Thread:TJlive800/@comment-4952704-20150604202841/@comment-16747922-20150606231523

In the context of this villain thing, a villain could have a series of motivations. Having seen Arrow I know that Barry probably did some crazy monumentally mindblowing shit for a mistake and it made Eobard hate him. Oliver has done some crazy shit on the island himself inspiring Slade Wilson's hatred for him. As for any other villain, you need a complex backstory that culminates in something that really crushes the heart of both your character and the audience. Revenge, love, whatever.

Simplest example would be a story about the villain being a protag, maybe someone he loves dies and then he becomes totally evil. You could introduce a scenario where he'd make it out a good guy and make his evil-ness a tragedy.

Most villain motivations sound cliche in theory but it's the execution that counts. I like to do some kind of psychological thing, maybe an expansion on a simple disorder. Something that really rests in the mind of the person like a religious belief. For example, a person with OCD feels compelled to put everything in place. Now imagine a supervillain who looks at the world and only feels comfortable when it's a totally blank canvas. He considers all the continents "stains". Imagine how terrifying it would be if he literally pursues the entire destruction of Earth because it puts his mind to ease. Like an artist just cleaning a paint splatter off his canvas. Something so huge and bad that a person works towards like it's the simplest thing they've ever thought of. The most evil people are the ones who actually, like really, believe that what they're doing is right without sounding corny about it. No reluctance or "change of heart". The same way we believe, say, washing our hands after going outside is right. Or eating is right. We're all convinced it's the right, most sensible thing to do and follow it without giving it second thought.

Well that's just me, I'm a maniac sometimes :D