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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/36077
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

For those of you who are unfamiliar with TV Tropes lingo, a [Complete Monster](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompleteMonster) is the worst kind of villain imaginable: one that is evil to the core and has little to no redeeming traits whatsoever.

In order to qualify as a Complete Monster, a villain has to meet the following criteria:

1. They are the vilest character in their respective universe and must stand out from the crowd of other villains. 

2. [They are taken seriously, causing fear, revulsion, and hatred from other characters in the story.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/KnightOfCerebus)

3. They are never presented in a positive way.

4. They display no remorse towards those who they have hurt, nor do they express any empathy for others as well.

5. The atrocities that they commit are shown to the audience or implied and [must not be told](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OffstageVillainy).

6. They must have performed an [act that puts them beyond any chance of redemption.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralEventHorizon)

I'm fully aware that it's quite easy for any writer to make a villain that is irredeemably terrible, bit it's hard to make such a villain come across as a believable character without making them into a [one-dimensional caricature](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CardCarryingVillain). One of the reasons I absolutely despise _[Sword Art Online](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/LightNovel/SwordArtOnline)_ is that every single [Complete Monster in the series](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Monster/SwordArtOnline) is a manic that is [comically evil for the sake of being comically evil](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForTheEvulz), who is either a [megalomaniac](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AGodAmI), a [rapist](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil) or an [empty shell of a person with no motivation, except to kill](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AxCrazy). I've tried to avoid this problem by taking a page from [_Berserk_](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/Berserk) and giving each Complete Monster in my series, _The Ragnarǫk Cycle_ (which has no more than four CMs) their own distinct personalities and motives for villainy.

Would this be a good way to write a Complete Monster?

Original score: 15