Some Insights into My Characters—the Villains

Villains are tricky characters to write. It is recommended that, if you don’t want a one-dimensional character, you should give them some redeeming qualities. Because of the nature of the stories I tell in the Flaugherty Twins Mysteries, it is not always practical or wise to give my villains much backstory, or any redeeming qualities either. That being said, I have created some characters who are more than just evil people.

The “villain” in Book 3, Lost on Black Mountain, could be a good example of this very thing. Rodrigo Hernandez is a small-time crook who doesn’t seem to have much going for him. His criminal activities appear to be the only way he knows how to deal with life. But we do find out that he has a bit of a backstory that positions him to be in the place we find him when the twins confront him.

We learn that he had a wife and young daughter, both of whom died. He blames the criminal justice system for their deaths rather than recognize that they each made bad choices that put them in the predicaments they were in. He himself has chosen to “help” street kids by giving them a roof over their heads in exchange for helping him to steal from others. Pat recognizes the sham in that claim of help because he sees what little the children really have whom Rodrigo has taken under his wing. And he confronts Rodrigo about it. But Pat is not really in a position to argue with the criminal, and he pays a price for it.

Most of the rest of the criminals I create are simply greedy, self-seeking individuals who will not let anything stand in their way to get what they want. And that usually does not bode well for the twins, giving them the challenges they will face as they try to solve each mystery.

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay