The Secret to Making a Truly Scary Villain
This video explores what makes a villain truly terrifying, using Homelander from The Boys as an example. This video argues that a major factor in creating suspense and terror is uncertainty, and suggests various ways to make a villain unpredictable. Additionally, the video touches on the importance of power differentials, motivations, and histories of evil in crafting a truly frightening antagonist.
Takeaways
- There are two kinds of hero-villain conflict: one where power levels are close and one where there is a vast power differential.
- Villains who are vastly more powerful than the hero are often more terrifying.
- Power differential alone is not enough to make a villain scary; they also need a credible motivation for committing evil.
- Villains who have a history of evil are scarier because they have credibility.
- Uncertainty is a key factor in making a villain terrifying.
- Suspense and terror are linked; suspense is the probability of a bad outcome and terror is the fear of that outcome.
- Villains who are predictable are rarely terrifying.
- Uncertainty can be derived from a variety of factors, such as whether the villain knows key information or whether they have a hair trigger.
- Volatile personalities are not necessary for a villain to be terrifying.
- Insanity is not a sufficient motivation for a villain's actions.