Villainy Among Friends: Three Authors Talk Writing Villains

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In dubbing 2024 the Year of the Villain, we've traversed quite a few examples of villainy in fantasy together, from Tolkien's pantheon of big bads, through Le Guin's more interior focus, to others such as formless evil, wrongdoers that manipulate from the shadows, and most recently, heroes that fall.

I don't believe any discussion of villains and villainy would be complete, however, without hearing from authors about the antagonists in their own work. So today I'm delighted to have fellow Supernatural Underground authors, Kim Falconer and Amanda Arista, here to talk exactly that.

Kim Falconer: Anti-Heroes, & Shadow, Betrayer, & Super Villains

Amassia series

I’m so excited to contribute to this group post on villainy. After all, what kind of story would there be without the evil doers?

But have you noticed over the decades that evil is changing? Becoming more three dimensional?

Once upon a time, villains did bad things for bad reasons and that was it. But this is no longer always the case.

Take, for example, the red-robe Tann in my Amassia series. As twisted as he gets, he isn’t 100% bad. He has reasons! He also has all the ingredients that make a good hero. He’s on a journey with strong motivations. Much is at stake, and he risks everything to succeed.

Sounds heroic, right?

That’s because Tann is a Shadow Villain. When we learn his history, later in the series, we see that he represents the ‘dark side’ of our heroes. And while he’s at it, he elucidates the history and nature of the crown of bones. In the end, it is the shadow villain who leads us through the darkness to the light, though unintentionally...

But Tann isn’t the only bad guy in the Amassia series. There is also a Betrayer Villain – the fallen one, as it were. Helen has written about this in detail in her post Once Were Heroes. In my series, this role is taken by High Savant Brogal. Notice how, while he is busy betraying, he shows the reader ‘another side’ of the story. It makes us question…

Then there is the Anti-Hero, like Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Perfume. The anti-hero is a serious villain, but their story is told from their POV. They do ‘bad’ things (terrible things) but for ‘good’ reasons, according to them. Like in the Amassia series…oops I better not say that! It’s a massive spoiler! You’ll just have to find out in the pages.

Finally, there is the Super Villain. Like the Dark Side of the Force in Star Wars, or the Machine Mind in the Matrix, the super villain appears faceless yet all powerful. It is an impersonal force of nature. There is a super villain in the Amassia series. Can you guess what form it takes?

 

I’d love to know, who is a favourite villain on your bookshelf right now? In film?

Mine would have to be Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb, the Penguin. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15435876/

Happy reading, and viewing!

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Amanda Arista: Faces To Punch in the "Urban Panther" Universe

Though there are lots of faces that Violet gets to punch in The Diaries of an Urban Panther series, the Haverty duo are the two really pulling all the strings: one as an old-fashioned bad guy coming after Violet with a vengeance and one as a dark mirror to her own story. 

Reade Haverty was always a villain, from the moment he took over the Dallas Pride, tearing apart a family of werelions to do so. Proud and power hungry, he stepped on everyone in his path to control all the shifters in Dallas. Including his son Spencer Haverty, playboy and panther whose bite activated Violet's own destiny. 

Haverty’s villainy was external and visceral and Violet was a pawn he wanted out of play. When Daddy Haverty met his end thanks to a well-placed knife to the heart, Spencer's villainy twisted into another antagonist force Violet had to stop, but this one was more difficult to defeat. 

Pulling on their connection as her maker, Spencer became the dark reflection of Violet. When she got power, he got power. When she took control, he took control. He invaded her dreams, twisted her friendships, and even killed her mentor. Thanks to his daddy issues, he never made the heroic choices that Violet did, even when she gave him the chance. 

Defeating both types of villains grew Violet into the hero she needed to be to lead the Dallas Pride. 

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Helen Lowe: "The Wall Of Night" Pantheon

Like Kim's Amassia series, The Wall of Night is fantasy in the epic mode -- think Lord of the Rings meets the political machinations of House of the Dragon. It's also alternate (aka 'secondary') world fantasy, whereas Amanda's Urban Panther 'verse is set in a very recognizable Dallas, Texas. :-) 

As the series develops, opening with The Heir of Night (Heir) and progressing through The Gathering of the Lost (Gathering) to Daughter of Blood (Daughter), with the story finale currently in completion, the reader's understanding of its pantheon of villains evolves in the same way as the cast of heroes. 

