Give Your Bad Guy the Best “Why”

by Shannon Symonds ,@shannonsymonds7

I love creating a killer, even if he is a cozy killer. I believe the why behind your bad guy can make or break your story. To show you how much I care about the why behind the bad guy, I am going to spoil one of my older books later in this article. But first, Lisa Cron in Story Genius said:

“Now we’re going to begin the process of turning those broad generalities into the compelling specifics.

“How? By asking ‘Why?’ Because you can’t know what, specifically, will happen until you know why it will happen. The ‘Why’—the reason something might happen, can happen, does happen—is what creates your novel’s internal logic, so that things add up, and your reader can eagerly anticipate what might happen next.

“Asking ‘Why?’ is what burns through the fog, allowing you to envision your story’s cause-and-effect trajectory—clear, precise, and waiting for you to bring it to life.

“And the answer always lies in the past.”

Lisa Cron is right. The answers do lie in the past. Money, means, and motive are common reasons for murder. But I believe there are so many nuances and layers that can fall under those three headings. When I plot a story, I start by creating the primary characters, including the bad guy. I give them histories, addictions, and all the reasons a three-dimensional protagonist needs to grow and move through the story.

Why do bad guys do bad things? I’ve been broke, I’ve certainly had people who were cruel to me, and the means—a vehicle with large knobby tires—and yet I didn’t kill my ex. Why not? There are criminals who are mentally ill. But there are also millions of people who are mentally ill and don’t kill people. They also make great protagonists. What is it that tips a human being over the edge? What is the why that leads your bad guy to cross the line society has set?

I don’t know about you, but I want to read about a protagonist I relate to and care about. What is happening to her matters. I don’t relate to perfect people always doing the right thing. If I did, then when I was suddenly single, I would have walked around town with a cup of coffee and “accidentally” spilled it on every handsome person I met! Voila! I would have created my own Hallmark journey. I’d already know the end. I wouldn’t need to turn another page and read on.

I relate to protagonists who set out to do the right things and are obliterated by a bad guy! People like me. I want to see them overcome their challenges and become better as they walk through their darkest nights. I walk with them, learn, grow, and as I do, they give me hope for my own happy ending.

A great dark night requires a bad guy with a dark why that readers relate to. Their why needs to be something that tips them over the edge and outside the normal boundaries of society, making them someone your protagonist reasonably fears.

A three-dimensional villain is never who you think he is. In a mystery, they can be a helpful neighbor by day and a serial killer by night. The stakes are definitely raised when we learn that someone we trust isn’t who we thought they were.

A truly great bad guy has their own hero’s journey that crosses paths with the protagonist or makes them the protagonist.

There are also several bad guys who, in the end, become reformed, changed, and even good guys. Charles Dickens’ character Ebenezer Scrooge is a wonderful example of learning the why behind the bad guy who is also the protagonist. A bad guy’s redemption can create a powerful, if not bittersweet, happy ending and still motivate the protagonist in your story.

Some bad guys are obvious and feel very real. There wouldn’t be a life-altering change for the protagonist in the 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life” without the truly evil villain, Henry F. Potter.

What if you pit your flawed protagonist against a sinister nemesis whose motives are complicated by an even greater villain? Isn’t that what happens to Darth Vader in Star Wars? We learn as the story progresses that he was seduced by the dark side and is subject to Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious).

Think about young Harry Potter, who slowly learns that Voldemort killed his parents, and yet, Voldemort and Harry have a lot in common, like a phoenix feather and speaking Parseltongue. Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, goes from rebellion and false imprisonment to committing the ultimate self-sacrifice. At the same time, Harry goes from fearing him to loving him. Over the series, we learn more and more about Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort, and the why behind his villainy.

J.K. Rowling’s bestselling series has more than one villain on stage throughout. Dolores Umbridge and Bellatrix Lestrange, to name two. The multiple layers of evil create stories within stories and more opportunities for our protagonist to sleuth, act like a hero, and travel forward on his journey.

There is nothing more frightening than a bad guy who everyone loves! They are charismatic, popular, and doing good things…most of the time. When the protagonist recognizes their evil and must convince others that there is a problem, your book becomes a page turner. Perhaps the bad guy is royalty, a religious leader, or a politician. What they want is what drives them and harms your protagonist. Is what they want bad enough to motivate them? Why do they want it?

How to create a bad guy:

I begin each novel or series by creating a character bible. I use the basic question or character arc for each person in the novel who plays a role in moving the story forward.

The following outline for my character bible is taken from parts of Storymaker trainings by Lisa Magnum and others, Story Genius by Lisa Cron, and Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, I’ve created a list of questions I ask myself when creating protagonists, villains, and basically all the characters in my book, before I begin writing.

Basic Character ARC

• Are they the protagonist, villain, Yoda-like friend, BFF, family, or a red herring?
• What does the character need to learn and why?
• What will happen if they don’t learn it?
• Why should we relate to, love her/him, or why should we fear, hate, or pity them?
• What are their strengths/weaknesses? What are their quirks, ticks, physical features, or characteristics that are unique to them?
• How are they going to change, or what is happening to propel the story forward?
• How old are they? What do they look like? What do they do? Where do they cross paths with the protagonist? And if they are the protagonist, when is their birthday or their nickname?
• How is this character memorable or different from others?

