can’t trust Walt. Jesse is the only alternative he’s got to getting Walt’s meth cooked, so of course he tries to manipulate him and get him on his side.
@Frshcuko Black Gay Twink
He never cared for his people, he only cared about the use they were to him.
@@Frshcuko well then Gus sure succeeded in emotionally manipulating at least this viewer eh?
Savage books: one of the most insightful and passionate TH-camrs on the platform
Lalo Salamanca: one of the most electrifying and engaging tv antagonists ever written.
Match made in Heaven
That actor was a real revelation I hope Hollywood will not forget him
I love antagonists written as protagonists! Garou from One Punch Man comes to mind as well
I love Lalo, I cried when he died 😅 like I’m conscious of his actions and everything and he is the baddest baddie but he is so charming that I can’t help but like him
He's the kind of guy I would go out drinking tequila and dancing but otherwise would keep him a wide berth away from the rest of my life. (Unless I wanted to commit some funny crimes he'd appreciate lol).
Great analysis. Lalo and Gus are two great villainous characters.
I have never watched any full episode of BCS or BB but, like you, am addicted to their clips.
Absolutely love seeing villains just being people. Like, what are your hobbies, what’s your favorite food?
One of my favourite moments in BCS is when Lalo goes home and has all these sweet interactions with his household. Its very sweet and dissonant from the actual character.
Lalo is the reason I started to cook better food for myself and spend more time in the kitchen. He made it look so cool.
My cousin is a lot like Lalo in how he can let out a terrifying rage at the drop of a hat. It's a leftover from how his father raised him, but he keeps a lid on things right up until he decides someone crossed a line.
I first noticed the underdog villain trick you mention in the game Transformers Fall of Cybertron. During the chapters following the Decepticons, they’ve lost the upper hand to the Autobots, leading you to root for and sympathize with them despite having seen the depths of their evil earlier in the story.
0:50 Hey! I watched your other better call saul video!
Me too!
I'm sorry the algorithm didn't like your other Better Call Saul video but I loved it and this one, and can't wait to see more! Big agree with all of this, Lalo to me was what put BCS over the edge to become a masterpiece.
"Write Your Villain Like A Hero" is what I read at first
Same wth
Both are correct
I think that's what it's supposed to say.
Thanks cuz that's definitely what it always was. I definitely didn't just change it right now. Would never do that haha
@@savagebooks7482
Got me curious now what it was before
Voice, passion, and education. You rock savage
Came for the content/analysis, stayed for the voice.
Nice.
I know you've done a lot of videos on Game of Thrones, but I really hope you do one on (book) Stannis one day. He's such a fascinating and divisive character, I can never get enough of people talking about how they love him, or hate him, is smart, dumb, good or bad or how they think he'd be an amazing king, or a terrible king, is the hero or is the anti-hero or the the underdog, or a villain...
The One True King. Stannis! Stannis! Stannis!
It's after midnight and I'm down bad with writer's block, but there's always some time for a new Savage Books video
Lalo is ICONIC I loved every second of his screen time. This is also what makes the Phantom Troupe in Hunter x Hunter so good!!
Lmao at the brief Xaolin Showdown appearance. Loved that show when I was a child.
If I had to decide who should have survived, Lalo or Fring, I'd definitely want Lalo to.
Yes, Gus was awesome and I kinda liked him in Breaking Bad but seeing him in Better Call Saul made me realize completely how all his displays of sympathy and compassion are just plain fake. Turn your back on him and his smile vanishes in a split second.
Lalo on the other hand is a cruel monster but he's capable of compassion and caring for those closest to him.
I remembered hearing the name Lalo before starting BCS (I started and finished it only months after the last episode aired despite my undying love for BB I wanted to wait until I could binge it like BB), and seeing him finally show up and hearing his name made me grin, only to see what he does after. The man is terrifying for reasons the other Salamanca's just aren't. He's extremely smart and observant, like he can read an entire room and understand everything with just a single glance. I love watching Lalo but my god does it also put me on edge because he's so damn unpredictable. Great video!
Lalo isn't a villain. Lalo is the anti hero of Better Call Saul and Gus is the villain.
Lalo is a standup guy to Nacho. He cares for his family. And he almost beats the evil Chicken Man. Also he's got an epic mustache.