The latter are chiefly drawn from a people known as the Derai, who have been fighting an age-old war for the fate of the universe and all life. Yep, the stakes are high -- and in Heir, the evil the main characters face is a correspondingly monolithic, but also formless force (i.e. Kim's "super villain"), which manifests through various demonic entities. The main characters, Malian and Kalan, know there are people, called the Darksworn, among the demon ranks, but they're mostly an off-stage, if not completely off-page, presence.  

In Gathering, the reader meets Darksworn in their own right for the first time, as opposed to solely through the heroes' eyes. The sorcerers Nirn and Arcolin, and their adept and warrior henchmen, are working to destabilize the world of Haarth, utilizing the magic and strength of beast-men known as werehunters. So the demonic elements remain, but the villains, and the evil they practice, wear a more human face. Their motivation also becomes more central to the plot.

Daughter reinforces these elements while introducing more, and more powerful, Darksworn villains, including a prince, giant in stature, with serpent hair.  Again, the demonic aspect overlays the villainy, but with the narrative returning to the Derai, who believe themselves champions of good, their actions receive closer scrutiny. Many prove comparable with those of their Darksworn enemies -- broadening the scope of what constitutes evil in the Wall of Night story, and expanding the ranks of its villains. 

I can definitely promise you further broadening, and more indepth scrutiny, in the book to come...

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About the Authors

About Kim Falconer:

Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. Currently, she is working on the third book, out in 2025.

Kim can be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Or pop over to throw the bones or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site

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About Amanda Arista:

Amanda was born in Illinois, raised in Corpus Christi, and lives in Dallas, but her heart lies in London. Good thing she loves to travel!

Amanda is the author of the Diaries of an Urban Panther series and The Merci Lanard Files. A graduate of the SMU Creative Writing Program, she now teaches other aspiring authors and loves discussing craft, character, and structure.

You can usually find Amanda curled up on her couch with a tiny human or a dog, writing away, or otherwise on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pantherista/ Find out what she's currently doing on Instagram: @pantherista

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About Helen Lowe:

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.

Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.

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Previous “Year of the Villain” Posts:

January:      Ushering in 2024 -- & the Year of the Villain

February:    The Year of the Villain #1: The Lord of The Rings Pantheon

March: The Year of the Villain #2: Ursula Le Guin & “Earthsea”

April: The Year of the Villain #3: Tigana and Brandin of Ygrath

May: The Year of the Villain #4: Elidor and Formless Evil 

June: The Year of the Villain #5: When the Hero Is Really A Villain

July:  The Year of the Villain #6: When the Author Messes With Your Mind

August:  The Year of the Villain #7: The Evilest Of Them All

September: The Year of the Villain #8: Secret Villains

October: The Year of the Villain #9: Once Were Heroes

From the Backlist - Scary Movies From Real Life

 

The Amityville Horror (2005) directed by Andrew Douglas

 

It's time for another look at the Supernatural Underground Blog Backlist! With Halloween a week away, we thought it might be timely to dust off this October 28, 2011 post by Dakota Banks - Scary Movies (and books) with Real Life Backgrounds. 

Read the original post here, and be sure to check out all the interesting comments from readers. You can find the chilling supernatural works, The Mortal Path Series, by Dakota Banks here.

Hope you enjoy!

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As Spooky Day approaches, I thought I'd take a look at some popular scary movies that have more behind them than just a screenwriter eager to cash in on the paranormal craze. These are oldies but goodies, and if you haven't seen them (or if you have), you might want to search them out for your Halloween fright-fest. Your friends might not believe you when you them them the background of these movies!

The Shining (1980)

This movie takes place in an isolated location, a large and luxurious hotel that is closed down for the winter due to impassable roads. This means the few who remain (caretaker, etc.) are trapped there as both the snow and the isolation deepen. Terrible things have happened at the hotel and left ghostly impressions behind that aren't exactly friendly to the humans in their midst. It's a psychological drama as well as a horror movie that will have you breathing fast.

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, CO

 
The background: The movie was based on the book The Shining by Stephen King. He was inspired to write it after a stay in Room 217 of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. In 1911, a housekeeper was nearly killed by a gas leak explosion in Room 217. Doors open and close and lights turn on and off by themselves in that room. Stephen King spotted the ghost of a small child who calls out to his nanny on the second floor. According the the staff, Room 418 is the most haunted room in the hotel. Ghosts of children playing can be heard in the hallway. The movie was not filmed in the Stanley Hotel, as many think, but the hotel does offer ghost tours and ghost hunts based on its many reported hauntings. EMF paranormal detectors are provided. There are tunnels beneath the hotel. Ooh! - read on to enjoy the entire post...

