Is “villain” The Best Word To Use In A Scene Description Or A Dialogue Prompt Between Characters?

is “villain” the best word to use in a scene description or a dialogue prompt between characters?

since I came across this poll and gave my little opinion on the matter there, I thought I would make a separate post about it too.

now what I’m not gonna do is tell my fellow writers what to do or what not to do. however, if I may, I hope you’ll allow me to give you my advice.

writers — especially those who write about superheroes, fantasy, etc — you may have used the word “villain” in your works before, and you may have thought nothing of the word itself; I mean, it fits best, right? a bad guy in a story where characters have superpowers is a villain.

I mean that’s the word for it. because for us, these are fictional works about fictional characters.

but…

for those characters in your work, the world you created for them are real for them. I mean… your characters don’t know they are fictional characters in a fictional world, correct? (unless you specifically write a story in which the characters know they’re fictional characters in a fictional world).

therefore you might want to ask yourself how realistic it is for these characters — who have no idea they are fictional characters and think they are real people — to call bad people “villains”

how realistic it is for us — real people — to call real-life criminals “villains”

what are the chances of us reading the news with the headline “two villains caught and in custody after a robbery attempt”?

the word “villain” just… doesn’t sound realistic in real world.

ask yourself how realistic you want your stories to be, as a writer who created a world in which the characters don’t know they are fictional.

how realistic it is for your characters (who think they are real people) to say, “there’s a villain around. we have to go.”

for your characters, they aren’t fictional characters, they are real. and these fictional worlds are real for them. if we’re not calling real-life criminals villains because they are real people to us. would your characters call someone who were real to them villains because they were bad?

now ask yourself how realistic you want your stories to be, as a writer — of course, a story where characters have superpowers or the one where characters live in a fantasy world aren’t so “realistic” for us, but if, as a writer, you want your readers to feel as though they live in that world you created while they read your work, you might not want to subtly remind them they’re reading a fictional work by directly referring to the bad guys as “villains”.

the key to professionally writing a story is that you make your readers forget they are reading a fictional story.

the key to professionally writing a story is that you make your readers feel as though they actually live in that world you create and are a part of that story.

there’s a reason most (if not all) superhero movies we see don’t include a scene where the hero refers to the bad guy as “a villain”. and that reason is that, for these characters, what happens in the movie is real to them. and also because the studios want their audience — us — to feel as though we actually live in that world. they don’t want to keep reminding us that “hey, this is a movie, it’s not real” by having the hero call the bad guy villain.

reminder: the world you create are real for those characters, and it should feel real for your readers to.

words to use instead of “villain”

murderer

monster

bad people / bad person

killer

son of a bitch

dick

cunt

dickhead

convicted

abuser

prick

dangerous (person / people)

predator

rapist

violent (person / people / man)

manipulator

traitor

unreliable

liar

troublemaker

troubled

unstable

corrupted

psychopath

capable of horrible, violent things

More Posts from Suedeonym and Others

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2 months ago

You were the healer—the last light of your party. But now your final ally dies in your arms, and there’s no one left to save. The enemy jeers, calling you useless. You look up, eyes hollow and black. The light is gone. The Void answers. You're no longer a cleric. You're something far worse.

1 year ago

Day I

"The Embassy is locking up Hero Cave-In for theft two days ago. At 5:26pm on Wednesday, eyewitnesses say she walked in, silent and menacing, crumbled the walls, and grabbed several bars of gold before exiting and flying away. The stash has yet to be found, but the Embassy is holding her in custody until it is found."

Millet turned off the TV and got up. On Wednesday at 5:26pm, Bush was with her sparring. Now they're saying she's a thief. No chance. Millet put on his old suit and flew over to the Embassy just as the holding van pulled away.

Millet walked through the front door to the holding cells and looked at his granddaughter and smirked as official looking people crowded around.

"Sir, uh... Bytewave? You're not allowed here. Please come with--"

"You locked my granddaughter in this lazy excuse for a holding cell with no real evidence that she did anything. She may uphold a moral code of heroics and formality, but I disagree. And if I disagree, I think you'll find it rather hard to hold me. So, before I turn this cell to rubble, I'll ask: Would you please unlock the door so we can go home?"

"Sir, she was caught on camera--"

"My family is very powerful, but we cannot be in two places at once. That is for Emotion and Cosmic. She was with me at the time that she would have done the crime you accuse her of, she is not so fast that I would have missed her travelling back and forth, and she is no thief."

"Of course, everyone would like to believe that their loved ones are innocent. However, we cannot weigh the testimony of a... villain over that of video evidence-- glchk." Mordred held the man up by his neck so they were eye level.

"Now I'm only gonna say this once more. She is not responsible. In fact, based on the footage, I don't think whoever framed her actually knows how she operates. Open that door before you're down a cell. Please." He dropped the guy, but no one moved.

He raised an eyebrow before sighing in defeat. As though on its own, the cell door fell away into dust and he called his granddaughter. She followed, an obvious look of apology, innocence, and pity on her face as she passed.

