Just realized my villain was too evil after a beta reader called me out

I had this character who was basically pure evil for no reason. Destroying cities, killing randoms, the works. A beta reader told me 'he feels like a cartoon, not a person.' That stung for a day but they were right. I went back and gave him a real motive rooted in losing his family to a corrupt kingdom. Now he does awful stuff but you kinda get why. Has anyone else had to soften a bad guy after feedback?

2 comments

2 Comments

rosek443d ago

Oh that rings a bell for me. I had a character that was just mean for the sake of being mean my first draft, and a friend pointed out that nobody acts like that in real life. It made me go back and really think about what made them tick. Giving them a backstory where they were betrayed by someone they trusted changed everything. Now the bad choices feel understandable even if you don't agree with them.

patriciacarr3d ago

Got a buddy who rewrites his characters' motivations every six months. He's got a spreadsheet with different backstories for the same villain. One version had the guy stealing because his mom needed medicine. Another version had him as a bored tech CEO running scams for sport. He changes it depending on his mood. I told him to just pick one and move on, but he says it's his process.