"How to write two villains into one story?" |
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
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Welcome back to Ask Abbie, where I answer YOUR writing questions and help you make your story matter! Today I'm answering a tricky writing question: how do you balance TWO antagonists in a story? How do you make them both unique and conflicted, but relevant to the protagonist as they pursue their own evil goals? In this video, we're breaking down the dual antagonist storyline and studying one of my favorite stories as an example of what this looks like in action.
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My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.
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Just an extra thought. There are villains who do think of themselves as evil, but believe that their course of action is best. Like, 'if I were in charge, things would be done right.' They don't think of themselves as 'good,' just better than you, and that makes them the hero of their own story.
The first villain who comes to mind for ones who think of themselves as evil is the Operative from Serenity. He's fighting for a better world without sin, but says he's not going to live there because he's a monster. He's says what he does is evil but must be done in order to bring about a better world.
@@Eluzian86 I loved that movie, and that villain! He's a perfect example! Abby should use Firefly in some of her examples. It was so well written and had amazing characters.
Ed Harris as the general in "The Rock" is one of my favorites. (Yes, decent characterization in a Michael Bay flick can happen!)
He has a valid cause and a righteous anger, but he thinks he can accomplish his goal while only threatening a show of force. When push comes to shove and his bluff is called, he's SOL because it's either admit defeat and endure humiliation OR go all in and commit to being the monster by killing innocents.
Plus, this leads to his subordinates realizing Harris never intended to follow through with his threats, thereby undermining his authority and causing a mutiny of sorts. His calculated plan to minimize death and harm has mutated into the complete opposite. One of his final lines as chaos erupts around him is literally, "My god, what have I done?"
Or instead of “just better than you,” they could think of themselves as horribly evil, but still do something bad because they “must” for xyz reason or cause (stemming from a misbelief of course)
[Edit] My preferred lesson/theme to this is: there’s another way to do the good cause, but they rejected that other way for [misbelief] reason.
Have a wonderful day, God bless ^w^
Also~
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
❤️
@@Eluzian86I was going to say make that point "I won't get to live in it..." powerful line excellent character
Listening to this, the first person that comes to mind is Thanos. He truly believed he was saving humanity.
Just like Peter thinks he is helping his friends by stay away. Maybe he is in terms of Safety but personally I think all 3 of them will be miserable emotionally
Not humanity, sentient life. Also only MCU Thanos.
Who btw was right.
And he kinda was?😂😂earth is pretty fuckedup in our hands. Actually mabye avengers was the real villans
@@gereti4807 Nope. For one, he snapped half of *all life* out of existence. You might not see this happen to plants surrounding the protagonists on the screen but it's been confirmed the intent in the plot was that he snapped away half of all life plants and animals included, at a complete random. While the movies didn't explore this like imho they absolutely should have, this logically should have caused a rather ruinous ecological disaster with such a drastic and sudden change.
Moreover, population isn't really the main problem and it's also one that seems to right itself as our reproduction is naturally slowing down and leveling out as we approach ten billion. It might have been the problem that doomed his home planet that led him to being so scarred and damaged and planting his misconception in his head, but this little snap plot is just some mislead genocidal anti-hero / anti-villian fantasy of his born from his own unresolved trauma. All halfing the population would do at best is delay the inevitable.
It's nothing but pure emotion driven reactionary eco-fascism. The root causes of our attachments to consumerism and infinite growth aren't even touched, and with *all life* halved even many necessary resources would be reduced too and on top of that there likely *should* have probably been sudden massive crop failures too, risking the very kind of apocalyptic famines and collapse he wanted to prevent.
“humanity”
This is great. I've written books with two villains. You always give good advice. Very helpful. What's scary is when people who are toxic or a villain think they're the hero or a good person. This also applies in real life.
No not always I honestly don't like most of her advise
@@jakeDsnake06 Can you please elaborate?
