The Evil Stepmother. Sauron. The White Witch. Some of the most fascinating characters in literature aren’t the heroes, but the villains.
In this seminar, we will explore how to create villains within fantastical worlds who are as fully developed as their more heroic counterparts. We’ll look at how the maxim “The best villain is the hero of their own story” plays out in practice. We’ll also look at the strengths and weaknesses of different villainous archetypes, such as sympathetic villains, anti-villains, hero-villains, and classical villains so that students may begin to craft their own compelling “bad guys/girls”.