In most contemporary fantasy fiction there is a primary villain, and by some means the hero must kill that villain. The beauty of fiction, however, is the ability to take inspiration from historical events to produce an unexpected plot. Like when I was writing my first novel Swords of the Six… I wanted something different for the villain’s end.
Here are three ways for a villain to die!
Killed by the hero
Betrayal
Suicide
A great example of the first option would be Narnia where Aslan slays the White Witch. The second option was very effectively portrayed in one of my favorite novels Star Wars: The Last Command when Grand Admiral Thrawn is killed by his trusted Nogri bodyguard. And as for suicide I found it to be a powerful way to show how remorseful Kesla was for his sins in Swords of the Six. I derived the idea for Kesla’s end from how King Saul of Israel fell on his own sword when he knew that the Philistines had overcome him.
Question: What are some of your favorite examples of how villains died in fiction?
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Scott Appleton is the author of the novels The Sword of the Dragon series, and The Neverqueen Saga, which are widely read by adults and younger readers.
Besides these, Scott has also published a collection of short speculative fiction (By Sword By Right) which runs the gamut of science-fiction, fantasy, allegory, romance, poetry, and biblical.
Driven by a love of storytelling and an appreciation for the craft, Scott has spoken extensively at events across the United States. His specialization in fiction editing and writing has garnered praise from some prominent writers.
Scott was born in Connecticut and grew up there. He actively pursued astronomy through his teen years, built ships-in-bottles and, throughout his life, read and wrote extensively. Besides his writing he works in sales.
Currently Scott lives in Greenville, South Carolina with his wife, Kelley, and their five children. His activities of choice are reading with his kids, watching fantasy and science-fiction movies, reading, and playing the occasional Star Wars video game. You can find him at AuthorAppleton.com and facebook.com/scottappleton.fans
Most of my favorite examples come from you. For instance, Kelsa’s death. I felt pity for the poor man and I thought that he would at least go with the Six to Albino. Valorian’s death also effected me, just because I wasn’t expecting it. I thought he’d be the main villain of the series and whatnot. I was obviously wrong.
Another one that was..interesting…was how C.S. Lewis chose to kill off the main villains in “That Hideous Strength”. They didn’t want to become the next floating head so they started to kill each other. The one that survived, along with the floating head, got eaten by Ransom’s “pet” bear.
Thanks KT! When I first created The Sword of the Dragon series Valorian was only part of the ancient history of that world. He never entered the main series. When I wrote Swords of the Six it was a fascinating opportunity to give a glimpse into Valorian. And as to his demise, it was an excellent moment to reveal one of the true master villains, the water skeel Cromlin.
I love that example you used of “The Hideous Strength.” There really are many ways for a villain to die. Sometimes all that’s needed is the boldness to use our creativity with it.
I’d think it very interesting and do think it interesting when an author kills off his villain (or any character, for that matter) with something deadly, small, and unexpected. For example – you may not have read this, but in Christopher Hopper’s and Wayne Batson’s Berinfell Prophocies… I liked it when a warrior had survived a huge battle against the Elvish Prince, only to be killed by a deadly spider. It was rather ironic, because his master was the one who arranged the death.
Also, it does somewhat annoy me when an author kills off a character without writing even an at least an entire page to introduce the character – because the death is more meaningful if there is even somewhat of a feeling of attachment to the character.
LOL That does sound like something Wayne Thomas Batson would do. He has an aptitude for great humor. I’ve only read The Door Within but it was really good. The whole serpent sequence was unique.
I agree with you that the death of a character we do not know has little to no meaning. It’s important to develop a history for the characters in story, not just drop them out of a cloudless sky.
I like this book so much, I am using it in my book talk for my class, I hope I can get an A on this book. I can’t wait to read the next book. And the new one too.
Yes I am. Who where traitors to The Great White Dragon, Albino, what where their names?
Cause I am getting confuse on who they are, but I know that Xavion was not a traitor.
