![]() If a super-powerful enemy crosses over, they’re in danger of overshadowing the other characters. The problem is that writers also want their villains to be threatening, so they make them powerful. Who didn’t love Vader turning on the Emperor, or Faith finally coming back to the light? They hit a breaking point where their morality forces them off Team Bad Guy. ![]() Sometimes, a villain is so sympathetic that they can’t stay a villain. Writers want their villains to be sympathetic, so they give them redeeming features. Villains Lose Power When They Switch Sides “You looked at me and then glanced at the fire extinguisher, I thought that meant to grab it and club the zombie!” Miscommunications via soul-gazing are also great points for humor if that fits your story. Your characters are like real people, desperately hoping their teammates will understand the right thing to do. Without mind-reading vision, your characters will have a harder time acting like a perfectly coordinated machine. They have to guess at hidden motivations just like we do. Characters who don’t always know what everyone around them is thinking are more immersive. It’s a relatable feeling, because we’ve all experienced it. How many times have you been talking with someone and desperately wished you knew what was behind their smile? Do they love the local sports team as much as you do, or are they just fishing for a promotion? When the salesperson says they’ve cut you a special deal, are they trying to trick you? * What to Do InsteadĮmbrace the uncertainty of human communication. Unfortunately, it makes the characters come off as weird mind readers, always knowing exactly what everyone is planning. If the author forgets to budget time for a dialog ue exchange, the protagonist can just magically read the villain’s intent by looking into their soulful eyes. Writers use this trope as a lazy shortcut to avoid explaining how a character knows something. What does treachery look like? How do one’s eyes communicate it? If you can’t imagine a real person doing this, then you’ve entered unrealistic trope territory. If you ever find yourself writing “he saw treachery in her eyes,” stop and consider. Did they rehearse ahead of time? Maybe Picard was expecting them to do something completely different and just rolled with it: “Ah yes, a forcefield. All of those are valid actions in that situation, but the crew somehow picked out the exact one Picard wanted. Perhaps he wanted security called, or for Worf to stun the aliens, or for Data to trace the aliens back to their hidden ship. How did they know to do that? Picard could have meant any number of things by his knowing look. This chain of glances somehow results in the bridge crew working together to trap some alien intruders in a pink forcefield. Riker then gives Worf a look, who gives Data a look. In the final scene, Picard gives Riker a knowing look. ![]() Think of the Star Trek episode Allegiance. There’s only so much you can tell from looking into another character’s eyes or reading their body language. Storytellers love this, and they’ll fill their prose with characters looking into each other’s eyes.īut these subtle cues have limits. If their gaze darts back and forth, it means they’re nervous. If someone’s eyes widen, they’re surprised. The human face is very expressive, and over millennia of evolution, we have learned to recognize body language. ![]() Let’s go through some of the most egregious, shall we? 1. ![]() Fear not, there’s always a way out, no matter how entrenched the trope seems. We’re concerned with the second group today. Others are just lazy writing, sacrificing believability for narrative convenience. Tropes get repeated over and over again throughout spec fic, and usually that’s fine. ![]()
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