: Re: The protagonist can't defeat the antagonist without the antagonist being stupid What should I do if my story's plot is built around the antagonist being extremely strong, and by the end it's

@Si5022468

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There's nothing at all wrong with having your villain make a stupid mistake. Villains do it all the time. The trick is to make sure that the mistake is also believable - that it stems naturally from an established character flaw, and doesn't just happen because the plot requires it. Here's a few suggestions:
He's arrogant.

"Why should I bother guarding the secret entrance to my base? It's already so well-hidden, there's no way the hero will ever find it!" The hero finds it.
"Why would I just shoot him when I can throw him into an elaborate deathtrap that'll kill him slowly and painfully? There's no way he'll get out of it alive!" Except he does, and now he has the element of surprise because the villain assumes he's dead.
"Why should I waste time finishing/testing my superweapon before using it? There's no way anything can go wrong!" Something goes wrong.
"The hero has infiltrated my lair? No matter. My super laser is already armed and will fire in three minutes! There's no way he can stop me now!" He stops him. Most likely with two seconds remaining.

I could go on all day with this trope, but you get the idea by now.
He doesn't understand good.

Instead of trying to kill the hero, the villain tries to turn him to the dark side. He's shocked when the hero refuses and then beats the tar out of him, because he legitimately can't comprehend why someone would choose to remain on (what he believes to be) the weaker side.
If you're willing to consider a heroic sacrifice, then perhaps the villain didn't consider that the hero might do such a thing.

He's just that evil.

The villain is so evil and heartless that he commits atrocities without caring about whether they might come back to bite him later. He'll raze villages to the ground, even though someone might survive and come after him. He'll betray his loyal second-in-command, even though they know the secret to shutting off his doomsday device. He'll break his promises to people ("You said you'd let them go!" "I lied!"), even though it may turn those people against him. It might not make sense for him to do something, but he'll do it anyway just for the evulz.

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