Morally Gray Characters
One of my fears in writing the character known as The Blue-Eyed Man or the other character, Oygariyet, is that someone will say that this is an allegory for a current event. While there are at least three figures in current global events that I wouldn’t be surprised that someone would say are allegorical to, either, The Blue-Eyed Man or Oygariyet, I must assure you, there is no allegory. I thought of it myself. They stole my idea. It’s my intellectual property. I’ll sue. Any day now. Seriously, I first thought of The Blue-Eyed Man in 2011, envisioning his plan and his ambition. It was 2021 (specifically April 13th, 2021) when I sat down to write this story, refining my conception of the character that became Oygariyet, giving him physical, mental, and emotional form.
I was recently asked ‘how do you write these people?’ Ironically, the answer is empathy. The key to writing to the character of a person that is willing to sacrifice a significant amount of blood and treasure for the sake of ambition is not just understanding them, but being able to argue their side of the dispute. Without giving too much away, if one were to say that Oygariyet and his kind were urged by their a figure of their own mythology, a god walking before them (albeit in illusion) is the only real reason they decided to wage a war of choice, I would say Leriyet (their god) simply gave them a nudge to do what they were inclined to do anyways. Likewise, if one were to say that The Blue-Eyed Man wouldn’t do any of the awful things that you’ll see him doing in the first four books if not for the war, I would say the war simply gave him the opportunity to try things he was curious about and might’ve tried later in life when other opportunities presented themselves.
Now, one can argue that The Blue-Eyed Man (or Oygariyet) are simply trying to best defend their people (or take back what was taken from them)… and there I would say you have the beginnings of writing a good villain! The most convincing villains come from some kind of position of grievance or perceived victimhood. That’s the key.
Think back to that time in 3rd grade when all the other kids laughed at you. Or when something was taken from you by a stronger kid. A toy. A friend. Stole your homework. Stole your friend. Think back to that feeling of initial outrage and then remember the seething resentment that abided. You got over it… but a future villain wouldn’t. Villains don’t start as villains, they start as regular people. They experience some form of victimization, whether they suffer an injustice or they are culturally indoctrinated into that injustice. Most people will just go about their lives. A villain is a curious blend of victimhood and ambition - a desire to redress the perceived injustice. But with this, they are still regular people that make good and poor choices. They still have parents, grow up, fall in love, get injured, have hobbies and friends. It is important to think of yourself in all of these aspects when you write any character, even a villain.
