CRAFTING YOUR ANTAGONIST
Most people think your plot centers around your protagonist, but I would argue that your antagonist is really what drives your story. Without the conflict that stems from your antagonist, your protagonist would have no reason to go through the growth they do as a character. So let's dive into what you need to know to create the driving force behind your plot, your antagonist.
An antagonist can take many forms, whether it is a person, event, or even just a side of the protagonist him/herself that must be overcome throughout your plot. Some examples of an antagonist being an event would be the war your protagonist fights in during a historical fiction novel, or a period piece exploring someone's experience with a natural disaster. When it comes to the a part of the protagonist that must be overcome, it could be a lack of confidence, or even a darker side of them brought on by an accident or experiment they were involved in.
For this post, however, let's stick to the most basic form of an antagonist. Another person.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember when creating your antagonist is that they need a motivation for the things they do. Black and white thinking doesn't come across as realistic. People aren't all good or all bad, your character has to be morally grey. In other words, what they do needs to make sense to them. A few possible examples of an antagonist's motivation are:
Fear or insecurity
To bring about a "greater good"
To prove others (or themselves) wrong about their character
To be remembered
To avenge some perceived offense
To gain control
They are misguided or have received false information
The best antagonist is the one who really believes themselves to be the protagonist. In their story, they are the hero. Take the qualities of your protagonist, those wonderful things that they fight for, and twist them. It is so frustrating to your readers when your protagonist and antagonist are fighting for the exact same reasons but looking at things from different points of view. As odd as it sounds, they should be fairly similar in 80% of their ideology. That other 20% though, is made up of differences in opinion or behavior that neither one is willing to bend for very specific, tangible reasons. Give your antagonist baggage, make your reader feel sorry for them at times and then have them do something unforgivable to let your readers constantly change their opinions on your antagonist. That is what makes them grey. Your readers should understand why they do what they do, even if they don't necessarily agree with it.
Another thing you have to understand as an author is the difference between an antagonist and a villain. An antagonist is the character that opposes your main character. They are always getting in the way, creating pushback, and inciting conflict in your story, which drives the plot forward.
A villain, however, is a character who does evil things just for the sake of being evil. There is no real rhyme or reason to what they do other than that they enjoy causing pain. In short, a villain is just an underdeveloped antagonist. Read your work through once you've written a few scenes with your antagonist. If you can't explain the reason they feel the need to put so much effort into stopping your protagonist, you've probably written a villain where you need an antagonist.
Finally, let's talk about why you should give your antagonist just as much time, attention, and development as your protagonist. A stagnant character is a boring character. You want your readers to be just as emotionally attached to your antagonist as they are the protagonist, just in different ways. For readers to care about something, they need to spend time with it. They need to understand and feel connected with it. You have to make it personal.
Ways to do this?
Give your antagonist an endearing trait.
Whether it is a sense of humor, a certain person or thing they are gentle for, or even just a relatable interest or hobby. Your antagonist should still be a human, even if they make choices that readers struggle to accept.
Make them memorable.
When you give your antagonist the limelight, don't let them waste it. They should do something that leaves an impression on both the protagonist and your readers. Whether they do something unexpected, let something slip about their internal world, or almost convince your protagonist to change their mind.
Give them flaws.
Maybe they get so caught up in anger that they push too hard and move too fast. Maybe they have deeply emotional responses based on past triggers. Maybe they don't trust anyone, maybe they trust the wrong person and spiral because of it. If your antagonist isn't going through their own character development, questioning themselves, and maybe even considering change only to fall back into their old frame of mind, they are not going to be a flushed-out character. Just like your protagonist is going to have flaws they need to overcome throughout the plot, your antagonist should too. Whether or not they actually overcome those flaws is up to you, but they should have the opportunity to do so.
Talk about their past.
The biggest thing to remember about an antagonist is BAGGAGE. Make sure they are hurting, resentful, or angry and make sure your reader understands why. It could be because of their past, it could be because they aren't really in control of their own actions, or maybe this is just how they were taught to view the world. At the end of the day, your protagonist and antagonist should be faced with the same choice, but go different ways. Both need an explanation for why.
Your antagonist needs to teeter the line of justice and mercy.
My favorite example of this is the dynamic between Jean Valjean and Inspector Javier in Victor Hugo's, Les Misérables. Both are faced with the same situation, but view that balance between justice and mercy very differently. Valjean leans much more on the side of mercy, believing that he can atone for his mistakes and become a new, better person. Javier, on the other hand sees things in a much more black and white sense, believing that a crime has been committed and therefore he has to see justice through. At the end of their story arc, Javier sees the good Valjean has been doing and personally experiences mercy at his hands and comes to a greater understanding of where maybe the world doesn't always fit the way he's been taught to view it. This is so overwhelming and distressing for him that he ends up committing suicide, which is a fascinating response.
I could talk the dynamic between those two for hours, but to keep it short, this concept of where the line falls between your readers wanting to pity and forgive your antagonist and where they get so frustrated by their unwillingness to bend or do what your protagonist feels is right is what really draws them into your story and brings that emotional connection between them and your antagonist.
At the end of the day, your antagonist is entirely up to you. That's the beauty of writing. Make them as evil, or endearing, or faceless as you want. But here are some things that have worked for me that I would encourage you to consider taking a crack at while crafting the perfect antagonist for your story.