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The Mortal Path Series by Dakota Banks

Learn more about Banks' books! They are perfect for this time of year. 

She is also a Thriller author, writing under the name Shirley Kennett. 

Happy Halloween reading and viewing!

Choose Your Weapon - Time Travel

Lee Dong Wooj in Tail of the Nine-Tailed Is the past repeating itself again?

Time Travel as a Weapon

You might think of time travel more as a mode of transportation, at least in film and literature, and you would be right. It certainly offers a way of moving characters into precarious and plot-twisting situations.

But it is also a weapon. 

If you don't believe me, read on to discover how deadly time travel can be.

In the 2016 series Travelers, future surviving humans send their consciousness back through time into people of the 21st century to change the path of humanity. Of course, they kill their hosts to do it...

Time Travel Defined

Think of time travel as a way to transport a) information (precognition as in The Minority Report) and/or b) characters forward, backward and sideways (into parallel universes). And note, even though Einstein's Relativity says time, travel or otherwise, is an illusion, quantum physics begs to differ. 

Brief Sidestep into Science

In quantum physics, we have the idea of time symmetry in that it flows both ways, forward from past to present to future, AND backward, from future, to present to past. The latter is the most common because an observer is essential to 'see' a thing for it to exist. 

As John Wheeler puts it, "...what the observer will do in the future defines what happens in the past—even in a past so remote that life did not then exist, and shows even more, that 'observership' is a prerequisite for any useful version of 'reality'."

Don't you love how 'reality' is in quotes? 

Time becomes both complex and illusory, but that doesn't stop us from using fiction to get a handle on it.

Wheel of Time depicts time with a seven-spoked wheel marking the seven Ages. The turning of this wheel and the events of each Age generate the Great Pattern, a predefined plan which defines the past, present and future -  not unlike Hindu and Buddhist representations of time.

The Sub Genres of Time Travel in Fiction

Writing time travel in fiction offers a way to weaponize a character as well as play with the time/space continuum. And the best part of this, to me, is you can cross genres like crazy to do it. TT includes multiple classes of Speculative Fiction from SF, Fantasy and alternate history to even more obscure niches. 

We have books and films ranging from Fantasy, like A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and The Dragonriders of Pern, to Fairytale like Rip Van Winkle to the War subclass like The Edge of Tomorrow (adapted from Hiroshi Sakurazaka's All You Need is Kill), Alt History like Outlander, comedy as in Groundhog Day and of course SF from H. G. Wells' 1895 classic The Time Machine to comedy/SF Back to the Future. 

I played with the symmetry of time in deadly ways in the Quantum Enchantment series, specifically Arrows of Time.

Time can change the course of history.
Right, Mr. Queen?

As well, we have works across more Spec Fic subgenres like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Wheels of Time to the wonderful array of KDramas such as Lovely Runner and Mr. Queen.

Conclusions

The point is, that time travel isn't always a glitch in The Matrix. It can be used to correct the devastating collapse of humanity (Terminator), to win the battle and save the day, for example...

"By making use of time displacement equipment, agents from both sides (pro Skynet and anti Skynet) are deployed on missions designed to either ensure, alter, or eradicate the status quo as perceived by the participants at the time." - Terminator Universe 

Now that is some weapon!

On a more subtle level, there is the temporal fugue portrayed in Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny where our hero moves through time, adding himself to a causality loop so his 'copies' can join the fight. The possibilities here are endless!

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Do you have a favorite time travel book, film or game? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

Choose Your Weapon Series

Poison

The Perfect Storm

The Sword

Firearms

Ranged

Spells

Unarmed

Curses

Time Travel

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About Kim Falconer

Kim Falconer, currently writing as AK Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. Currently, she is working on the third book, out in 2024.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site

Zombie Lovin': What's Up With The Undead? -- More 'From The Backlist' Goodness!

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With Halloween clearly on the horizon, what better time to feature a lil Zombie Lovin'? Namely, Terri Garey's microfiction that checks out what's up with the undead?

We loved it the first time around and bet you'll enjoy the fun just as much today. Sure hope so! :D

Terri Garey

Zombie Lovin': What's Up With The Undead? by Terri Garey

When did zombies become the new black? Zombies are everywhere these days, including zombie romance. When I first heard the concept, I was baffled; how could love, sex and romance work if you (or your partner) were one of the undead? What if you kissed and your lips fell off? (Just kidding! Kinda.)