Gus violently coerces Nacho. Kills Lalo's family. And is a souless degenerate goul with no familial attachments. And he has no facial hair to speak of.
Show me your facial hair and I'll tell you how bad you are.
xD
I absolutely agree with you though! Lalo might be cruel but Fring is just an evil monster incapable of honest compassion and sympathy.
He's smiling at you? Turn your back at him and the smile vanishes instantly.
Lalo is smiling at you? Turn your back at him and he's still smiling, maybe even shouting some funny joke as you're leaving (or he might just kill you.. xD)
@@EvilSinxThis comment is a good example of getting high off your own pretentious farts.
@@mattwayne9128 Don't worry. Your beard might even finally start growing before you develop humor x)
Nacho's entire goal is to get out of the criminal life and escape to Canada with his father. Where do you get off saying he has no familial attachments?
@@WhiteChocolate74 Gus doesn't.
Lalo remind me of David from Prometheus and Covenant
This is actually a damn good character analysis.
I think a good way to describe this type of writing is that lalo is a character that you really really want to see do stuff and then you slowly get turned to the other side of not wanting him to do anything
Heck I wanted to see a spinoff of Lalo just from how amazing of a character he was.
Wow, this is a piece of writing advice I never have heard or thought of. Super underrated video! I LOVE Lalo's character and wanted to put some of his essence in my main villain, but this has helped me think about that in a more purposeful way.
That problem solving aspect is a big part of what makes Vader so good.
He is my favorite Salamanca, however i would pray to God me, and my loved ones never meet someone like him.
The competency of the villain is a big part of what makes him great. This is the factor shared by both Lalo and Gus. This is the factor which leaves us on the edge of our seat unsure of the outcome (or at least in a state of anticipation to know how things play out) in their conflicts with Saul and Walt.
Attention to detail and character development really pay off in BB and BCS. Glad they invested in those rather than cheap narrative tricks such as subversion of expectation or contrived plot twists inferior works engage in so heavily.
Holy crap shaolin showdown. Im gonna try to binge it after this. 3:13
I came looking to see if anyone else would mention it, I loved that show 😂
Very good video. These are great points and tips but also makes perfect sense. I love the point about letting them do other things besides being a villain, and treating them like a protagonist. I think that also helps with keeping them unpredictable.
Return of the king covering a 10 out of 10 fantastic character
On the other hand, when a villain is well written, but not like a human at all, more like a personification of fate, death, chaos, etc. it works great. John Ryder (The Hitcher), Anton Chigurh, Ledger's Joker.
Ugh, what a good take on a thing I liked that I hadn’t thought too much about
The Antagonist At Rest trope reminds me a bit of the Bechdel Test
I think when it comes down to just pure cool guy factor, Lalo is imo the best in the methverse.
Before i even watched the video, I had an idea of what you were going to say. I specifically thought something like "just make the villain seem like a real person, not just a one-note evil person who only appears to do evil. Make them have feelings, show their connections and relationships of others, portray them as human. It'll make the audience feel for them as if they were a main character."
I figured this would be the case since characters like L or Tomura Shigaraki are very well liked, despite being the antagonist, or at least the foil to the main character. They're shown to be human, specifically Shigaraki. We grow with him as the series progresses, just as we do with the MC. He even gets his own arc.
It’s a great day when one of my favorite writing channels does a video on one of my favorite villains (Lalo) 🎉🎉🎉
Guess from the title it means make them interesting. Driven and know what the goal is and how to get there.
not exactly
I think it was so smart to make Lalo a different breed from the other Salamancas. Sure, he's just as violent, murderous and sociopathic as any of them, but he's also highly intelligent and crafty. That makes him stand out from characters like Tuco and Hector, while also being a great foil to Nacho as his latest obstacle. He operates more like a con man but because we know what he's capable of that friendly demeanor becomes so intimidating. Especially when he's obviously getting a kick out of fucking with someone knowing they can't do anything about it.
Great video, Lalo is such an amazing villain, also your background pic on your OC is fire, Kame House with Kinto-UN?
There has been so much bb and bcs content in my feed I've stopped clicking on them unless I know the channel is super solid.
I think what makes Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul so iconic is that every major character is the Antagonist to each other. No one is the true protagonist really; everyone is the hero if you isolate their stories.
