The Four Main Types of Epic Antagonists

Every story needs a good villain, right? Well, not so fast…

Conflict drives plot, certainly. But it doesn’t take a mustache-twirling supervillain or omnipotent Dark Lord to create the conflict your protagonist will encounter. In fact, there are four main types of antagonists that appear in fiction. Understanding how each type operates can help you develop the most effective, edge-of-your-seat conflict for your story. 
 

Type #1: The Classic Villain

It may not take a mustache-twirling supervillain to fan the flames of your story’s conflict, but there’s a reason such nefarious characters are often found in fiction: they feed the classic good-versus-evil narrative whose high stakes can make stories so engaging. 

The classic villain is irredeemably immoral. Any sad backstory or humanizing attributes they possess exist solely to lend horror to their attitude and actions.

Classic villains often possess seemingly omnipotent powers, a wide breadth of resources, and a definitive lack of empathy for the suffering others experience. 

Examples include: 

• Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

• The White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

• Miss Trunchbull in Matilda by Roald Dahl

• Sauron in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Classic villains are most often found in fantasy, science fiction, and action-adventure novels, though they do appear in other types of fiction as well.

Typically, the extreme nature of the classic villain’s antagonism casts the protagonist into a hero’s light.

Though classic villains are often evil for evil’s sake alone, this antagonist is sometimes considered a cliché in modern literary circles. Helping readers understand the why behind your villain’s evil actions can lend some much-needed depth to their character. 

Type #2: The Everyday Antagonist

Antagonists are commonly understood to play the role of “bad guy” in fiction, and this is true to a degree. Antagonists exist to create conflict in your main characters’ journeys. However, they don’t necessarily need evil intentions to effectively play their role.

The everyday antagonist is a flawed character who happens to serve as an obstacle in your protagonist’s journey. Their actions may be rude or even cruel, but they’re still human. They have hopes, dreams, hurts, and fears.  

Examples include:

• Supreme in On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

• Allie's mother in The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

• Severus Snape & Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling 

• The Lannisters in A Song of Ice And Fire by George R. R. Martin 

The everyday antagonist typically appears in character-driven stories such as romances and contemporary dramas, though they can appear in nearly any type of fiction. 

This type of antagonist may create conflict in your protagonist’s life by sharing the same goal (in which only one can succeed) or by pursuing a goal that creates obstacles in the protagonist’s journey.

They may also encourage the protagonist to act against their better judgment, feed the “lie” the protagonist believes, or otherwise fuel the emotional fires your protagonist must overcome to find their happily-ever-after.

To craft an effective everyday antagonist, take care to develop their humanity. Explore who they are, what they want, and why they want it. Give them fears, flaws, and history. In essence, make them the protagonist of their own story.

Type #3: The Corrupt Organization

In some stories, it’s an antagonistic force rather than a specific character that creates conflict in the protagonist’s journey. This force may be a gang, cult, corporation, government, or militant group, among other organizations. 

Regardless of how it manifests, this type of antagonistic force typically has highly immoral intentions. They often operate similarly to the classic villain, lacking all empathy and seeking omnipotent power and control. A classic villain may even serve as the leader of a story’s corrupt organization.
 

Examples include:

• The Capitol in The Hunger Games by Susanne Collins

• The Republic of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

• VFD in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
 

Similarly to the classic villain, the corrupt organization often appears in fantasy, science fiction, and action-adventure stories.

Developing one or more characters who represent the greater organization can provide your protagonist with a more direct antagonist to combat in scenes of conflict (e.g. President Snow and the Career Tributes in The Hunger Games).

Type #4: The Internal Antagonist

Sometimes, a protagonist is their own worst enemy. 

In character-driven stories, the primary source of conflict isn’t an external antagonist but rather an internal obstacle that hinders a character from finding happiness or success. This obstacle is typically a doubt, fear, flaw, or false belief, which the protagonist may or may not recognize as a hindrance. 

Examples include:

• Landon's pride in A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

• Elizabeth’s prejudice in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

• Briony's guilt in Atonement by Ian McEwan

An internal antagonist often creates the primary conflict in romance novels and contemporary dramas. However, such internal roadblocks can and should create some measure of conflict in nearly any story. 

Often, a secondary character may reinforce the “lie” the protagonist believes, lending to the internal conflict they experience.

Some authors also choose to manifest their protagonist’s internal struggle in physical form to provide them with a more material source of conflict. For example, consider the portrait of Dorian Gray or Frankenstein’s monster.

What other types of antagonists appear in fiction?

While the four types of antagonists listed above are by far the most popular sources of conflict in modern fiction, they aren’t the only forces that can cause mayhem in your main character’s journey.

Other antagonistic forces include:

• Nature. Example: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

• Technology. Example: iRobot by Isaac Asimov

• The Supernatural. Example: The Shining by Stephen King

• A Physical Condition. Example: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
 

Each of these antagonistic forces can create powerful conflict in the right story. Depending on the nature of your novel, you may also wish to manifest these forces as physical characters or beings to heighten the opportunity for direct external conflict. 

Most stories include multiple types of antagonists that create both internal and external conflict.

For example, in A Walk to Remember, Landon’s pride serves as the main obstacle between the happiness that he and Jaime might share prior to the midpoint, while Jaime’s terminal illness provides conflict in the latter half of the book. In A Song of Ice and Fire, most characters act as antagonists in others’ journeys, while the White Walkers remain the true villains of the series.

Introducing multiple sources of conflict doesn’t necessarily strengthen your narrative, but it can lend depth and realistic complexity to your characters’ experiences. 

Which type of antagonist(s) is best for your story? Consider the nature of the narrative you’d like to tell, as well as your protagonist’s story goal and false beliefs. Define type(s) of antagonist that will most effectively create obstacles for your main characters to overcome, and you’ll identify the sources of conflict that will keep readers glued to the pages of your book.