How bad is your bad guy?
What makes them tick?
Evil for the sake of evil is boring.
Around 4:00 this morning I awoke, thinking about the antagonist in my current WIP-in-revision (Secrets In The Mirror). Devin is identical twin to Gavin (MC). He developed malignant Narcissistic Personality Disorder along with other comorbid disorders, is obsessed with his twin, ruining Gavin’s identity, family, business and reputation. Everyone who has read portions of this novel experience a visceral HATRED of Devin.
But how does Devin view himself? There’s a human in there somewhere. What does he yearn for, and why? And then I remembered Chuck Wendig’s take on antagonists – they’re “just people … with wants, needs, fears, motivations. … They’re full-blooded, full-bodied characters.”
The unrelenting toxicity of Devin’s behavior can make for a one-dimensional assault. And as Chuck says, “Evil for the sake of evil is YAWN-TASTIC, SNORE-TACULAR,” so I have taken care to dig deep into Devin’s character, reaching for what drives him. Although he boasts and glorifies himself, demeaning and belittling others (including Gavin), when he’s alone in the dark, what are his thoughts? Has he succeeded in fooling himself, as he attempts to do with everyone else?
(I think of the former U.S. president, who in Volume I of the Mueller Report, is depicted as a man in constant emotional uproar away from the public eye, finally slumping and exclaiming “I’m fucked” upon learning of Mueller’s appointment – thereby recognizing his own misdeeds and vulnerability.)
Devin’s bullying father selects Devin to exalt over his twin, as perhaps the embodiment of what his own impaired ego desired for himself ― The best, the smartest, the winner. Which thereby cultivated an unearned sense of superiority in Devin. It can be pretty wobbly – and lonely – up on a pedestal that lacks solid foundation. As a result, Devin has deep fears of being discovered as fraudulent, of being judged or rejected. Of being alone. So all his external behaviors attempt to prevent such a fate. It’s only when he feels most vulnerable, alone, that he stumbles into those fears. Drugs and alcohol help him avoid confronting such thoughts. But when everyone abandons him, time catches up with him and he plummets off that false pedestal, from grandiose narcissism to vulnerable narcissism, … Does he fall to his death? Does he take anyone else down with him … ?
Devin has a mental illness (NPD), but “The exact mechanism by which NPD develops is unknown. Biologic, psychological, social, and environmental factors all probably play a role, but further research is necessary to confirm this supposition. Several psychodynamic theories point to an unhealthy early parent-child relationship as salient in the development of the disorder. To date, no genetic links to the disorder have been determined.” Devin’s identical twin – with identical genes – does not develop NPD or related disorders.
While Gavin’s antagonist is Devin, Devin publicly represents himself as hero-protagonist, and realizes too late that his own antagonist lies deep within himself.
What about the antagonist in your work? Do they fear anything? What is their yearning, what do they most desire? Who or what is their antagonist? Does your protagonist finally win against the antagonist? Is it a hollow victory? What scars are left behind after the demise of the antagonist? COMMENTS??!!