Gus, Walt, Jimmy, Kim, Jesse, Lalo, Hector: they all could be their own shows isolated.
This was such an insightful video.
Great video! It made me think how interesting it would be if they made Moriarty story..
I wanted a scene with Lalo, Tuco, twins and Hector interacting
My favorite thing about Lalo was that he was a legitimate threat to Gus. We already knew what Gus was capable of, so seeing him actually scared made Lalo seem that much formidable.
Yes, another “antagonist at rest” video! Love these analyses!
Thank you for your advice!
What really freaks me out about Lalo is that he's a fusion of Gus and Mike. All the scenes where we're just watching him feel the same as the scenes where we follow Mike; he's extremely persistent, diligent, clever, and resourceful. When he's interacting with other characters, he's incredibly friendly and disarming, similar to how Gus acts the straight-laced goody two shoes to disarm people. We've gotten a detailed look at exactly how these characteristics are so effective at coming out on top, so when we start to see them in Lalo, that's fucking terrifying.
The video I was waiting for, and I didn't even know it. Great!
It's kinda funny. Lalo is easily the best boss Nacho could've had, yet he's only there because Nacho did something that Lalo would kill him for. They did such a good job creating his character that he feels like he would have handily thwarted Walter White if Lalo had run up against him in Breaking Bad.
Lalo be chilling in that gutter waiting for Georgie
You should make a video on the anime monster sometime. I would love to see a video of you analyzing Johan liebert's character and how to write a villan like him
Yess I was hoping you'd do a video on Lalo one day!!
ngl, I rewatched the entirety of both series with my girlfriend. In the end, Better Call Saul was leagues better than Breaking Bad. BB was cool, but it’s so over the top harsh with its characters that I feel like there’s no hope. I became jaded with the media. BCS was so much better because it used levity to give us hope. Kim is so much better than Jesse because she’s such an active generator of hope for our main character. Jesse was just an outlet to show how terrible Walter is for a majority of the show. So much more kindness and hope for people to do better even though we know everything is going to sink into negativity. It’s just such a difference of how the prequel did emotional balance leagues better than the original show.
Sorry if y’all disagree with me, but tell me straight faced you’d prefer to see Come and See over Lego Batman.
This also highlights why the Puppet-Master villain type is probably the easiest to muck up: the idea has merit if you can balance it, but see the Daniel Craig 007 films with Blofeld (who literally claims he controlled EVERYTHING in Bond’s life) for how quickly the idea can collapse… Sure, a great villain has to be difficult to overcome, but if the reason they’re so powerful is author fiat (something that can also occur if they have sheer power far outstripping the heroes) then you lose your emotional investment because they don’t feel real.
I get this I can't remember the name but the villain in Heroes whose introduction was cooking because he likes cooking. Has nothing to do with the plot that's just him having a hobby.
Im begging you to talk about Better Call Saul more pls pls pls
Lalo reminds of the Mexican cartel version of Neagan from the walking dead.
Antagonists at rest rule: you get to see how charismatic or unsettling they are
And Lalo was reference by jimmy in BREAKING BAD, when Walter and Jesse were going to kill Jimmy out in the desert.
Vince Gilligan advised against putting Lalo in the show, if you can believe it. He now admits he was wrong.
I’m on my second watch of Saul, right at the point where Nacho switched Don Hector’s pills. In the back of my mind, I’m like Oh lawd he’s coming…
If the Salamanca family had more Lalo’s and less Tuco’s, Don Eladio would be rendered pointless.
Before i watch i wanna say i agree with the title... This is why for me, i stand by HARD that to write a good story isnt hard but instead is time consuming because all you need is to look at and at least genrrally understand all the ways the real world works first and than make your world first in light of that knowledge. Essentially you have to make what brandon sanderson calls a 'REAL' world which essentialy is a world that could be DRASTICALLY different or even very similar to ours technically barring a few rogue variables that went differently.
An example of this is my storys world im in the beginning stages of writing based on a similar apocalypse to what happened in the witchers world where aroubd modern day, a bunvh of different versions of the earth for an unknown reason were brought together and overlapped over eachother in odd ways not only srastically increasing the size of the planet but also having strange knock on effects where gravity hasnt chsnged much if at alleven though it should have as well as one hypothesised culpeit for why being aether (this worlds version of mana).
