Writing Antagonists that Readers Can’t Help But Like

Common human experiences, especially ones that encourage moral confliction, are a great way to show readers they have something in common with the antagonist. For example, consider temptation.

Haven’t you ever been tempted to cross a moral line?
Did you ever want to make someone pay because they truly deserve it?
Have you ever ignored society’s rules because they don’t make sense, seem fair, or were built to benefit a select few?

Temptation is something we’ve all felt, and wrestle with. Sometimes we remain steadfast, other times we give in. So having a darker character face a temptation that readers relate to will cause them to identify with the antagonist’s mindset because they’ve been there themselves.

Another way to use temptation is to get readers to imagine the what if, which can be another area of common ground:

• What if you could just let go of guilt and do what feels right for you?
• What if you could break the law for the right reasons and serve a greater good?
• What if you could go back in time and erase someone who really deserves to be erased?

This can work well if you tie the antagonist’s desire to embrace the dark side of morality because of a past trauma. For example…

• Maybe they do whatever feels right because they were enslaved by a cruel master as a child
• They break the law because those who make them are corrupt and entitled
• They go back and erase someone because that person killed their beloved and unborn child

Can’t we all relate to these dark motivations just a little bit? Don’t they help us understand where the character’s behavior is coming from? We may not morally agree with what the antagonist does, but we do feel some connection to them.

And I’m convinced this last one is the key because antagonists and villains have an Achilles heel: their role. As soon as it’s clear they are cast as the Bad Guy or Gal, readers put them in a box. They must be a jerk, a sore loser, a narcissist, someone who’s all about power and control. They must be unlikable.

And I don’t know about you, but when the antagonist or villain turns out to be exactly those things, I’m disappointed. Why? Because it’s expected: good guy faces off against typical bad guy, good guy wins. Yawn.

Relatability makes it okay to like the antagonist, even though they do bad things.

So, to recap and offer a few more ideas…