How to Build Believable Characters (Even the Villains!)
Because cardboard cutouts don’t make for great stories.
Let’s be honest, no matter how epic your plot is or how beautiful your prose sounds, your story falls flat if your characters feel fake or bore your readers to the point of DNFing your story before it even begins. As a self-taught writer, I’ve learned that readers will forgive a slow burn or a wild plot twist if they care about the characters. And trust me, I’ve had to learn this the hard way, especially when it comes to writing villains. I mean, who really likes those guys anyway?
Whether you’re crafting a lovable hero, a morally gray anti-hero, or a villain readers love to hate (or hate to love), your character’s personality, the core of who they are, is where your story breathes. So today, I’m sharing how I build believable characters, yes, even the dark and twisty ones. You can’t have a story if your hero has no one to battle against.
Start With the Basics, But Don’t Stop There
You’ve probably seen those character sheets with questions like “What’s their favorite color?” or “Do they like pineapple on pizza?” And while those are fun, they barely scratch the surface. You need to dig down deep and find who your character is, and who you want them to become. You’re the mastermind behind your characters.
When I build a character, I ask:
What does this character want?
What do they need (even if they don’t realize it)?
What’s standing in their way?
How do they see themselves vs. how others see them?
Are they the hero or the villain?
Let’s break that down. This is the very foundation every great character you have ever loved was built from. After reading so many stories, I started looking closer at all of my favorite characters and noticed that they each have these things.
Want vs. Need
Your character’s goal (what they want) drives the plot. But their need is what drives their growth. Often, your character has no idea what their actual need is; they are only focused on how they can achieve their want, but along their journey to achieving their want is where they often will discover their need.
Think about it:
Your heroine might want to win the kingdom’s trials and marry the prince.
But what she needs is to believe she’s worthy, of love, of power, of her own voice.
When you know both, you give your character emotional depth. Suddenly, she’s not just fighting a dragon, she’s fighting self-doubt while discovering who she really is. And that’s a story readers remember, and that's a character readers will love.
Let Them Be Messy
Perfect characters? Boring. Predictable. Unrealistic.
Real people are complicated; we second-guess ourselves, we lash out, we make bad choices. Your characters should, too. Readers don’t want to read a story where the characters already know what their needs are, that they already have everything figured out. Readers want to follow a character whom they can see themselves in, almost imagine themselves as that character, like they are experiencing and feeling everything as the character does.
Some questions I ask when I want to flesh out a character’s flaws:
What’s their coping mechanism when things go wrong? (Do they run? Fight? Shut down?)
What’s something they believe that isn’t actually true? (Their misbelief about their world.)
What’s a mistake they’ve made, and would they make it again?
For example, one of my characters in one of the stories I am writing struggles with always putting others before herself. It seems noble, but it’s rooted in fear and insecurity. That complexity makes her more than just “the brave girl.” It makes her human, which makes the character someone whom the readers can connect with.
Use Backstory, But Don’t Dump It
I love the backstory, also known as exposition. It’s like the soil your characters grow out of, but too much too soon? It drags the story down. Doing too much of this can often overwhelm your reader to where they cannot keep track of what is going on, or which character belongs to which society, who is the hero or the villain.
Instead of info-dumping their entire childhood in chapter one, sprinkle it in like breadcrumbs. Let the reader pick up the pieces as they go.
Drop hints through:
Reactions (Why does she flinch when someone raises their voice?)
Dialogue (What stories does he avoid telling?)
Relationships (How does their past shape who they trust, or don’t?, do they let people in easily, or do they stay closed off?)
Your reader doesn’t need to know everything right from the very start, just enough to understand why your character acts the way they do.
Give Them Contradictions
Want to make a character feel real? Let them contradict themselves. We, as real-life people, are guilty of this too; it is another way of being relatable to your character.
Maybe your confident male lead gives motivational speeches, but secretly can’t sleep without a nightlight. Maybe your cold-hearted villain cries over injured animals. Those contrasts? That’s where the gold is.
One of my favorite ways to explore this is through “but” statements:
She’s ruthless in battle, but secretly dreams of a quiet life in the woods.
