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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35937
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35937
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

To create a plot, you have to ask three questions of your protagonist:

1. What does the protagonist want?
2. What is stopping the person from getting it?
3. What will the person to do achieve his/her goal?

If you know what your _protagonist_ wants, then your _antagonist_ should be the obstacle to getting it.

Conversely, what does your _antagonist_ want? How is the _protagonist_ stopping him/her from getting it?

If you write your antagonist as having just as much stake and depth and desire for his/her goal as your protagonist, you have a much better chance of having a "sympathetic" villain.

For example, in _Black Panther,_ the main antagonist is Erik Killmonger. Origin:

> Erik is T'Challa's first cousin, who was abandoned in Oakland, California when T'Challa's father T'Chaka killed his own brother for betraying Wakanda and left behind his nephew, Erik, to survive alone.

Erik thinks that Wakanda should use its technology to help other people; specifically

> he wants to arm black people and anyone of African descent who is living in poverty and subjugation around the world, so they can overthrow their oppressors and rule the world themselves.

But T'Challa has been taught that Wakanda needs to keep its tech secret from the world.

Erik's backstory gives his desire tremendous resonance and poignance. He's _not wrong_, despite the methods he uses to achieve his goal. He is one of the best antagonists in the MCU, because there is a lot of merit to his argument. If you want "someone who makes your heart ache while making you angry," there's your perfect example.

Original score: 7