M.M. Russell's Official Blog: What Makes A Villain?

So I've been thinking lately about why I can't seem to get any of my ideas down onto paper. I have the characters, I have the ideas, but I have no direction. I have no idea where to take them. Sure, there's a general direction I'd like to go with in the pilot, but what about after? What's my season structure? My story arc? I know how to structure a story arc, sure, but what am I going to do with it?
To make a standard story arc for a full television season, you need the following:

Stasis
Trigger
The "Quest"
Suprise
Critical choice
Climax
Reversal
Resolution

Apparently, every type of story moves through each of these points, in this particular order. I have the stasis, and I have the trigger, but what comes next? What quest am I going to send my characters on? What surprises am I going to throw into their faces? What conflicts are going to arise?

More importantly, I don't know anything about the "enemy". After all, everyone needs an enemy, right? A good, old fashioned villian? I know this, and I love villians. Sometimes I love them even more than the heroes. Especially female villians. I can't watch a TV show or movie with a female villian, because as soon as I get a look at them, chances are I'm going to fall in love.

But what does a villain mean? Anyone can spark a conflict, and we know the types of conflicts:

Man vs Nature
Man vs Man
Man vs Society
Man vs Self

And so on, and so on, and so forth, and so forth. Within my piece, I hope to exhibit each of these conflicts, but the question is, who is the man? What is the society? What about nature could cause a conflict?

My characters have been sent into their world for a reason, and they have something they have to do. They have to somehow manage to save the world, or something equally large and universal and used excessively to the point of destruction. But save the world from what? What's the big threat skulking about in the shadows?

For some reason, this is a concept that I'm reaching for, but I just can't seem to grab onto. And it's nothing short of infuriating, because I know there's something there, but I have no clue what the hell it is or how I'm supposed to articulate it. In case you haven't noticed, which I'm sure you have, writing is a tremendous pain in the ass.
A villian could be anything, anyone.

A character's split personality.

A malevolent, opressive government.

They tend to represent a particular sin, like greed, rage, or ambition. Sometimes, they're completely different from the main character, or they share a core quality that makes them unsettlingly alike. And, of course, they're always British. We'll be having none of that here.

But, I mean, we have our classics. Voldemort. The Joker. Hannibal Lector. Moriarty. Alex DeLarge. Norman Bates. Sylar/Gabriel Grey, and who could forget American Horror Story's never ending slew of of fascinating and dynamic villains?

So this is what I propose for anyone struggling to create a villain, whether they're a serial killer, a scientist, and so on.

Think about your favorite villians. Think about the best baddies of all time, and list them out. I'll make a smaller list as an example.

President Snow (The Hunger Games)
Crowley (Supernatural)
Sister Jude/Judy Martin (American Horror Story: Asylum)
Nikki/Jessica Sanders (Heroes)
Scarecrow (Batman Begins)
Gabriel/Trickster (Supernatural)
Loki Laufeyson (The Avengers/Thor/Marvel Comics)
Abbadon (Supernatural)
Naomi (Supernatural)
Morgana Le Fey (Merlin)
Sylar/Gabriel Gray (Heroes)

The list is truly endless. I just jotted down a few of my favorites that are easiest to analyze. Now that you have your list of bad guys, start listing off their traits--methods, attitude, what makes them evil, motives, and whatnot.

President Snow- Malevolent, high in power, feared, respected, classy, stern, cold, doesn't get his hands dirty, the ends justify the means, traditional

Crowley- Manipulative, authority figure, classy, clever, organized, sarcastic, driven, not afraid to get his hands dirty, ambitious, wants to be loved

Sister Jude/Judy Martin- Has a traumatic past, stern, hides her desires, learns to become empathetic, empowered, punishes people because she sees herself in them

Nikki/Jessica Sanders- Split personality, stolkholm syndrome, driven, violent, ruthless, battle for control, versatile, family-oriented, really wants to get a handle on herself, self-serving

Scarecrow- Self-serving, unsettlingly calm, sophisticated, has an understanding of psychology

Gabriel/Trickster- Humorous, sarcastic, prankster, likes messing with people, has a skewed sense of justice, sweet tooth, cares more than he lets on (especially about his family)

Loki Laufeyson- Manipulative, decietful, driven, ambitious, power hungry, hides his pain, prideful, feels robbed/betrayed, dry, prankster, has a sense of humor

Abbadon-Rebel, vain, power hungry, manipulative, moving up from the bottom, ruthless

Naomi- Powerful, driven, mysterious, doesn't like to be questioned, manipulative, the ends justify the means

Morgana Le Fey-Clever, violent, manipulative, emmpowered, vain, classy (at first), feral (later), feels betrayed and oppressed, had semi-good intentions, vengeful, uses her sex appeal to her advantage, the ends justify the means

Sylar/Gabriel Gray-Power hungry, wanted to be "special", desire to stand out, distinct knowledge of how things work, manipulative, decietful, desire to be appreciated, feels a need to be approved of/cared about

So now we've broken down our villains, and the next step is weeding through the list and picking out which qualities are common, and which ones you like.

President Snow- Malevolent, high in power, feared, respected, classy, stern, cold, doesn't get his hands dirty, the ends justify the means, traditional, distant