Bytewave stalked back out of the building, sending into walls whoever dared try to grab Bush. Villain he may have been, but he was not in the mood to kill. Not quite yet. This was not a death-worthy mission. Yet.

They took to the sky, but were not a block from his home, still in eyeshot of the Embassy HQ, when a hero, Sun Yun blocked the way.

"Please move," Bytewave warned, an edge to his voice that warned of violence.

"You're not taking a criminal from her rightful place without going through me."

After a beat of silence, Bytewave replied, "You're right. I'm not taking a criminal. I'm taking my granddaughter. Back home, where she should be. And getting through you? Well, that shouldn't be a problem."

Bytewave got into fighting stance as Sun Yun charged at him. He casually dodged, then grabbed Bush and flew off. Sun set her on fire, knocking her to the ground with the force of the blast.

Bytewave snuffed out the fire and set her down on a nearby rooftop, then rose up face to face with Sun Yun.

"You know I was a villain, right?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"No one forced me to retire. I did it myself. But I train others. I'm not fighting the system every two minutes, but I like to think I'm like a knife, still worth cutting a few weeds." He punched Sun, a harmless sonic boom echoing through the streets, Sun flying backwards. Sun Yun cannoned towards Bytewave, but he dodged, continuing to do so even as Sun released a barrage of attacks, each combo more sophisticated than the last. Bytewave had more trouble keeping up with when one combo ended and another began than avoiding the attacks.

Bytewave pressed his hand to Sun Yun's chest, looked him in the eye with a gaze filled with more disappointment than anger or even disgust, and reduced him to atoms.

You, a retired villian by choice, have just received new about your grandchild, a hero, being falsely accused of crimes he didn't commit causing you to demonstrate why you retired.

1 year ago

flower language has always been an intense source of disappointment for me

like, they all mean really generic things like “love” or “forever” or “i’m sorry” 

i thought you could combine flowers

like you could just send someone a bouquet and from the combination of hibiscus and posies and tulips they’d understand “the rebel leader is dead, rendezvous at the docks at 8, bring the dog, you will need lighter fluid and  a large tomato”

1 year ago

Another List of "Beautiful" Words

to include in your next poem

Avidulous - somewhat greedy.

Breviloquent - marked by brevity of speech.

Compotation - a drinking or tippling together.

Crimpy - of weather; unpleasant; raw and cold.

Desiderium - an ardent desire or longing; especially, a feeling of loss or grief for something lost.

Dyspathy - lack of sympathy.

Ebriosity - habitual intoxication.

Epitasis - the part of a play developing the main action and leading to the catastrophe.

Fantod - a state of irritability and tension.

Graumangere - a great meal.

Grimoire - a magician's manual for invoking demons and the spirits of the dead.

Hiemal - of or relating to winter.

Illaudable - deserving no praise.

Impluvious - wet with rain.

Innominate - having no name; unnamed; also, “anonymous”.

Juberous - doubtful and hesitating.

Noctilucous - shining at night.

Poetaster - an inferior poet.

Psychrophilic - thriving at a relatively low temperature.

Quiddity - the essential nature or ultimate form of something: what makes something to be the type of thing that it is.

Repullulate - to bud or sprout again.

Retrogradation - a backward movement.

Semiustulate - half burnt or consumed by fire.

Tenebrific - causing gloom or darkness.

Unparadiz’d - brought from joy to miserie.

If any of these words make it into your next poem/story, please tag me. Or leave a link in the replies. I'd love to read them!

3 months ago

hey when you make posts, i just want you to know, thou/thee/thy/thine/ye are like he/you(object)/your/yours/you(subject) okay? "thou art wearing shoes," "i will wear shoes for thee," okay?

you say thine if the next word starts with a vowel and thy if the next word starts with a consonant and they both mean "your" so "thine own shoes," "thy shoes," okay?

and ye means you and refers to the subject of a sentence, "ye members of the brotherhood of shoes," okay? you need this information to create better knight yaoi. i'm personally more interested in nun yuri but we are a community

10 months ago

Hello writer of most beloved snippets! Might I request a little something? I'd love to see Hero get injured by Supervillain and then have Villain go absolutely feral and just destroy Supervillain because that's their Hero and no one is allowed to touch them

Hello, friend! I am so glad you like what I put out there. I can definitely write this for you.

Please enjoy!

Warnings: physical violence, head injury, unconsciousness, blood

Villain's blood ran cold as they stumbled upon the fight. They had every intention of finding Hero and challenging them tonight. They did not think they would be challenging Supervillain instead.

They watched, consumed by rage, as Supervillain flung Hero like a rag doll into the wall. They watched, seeing red, as Hero crumpled to the ground and remained unmoving. And they watched, jaw clenched, as Supervillain flung the clearly unconscious Hero through the air once more.

