exquisite villainy

Characters, Story Scholar

While Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto isn’t exactly the most well-crafted narrative, I do think it offers some excellent shortcuts to crafting villains, in the character of Manfred, Prince of Otranto.

Note: this article contains spoilers!

‘The next transition of his soul was to exquisite villainy.’

KIND CONTRAST

Manfred’s villainy is in stark contrast to the virtuous gentleness of the women.
Theodore is also the target of Manfred’s villainy, but he remains firm and stands his ground.

The most straight-forward technique to set up a villain is, of course, to juxtapose them with kind and gentle characters.

It’s impossible for villains to be villains without someone to terrorise, which is a useful point to remember not only as regards any real-life villains you may be facing, but also for writing characters who are immune to the villain’s machinations because they have a strong sense of their own inner Power.

How can you contrast characters more strongly to the villain?
Who is immune to the villain’s threats, and why?

ROTTEN DISPOSITION

Manfred’s constant displays of anger, and impatience.
His constant suspicions that people are working against him or lying to him.

A short temper and frequent outbursts are often the reason that villains are feared by other characters.

Their anger and suspicion is fuelled by their belief that the only way for them to attain their desires is to exercise absolute control over people and circumstances. When things don’t go as they wish, or people don’t behave as they’re told, villains give vent to feelings that only reflect their actual lack of control.

As such, even if they undergo a Shift and recognise the inner Power that marks a hero, it will likely be too late within the framing of the narrative, as is the case for Manfred.

How does the villain express their impatience and anger?
How do other characters react to these outbursts?

DISREGARD FOR OTHERS

Manfred’s disregard for his son’s youth and infirmity.
His pursuit of Isabella.
His disregard for the feelings of anyone else.
His vocal condemnation of his wife for her failure to produce more heirs.
His dismissal of his daughter.

The first time we encounter Manfred in the story, he’s forcing his son Conrad into marriage despite the boy’s ‘great youth and greater infirmities’. He brushes aside the concerns of his ‘amiable wife’ by insulting her, and other characters are too way of his foul disposition to cross him.

Throughout the story, neither gentle suggestions nor desperate pleas move Manfred to any compassion. His single-minded focus on getting what he wants — an heir to secure his title and estate — make him blind and deaf to the suffering of other characters.

He’s guilty of both physical violence and verbal abuse, and while he may at times be aware of the feelings he tramples, he remains unmoved and uncaring to the end.

How does the villain disregard the feelings of others?
How do other characters react to the villain’s total lack of contrition?
Which characters are particularly hurt by the villain’s disregard for their feelings?

‘Manfred was not one of those savage tyrants who wanton in cruelty unprovoked.’

EXERCISE OF POWER

As Prince of Otranto, Manfred wields material power over people.
He’s quick to blame and accuse others and decree punishment.
He sees his family only as a means to secure his title and position.
He sees everyone as pawns to be manipulated.

Because villains exercise their villainy through outward control, placing them in positions of material power makes them even more villainous. As a Prince with wealth and influence, Manfred has many people who depend on him and take orders from him, and thus he’s able to command them to search, pursue, imprison, and even execute at will.

However, here’s the key: it’s the threat to this power that really brings out the villain.

How can you place the villain in an even more powerful position?
What is the threat to the villain’s power, and how does it bring out the worst in them?

‘”Heaven nor Hell shall impede my designs.”’

HUBRIS & INTRACTABILITY

Manfred’s frequent declamations against higher powers, as well as his lack of respect for the representatives of those higher powers — namely, Father Jerome.
His refusal to heed any warnings, whether mortal or supernatural.

Villains, failed heroes, and tragic heroes share similar character arcs. Their inability to change means that even if they descend into the Underworld of Adventure, they never make the return journey that the hero does.

Manfred is continuously (and exhaustingly) reactive. In his ceaseless efforts to thwart the prophecy and retain power, he tries to control and subjugate everyone, often by violence or incarceration but also at times through sweet and wily talk. He never experiences a true Shift in perspective to become proactive.

His realisation of his love for his daughter, and of her innate goodness, comes too late, and his decision to retreat from the world condemns him to remain in the narrative underworld in perpetuity.

How does the villain try to control more and more?
Who or what tries to warn them?
How does the villain regret their actions too late (if ever)?

‘It required intrepidity like Manfred’s not to sink under a concurrence of circumstances that seemed to announce his fate.’

UNCERTAINTY & UNPREDICTABILITY

Manfred’s sudden and baseless displays of anger.
BUT also moments of (seeming) contrition and genuine emotion that confuse the reader and make him look more nuanced or more unpredictable.
Paying for the sins of his forefathers, and trapped by fate and the ambiguous prophecy.
The possibility that his actions can be justified as a response to the prophecy and a desire to maintain his family’s position and estate.

The propensity to sudden bursts of wrath can make villains frightening and intimidating, but almost more unsettling is when they display courtesy, conscience, and even contrition.

This ability to hint at aspects of the Resolution state even while still embodying the Stasis is, in my opinion, the sure sign of a three-dimensional character. And while the villain will rarely make it to their own Resolution in a story that is centred around a protagonist, I think that using this technique and rendering the villain more realistic can only make them more effective as a character (and a tyrant).

How can you make the villain more unpredictable?
What glimpses of human failing can cause the reader to question their assumptions about the villain?