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How do I create the villain's entrance into the story? That is, the first time he appears? I feel like it should be a triumphant entrance, I don't know what he will do when he appears for the first time, I already know his goal and motivation. My villain is a governor of a totalitarian regime, he is the one in charge.

(The interesting thing about Harry Potter is that Voldemort is introduced without even appearing at the beginning of the story, he also acts from afar against Harry.)

F1Krazy
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2 Answers2

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If you are writing for a movie, which is a relatively short format, typically the villain is introduced in the first act, on pages 10 to 20. Unless you are writing a mystery, and then the antagonist (like the killer) is left unknown for suspense until quite late.

Another option, seen often in fantasy, is to talk about the villain early, but not portray them until quite late. The wizard or king may be evil, and have committed horrendous acts, but we "build them up" by people talking about them without actually showing them, so when they finally do show themselves the reader is primed for fear and dread.

Basically, advertise their evil before we meet them, do not rely entirely on the evil they do within the confines of the story.

In one story (not a mystery, not for film) I did not introduce the actual villain until the 2nd act; which begins one quarter of the way through the book. In particular, the opening caused the hero to be institutionalized, and that was the entirety of the first act, why she did what she did (and would do it again in a heartbeat).

The actual villain of the story was involved in running the institution. This was also a traitorous villain, the hero did not know this was the villain, and considered him a friend and ally. She thought the villain was a puppet of his.

So you can introduce a villain without revealing they are the villain. In fact, in some detective stories we are introduced to the villain in some way, as a witness or something, the author gets the detective convinced somebody else is the villain, and then the real villain is only exposed in the finale.

Your governor, for example, could be introduced as a benevolent ruler, instead of revealing his corrupt nature immediately.

Voldemort is not particularly special. He is introduced in Book 1 in a diminished form, but stories are told by other characters of his great evil. It is quite common to build up evil villains with "legends" or ahead of time. If you introduce your governor too early, he may just seem (to the reader) a braggart, a narcissist, not evil.

Voldemort with his full power regained is not shown until Book 4, with stories of his evil throughout the first 3 books. Which is what makes him such a strong villain.

If you want your villain Governor to be seen as more than a braggart and narcissist, you should not introduce him early, you should hide him behind a curtain and have characters tell stories of his evil, his ruthlessness, his cruelty. So when he finally appears and is bent on destroying your hero, the audience already fears him, and fears for your hero.

Amadeus
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I'm not sure I understand your question. I have never in my life "developed" a villain's entry. How my villains enter the stage in my stories is the story. When I know what story I want to tell, I also know how the villain "enters" it.

Your questions make it seem as if you don't really know your story. You seem to have a genre and certain of it's elements (a villain, a totalitarian regime), but not the tale. I'd advise that you work on developing your story, instead of its disparate and disjointed elements. The villain, the government, the characters will gain shape as you develop the story as a whole.

Ben
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