Villain surged forward, catching Hero quickly. This was not ok. This was not acceptable. Hero lay limply in their arms, nose bleeding heavily. They had a cut along their eyebrow and a cut along their hairline. "Wake up," Villain urged, shaking Hero hard.

But Hero didn't wake.

"Oh, did I break the pathetic, little Hero?" Supervillain sneered as they came to stop just out of Villain's reach.

Villain was going to end them. "They're alive." Hero was theirs to beat. Theirs to hurt. Theirs to destroy. Not Supervillain's.

"Shame," Supervillain said as they stared down their nose at Hero. "I would have thought that last hit fractured their skull. No matter. I can finish them off now."

"Leave them alone," Villain growled as Supervillain walked towards them. Hero was theirs and theirs alone.

Supervillain stopped. "Why? I'm just putting a wounded animal out of its misery." Supervillain cocked their head. "Or would you like the honor?"

"You are not to touch a hair on their head, Supervillain." Villain laid Hero down gently.

"Or what?" Supervillain raised their hand once more.

Villain didn't hesitate. They charged, unleashing the power that they had hidden for so long. "They are mine to fight. Mine to hurt. Mine to destroy."

Supervillain's face paled. Villain had hidden so much power. "I didn't mean--"

But Villain didn't care. They were going to ensure that Supervillain never interfered again. The last thing they saw before the darkness enveloped everything around them was Supervillain's terror filled eyes. "I will destroy you. And then Hero will be all mine once more," Villain hissed into the gathering darkness.

10 months ago

characters on the run

always so tired. driving for hours and hours in whatever shitty beater they find or steal, downing caffeine and too many five-hour energy shots pickpocketed from some gas station

sleeping cramped up in some bus or train seat, slumped over in a transit terminal, hoodie pulled up tight in the hopes of not being recognized

nodding off but jerking awake every single time, exhausted but hardwired to be paranoid even with caretaker's gentle touch and quiet reassurances trying to get them to rest

so much time spent running or fighting they eventually just crash. stoic characters slumped and snoozing, trying to keep watch and instead getting some much needed rest

lurching awake in a cold sweat, gasping and trembling, bandages wrapped tight up and down their torso

"we're safe here. i promise."

"it's okay-- it was just a dream, i didn't hear anything..."

shot or stabbed while trying to lose a chase. limping through crowds, desperately acting causal, traces of blood left on everything they touch

collapsing and drawing a scene, strangers asking questions and touching all over. having to slip away from concerned bystanders before actual help (or trouble) arrives

washing off in some shitty public bathroom and leaving behind a horror show of bloodied paper towels and smeared fingers all over porcelain, too out of it and in a rush to actually bother cleaning up

character bleeding out and semiconscious and caretaker doesn't know what to do, has nowhere to go. desperately trying to drag them along as the threat gets closer and closer, or hiding and waiting and begging for them to wake up

when it's too dangerous to go to a hospital. makeshift first aid in the back of some car, breaking into a vet clinic after hours, slumped over in a dank alleyway or dirty bathroom. shaking fingers and dim lighting and nowhere comfortable to recover

all of the places to lie low are sketchy as hell. trap houses, back rooms, dive bars, strip clubs, late night joints where passing acquaintances are somehow okay with shady strangers crashing on their couch. always surrounded by a bad crowd and caught up in seedy shit

wearing the same clothes which get increasingly fucked up. fabric lost to makeshift bandages or tourniquets, blood stains and sweat, the same hoodie passed between characters getting worn and sentimental

long sleeves, oversized clothes, shitty makeup, hoods and sunglasses and hats, anything to hide their identity and all of the bruises and cuts

barely any money to their name. having to choose between filling up on gas or eating, counting remnants of change, stealing food or dine and dashing out of necessity. barely scrapping by and working any job on the low, just oh so easy to take advantage of

getting sick, but it's not like they get a break from running. feverishly wandering around, catching concerned looks from strangers, never getting the chance to rest properly so they just get worse and worse

getting so desperate they eventually call for help. trembling and hunched over in a phone booth, nervously knocking on caretaker's door, so rundown and pitiful of course they wouldn't be turned away, where the fuck have they been?

6 months ago

Waves slapped the boat as you sat in the bow. You had only been given enough time to pack a single bag.

As you watched the boat leave, you vowed to get back home better than you left. You grabbed your axe and started into the woods.

You started with making a simple shelter from a few trees then set up a campfire, leaving it unlit.

You offended a high ranking noble and got reassigned to the remotest location possible. Two years later and this 'banishment assignment' has resulted in you becoming fabulously wealthy.

2 months ago

Writing Prompt #3027

"Go on. Chew me out and tell me I'm a failure."

"I was actually planning on saying that I'm proud of you."

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suedeonym - suedeonym
suedeonym

Age: 18 | he/him I'm gonna write this so I don't have to say it every two stories: If you want to reblog my stories or prompts, feel free. If you want to add to them, feel free to. Everything I write here is basically written with the implied non-commercial copyright. As long as you properly credit me, have fun with these stories.

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