Villains 101: The Tragedy
How to write a Tragic villain
Some of the most heart-wrenching stories you can find are of those cursed by fate or fortune. These types’ of characters are driven by Tragedy.
The Tragedy. The Tragedy trope is one that follows a simple formula: A terrible event followed by either retribution, or a mindless rampage. These individuals are marred by tragedy and lash out against the world in their desperate attempt to fill their life with meaning, now that it has been taken from them. Such individuals may include those magically cursed, a grieving king bent on revenge, or perhaps in the heroic side of things, someone trying to atone for past sins. These villains are usually set on their path and hard to redeem, but they are not irredeemable, and with enough prodding, may turn into a hero once more. Typical motivations for these villains are Revenge/Retribution, Unwilling Harm of Innocents, or a Cure.
Tragedy follows in their wake. When making your Tragic Villain, consider how their lives have played out prior to the story beginning. What has driven this former hero down a dark and sinister path. There are a few ways to start with such a villain:
Cursed: Your villain might be cursed and unable to control their actions, if so, you should put emphasis on that fact, that they are not in control and that the beast within is the threat. Consider whether there is a cure, or if death is the only answer.
Vengeance: Your villain may be on a rampage for lost loved ones, which is usually a sign of madness. These villains perform horrible acts in the name of love. A good example of such a character is Castlevania’s (The Netflix show) Vlad Dracula Tepes, who in his blind rage for his wife, decides that all of humanity should be cleansed.
Madness: This character, once great, now falls into a horrifying mental rot. Either by being afflicted, or through them tearing themselves apart, these villains are typically far beyond redemption. But, remember, these people have humanity, even at the darkest of times, their madness is like a paranoia, Macbeth in Macbeth is a great example of how madness can turn a once beloved hero into the most dastardly of villains. However, you must remember that these villains work best when having a personal connection to the characters and players, a former mentor, the famous shop-keep, or perhaps that wonderful NPC you’ve crafted.
Whatever choice you make as the DM, including ones not listed here, remember to have moments of clarity with your Tragic villain, when they decide that the greater good is finally better than survival. Humanity is hard to destroy, especially when one can remember a better time. A good example is a Mad King seeing his daughter truly suffer from his affliction, seeing it, and then being pulled back into his paranoia or other madness.
Servants of the Tragedy. The myriad nature of this type of Villain is a reason that its’ hard to give them minions. This depends on the station of such a Tragic villain, if they are high up, then they can have minions, if they’re a Lycanthrope, cursed by happenstance, then its’ unlikely that they have anyone serving them. But a good idea is to use minions based on station, if they are a Local Lord turned insane, then their servants will serve them, especially if they have sworn absolute fealty to their lord. Do remember however, that these servants serve because of Honor and Duty, and are not as much vile enemies, but conscripted soldiers, unable to leave for fear of execution or their families being stripped of their hard-earned station.
How to Build a Tragedy. When creating a Tragic Villain, you should remember that they are typically grey in their nature. There is no “Absolute Evil” in a situation like this, these individuals are just the same as you or me. Thus, when designing them, consider their frame of mind before the tragedy, and work from that point onward. A good way to build is to describe the set of events that occurred to bring them down the path of Tragedy. Then, figure out what hurts the character most from their previous frame of mind, if they are a caring individual, then robbing them of what they most care about is the most apt thing to do. The most apt rule to follow is this, “Whatever the core of their being is, strip that away, and tragedy follows.”
The characters you should build in connection to your Tragic Villain should all play major rolls, a good example is King Leoric from Diablo 3, who in his paranoia and delusion brought about by his traitorous arch-bishop, Lazarus, beheads his wife and her servants, and brings about unspeakable horrors in the name of madness.
The Future without Tragedy. Without a Tragic Villain, the world should begin to heal where these villains left their mark. Those hit by a Werewolf attack will slowly rebuild and heal the wounds left by the horror that is Lycanthropy. With other forms of tragic villains, such as those driven by revenge, you should consider whether or not the end result would’ve ultimately made the world a better place had they succeeded. For example, if a man goes a hunt for drug dealers who took everything from him, and kills anyone in his way to get to that goal, including those kidnapped and imprisoned by them; sure, the drug dealers will be gone, but so too will all of the innocents they harmed. Stories of Revenge are often more complicated and take time to really sort out how much good the party did in regards, they may have stopped this murderer, but maybe they shouldn’t have. This is the general theme for Tragic villains, moral greyness is what you should seek when creating such stories.
Thank you for reading my article and I hope you find it helpful in crafting your favorite villains, good luck—Carrionkiller