‫Hello writers.
‫And welcome back to the fantasy course in this lesson we are going to be taking a look at the antagonists
‫in a fantasy novel The Antagonist is an asset city and any fantasy novel especially if you're writing
‫for young adults like the majority of fantasy novelists.
‫The antagonist gives purpose to the main character in a sense that they have a role to play in the plot
‫at least if they are not the end goal.
‫If you were to look at any popular fantasy novel there's almost always an antagonist who is pure evil
‫a person creature or otherworldly force with dark intent.
‫And it is up to the main protagonists to put a stop to it.
‫The antagonists such as sour on Voldemort or any dark lord always make for amazing antagonists but you
‫even goes fires to create a villain who is super powerful.
‫Many fantasy novels written today approach the world a lot more realistically and as such the villain
‫can simply be another person.
‫Since these villains are more human it gives the right to space to give them human aspects and evoke
‫empathy and the protagonists if not mercy.
‫The same would therefore apply to the reader.
‫Personally I find the most easy antagonist to write is that of the all powerful dark lord trope such
‫as Sauron and Voldemort as you needn't worry too much about the human aspects.
‫These characters are simply two dimensional targets for the protagonist which isn't a bad thing.
‫It is still a purpose for the protagonist.
‫After all antagonists in a fantasy novel with more depth and human aspects are a lot more difficult
‫to write as there has to be clear emotional or psychological trauma to cause them to act the way they
‫do.
‫Writing a villain like that is far more difficult than writing a protagonist which is why it is common
‫for writer to only work on it last minute in an effort to make the villains more realistic.
‫The best way to create a more realistic human antagonist is to have the reader lock them before they
‫find out that the character they are reading is the antagonist introduced them with the likeable qualities
‫as a human and then pull the rug out from beneath the reader.
‫It makes it difficult for the reader to watch as the character they enjoyed reading turned out to be
‫a horrible person a true villain.
‫In these cases the reader won't root against the protagonist but genuinely feel empathy for the villain
‫once they are overcome by the protagonist.
‫This is the tactic in writing an antagonist that are truly enjoyed it adds depth to the novel and makes
‫the villain more interesting.
‫Nothing makes an ending more generic than a villain that you barely know.
‫Being defeated by the protagonist in the end creates some conflict between the reader and the villain
‫not just the hero and the villain.
‫That being said for the beginner authors I do recommend writing your first novel was a common villain
‫lark.
‫The examples I mentioned these villains are easier to write and you can still easily make for an enjoyable
‫read by using them.
‫If you plan on only ever writing one fantasy novel or are more experienced in the genre then I would
‫recommend creating an antagonist that the reader empathizes with a lot more.
‫It is far more powerful reading in any genre not just fantasy was that this lesson comes to an end and
‫I hope you enjoyed in the next lesson.
‫I'll be talking about more ways you can evoke emotions in a fantasy novel but for now.