#futuristicblazedetective

Baby boy with poofy hair that didn’t deserve the shit he got served

Bonus if Seb was just turned into a child again:

i unfortunately didnt get to the holidays this half of the year, but i do have christmas boards ive made in the past

Well, I could give you advice on making “quick” villains, as in villains whose only purpose are to cause the conflict you really want to start, without setting them as a main, continuous villain whose story intertwines with the hero’s inseparably.  I have more experience with them whether than long-term bad guys. Although, I know you can develop long-term villains this way. There’s never just ONE way to make a villain.

For me, I like to start with a single scene of conflict. Just one anguished, tragic, or heart-racing scene that I really want to try with no set villain or enemy; the villain is just a faceless shadow or floating idea in the background for now. I think of how I want the scene to play out; what emotions are there from the main characters, what’s the damage done, what are the potential outcomes (Example: -From the first idea of my story, ‘Another Reason’- I want a scene that damages the heroine psychologically, but not permanently. A scene that causes the hero to snap immediately upon witnessing and causes a huge scare for all involved. For this, I chose and so imagined a scene of sexual harassment/assault.)

Based on that central event you’re excited to implement into a story, who would be the perpetrator? What reasons would they have to do this? What kind of behaviors and beliefs would best suit a person who would willingly (or unwillingly if you want to play it that way) cause such a scene? What potential backgrounds can they have that made them like this or put them here in the first place? What are their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses that would help make this scene you picture happen and help its resolution?

You can come up with a number of different versions of your villain trying to answer these questions and more, creating a list of different combinations that you can try out (Example: For the assault, the villain should be attracted to the heroine or be hateful towards her in some way. Villain could be a bandit/criminal who has frequently gotten away with such crimes. Could be a wealthy man used to getting what he wants. Maybe a combination? Is there maybe more than one person causing this conflict? Would it be for their own sexual pleasure or just to torture the heroine? Does the villain(s) know her beforehand: yes or no?).

The consideration strengthens when you have more than one important scene/conflict you want to use in the same story and can actually help narrow down your options. Like, “This person would do this, but also has to be capable of this and this.” You’ll have to do the extra work of finding ways to link the events in your story together, along with deciding on the traits of your villain(s), but that’s a good way you can build both the story and the antagonist off of each other, trying your combinations and throwing out the ones that don’t quite fit the way you want them to (or don’t make sense).

Also important: USE REFERENCES. Don’t be afraid to look at and study existing villains from other creators. Read/watch how they act around others, how they react to different situations, even how they walk and talk! There are actually a lot of good villain lists (not just Disney) on YouTube that you can look at for sampling (I actually find lots of new villains to look at through voice acting lists.) The only thing I warn about when doing this is to make sure you’re not making your villain a carbon copy of another existing villain. Make sure to add your own flair or tweaks to him/her/it if you really like another villain’s personality and design (Example: The villain I created for ‘Another Reason’ was based on the behaviors and tactics of criminals that I’d seen for years portrayed on Law & Order: SVU and criminal investigation shows, not just one person from one of them).

All in all it’s really just all brainstorming. Bouncing ideas around and writing down possible scenes and persons to try. Taking what you know, what you want, and what you haven’t considered before and trying out the combinations. Make some rough drafts of your story with some of your best/closest designs of your villain (Like, a sentence or two per scene kind of draft with dialogue here and there). 

Making a written bio of your villain also helps you visualize them better and keep their personality consistent in your mind, having a written character log to look back on and edit if need be. There are actually TONS of character templates and forms out there that you can use and fill out to help you decide and cement what your character would be like in your mind (any character, not just villains).

Here is one that I think has plenty of material to use for pinning your character down and I have used it once or twice to get my ideas straight.

You good, Seb’s just a major prude from the late 1700s

I mostly do! he’s going to be kind of shy and uncertain about himself and his abilities, but he’s really very sincere and earnest. he is trying his best to be a good prince! and of course, he tries to take all his misfortunes in stride ;;u;;

I always end up drawing him so soulful and almost melancholy! speaking of which, I need to draw him again...