Anyway, one day last year, just for fun, I took a moment to imagine how in the world one could mix love with lividity, and came up with this short little pre-Halloween, tongue-in-cheek tale I'd like to share with you.  I must warn you, if you haven't read my books yet, you're about to find out that I have a slightly weird sense of humor. :-) But if, like me, you don't mind a giggle or two at the expense of the undead, read away, and enjoy:

Zombie Love

LOVE STINKS, AND SO DOES YOUR BREATH by Terri Garey

“Is that a femur in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

Donna snuggled in closer to Derek, brushing the dark hair from his eyes with one hand. Unfortunately, a clump of it remained in her fingers, and she knew this particular boy toy’s time was limited. That was the problem with zombies—their shelf life was much too short, the pesky problem of decomposition being one she hadn’t solved yet.

Even embalming didn’t help, and she didn’t care for waxy buildup on her fingers any more than she did her floors.

“Brought you a present,” Derek murmured, with a lopsided grin, “for our two-week anniversary.” His breath reeked of blood and sausages, which made sense considering his job at the local meat packing plant. With a flourish, he whipped a hand from behind his back, and offered her his prize.

“How sweet,” Donna squealed. “It’s a heart!”

“Yeah, baby,” he answered smugly, blood dripping between his fingers. “A fresh one. Nothing but the best for my girl.”

“Awww,” Donna said, “I got you a present, too.” She let go of him long enough snatch her purse up from the bed. Digging inside, she brought up an object about three inches long. Picking off a piece of lint before handing it to him, she announced, “I usually wait at least a month before giving my boyfriend the finger!”

Derek and Donna both died laughing, which was long overdue, considering Donna had been dead for two centuries, and Derek for two weeks.

She eyed him with regret as she giggled, knowing his laughter would soon be a thing of the past, much like Horatio’s, the guy who’d gotten her into this fix. It had been Horatio’s idea to visit the cemetery in Edinburgh that night two hundred years ago. Bodysnatching had been a good way to earn some quick cash back then, unless your body happened to be the one that got snatched, of course.

Poor Horatio, she’d known him well, until that shovel had come out of nowhere, and smashed his head in. The doctor who’d done it hadn’t hit her hard enough, though, and she’d woken up in his laboratory to find him on top of her. After that, what was a ghoul to do except defend herself? It was only after she’d killed the doc with his own dirt-encrusted shovel that she’d found the secret book lying on his desk, in plain sight, and learned the ancient grimoire’s secrets about how to reanimate the dead.

“Hey, baby,” Derek said, interrupting her musings. “I got a perfectly good boner going to waste here.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her close again. “What say we get naked and put it to good use, hm?”

Donna smiled. She’d learned a few secrets about herself that night, too, including how her brush with death and her newfound ability to reanimate dead flesh left her with a taste for more of it. Immortality had cost her soul, but she was pretty sure she didn’t need it where she was going.

“Absolutely,” she answered, with a smile that revealed her own teeth, pearly white and perfect. Her eyes glowed red as she began to tug his shirt from his pants. “No use letting a good piece of meat go to waste."

...

To read the rest of Terri's post, including a link to the "Thrill the World" event (where people all over the globe join together at the same time to dress in zombie costume and dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller", in an annual attempt to break the Guinness World Record for "largest simultaneous Thriller dance"), click here.

To find out more about Terri Garey, including her fun & fabulous Nicki Styx series, go here.

Once Were Heroes: Year of the Villain in Fantasy #9

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So far this year, I've shone the spotlight on all sorts and conditions of villains, from those who're right out there in plain sight to the ones that hide in the shadows.

Today, I'd like to take a closer look at a unique class of villains, those that start out on the side of the light, as champions and exemplars, paladins and heroes, but fall or are turned to the dark side.

Anakin Skywalker

Possibly the most well-known example in the genre pantheon is Anakin Skywalker, Jedi knight and ace star-pilot, who through ego, rage, and despair, turns to the dark side and becomes the arch nemesis, Darth Vader.

Darth Vader

Saruman, in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, is another champion that falls into evil. Saruman is the greatest of the wizard order sent into Middle Earth to oppose Sauron, and the leader of the council that also comprises Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel. 

Saruman

In his quest for ever greater power, coupled with pride in his own strength and knowledge, and through use of a compromised palantir (seeing stone) he gradually falls beneath Sauron's sway. In the end, Saruman is thoroughly corrupted, breeding an orc (uruk-hai) army and waging war upon Rohan and Gondor.

