Bullies, Bastards and Bitches
Book Review, by Judy Downing
Villains are useful creatures. Without the evil Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter’s trials and tribulations would have been reduced to a sometimes petulant young man struggling to survive his lessons and gain acceptance from his peers. George Wickham, a very different kind of villain in Pride and Prejudice, opens Elizabeth Bennett’s eyes to her own misconceptions and provides a vehicle whereby Darcy can prove the depth of his love and commitment.
Bad guys come in all shapes and sizes. They can be quirky anti-heroes or feisty females who ignore the niceties of social norms; or they can range into the dark and unforgiving territory of sociopaths and serial killers. Crafting the right villain builds conflict and forces your hero to grow, often in unexpected ways.
Bullies, Bastards and Bitches by Jessica Page Morrell is an exhaustive analysis of the bad guys in popular fiction. Bad guys are placed on a continuum and grouped into categories such as Bullies, Bitches, Sociopaths, and Lost Heroes. One chapter provides detailed characteristics that distinguish a Dark Hero from a Bad Boy. Another gives you questions to answer as you create the female who will do her best to control, damage, or destroy your hero.
The book is a comprehensive reference that delineates a wide variety of antagonists. Each chapter identifies and discusses a particular type of bad guy. There are lists of defining characteristics and questions to ask when creating this type of villain. Ms. Morrell provides numerous examples to illustrate her thoughts and conclusions. She also provides a Rogue’s Gallery, a list of examples of characters who fit within each category. For example, Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris is classed as a villain while Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is considered an anti-hero.
Bullies, Bastards and Bitches will help you increase the depth and breadth of your knowledge of bad guys in all of their various forms and disguises. Read it at your leisure. Take time to absorb the material. Then, when you are ready to create your hero’s deliciously evil nemesis, you have only to turn to the appendix and answer the intriguing list of “Questions for Bad Guys.”