When someone watches a movie or tv show, they typically see two things, the good guy and the bad guy. Usually the good guy is the main character, and sometimes the bad guy is the antagonist. However, as a writer, it is important to understand the difference between the antagonist and the villain, because oftentimes these are two separate characters with completely different goals. In fact, most of the time, the antagonist isn’t even a bad guy at all.
Here we will define each character type; villain and antagonist. And then we will examine some examples of these characters, so we can further understand how to put these characters into action and utilize them intelligently to move the story forward.
What is an antagonist?
Some people, especially those who are either new to writing or not writers at all, might have never heard this term before today, and that’s okay. The antagonist is really quite simple to understand. Firstly, we have the Protagonist, which is the main character of the story (this we should all know). So, then by process of elimination, the antagonist would be the opposite of the protagonist, the anti-main character, if you will.
Whether directly or unintentionally, the antagonist’s main goal is to keep the protagonist from achieving their goal, which is the purpose of the entire story. Now, the antagonist isn’t always someone who is doing everything in their power to make the protagonist fail, but they are still standing in the way. Let’s look at some common antagonists and what their goals are.
My favorite example, and the one used in almost every film school, is in the original Toy Story (1995). We all know Woody (Tom Hanks) is the protagonist, because we are following his story, and he is the leader of the toys. Woody loves being the leader and he does not react well to change at all. Well, then Buzz (Tim Allen) comes in as the new Toy Andy receives for his birthday; this is our antagonist. I know it’s a little surprising at first, because you’d expect it to be Sid (Erik Von Detten), the kid who tortures toys, but hold that thought, we will come back to Sid. Buzz is actually the antagonist of this story, because from the moment he enters the house, he takes away the attention from Woody, and puts Woody’s role as the leader of the toys at stake. THIS is why Buzz is the antagonist, because he is preventing Woody from his main goal, to maintain power and leadership over the toys. This is very indirect antagonism, because Buzz has no ill intent, he doesn’t wish for Woody to fail, but his mere existence is preventing Woody from achieving his goals, therefore, Buzz would be our antagonist.
In the film Whiplash (2014), where a promising young drummer is accepted into a prestigious music conservatory, but his instructor has some terrifying teaching methods. Andrew (Miles Teller) is our main character, the drumming student with prodigy skills. His professor, played by J.K. Simmons is an absolute nightmare and constantly is beating Andrew down, making him feel like he has no talent at all. This is a very direct form of antagonism, because Terence Fletcher (J. K. Simmons) is directly trying to stop Andrew from achieving his goals of being a great drummer and is physically standing in his path. These types of antagonists are a little more vanilla for a story, a bit predictable, but sometimes necessary for the growth and development of the main character.
What Makes a Villain?
The difference between antagonists and villains is always one of my favorite topics, because these characters can be so complex and fascinating. Villains are very special, because sometimes they are not just the antagonist, but they think they are the protagonist. This is what makes villains so unique, and an interesting strategy for storytelling.
A villain’s goal can vary, depending on the story, but the main component that makes them considered a villain is the fact that they always have a very specific reason for why they do what they do. Villains always think they are doing something good or for the better of the world or society, but they usually are choosing the wrong way to solve their own personal problems. This is why villains are often very compelling characters, you almost want to feel bad for them, because of their backstory, but they’re still a bad person doing bad things, which is what makes a great villain, of course. They are meant to make the audience sway a little bit, but overall, you really want to root for the hero.
Now, when we discuss villains, of course superhero movies are the first to come to mind, because they are literally called villains, such as Thanos from The Avengers. But villains take many forms. Let’s look at a few more closely.
One of my favorite examples, because not only does it have a great example of an antagonist and villain, but also breaks a huge movie rule, where the main character is killed in the first half of the movie; Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). Our main character, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), visits a motel to sleep for the night while she flees the city after stealing money. The owner of the motel is Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and he is very troubled and often seen being shady and anxious, this is our villain. He is the one responsible for the actual killing of Marion (Spoiler, it’s a film from the 60’s, you had your chance to watch). But the antagonist is his “mother,” who is the one who tells Norman what to do and seems to be making a lot of the calls, he simply just listens, because he loves his mother so much. Now, we do find out at the end that Norman has a split personality and his mother has been long dead, so in this situation. The antagonist and villain start out as two separate people, but end up being just one person.
Now I told you we’d come back to Toy Story, so here we go; let’s talk about Sid. As we mentioned before, Woody is our protagonist (the main character), and Buzz is our antagonist, who is preventing Woody from achieving his goal. So then what does Sid do? Well, as our villain of the story, Sid is the character who is creating the conflict for both Woody and Buzz, which is putting Woody’s leadership skills into question over how to overcome their Sid issue. Sid has his own reasons, being a troubled kid who wants attention, therefore he acts out. But since his form of seeking attention is by torturing toys, specifically against his younger sister, who gets all the attention from their parents that he wants, this puts all of the toys in danger. This is how an antagonist and a villain, being separate characters, can function to push against the protagonist to force them to grow and achieve their goals by leaving their comfort zone. This is also why Toy Story is one of the greatest examples of story structure and character development in cinema.
Let me know your thoughts about villains vs. antagonists in the comments. What are some examples you can think of?