The existance of aether is what drove the worlds drastiv alteration after whatever started it anf like a leash tied yo a pole, stopped the worlds from continuing to overlap more versions of the earth past a certain point as well as empowering all loving beings greatly and intwrtwinibg so much that even the least magical person has SOME aether now a days unless they literally have a curse preventing them from binding with aether which almost invariably for this new stage of life is just as lethal as too much aether for ones body to handle.
In this new world many races were beought together after long trials and tribulations and baser fears and prejiduce taking hold during what is now refered to as the calamity ranging fron orks to goblins to kobolds to lycans and vampires to humans, dwarves, and elves as well as certain variations of humans that sprung up in the wake of the humans being brand new to aether beibg the devils and angels as well as the unknow and unique immortals with these races having been HATED by all races until very recently due to their intrinsice conncetion to the 3 parties known to have at least played a part in starting the calamity being the gods and their sivinites that power their holy magic (divinites are energy shed through prayers that those who are subject of enough prayers or blessed by those who who recieve enough prayers, this energy is thought to be brought about by happiness and joy as well as desperation and fear stripping away all the other types of magic from the raw aether one absorbs to the purest life mana it could be with life mana being considered akin to the epitome of all order in the universe.) With devils drawing from the miasma (the smoke of the magic flames of the hels that burns only life energy leaving all forms of magic to blend together into a thick, black, and volitle smoke that can be channels for use in hellflare magic that all devils can use) and of course the immortals who channel a unique form of magic that was once thought to exist by humans before the calamity being dark matter. It was discovered that this dark matter ACTUALLY is caused by the total abscence of aether in an area and by virtually all races is co sidered evil on the basis that it anihilates bot itself and any aether it comes into contact with however intentionally using it as anything more than fuel pyschic magic or as what is known as shadow magic is impossible.
This world disnt just get aether but also the wildlife and fauna of all the other worlds which thanks to aether acting similarly to an over abundance of oxygen had led to a lot of gigantism amoung the other worlds wildlife and in this new world overflowing with aether beyond what any of the previous worlds held has led to these magical beasts growing in both size and power forcibg all civilization to protect itself from the natural world far more fiercly than it ever had to before consolidating most of civilization into cities built inside layers upon layers of walls or as the dwarves chose to do with their smaller size and more burly strength, inti caves both natural and of dwarven make or their natural defencibility that took advantage of their strength and stature to carve out sizable cities to them that dont require desteoying the sheer defencibility of uderground cities.
All being said, this is just a BREIF overview of my worls with trade relations, specific cities, specific special locations, cultures, forms of magic casting, forms of magical crafting, types of magicsl beasts, types of work after the combination of magic and the humans modern technology, and so on and with this it becomes possible to make ALL characters as their own people simply placed in this well thought out and defined world like making a dnd character for example meaning you can maje all characters start on a 'im the protaginist of my own story!' Vibe before letting all theae characters just go about their own lives and letting them interact as one would expect them to react to events in their life and the lives around them and letting THAT be the story. Thats how you get a truly good story is when your world and characters are truely REAL and rather than forcibly writting a story first anf making characters to fit what will be a story herd a billion times before cause no story is unuqie aside from its world and characters at this point.
Excellent observations and recommendations!
Thanks!
well said, food for thought when crafting three-dimensional bad guys
Such goated content dude….. ty
this dude has one video idea and that’s it. you’d think a writer/editor would be able to dissect other things than villains.
That may actually be why one charater in FF14, Emet-Selch became so beloved during Shadowbringers. Emet was an antagonist at rest most of the game. Where he ltierally banters with the heroes in non threatening ways that are philophey conversations and why they do what they do. When the party first meets him he's like "I come in peace, Just let me talk with ya for a time." In his snarky way but not trying to invoke them, it's just how he is.
but then the unpredictabilty hits, and you do see why he was feared in the first place when he was first Emperor of Garamald.
(It may actually be why I've gotten so much fun out of writing one Villian because he does have something akin to a close friend that he banters and teases, and respects the most out of anyone, He knows how to keep up the mask around public events because of the genuine interaction he has with said person. He may have low empthey, but he's far more dangerous because he knows how emotions work vs someone who just pretends. And can read a person for filfth by their reaction to things alone.)
