How to Write a Story from the Villain’s Point of View
Most stories are written from the hero’s point of view, but every once in a blue moon we see a story set from the villain’s perspective.
We can or may not know at the outset that we are following the villain. In my opinion, the more secrecy the better. But you can do it however you like.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
This saying ultimately means that the character didn’t mean to be evil. They ultimately meant to do good.
They had good intentions, but in the end they made some REALLY questionable choices that lead to the ruin of one or more characters.
Spoiler alert for: The Talented Mr. Ripley.
This reminds me of The Talented Mr. Ripley. He ultimately meant to do good and to find a happy life for himself and others, but he kept using murder to solve his problems AKA people.
Other people kept getting in the way of his goals and instead of working it out he would end up killing them.
Even though his original intentions were good, he ultimately turns out to be the villain.
Spoiler alert for: Mr. Brooks.
This story is fantastic. It’s one of my favorites. We follow Mr. Brooks most of the story who is a loving, caring, and gentle father, but soon we find out he’s also a recovering serial killer.
A recovering serial killer?
That’s correct, we follow him in his journey to try to not do something he’s addicted to, which is to kill people in certain ways.
The way they portray all the characters in this story is fantastic.
If you want to write a villain that’s trying to be good but is ultimately evil this is a good story to study how to write it from his or her point of view.
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The end justifies the means.
This saying means, “the end result justifies what you do along the way, even if some of your choices are morally suspect.”
An easy “end justifies the means” villain is Thanos in Infinity Wars. He justifies the mass slaughtering of trillions and ultimately half the universe to give the other half abundance of living.
He’s not exactly Daddy warbucks, but he ultimately has a good end in mind for some beings. His way of getting there is morally questionable.
Your villain can be an end justifies the means villain or an evil intentions villain, but how do we show this from their perspective?
Malicious intent.
Spoiler alert for: The Perfect Getaway
If you haven’t seen it. I recommend watching it before reading the rest of this post. You have been warned. 😬
One of the best stories I’ve seen where we follow the Villain’s point of view is: The Perfect Getaway.
One reason is that it’s an amazing twist. The second reason is the villain is completely evil and ultimately selfish.
I don’t always appreciate the villain that “has good intentions,” but ultimately ends up making bad choices.
I like it black and white sometimes.
There are so many “misunderstood” villain stories these days, that finding one where the writer says, this guy or girl is purely evil is actually refreshing (In a strange way.)
This story is amazing for writing a villain’s story from their point of view, because the entire time we follow the story it’s from the villain’s perspective but we absolutely have no clue.
This makes it a great story to follow the villain’s journey and makes a wonderfully fun twist towards the end.
You have to choose.
You ultimately have to choose if your villain is deliberately evil or if they are trying to be good and failing.
If you are going to write it from your villain’s point of view I recommend that being a twist (But it doesn’t have to be. Think The Joker.) Study some of the stories I’ve mentioned here to grasp how that is done well.
Hide your villain in a good person’s story.
The Getaway works so well because, the entire journey we are led to believe that the two characters we are following are two newlyweds on their honeymoon in Hawaii.
Who is more innocent then two young newlyweds?
Use ideas like this. Place your villain into a normally good person’s life.
Your villain loves their family. They pay the rent. They are a hard worker. They help the elderly cross the street. They pay all their taxes.
In their personal community, they’re an upstanding citizen.
Find ways to make your villain look like the naïve innocent person where you reveal their evil intentions or choices later.
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Revenge is easy, not sweet.
In Sweeney Todd, we actually end up following the evil intentions of two villains (not just one) from their perspectives.
They both justify the evil they do to survive in a harsh environment. And Sweeney ultimately justifies everything horrible he does to anyone with his only goal, which is revenge.
It’s honestly a very tragic tail but worth a good study for writing from the villain’s point of view.
Revenge is actually one of the easiest motives to give your villain for them to justify every evil act they do.
What is your villain’s motive?
In order for your audience to enjoy your villain from the villain’s perspective they have to believe the villain’s motive is powerful enough to justify their actions or it just doesn’t work.
Some believable villain motives are:
- greed
- revenge
- saving someone
- saving themselves
- selfishness
There are actually many good motives to work from, you just have to decide which best fits your villain.
Remember that the anti-hero is not a villain.
The anti-hero is more the character where the end justifies the means but in a different way.
A good way to think of it is this:
The anti-hero will torture a bad guy to save the innocent.
The villain will torture the innocent to save someone they love or themselves.
The anti-hero uses questionable tactics to save the innocent.
The villain carries out evil to acquire their goal, even if their goal ends up being very bad for others. They usually lack sympathy and don’t value human life.
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Final Thoughts
When writing from the villain’s perspective we have to decide if we tell the audience or if it becomes a main twist.
Villains need to be villains, not vigilantes.
Villains need to have powerful motives just like any other main character.
Some great stories to study:
- The Perfect Getaway
- Mr. Brooks
- The Talented Mr. Ripley
- The Joker
- Sweeney Todd
- Nightcrawler
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Hope this helps!
Happy writing!
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How to Write a Story from the Villain’s Point of View
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