At the same time that I build my bible, I create a relationship map. I like every book to have three love triangles, including a minimum of one involving the protagonist. It’s even better when one leg of the triangle is the villain. Having a best friend in a love triangle with someone only the protagonist believes to be evil can drive a character to do things they never dreamed they’d do.

I place my red herrings on the map and use solid lines for strong ties, dotted lines for community or ties that aren’t as important to the story, and red lines for the red herrings and the bad guy.

Then, I use Jessica Brody’s Beat Sheet to plot the story. Sadly, as I write, one of my bad guys will try to redeem himself, or another character will think they’re real and take charge, making the story much better than the one I’d planned.

Brandon Sanderson’s blog is among stacks of great information on the importance of a character arc, the hero’s journey, and how to create someone readers care about.

You can create a bad guy without giving any graphic details that young people shouldn’t read. My daughter’s high school assigned spicier reading than I will ever write. You can stay cozy while divulging the crime and the why. A skilled writer can insinuate without rolling in the spicy mud (unless that’s your thing).

Revealing the unknown slowly and the why doesn’t mean pulling back the curtains. When you know the bad guy’s why, you can choose to share all of it, or pass it out like fine chocolates with mystery centers. Sometimes, having a box of chocolate’s menu results in the lid being put back on, without all the candies being sampled. Just like knowing too much all at once removes the need to keep turning pages.

Your bad guy may have a wonderful why or past, but like true evil, the why can be glimpsed in the shadows and discerned by your protagonist just enough to propel your story forward without frightening your elderly aunt.

You’ve heard the adage that truth is stranger than fiction? I remember reading Ann Rule’s classic, The Stranger Beside Me, a 1980 true-crime story about her personal and professional relationship with serial killer Ted Bundy, whom she knew as a friend and coworker at a Seattle crisis hotline before discovering he was a notorious murderer.

Ted Bundy kidnapped and killed my school friend’s sister. His prison psychiatrist taught my Sunday School class. It may not be my story to tell, but from true life comes the inspiration for our novels. For example, a villain in one of my books is also a trusted teacher.

I was living in Salt Lake when Mark Hofman killed two people using bombs. It was a hot topic when he was arrested. A friend of mine knew him and was adamant that he was innocent until they found his locked room. The same Sunday School teacher worked with him in prison. Hofman’s story inspired a villain in one of my books. I made the story my own with two killers working together, but I used one of the ways he created counterfeit documents and the money they made as their motivation.

My Favorite Bad Guy:

Here is my trigger warning. I don’t give trigger warnings often. Subjects can be assault, kidnapping and other crimes.

In my book Finding Hope the bad guy has been in prison for a vicious assault on his ex-wife in front of their child. His ex-wife has gone on to create a life and works as an advocate for abused women alongside her love interest, a handsome police officer.

When the bad guy walks away from a transitional prison work-release site, we learn he manipulated clergy to testify on his behalf at his parole board hearing. His cellmate tells him to go to his outside connection for work. The other prisoner tells our bad guy that his connection will help our bad guy find his ex’s house so our bad guy can finish the job and snatch his daughter.

Our villain is brazen, narcissistic, and getting away with his plan, until the connection his cellmate gave him turns out to be the Russian mafia. To stay alive, he is forced to do things he never dreamed he’d be capable of. To cope, he starts drinking nonstop for the first time in his life. The mafia doesn’t trust him. They never leave him alone for a minute. Escape is impossible.

We follow his progression.

The darkest night occurs on a fishing boat at sea. The bad guy and a close family friend of his daughter’s are trapped with the Russian criminals and two trafficked girls the Russians plan to throw overboard when they are done with them.

Everything changes for the bad guy as he watches true evil. He is practically suicidal, so much so that he throws himself between a bullet and his daughter’s friend, and then falls overboard into the cold Pacific Ocean only to be rescued by the Coast Guard.

At the end of the book, the police chief tells our protagonist that her ex is dying and wants to talk to her. The chief pressures her into seeing him before he passes away as they load him onto a life-flight helicopter.

She sees him long enough for him to say two words before he is whisked away, “Forgive me.”

Having a three-dimensional protagonist in your stories will give readers characters that will resonate with them and keep them turning page after page. Having a bad guy with a why and an entire cast of three-dimensional characters will turn your book into something Agatha Christie would enjoy.

Shannon Symonds writes in an old house by the sea, where her 6 children, their children, 30 or 40 of her closest relatives, and dogs come and go constantly. She loves laughter, a good mystery, running on the beach, deep sea fishing, and bonfires. 

In 2021 she was awarded the Author Ready Author to Watch Award for her By the Sea Cozy Mystery YA series. Her books can be found at Deseret Book, Barnes & Noble, Costco, and Amazon.