@@krishbohra5536 I only watched two videos fully and it seems like shes Hattingh on men in one and doesn't care about the back lash when she talked about it another person's channel
@@krishbohra5536 and everyone in the world will say something dumb so yea i will watch more but from what I've seen oof
I got 3 villains in a group in my story. They have different backstories, different power levels, different ways to do things, but the three have the same goal and motive. There are two that hate each other, there are two that goes along, there's one who doesn't care about the group and just see them as a tool to achieve his goals easier. They have quiet a chemistry. Anyways great video, It really helps me with my story! Thank you!
If you’re planning to publish that, I’d like to read it 👀👍 God bless ^w^
Also, to whoever’s reading~
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
❤️
Hey, I am a beginner and I wrote a rough scene and I wanted to know how others will interpret that scene. Will you please help me with that?
That’s really interesting
Good to see The Musketeers getting mentioned. That show is so underrated.
Even with doing a story that's been told so many times before they still managed to make it feel new, and had so many good well-written characters.
Thank you for answering my question so brilliantly!
I have many villains in my story, and most of their motives are to eat (since they're mostly monsters) but the big bad is the Vampire Queen Camilla. She is an immortal and god-like being who is thousands of years old. Since she's immortal and god-like she views all people as beneath her and has for the vast majority of her time alive, viewing her actions as having no consequences since she can just outlive everyone. Until the story starts. The main character is her daughter Scarlet (she's half Human and half Vampire). Camilla wants Scarlet to love her and have some kind of connection with her but she can't because (as of the start of the story) Scarlet is terrified of Camilla. Scarlet is one of (if not the only person) Camilla really cares about and whose opinion matters to her so Scarlet being scared of her breaks her heart.
That is the consequence of her being a monster throughout history, being seen as one by everyone, even her own child. Throughout most of the story, her motive is to just have some kind of relationship with Scarlet (also killing her ex-lover but that's a different thing altogether). Camilla isn't a good person by any means, she's a monster. She's murdered billions of people throughout her unlife and cares nothing for the mass destruction she's caused. Scarlet being terrified of her is the only thing that makes her regret her actions. Even then she doesn't regret it enough to at all change her ways, just enough to feel sorry for herself. So, while she is a monster, she does have some (or at least one) redeeming quality.
My one story has multiple villains, but only because it's a very long series, and it needs that (lol). There's like the perpetual antagonist, but then sort of mini-antagonists within each book. Thanks for this, Abbie! You're a writing Godsend!
i love how wonderfully thought out you are in explaining these things!
There is a really great example of this in the Korean thriller Flower of Evil. The story craft in this is stunning (besides the incredible award-winning acting!). It's finally available on Netflix again, but I highly recommend it to any writer who wants to study some great villain (and main character) craft!
Please read "Vicious" both main characters are really portrayed as best friends turned into enemies. It is a brilliant story about revenge and the 2 complex characters Victor Vale and Eli Ever trying to deal with the old good vs evil theme in this book.
Michele Lovric's 'The Book of Human Skin' has two antagonists -- and oh boy, are they antagonists! Sor Loreta, the Peruvian nun, is probably the scariest and most demented villain I've ever read; it's the first time I was mentally screaming at the page, to the other characters around her "SHE'S PLAYING YOU! DON'T LET HER FOOL YOU, SHE'S NOT MARTYR, SHE'S A PSYCHOTIC NUTJOB!"
"psychotic nutjob" is a word that I've never heard anyone say before.
Love how you explain Abbie ❤
Thanks Abbie, just in time. I too have two antagonists in my interactive story. They're working together until (per reader's choice) their goals don't align anymore.
Gosh, I just introduced the third (?) villain in my story. Good timing to upload!
I love how all the Batman movies have dual villains
Somehow unconsciously i've written dual antagonists in most of my books . Thanks for the insight Abbie , this was so helpful .
I also like adding antagonists around like confetti =w= ehehe. God bless ^w^
Also, to whoever’s reading :3
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
❤️
I was just writing about exactly that, and got a notification for this video. Godsend. Thanks, Abbie!
Oo , this might help me in the future .
