: Re: How to make a harmless villain TvTropes alert! Harmless villains are the straightforward opposite of a complete monster and the typical evil overlord in fantasy, and so, creating one who can

@Jessie137

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I'm not sure how to answer, other than broad strokes with examples.

Flawed Villains: This villain has a personality that does not allow them to complete the task. It may be a noble streak, controlfreak, or they have a sentimental history that can be exploited. Maybe they are secretly in love with the hero and this is all just a way to get their attention, but when faced with the actual task they will delay the final deathblow to prolong it. Maybe their real motive is something outside the story (trying to impress a father-figure). In real life we all know people who self-sabotage, then blame others.

Broken Villains: are like an indestructible moron, or a mastermind trapped in the body of a gerbil. They are a dichotomy, simultaneously threatening and laughable, so when one of their schemes actually works they are as surprised as everyone else. This is a good villain for a team-up with another broken villain with different issues.

My favorite is a Clueless Villain, generally someone so selfish they don't understand right from wrong. They may think they are the hero. They may want to be best friends with the hero, but their actions are usually destructive even when they try to help. They may be playing, then get bored and leave. She may be a brat, or someone's smothering mom, or somebody the heroes have to accommodate. They may be from another dimension and don't understand death.

Avoid out-dated tropes that make fun of your villain because of racism/sexism/bodytype…. These aren't villain traits. A lisping, effete villain isn't funny. Neither is a woman that is "too old" or "too fat to be taken seriously". A villain who is evil just because they are Chinese (yellow peril) or Muslim (xenophobia) presumes that half the Earth's population is inherently "different" from the reader. In some eras, anyone who was deviant from society's physical average was suspicious (a limp, hunchback, deformity, just being short or left-handed). Again, none of these are villain traits. A physically ideal hero that bullies others for being anything less than "perfect" will flip the hero/villain roles for many readers. There have even been eras where heroes were suppose to be "more average" than most, but that's certainly not the current message in Western media, nor in genre where everyone is an individual/orphan with a unique super-power and a personality flaw. Use the comedy rule of punching up, not down if you want the villain to withstand the test of time. A wealthy villain with political connections, a spoiled child who wants everything now, a petty tyrant in a small office or a witheringly sarcastic floor manager: these are people who abuse from a place of power (even if that power is very small). If your villain is not coming from a position of entitlement, and your hero punishes them for attempting to better themselves, you can end up with tall poppy syndrome sending a message you never intended.

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