Uruk-hai

In many ways, The Knights of Dark Renown charts familiar David Gemmell terrain with its account of a kingdom, Gabala, that has fallen into evil and where resistance falls upon a ragtag band of antiheroes and criminals. 

In order to do so they must learn to fight as knights themselves--but the twist comes when their opponents, the infamous Red Knights, turn out to be the realm's former paladins. Having ridden through a dark portal, they have been corrupted by the evil on its far side and returned to oppress the land they once defended. 

Yet not all fall because they have been exposed to external evil. Ged, in Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, is in grave danger of being lost to evil because of a force summoned in jealousy and pride. Although he averts that fate--initially through the intervention of others and later by his own efforts-- it's a very close call. 

The Amassia novels

Similarly, in AK Wilder's Amassia series, the fall of Brogal, a master savant, is more tragic because he believes he is doing the right thing. The tipping point, from misapprehension and error, into villainy, comes when he chooses to compound and reinforce the initial error. 

Perhaps the saddest fall is that of Tunstall in Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper series. Tunstall is a long term "dog" (basically, a police officer) and Beka's partner ("dogs" aways work in pairs.) In Books 1 (Terrier) and 2 (Bloodhound) he is definitely one of the good guys. 

Yet in Mastiff, (Book 3), the ageing and much-injured Tunstall's fear of poverty and losing the woman he loves, who is of much higher social standing, leads him connive at the kidnapping and murder of a child. Ultimately, he also betrays Beka -- a steep and rocky fall for the Tunstall of the earlier books.  

From Anakin to Tunstall, there is nothing sadder than a character's fall from good to evil. I know I've only captured a snapshot, though, so let me know in the comments if there's a hero-to-villain tale you feel is "the best."

© Helen Lowe

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About the Author

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.
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Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.

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Previous “Year of the Villain” Posts:

January:      Ushering in 2024 -- & the Year of the Villain

February:    The Year of the Villain #1: The Lord of The Rings Pantheon

March: The Year of the Villain #2: Ursula Le Guin & “Earthsea”

April: The Year of the Villain #3: Tigana and Brandin of Ygrath

May: The Year of the Villain #4: Elidor and Formless Evil 

June: The Year of the Villain #5: When the Hero Is Really A Villain

July:  The Year of the Villain #6: When the Author Messes With Your Mind

August: The Year of the Villain #7: The Evilest Of Them All

September: The Year of the Villain #8: Secret Villains

From the Backlist - Juliet Marillier

 

Fantasy author Juliet Marillier

It's time again to flip through the Supernatural Underground back list and today we are landing on an interview with Juliet Marillier. Conducted in 2012 by our own, wonderful writer Helen Lowe, the words, tips and insights remain timeless (especially after chatting about curses this month!)

Introducing Juliet Marillier:

Juliet Marillier’s historical fantasy novels for adults and young adults, including the popular Sevenwaters series, have been translated into many languages and have won a number of awards including the Aurealis, the American Library Association’s Alex Award, the Sir Julius Vogel Award and the Prix Imaginales. Her lifelong love of folklore, fairy tales and mythology is a major influence on her writing. Juliet is currently working on the Shadowfell series, a story of tyranny and rebellion set in a magical version of ancient Scotland. When not busy writing, she tends to a small pack of waifs and strays.

In addition to this interview, you may find out more on Juliet’s website http://www.julietmarillier.com; she also blogs on http://www.writerunboxed.com.

Interview: Juliet Marillier and Shadowfell

US Cover

Helen: Juliet, Shadowfell is your third specifically YA novel, following on from Wildwood Dancing and Cybele’s Secret, and all three have strong romantic elements. Do you feel this is an increasingly important part of writing YA stories, or part of a continuing tradition?

Juliet: YA stories feature a young adult protagonist or protagonists and usually focus on that character’s journey toward maturity ( the tradition of the Bildungsroman.) Learning about love / relationships is an important part of that stage in our lives, so it’s not surprising so many writers are building strong romantic elements into their YA stories. I don’t remember quite such an emphasis on romance in the books my children read as young adults, so I do think the approach has changed. Within my genre of fantasy, there’s been an upsurge of paranormal romance, partly generated by the Twilight books, but also reflecting the popularity of this sub-genre with adult readers. There are far more female fantasy writers (and female fantasy readers) than there were, say, twenty years ago, and perhaps female writers are more confident about including a good love story in a fantasy novel.

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To read the full interview, including some great comments, click here.

To find out more about Juliet Marillier, click here.

Note: Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly here on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.