"If I Ever Became an Evil Overlord" Should Be Required Reading

So, I feel a little remiss that I haven't talked about this topic before. I thought I had, but I can't seem to find any references to it in the archive aside from talking about the "Why Didn't They Just" clause. Since I have realized this gap exists, let me fill it by telling you what I would do if I ever became an evil overlord.

If. If is good.

"If I Became an Evil Overlord"

If you've never heard of this list, you need to stretch your minds back to the earlier days of the Internet, when television was still something you had to schedule your life around rather than watching what you wanted on-demand, and dial-up was the standard of the time. The primitive year of 1990 is technically when this list had its origin, as an outgrowth of discussions around villain tropes pointed out in a skit on Saturday Night Live. The conversation jumped genres and fandoms, and several years later grew into the document referred to by many as the Evil Overlord List, or its more formal title The Top 100 Things I Would Do If I Ever Became an Evil Overlord.

For those keeping track, the list has far more than 100 entries.

Careful... you could get lost in there.

Whether you're just writing lieutenant bad guys for your characters to oppose, you're creating the big antagonist, or taking the plunge and making the evil overlord your main character, this list is full of things you should either avoid, or use very sparingly. From, "My legions of doom will not wear face obscuring helmets, thereby making it harder for plucky do-gooders to masquerade as my minions," to, "I will only hire bounty hunters who work for money in order to prevent noble warriors and those who hunt for the thrill from doing something stupid at the last second."

Seriously, this list is solid gold, and more folks should internalize the points that it makes.

Smart Villains Will Make or Break Your Story

In case you haven't looked around recently, the villains are what a majority of the fan base seem to fall in love with... often to the point that truly compelling villains are brought back from the dead, or given heel/face turns so the fans can actually root for them for a while (the Punisher is a prime example of this).

By contrast, though, stupid or shallow villains (barring comedic examples or satire), are often one of the big things that your audience won't forgive. Even if they really like your protagonist, or the story you're telling, or the world you've made, people demand more from their villains. People expect them to be relatable, understandable, compelling, or just viciously smart in a way that forces the hero to up their game.

And if your villain just drops one bad decision after another... well, your audience might drop your book as a result.

Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my short story collection The Rejects!

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