>>in the newest age of sequels (serialization with bigger budgets!) the best villains are sturdy enough to return for another round.<<
My first thought was, you'll have to make them out of something other than cardboard! :D And then I imagined a disgruntled-looking hero dragging around one of those Halloween cutouts, all beat up and waterlogged. Then there's, you know, Professor X laughing his ass off with one arm draped around an uncomfortable, 90-year-old Magneto.
>>But what makes a good villain? Motivation? <<
I'm gonna go with motivation. Sure, I have lots of different origin stories and descriptions and fascinating traits. But look at TV Guide's rote recital of a lame half-dozen recycled motivations, then look at this list.
The one supervillain I have explicitly motivated by rape? Is a woman, and it wasn't hers.
>>How much power they have and how they use that power can be crucial to balancing the threat they represent in your story. <<
My stance is that there are no overpowered protagonists, only underpowered opposition. You want godlike powers? Here, this sun is about to go nova, fix it. Dr. Infanta is trying to keep a lid on an entire planet worth of mayhem. She needs every scrap of resource she can get, poor kid.
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*laugh*
Date: 2016-02-29 07:36 am (UTC)>>in the newest age of sequels (serialization with bigger budgets!) the best villains are sturdy enough to return for another round.<<
My first thought was, you'll have to make them out of something other than cardboard! :D And then I imagined a disgruntled-looking hero dragging around one of those Halloween cutouts, all beat up and waterlogged. Then there's, you know, Professor X laughing his ass off with one arm draped around an uncomfortable, 90-year-old Magneto.
>>But what makes a good villain? Motivation? <<
I'm gonna go with motivation. Sure, I have lots of different origin stories and descriptions and fascinating traits. But look at TV Guide's rote recital of a lame half-dozen recycled motivations, then look at this list.
The one supervillain I have explicitly motivated by rape? Is a woman, and it wasn't hers.
>>How much power they have and how they use that power can be crucial to balancing the threat they represent in your story. <<
My stance is that there are no overpowered protagonists, only underpowered opposition. You want godlike powers? Here, this sun is about to go nova, fix it. Dr. Infanta is trying to keep a lid on an entire planet worth of mayhem. She needs every scrap of resource she can get, poor kid.
Now I am off to make a card! :D