Some of my favorite examples of multiple villains in a story are in movies like The Dark Knight, X-Men first class and Days of Future past, Baby Driver, The Matrix etc. I love it when we have a main villain but while our hero is busy with him/her, a different one emerges through out the story to create more conflict. Its even better when the second villain is the good guy/protagonist's friend who turned. When Magneto turned on Charles at the end of First class, the build up paid off massively, same with Two Face in The Dark Knight.
Bought your book today on kindle. Awesome. Then decided to buy the audio version as I had a long drive coming up. I love supporting you even if it’s buying the book twice. I’m so happy I did.
Your narration is awesome! Unbelievably awesome. People need to buy the audio!
Thanks again! I love the new upload schedule btw! 😊
I love the tips Abbie!! These help me so much, keep up the good work!
Lord of the rings (the book) with interaction of Sauron and Saruman is also great example of having two villains.
I FINALLY FOUND THE VIDEO WITH THE MUSKETEERS!! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT FOR SO LONG!
That questions case is exactly what I have with my book except more concise and tied together. I strive to have my conflicts line up with the theme coherently
I have a story arc with multiple villains. The demon lords who want to sacrifice a certain amount of human to summon their leader and intend to destroy humanity. Each of them have different reasons why. The leader to show someone he admires and betrayed him that they are superior to human while some others hope to create their own paradise they lost when thrown out from heaven.
The second fraction are the archangels lead by an elderly angel to retreat the high ranked angels, including an important friend of the main character, back to heaven forever while the demon are kept busy. Only interfering when they feel they can stop or slow down the progress but are overall away from the conflict as they aren't autorized in doing certain things.
Meaning the protagonists have to split up the workload and how they are going to save their world from immediate disaster and help someone out who wants to stay to help them.
There are also former antagonists that will get involved and team up with the good guys temporary with some even having relatives opposing them. Some of them are reformed, some of them feel their own goals threatened and are willing to coorperate with the good guys.
And there is another enemy who is working in the shadows while all that happens using the cause to build up another attack if things don't go as he wants.
In my humble opinion your story you explained in this comment is in some ways too complicated . Most importantly anything Abbie Emmons advises is more important than any viewer's reply . Maybe cut off the last paragraph of synopsis and have the human who wants wishes to be granted { for all good intentions } be the worshipping friend of the fallen archangel be wrongly thinking God has neglected him/her & gets enlightened ( eventually ) that there's a reason for everything & a perfect set priorities for prayers to be answered .
♑️✍️🇦🇺🇳🇴
wow perfect timing, just yesterday i thought about how i should approach my story with 2 villains and now this video was uploaded :D
That's exactly what is happening in my story! There couldn't have been a better time for this video
I’ve got a simple question. #askabbie
How do I make character’s personality as detailed and precise as possible? I often find myself writing characters that are far too similar and are nothing more than archetypes
So I’m not Abbie, but I personally often start out with my characters being archetypes and then instead of letting them go there I put them in a lot of imaginary situations to see how each of them would react. I’m very careful to have every character have a different reaction and then I come to question myself why. Why do they have this reaction? Which leads me to lots of more details about my characters past and their personality. As a bonus putting them into group situations also builds a unique dynamic. Things I wouldn’t have thought of before. As for the situations I choose them from scenes in movies to things others have thought about online or just something I came up by myself. I hope that helps (also english isn’t my first language so please excuse any mistakes I made ty:))
@@datgirl4989 thank you! That’s going to help a lot. Also, your English is great
@@JodyGoChase yw and ty aswell ^^
Thank you very much we are your students we are lucky to have this great opportunity it is really great treasure of knowledge for us thanks take care best of luck we pray for your good health and best future
I just started watching Poldark, BBC Masterpiece, because you mentioned it previously....oh my!!!!!!! ❤️🔥
The best example I could think of is Pattinson's Batman. Penguin and Riddler were brilliantly written and managed. The worst example is Toby's Spiderman 3. Venom, Sandman and Goblin were all completely mismanaged.
