Wednesday, August 24, 2005
The Devil's Devil
Sometimes a story has everything working for it, yet it still feels...lacking. That's a good time to consider introducing a devil's devil. The devil's devil is a character representing the villain's worst nightmare. He's the devil's devil, not simply another villain, because he gives the bad guy a hard time instead of the protagonist. The hero may not even know the devil's devil exists, and their paths may never cross. But the devil's devil still impacts the plot.
Here's how it works--
The devil's devil drives a subplot involving the villain, steadily building pressure on the villain. Whenever the villain gets the upper hand over the protagonist in the main plot, he's faced with a defeat in the devil's devil subplot. When he finally finds some relief from the devil's devil character, he loses ground to the hero. He is trapped in an ever tightening vice no matter which way he turns. This makes him desperate and mean, influencing his behavior toward the protagonist. Eventually, the devil's devil strikes the villain with devastating force, which makes the villain take action rocking the protagonist's world and tying the subplot climatically into the main plot.
For example, in Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Helen's husband is the villain in the main plot. Unbeknown to her, he has his own villain to contend with in a subplot. Whenever Charles gets the upper hand over Helen in the main plot, his victory is tainted by danger or defeat in the subplot. Finally, the "devil's devil" takes a big action impacting Charles's life in a way that the devastating consequences extend through Charles to Helen. She never meets Charles's villain, but the subplot ties into the main plot in a way that's utterly believable because the audience has seen Charles wrestling with it for some time.
Why spend so much time populating the villain's world when it's the main character the reader is interested in and the story is about? Because the strength of the story is it's villain, and a villain is only as strong as he is believable, which means three-dimensional. Not every story needs or benefits from a "devil's devil." However, such a character can round out a story by fleshing out the part of the bad guy's life that realistically has nothing to do with the protagonist--at least, until the story's climax.
Here's how it works--
The devil's devil drives a subplot involving the villain, steadily building pressure on the villain. Whenever the villain gets the upper hand over the protagonist in the main plot, he's faced with a defeat in the devil's devil subplot. When he finally finds some relief from the devil's devil character, he loses ground to the hero. He is trapped in an ever tightening vice no matter which way he turns. This makes him desperate and mean, influencing his behavior toward the protagonist. Eventually, the devil's devil strikes the villain with devastating force, which makes the villain take action rocking the protagonist's world and tying the subplot climatically into the main plot.
For example, in Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Helen's husband is the villain in the main plot. Unbeknown to her, he has his own villain to contend with in a subplot. Whenever Charles gets the upper hand over Helen in the main plot, his victory is tainted by danger or defeat in the subplot. Finally, the "devil's devil" takes a big action impacting Charles's life in a way that the devastating consequences extend through Charles to Helen. She never meets Charles's villain, but the subplot ties into the main plot in a way that's utterly believable because the audience has seen Charles wrestling with it for some time.
Why spend so much time populating the villain's world when it's the main character the reader is interested in and the story is about? Because the strength of the story is it's villain, and a villain is only as strong as he is believable, which means three-dimensional. Not every story needs or benefits from a "devil's devil." However, such a character can round out a story by fleshing out the part of the bad guy's life that realistically has nothing to do with the protagonist--at least, until the story's climax.
