 Mystery: April 04, 2018 Issue [#8840] |
  Mystery
This week: Villainous Familiarity Edited by: Jeff  
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"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the
fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."
-- Albert Einstein
Trivia of the Week: In addition to being a bestselling self-published author, Mark Dawson (the John Milton series) also spends a large amount of time educating other self-published authors, particularly about how to run effective advertising for their books. He co-hosts the Self-Publishing Formula Podcast every week, has a series of free guides, and offers detailed courses about how to capitalize on ad platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, etc.
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VILLAINOUS FAMILIARITY
In mystery stories, the villain or antagonist is often a character unrelated to the crime-solver. They're more likely related to the victim of the crime, and the protagonist discovers their identity, motive, etc. after delving into the victim's life and learning who had motive and opportunity to cause the harm that was done. There's another subset of stories, though, where the villain or antagonist is someone known to the protagonist, perhaps even a former friend or colleague.
In S.W.A.T. (the 2003 feature film), Colin Farrell's team of elite law enforcement agents are trying to apprehend one of their own; a former S.W.A.T. team member who knows their playbook as well as they do.
In GoldenEye (the 1995 feature film), Pierce Brosnan plays James Bond (Agent 007), and ultimately goes up against Alec Trevelyan, formerly MI6's Agent 006.
In Batman comics, Jason Todd was one incarnation of Batman's sidekick Robin once upon a time. After being left for dead, Jason returned to Gotham City as Red Hood, a vigilante who became almost as violent as the criminals he pursued and thus went head to head with his former mentor.
In Star Wars, Darth Vader is one of the most feared and powerful Force-users in the galaxy, in no small part because he used to be aligned with the Jedi and learned from that side of the Force before switching over and joining the Sith.
When an antagonist is familiar with the protagonist, it not only adds a level of intrigue to the narrative (i.e., the bad guy knows or can guess what the good guy is going to do), but it can also create a deeper emotional connection than if the protagonist and antagonist have never met or aren't familiar with one another. When characters know one another and have a shared backstory, it makes their choices (and opposition to one another) all the more poignant because the weight of their whole relationship is behind every choice and action.
Villains who are familiar to the protagonist can also add another interesting facet to a story; they know who the hero is as a person. So in addition to understanding their professional strengths and an emotional give-and-take, the villain understands the protagonist's fears and weaknesses, and can exploit them in a deeply personal and really challenging way. There are few opponents more terrifying than ones who know how to exploit your true fears and weak points.
Some options when it comes to villains who are familiar with the protagonist include:
 Parent
Sibling
Relative
Friend
Boss
Coworker
Significant Other
Each of these carries its own special kind of significance and resonance. A comrade-turned-antagonist in the professional arena will likely elicit emotions related to justice, revenge, or the natural order of things (especially if the protagonist was professionally disadvantaged as the result of the antagonist's choice). A significant other or sibling, on the other hand, is likely to elicit feelings of betrayal, anguish, and more pronounced psychic wounds than a colleague would. And even between siblings and significant others, there's a wide variety of different sensitivities that can be played upon. Siblings are the ones that are supposed to accept you and love you no matter what, while being rejected (or worse, harmed) by a significant other can be particularly painful because it's someone you've chosen to love and share your life with.
When you're creating your next villain, consider creating one that hits your protagonist a little closer to home. There are so many more ways and means to torment your protagonist when it's someone who knows him or her really well. And, after all, isn't tormenting your protagonist what a good villain or antagonist is all about? 
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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EXCERPT: The wall was yellow even in the dark of night. It had been a beautiful, versatile shade of beige, but time had lightened that. The color was not what was bothering me, though. What was making the butterflies fly around my stomach was the sound that was coming from behind the wall, or in it, I guess.
EXCERPT: Graverobbers were the lowest of the low, a scourge on God’s green earth. And now look what they had wrought!
EXCERPT: "Gazooks!" Edgar Le'mole exclaimed when he saw the rotting body of Lenole Godfreid; the corpse of this beloved fellow smelled like day-old fish and liver.
"Indeed, Le'mole." Fiona Dedhart replied behind Detective Le'mole. Miss Dedhart was a darling young lady who wore a lovely red gown each evening as if she were off to a ball of some sort. Miss Dedhart had followed Edgar into the room so they could watch the telly but that's when they witnessed the body of Sir Godfreid.
Mr. Godfreid was well-loved and well-respected; the man had quite few enemies, if any.
EXCERPT: The front door creaked a little from a slight breeze, and from being slightly opened. Jessica pulls out her gun. She glanced around her as she cautiously entered her house. Once inside she stopped. First, she cocked her head to the right then the left as she scanned her hallway. She looked up at the stairs that faced her front door.
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Feedback from "Mystery Newsletter (March 7, 2018)" about procedural fatigue:
Quick-Quill  writes: "A perfect alternative is Mindhunter by John Douglas. I watched the Netflix version first then bought the audio book. WOW Serial killers for real. Their minds fascinate me and John Douglas is an incredible person. Certainly not "by-the-book", he broke the rules. What if your normal character asks the impossible questions? Steps out of the box and says, "What were you thinking when you did this?" Shoots first, asks questions later?"
I've been meaning to check that one out. A lot of people have recommended it to me.
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