I was going to ask a question, then realized I have to spend money to get it answered. I guess that’s how success in TH-cam is measured, when you are no longer concerned about the individual viewer; charging folks for your opinion. In all seriousness, I get it and congratulations.
Would you consider sharing what kind of equipment you use to make a video?
I have two Antagonists for my next story so will use this
I think two antagonists can bring a dynamic to moral dilemmas you just can't get with one. It can cause situations where the protagonist has to help the cause of one antagonist in order to win a fight against the other antagonist when they're a greater threat.
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
One example is from the TV show Person of Interest where the character. Elias is the antagonist in one episode and is trying to become the boss of all criminal enterprises in the city. Since his life was saved by Reese, the main protagonist, then he's willing to work with him against other antagonists in exchange for a little help here and there achieving his own goals.
Another example is Star Trek Voyager where Captain Janeway makes a deal with the Borg, one of the primary antagonists in order to safely cross Borg. She helps the Borg against Species 8472, which was annihilating them. Make a deal with the devil to fight another devil.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets
Thanks Abbie
Can you make a class i can pay for 😭 thats a deep dive of all the thing you talk about.
Also id love to know more on what makes a good pinch point. With some juicy examples 🤌
Great explanation. I so wish you used current trending series or movies as examples like the ones from netfli or, hulu rather than BBC. It would add to the relatability factor. Good content, either ways👍
Hey! I'm a new writer (and 17 years old... just had to be honest...) I really enjoy your videos - they are very helpful! I was wondering if there would be a way to contact you personally for advice on my novel??
Thanks, for advice my novel has 2 villain
For my story i was plannning to do multiple villains.
The school bully.
The main villain of the whole series.
And m the villain that is part of just one story.
Videogames are really good examples of having MULTIPLE villains. Because the player will spend a lot of their time battling them. Like there will be a big villain who sends out smaller villains but then there could be the REAL antagonist behind it all.
Hi! I'm thinking of getting into writing because I have alot if good ideas that I think would make excellent stories, the problem is I don't really know the process of putting those ideas on paper and realizing them. Could you do a video on that? Or perhaps link me to one of yours if youve already made a similar video?
Thank you for the tips
In my story there are multiple villains in the story, they will all be feared by the protagonist and will seen so strong, then he'll know they were all serving a much stronger villain like a big bad guy or a dark lord. Sooo do you have any tips for this ??
How do you continue your story AFTER a final battle?
in my case its not THE final battle but like a big fight that nearly destroyed the earth, but that guy was basically an Avatar or like was being controlled by another space creature godlike character who is in space. BUT i dont know how to introduce him the right way or bring them together. i dont even really know what that villain wants as a goal? like i had a basic decent idea that he has a cosmic-orb thing that contains and controls the flow of reality/the universe. But idk what he gonna do with it 🙂 also i have 2 dope characters that i wanna introduce but dont know how. i know one of them is gonna be resurrected somehow but yeah. any help or tip would be nice. 💪
Mine is difficult, for the first 2 acts of the story you don't know who the villains are and then in the final act it's revealed to be a conspiracy and some of the villains are ones that seemed to be heroes, my challenge is to make it not overly obvious, but still foreshadow enough that it is not a bolt from the blue either. Any suggestions for having the reader bop their head and say " I never saw that coming but it makes total sense!
Hi Abby I got a question I've been watching you for awhile n been helping me create an awesome story so my question can you use like real people names in your story especially if there brought into the story thought like a magic power or superpower like superman from the DC comics and he brought for a small part but can you do it without copyright issues.
This idea is similar to the plagiarism allegations against JK Rowling about her Harry Potter series { which IF true , is only good as a piece of ' fan fiction ' & shouldn't have been published } . Although , Some real life names are just feel too good Not to use. Wondering myself , about this : Thinking of writing a novel on a semi-fictional set of circumstances where a guy { based on myself } gets to have an experience of " fantasy Island 🏝" like social experiment with all different types of relationships and combinations of possible outcomes of social/romantic potential - and the names of real life people from my past and present are too good to ignore . ♑️✍️🇦🇺🇳🇴
Great points! Abbie, is it on your list to create a video in the future about red herrings and mystery? If not, could you please consider it? Thanks for all that you do.
