How to Write Villain Love Interests the Right Way!
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One of the most popular tropes in the world of romantasy is the idea of the villain love interest, or at least a very morally gray MMC. But a villain love interest needs more than just shadow-powers and a tragic, heart-breaking backstory. For many readers, villain love interests might fall into the trap of being essentially just toxic love interests. There is a way to make it so that your villain love interest is both an engaging villain and a good love interest, and for today’s post I’ll be talking about how to write villain love interests the right way!
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1. Know Why Readers Crave the Villain
There’s a lot of reasons why readers love these sorts of villainous MMCs and love interests. Here are a couple of big ones:
- Forbidden tension: The MC is flirting with danger essentially, and this is a very popular pull for romance readers
- Redemption arcs: The villain can be redeemed by discovering love or something else
- Power dynamics: The villain and the MC are at two different levels, and this can lead to high-stakes situations
You might see a lot of readers highlight certain situations and events in the books that they’re reading because they hit these points.
2. Set Hard Non-Negotiables Early
Obviously, with a story, you can write things that people wouldn’t actually do in real life. That’s why it’s fantasy. With romantic fantasy, the same thing sort of applies. However, there are some limits because most readers aren’t big fans of that “dark romance” type of stuff:
- The villain can’t just be so unforgivably evil
- There are limits
- Don’t throw in sexual violence for shock value (nobody likes this)
3. Craft the Villain’s Layers
In order to get a good villainous love interest, you need to have some layers to the character. Consider the following ideas:
| Layer | What to Establish |
|---|---|
| Surface Allure | Appearance, charisma, signature skill |
| Vulnerable Wound | The pain that shaped them |
| Core Value | A moral rule they refuse to break |
In The Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy, you’ll learn about how to craft these sorts of layers with tons of depth and how to ensure that your love interest is even more engaging for your readers! You’ll also learn what works in the industry and why readers fall for certain love interests over others.
4. Design a Tangled, Mutually Beneficial Goal
The hero simply falling for the villain because he’s attractive doesn’t really give your romance much depth. You want to give them some of mutual benefit.
Maybe they have to learn from each other or they have a necessity of working together to accomplish a specific goal. For the most part though, the benefit needs to be clear and be logical to your readers so that they don’t feel like there’s no growth for the characters.
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5. Avoid the Top Three Villain-Romance Pitfalls
One thing you need to be sure of is to avoid these three major mistakes that a lot of villain love interest-based romantasies make:
- Instant forgiveness
- Protagonist self-betrayal
- Evil suddenly shifting
You want to have a believability to your love interest and their dynamic with your MC. That’s part of what I hone in on a lot with lots of strategies presented in The Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy. You want to be unique even if you’re still using some tropes!
FAQs
Not really no. It depends on if it makes sense for your story and if it’s necessary for your readers to understand your characters.
Yeah, for sure. In fact, that might even be more realistic for some stories.
It depends. How evil is your protagonist? Are you just glorifying abuse? Be sure to think about how the villain is and how villainous they are towards things.
Check out The Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy to get the full breakdown and strategy based on the best practices in the genre!
Ready to Take Your Romantasy to the Next Level?
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Romantasy teaches you how to:
- Build a fantasy romance plot that keeps readers hooked
- Create romantic story arcs that feel earned, layered, and powerful
- Blend magic systems and world building into the emotional journey
- Structure your novel using classic and romantasy-specific tropes uniquely
- Avoid common romantasy mistakes that kill tension or believability
- Use tons of printable worksheets to build your world, plot your story, and develop your cast
Join the many writers who’ve used The Ultimate Writing Guides to turn ideas into full-fledged, immersive stories and worlds!
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