The Monologuing Villain

I swear I’m not going to do this every time now, but hey, if I feel inspired to make a meme, I am going to make a meme.

Anyway. Clearly I have been thinking about villains lately (and what better time to think about them than during the spooky season?), and it has come to my attention that I am very guilty of the writing the clichéd “villain monologue” the moment my main character has established a confrontation. Granted, the particular dialogue I am referencing here is still in the first draft stage, so I would like to give myself a little credit where credit is due: I know it currently sounds clichéd. And I’m hoping I can clean it up in future drafts.

But it begs the question: how does one craft a convincing, realistic filling-in of the blanks that only the main villain of your story can provide? Should you even have a villain monologue to begin with, or has it been done to death?

Now, I mostly just wanted to give my own two cents here, but I did do a little snooping around some discussion forums to at least get a general idea of where other writers / readers / viewers stood on this subject. And almost immediately I found one rather good point being made: the concept of the “monologuing villain” isn’t as far fetched as dramatic fiction would typically make it appear. People like to brag. People like to make themselves look clever, whether or not they actually are. And as anyone with even a mild interest in true crime could point out, a good portion of criminals throughout history have been caught purely because they could not shut up. They sent anonymous letters or even photos to the police, attended the funerals of their victims, and even–in some of the dumber cases–posted about their crimes on social media.

Hooray for human stupidity, I guess.

But there was another, rather loud and clear result from my snooping that, for all the critics and nit-pickers out there on the internet, I did not expect to find. Though, in hindsight, I probably should have.

Audiences just love villains. And sometimes, the more clichéd they are, the better. We all have at least one notable bad guy from fiction that we love to hate–or even just straight-up love. We relish in their blunt dismissal of other peoples’ feelings and delight in their wicked laughter. And if it’s a musical? Do I even have to start a list of all the unforgettable villain songs out there?

Of course, people were quick to point out there is still very much a right way and a wrong way to portray your villain. But as long as it’s done properly, most audience members seem rather quick to overlook the lengthy, inevitable monologue.

So, what are some ways we can do it properly? What steps can we as writers take to minimize the more “clichéd” aspects of the clichéd villain speech?

Well, the first rule of crafting a realistic villain for your story: make them three-dimensional. As fun as the stereotypical mustache-twirling villain is, he doesn’t have a whole lot going for him in the long run. Something to consider, a little tip I picked up from my creative writing classes, is that your villain should always think they are the hero of your story. It doesn’t matter what they have done to get where they are; it doesn’t matter what they are planning to do later. They are passionate about something, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to see that something through.

A very obvious example of this type of villain would be Thanos, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But another way to avoid the stereotypical villain speech is to subvert your audience’s expectations of it. Is your villain right in the middle of speaking? Have them interrupted by something. If you’re going for comedy, have the interruption be something completely asinine. Is even your main character fed up with all the monologuing? Be sure to have them point that out. And if you’re going for something more serious with the scene, have something in their plan suddenly and unexpectedly go wrong.

But the most important thing you can probably do for your villain is give them a good reason to suddenly spill their guts out. Are they taking a chance and trying to recruit the hero to their cause? Did something in the scene trigger them to become impassioned about how they want to change the world “for the better?” Or, are they really just that arrogant? If they are, be sure to make that aspect of their character clear from the beginning.

 

Night Owls, what are some other ways to subvert an audience’s expectations of your villain’s evil monologue? Who are some of your favorite villains? Most importantly, what’s your favorite villain song so I can add it to my Halloween playlist??