I always felt for Lalo
LOL, I iust started my Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad binge like a week ago! I've never seen either and I'm really enjoying Better Call Saul (Im on the last season). Great show and great video!
Don't forget El Camino!
It's why I love AoT, each character is a hero in other people's eyes.
AoT has many characters who do morally dubious or outright morally evil acts, yet are deeply compelling and likeable. Magath, Erwin, Zeke, Levi...Even Kenny. It's so hard to pick one genuinely reprehensible and vile character from the cast. Perhaps King Fritz.
@@庫倫亞利克 and the asshole that fed Grishas sister to the dogs
@@庫倫亞利克Eren is truly evil and truly stupid. He killed everyone and what did he gain? His friends are traumatized, the war continues and his country ends up beeing nuked. He could see the future and control the past. Everything that happened was his fault, he killed his own mom, he made his father kill inocent people. He has absolutely no motives but he has to "keep going" because he was "a slave to his own future decitions" ??????
@@庫倫亞利克King fritz is more likeable than Eren. At least he has a logical motive to his villiany. He wants power and knows he is evil. Eren tries to justify himself.
"Antagonist at rest" is a good term to describe why hunter x hunter is amazing too, I like it
1:27
I agree; Mr. Dalton was incredibly charismatic and fun to watch, which makes Lalo terrifying. Here’s a guy who is so charming and friendly that you’d never think he could kill you in a heartbeat if it served his purpose.
However, the invasion of his mansion made him seem superhuman, only getting a limp from the whole ordeal. If the idea was to make him a force of nature, Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men was a better portrayal in my opinion.
Another excellent example of the antagonist written as hero would be the antagonist from Dorohedoro?
The thing about Lalo is he was always unhinged. I think he didn’t try to kill people unless they stood in his way. The guy at the trac phone place was just another causality to him. I honestly don’t even think Howard would’ve died if Nacho didn’t betray him and kill his family. I think after that moment, what remained of him that at least had some moral sense despite being a killer was all gone. That’s why I think he’s more evil at the end there. He is a man with a mission and nothing left to lose. Howard was a means to an end to inspire fear in jimmy and Kim to get Gus, his final target for Hector. Sadly we all know Gus doesn’t die in that moment but it was still intense that Lalo came so close to outplaying Gus which shows us that Gus had a formidable opponent before Walter came along. Both shows compliment each other in ways that are good.
What’s not to like from the senator of Naboo? He seems very friendly…
And write your hero like a villian,got it!!!
(Wait...?,that actuelly makes sense?...,writeing videos=if the hero isnt trying to do something,the story is worse.
(???)).
2:06(i dont remember watching or seeing a picture for the john wick video,=i was just makeing it a joke.).
Grande, Tony!
I'm actually just about to finish my first watchthrough of Breaking Bad
What Gus was to Walt, Lalo is to Saul. Lalo and Saul are both charismatic.
It is 2:30 AM, we just watched John Wick 1 with a friend and i'm looking for YOUR video essay on how to build a threat.... WHERE THE FUCK IS IT?!
Does somebody know how to make someone (like Lalo) unpredictable without it looking like bad writing?
Great review, thanks for sharing. Is this only applicable to TV series? In the context of a single movie or a movie, when is the best time to expose the true motivations of an antagonist? In the beginning of the 3rd act or much sooner? Keep up the good work.
6:02 im sorry, what? Palpatine is extremely charismatic. Thats part of why he is so likeable.
Dropping Xiaolin Showdown footage is enough to get a sub out of me
Like ainz ool gown
Savage Books, I’m not sure if you would be interested in the topic, but I have been researching writing tactics for how to craft deliberately hateable villains (e.g. Lotso, Belos/Philip Wittebane, Joffrey Baratheon, etc.). So I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter if you have any insights into the topic?
Aren’t they all villains?
He's using villain and antagonist interchangeably
5:00, 7:50
I love this approach and really see it with Lalo, but I gotta say, if Lalo wasn't set up to be this endboss of a villain, how interesting / threatening would he have been? Would we still praise him as a good villain if we were first introduced to him in BCS, and didn't know about how things are gonna end because of him through the BB scene?