I have a question.
If you’re writing a sentence, cut it off in the middle, and continue writing it, do you use (…) or -…-?
Edit:
Another question came to mind?
What would be good reasons to name (or not name) chapters?
What I like about multiple villains is that there can be a hidden villain. The reader only focuses on the obvious one and forgets that there can be more.
Examples: (SPOILER) Like in Zootopia or Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.
Can someone please advise me on how to write a good opening for a urban fantasy story?
Try writing the setting to invoke the tone, and atmosphere of the story, quickly followed by the M C’s actions in that scene. Best of luck!
@@woodlandlady7011 My protagonist is a monster slayer living in a fictional contemporary city (set in 2020/21) who investigates and hunts down vampires and werewolves for a living. In addition my protagonist is a brooding anti hero with a mid 2000s emo look
@@unicorntomboy9736 You could start with the protagonist getting information on a monster in the city... Just show the setting and invoke the mood and atmosphere, as most urban fantasy stories are dark, fast paced, and full of action. Also, show the protagonist as brooding, and slip in the occasional touch of hair or clothing whilst the scene is in motion to give the reader the info on the character's description. The anti hero will come out in the story as you show the M C's actions, so don't worry about giving too much information up front, just tell the story and draw the reader into the action and the character's life, just before the inciting incident anyway.
@@woodlandlady7011 I actually just need advice on a good opening act for a college project, so I have a establish a lot of things (plot, setting and protagonist) very efficiently and quickly to act as a hook for the audience, since only have five pages to fit it all in
@@unicorntomboy9736 Try reading the first pages of some urban fantasy books. Also, Abbie has some videos on the hook, opening chapter, and Act one set up, give them a look and see if it will help.
I have alternate version of Thor Love and Thunder,
Thor Zeus and Gorr can be triangular two antagonist story.
I have one villain who, with a bunch of hired criminals, is doing the dirty work for a mining company. At least that is what he think he does. Instead, he is used by a group of anti-heroes to take out a villainous organisation.
SpongeBob has 2 antagonist squidword who just doesn’t want to be bothered and everything bothers him😂 and plankton who is obsessed with the crabby patty formula 😂🎉
Second ❤
When will you react to attack on titan?
Abbie please do a male main character personality and how to make them unique so they dont become anyoing and stupid
Plsssss
This also means that, as long as each character has a misbelief they’re operating from, you can work the logics of the plot beyond set positions like “evil villain king” and have “antagonist friend” too :o
Awesome video! Thanks!
Also to whoever’s reading~ ^w^
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Romans 10:9 NIV
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1 NIV
❤️
Game of Thrones has more antagonists than you can count.....
Am I the only one who can’t find the join button😭😭😭
It's right next to the subscribe button 😀
Not for me. It just says subscribe
{ I'm watching from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺 } There's the join button next to the subscribe button But not " super cash " donate button for me . Not that I want to right now , maybe hoping to use it when I get an Abbie Emmons video that helps me start writing my story. ♑️✍️🇦🇺🇳🇴
Maybe use the patreon link... That'll also give you access to her Facebook group and discord
I actually have two antagonists in my story. Well… Sort of. Here’s the context without potentially spoiling crucial details of the story:
One of the antagonists is an immediate family member of the protagonist. And although they aren’t blood-related, they view the protagonist as their own son but behind the scenes, he really did the protagonist dirty by hiring a hitman to kill someone close to them. All because he absolutely refused to pay alimony after he got cheated on.
The other antagonist is only this for a brief moment. Largely because she’s an agent of the law and the protagonist is going all Punisher mode and has to stop him. She doesn’t completely succeed in this endeavor. However she eventually takes his side when he (the protagonist) manages to convince her with damning evidence that a family member betrayed him and her chief is totally corrupt. There is a sort-of romantic connection between them but their vibe together sort of comes off like a Bonnie and Clyde duo.