I never really thought about this before, but I would say that two of my favorite examples is from the Lord of the Rings. The only thing that can kill Sauron is that which he wants the most, because it gives him almost unlimited power when he wears it.
The other from the Lord of the Rings being the Witch King. no man could kill him, and so a Hobbit and a woman did, both of whom had been forbidden to go to war.
I also like Cythraul’s death scene from the Myridian Constellation by Wayne Thomas Batson because what kills him wasn’t what I expected it to be. (Spoiler alert) It was the Willowfolk, who are so small and yet loyal and courageous.
Most of my favorite examples come from you. For instance, Kelsa’s death. I felt pity for the poor man and I thought that he would at least go with the Six to Albino. Valorian’s death also effected me, just because I wasn’t expecting it. I thought he’d be the main villain of the series and whatnot. I was obviously wrong.
Another one that was..interesting…was how C.S. Lewis chose to kill off the main villains in “That Hideous Strength”. They didn’t want to become the next floating head so they started to kill each other. The one that survived, along with the floating head, got eaten by Ransom’s “pet” bear.
Thanks KT! When I first created The Sword of the Dragon series Valorian was only part of the ancient history of that world. He never entered the main series. When I wrote Swords of the Six it was a fascinating opportunity to give a glimpse into Valorian. And as to his demise, it was an excellent moment to reveal one of the true master villains, the water skeel Cromlin.
I love that example you used of “The Hideous Strength.” There really are many ways for a villain to die. Sometimes all that’s needed is the boldness to use our creativity with it.
I’d think it very interesting and do think it interesting when an author kills off his villain (or any character, for that matter) with something deadly, small, and unexpected. For example – you may not have read this, but in Christopher Hopper’s and Wayne Batson’s Berinfell Prophocies… I liked it when a warrior had survived a huge battle against the Elvish Prince, only to be killed by a deadly spider. It was rather ironic, because his master was the one who arranged the death.
Also, it does somewhat annoy me when an author kills off a character without writing even an at least an entire page to introduce the character – because the death is more meaningful if there is even somewhat of a feeling of attachment to the character.
All in my opinion, of course.
LOL That does sound like something Wayne Thomas Batson would do. He has an aptitude for great humor. I’ve only read The Door Within but it was really good. The whole serpent sequence was unique.
I agree with you that the death of a character we do not know has little to no meaning. It’s important to develop a history for the characters in story, not just drop them out of a cloudless sky.
I like this book so much, I am using it in my book talk for my class, I hope I can get an A on this book. I can’t wait to read the next book. And the new one too.
Hi Adrian,
Welcome to the site! Are you talking about “Swords of the Six” or one of the other novels?
Yes I am. Who where traitors to The Great White Dragon, Albino, what where their names?
Cause I am getting confuse on who they are, but I know that Xavion was not a traitor.
I hope your book talk goes well, Adrian! And I think you are really going to enjoy the next books in the series.
I hope so too. But I was just wondering if you could tell me, who are the traitor’s in this book?
If you re-read the first chapters of the novel you’ll quickly find the traitors’ names 😉
The traitors are this names.
Kesla, Letrias, Hestor, Auron, Clavius. Brian was with the captain, Xavion.
Yes, that is correct. 🙂 There were five traitors: Kesla, Letrias, Hestor, Auron, and Clavius.
Thank you so much, your book inspire me to put this on my book talk.
I never really thought about this before, but I would say that two of my favorite examples is from the Lord of the Rings. The only thing that can kill Sauron is that which he wants the most, because it gives him almost unlimited power when he wears it.
The other from the Lord of the Rings being the Witch King. no man could kill him, and so a Hobbit and a woman did, both of whom had been forbidden to go to war.
I also like Cythraul’s death scene from the Myridian Constellation by Wayne Thomas Batson because what kills him wasn’t what I expected it to be. (Spoiler alert) It was the Willowfolk, who are so small and yet loyal and courageous.
Willowfolk has a cool tone to it!
They are some of my favorite characters in that series