GOOD BAD GUYS

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

“A good man can be stupid and still be good. But a bad man must have brains – absolutely.” – Maxim Gorky, The Lower Depths, 1903

Let’s talk about the Bad Guys. The villains with a capital V. The ones who don’t always wear a black hat, although they possess a black heart or mind.

No decent mystery makes its way into print without an antagonist, but the best ones include a worthy opponent for our hero.

To be honest, the villains’ character may be more important than the hero to a story. Anyone can be a hero when he or she is pressed. To those who insist they could never be violent no matter what the circumstances, I say they don’t know what they’re talking about.

Suppose someone threatened your child or an aging parent or a disabled person. Wouldn’t you step up and protect them, or at least try? Most of us would.

“That’s different,” the pacifist would answer. “You didn’t say anything about someone being hurt.”

Hmm, I think I did. Do the words “no matter what the circumstances” sound familiar?

This is why the villain is so important. He doesn’t kill, burgle or stalk just for fun. Sure, his adrenalin is surging and he may derive great pleasure from his exploits, but definite reasons why he has set out on a life of criminal pursuits should be apparent in his background. The good writer will determine those reasons the villains must do these dastardly deeds before beginning to write the story.

The villain may not completely understand the reason he does the things he does, but that’s why we create sleuths who either are themselves profilers, therapists or people with good common sense or are smart enough to engage such people to help them find and stop the “bad guy.”

One of the best plotting workshops I’ve attended was presented by Robert J. Ray, author of the Matt Murdock mystery series, The Weekend Novelist and (with Jack Remick) The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery.

Ray’s workshop included separating the attendees into small groups to brainstorm. In a short time, each had created a mini-plot outline by answering three questions concerning the killer, the victim and the sleuth. Each question related to the character’s needs, wants and motivations. Mysteries are composed of one Why? question after another with a solution to all in the conclusion.

Why does the victim die? Why does the killer kill? Why does the sleuth detect? In the Sherlock Holmes series, Moriarty is the one adversary who keeps Holmes most on his toes. Moriarty is truly a worthy opponent as is The woman, Irene Adler, who may have actually “bested” Holmes (Even Moriarty couldn’t do that.)

The most heinous villains make us turn pages faster. Dr. Hannibal Lector, Lord Voldemort and Darth Vader are great villains. We would not root for the hero so zealously to overcome them if the villain was any less calculating and devious.

Like the rest of us, the villain believes he is justified in what he does. He feels vindicated by the his acts in some way. We may even sympathize with him a bit, yet we know he must be stopped.

In another workshop with the late, great Barbara Burnett Smith, she asked the class to share their choices for the most memorable fictional characters. She dutifully wrote their names on the blackboard: Tom Sawyer, Luke Skywalker and Jo March. With her back still turned to the chalkboard, I said, “Hannibal Lector.”

The chalk stopped mid-stroke. She turned with a frown. When she realized it was me who spoke, she smiled. “Oh, Debbie!”

I shrugged. “You said most memorable and I don’t know about y’all, but I can’t forget Lector.”

Without another word, she nodded and wrote his name alongside the heroes. I suppose she intended to speak about heroes in that particular workshop and I had thrown the proverbial monkey wrench into the mix. Being the professional she was, I knew Barbara could handle any heckler, but I wasn’t trying to be a troublemaker. I was being honest. I love a good villain. Be honest: wasn’t J.R.Ewing the most interesting character on “Dallas”?

As always, Barbara’s session led me to take extensive notes while our class picked her brain concerning characters.

These days the villain isn’t always easily recognized at first. He doesn’t always wear the black hat, kick the dog or yell at kids. The villains we create shouldn’t either – at least not in public.

How often have we been surprised in real life when the serial killer turns out to be a good-looking guy like Ted Bundy, a quiet neighbor like David Berkowitz a.k.a. Son of Sam or the faithful church member who turned out to be the BTK killer? Just like fiction, the ones with deeply hidden motives and leading secret lives are the ones we remember.

Hopefully, we’ll only cross paths with black-hearted villains beneath the covers of a great book. But when we do, I want him to be worthy of the hero’s efforts. A good bad guy is what I want in my mysteries.