The Perfect Antagonist
I've just recently watched the movie adaptation for Stephen King's novel Misery. The book stars a writer named Paul Sheldon who drives though a snow storm to deliver his completed manuscript, only to crash on the way. And although he's an excellent protagonist (I mean, come on, this is the legend Stephen King we're talking about) it's the woman who saves him from the wrecked car, Annie Wilkes, who is the most memorable part of the story. That's because she's the antagonist, and a good one at that. You'll see that on the surface, she's a normal human being. Just like you and me, without any powers or special abilities besides a firm grasp on manipulation. Yet she's considered to be one of Stephen King's best antagonists, more terrifying than the famous Pennywise the clown! And today, I'm going to tell you why.
Before I start, I would highly recommend that after reading the novel Misery, you watch the film, because the quality of the acting and cinematography matches the quality of the writing in the book. And make sure to share this post with anyone who you think might be struggling to write the perfect antagonist for their novel.
The concept of creating a suitable antagonist for your story has a lot more depth than you may think. But I'll compress it all into 3 steps--3 things to remember when creating your antagonist.
1: IT MATTERS HOW, NOT WHAT
Your antagonist can be almost anything. Most commonly, antagonists are people, like a friend turned traitor, or some other kind of villain. And there's nothing wrong with that. But there are many other options. The haunted house from The Shining, the train from Wizard and Glass, the bear from The Revenant.....these are all examples of antagonists that are non-human, but still physical. They didn't have to be the only antagonists in their stories, but they all caused the main characters some grief. As long as your antagonist can accomplish that, don't worry much about what the antagonist is. The one thing you can never call an antagonist is the circumstances of the story's conflict. The bad things happening don't count as characters.
2: THE ANTAGONIST IS A CHARACTER, TOO
Scary isn't always evil. Sometimes scary is not knowing who to trust. who to root for. The best antagonists I've ever come across, in both novels and in movies, are the ones with motives, wants, and needs. They don't want to fight the main characters for the sake of being evil, because they think they're doing the right thing. A good writer knows that his/her antagonist is a character, too, with some sort of past that shaped them into who they are now. I don't mean that that bad guy is blowing up a hospital because his parents didn't love him. That's bland and unoriginal. Instead, the bad guy is blowing up a hospital because his wife died in it years ago and he wants to erase her memory. Maybe there's even more to it, like the hospital is abandoned and the main characters just happened to be exploring it the day he decides to blow it up. Whatever's happening, always remember that the antagonist is the protagonist in their own story.
3: DON'T MAKE PROTAGONISTS WEAK
Don't you just hate it when the protagonist of a horror is running away from a monster and just suddenly trips for no reason? Or the main characters split up in the forest even though it's painfully obvious that they'll all be safest sticking together? That's lazy writing. When the characters die after that, it's not because the monster is scary--it's because the characters are just plain stupid. The reason Annie Wilkes is so scary, even though she's a normal human being and harmless at first glance, is because Paul Sheldon is scared of her. It's because, despite all his skills in keeping his escape attempts secret, she still finds out. It's because, even though he would normally be able to overpower her when in good health, she still has him in the palm of her hand. In a story we don't want weak protagonists, we want strong antagonists. If the main character makes stupid choices, then when they fail it's their fault. But if they try their hardest and make good decisions, and are still defeated--that's what makes the antagonist truly terrifying.
Thanks for reading! I hope this helps you.
As always, the best way to learn is to read the works of professionals. Read lots of books from successful authors, and pay attention to how they write their antagonists.
See you next week!
