: Re: This is a problem that doesn’t seem to have an answer My bad guy is very very very complicated. My entire story exists because for thousands of years (no one knows why) regular people from

@Smith147

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Turn it on It's head:
Villains SHOULD be conflicted creatures. No soul = no mercy. The prophecy is ambiguous enough that it may not mean she dies - only that her reign ends (and a new one begins). A human may be the only one who can handle the necklace in a critical way, so only a human can give it back to her without the soul going back into her. Or perhaps someone gives her their soul, and takes on hers for themselves - thus neither has their own soul, and both live forever (this works well with a romantic end-game). She doesn't fully know/understand this, so she kills to preserve her half-existence-but she has doubts about her interpretation, and waffles in her actions.Deep down, part of her questions the rightness of what she's doing, and wants an end. Once the necklace is returned to her, she has her soul but not in her.
She perhaps becomes an immortal queen instead of a brutal tyrant once she can again experience normal human emotions. She is a tragic but redeemed figure, and victory is obtained not in her defeat but in her being liberated. Hate loses and forgiveness wins. When the characters pursue her defeat they are acting soulless and when they pity her and try to figure out how to be merciful, they show soul. The harder they fight her, the stronger she becomes, and vice versa.

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