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Q&A How to write a strong villain who isn't really present?

To the rank and file of an army, the "villainous" overlord of the enemy army/nation/empire is simply a caricature created by the propaganda arm of their OWN military intelligence. Little of what t...

posted 5y ago by ashleylee‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:10:22Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43338
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar ashleylee‭ · 2019-12-08T05:10:22Z (over 4 years ago)
To the rank and file of an army, the "villainous" overlord of the enemy army/nation/empire is simply a caricature created by the propaganda arm of their OWN military intelligence.

Little of what the grunts know can be called the straight dope.

It is all propaganda.

The only slight exception happens when the opposing leader is just so tactically brilliant on the field that his fame spreads across the battle line (as in the case with Napoleon).

So given that, how would you write such a villain? You write it as it would be written by the propaganda arm of military intelligence. =)

for example, did you know that that napoleon was a tiny little man was a pure fabrication by british military propaganda?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-11T19:02:07Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 0