He follows every rule, but breaks the law to protect someone he loves.
He doesn’t show emotion, but will break the hand of anyone who harms the one he loves. (The touch her and die trope, it’s a fav of mine.)
People are full of contradictions. So are the best characters. If you are not sure what contradictions you want that will fit within your story, go to a book, movie, or TV show that has a character that is similar to your character and try to pay attention to see if you can find any of their contradictions to draw inspiration from.
Let Relationships Shape Them
A character doesn’t exist in a vacuum or inside a protective bubble where no one can hurt them. They interact with other people, and those relationships reveal different sides of them.
Ask yourself:
Who challenges them? (Is it a rival? Best friend?)
Who comforts them? (Who do they turn to when things go wrong?)
Who sees them for who they really are?
Think about how your character changes depending on who they’re with. The version of me who’s writing this blog post isn’t the same as “mom me” chasing kids or “writer me” up at 1 AM drafting scenes. Your characters should shift, too.
Let those relationships deepen the story.
Now Let’s Talk Villains (Yes, Even the Awful Ones)
Writing villains used to scare me. I’d either go too “mwahaha evil for no reason” or make them flat and boring. But here’s the truth: every villain is the hero of their own story. I know that is hard to believe, and you’re probably thinking, Does this wackadoodle even know what she is talking about? I promise there is a reason behind those words.
Say it with me:
They aren’t evil just to be evil; they believe they’re right.
Ask These Questions to Humanize Your Villains:
What does your villain want? (Power? Revenge? Justice?)
What made them this way? (A loss? A betrayal? A belief taken too far?)
Do they regret anything?
Is there anyone they care about?
A villain who’s just a walking red flag is forgettable. A villain who makes us understand them, even if we don’t agree, is the kind readers won’t stop talking about.
In my own fantasy world, I’ve created a group of corrupted beings called the Agrians. They’re terrifying, sure, but at their core, they were once protectors. Their downfall wasn’t just magic gone wrong; it was grief, fear, and a need for control. That makes their evil earned, and honestly? Kind of heartbreaking. But to them, what they are doing is justified in their eyes.
Don’t Forget Their Voice
Believable characters sound like themselves. You don’t want to write all of your characters with your voice or personality, because then they would all act and talk the same.
Pay attention to:
Word choice (Formal or casual? Do they use slang?)
Sentence structure (Short and snappy? Rambling and poetic?)
Body language (Are they expressive? Guarded?)
If all your characters sound the same, the story feels flat, even if everything else is solid. Try writing a scene twice from different POVs to get a feel for how each character experiences the world.
The character’s voice, both in dialogue and in personality, should reflect WHO they are as their OWN person. I found Abbie Emmons, who is a YouTube creator, and she breaks this down using the Enneagram. I find myself rewatching many of her videos for guidance. If you want to learn more about the Enneagram, please go check out her page here. She has a wealth of knowledge for all types of writers.
Let Them Change
The most memorable characters are the ones who grow. You wouldn’t want to read a story where the main character never changes or learns from what is happening to them, reading about them making the same mistakes and choices over and over.
They don’t start perfectly and stay that way. They evolve, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. Character arcs are where emotional payoff lives.
Types of arcs to consider:
Positive Arc: They learn a truth that helps them grow.
Negative Arc: They cling to a lie and spiral because of it.
Flat Arc: They stay steady, but change the world around them.
Ask yourself: By the end of the story, what has this character learned? What have they lost? What have they gained? Has their misbelief changed from what it was at the beginning?
If your characters leave the story unchanged… Why did we go on this journey with them in the first place?
Examples That Stick With Me
Here are a few of my favorite well-built characters from books I love (and why they work):
Zoya from Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse: Cold, prickly, and powerful, but layered with grief and fierce loyalty. You hate her… then love her.
Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows: A ruthless thief with a broken past. His contradictions make him compelling.
Nesta from A Court of Silver Flames: Her trauma response is messy, infuriating, and real. Watching her grow is one of the most honest character arcs I’ve read.
These characters feel real because they’re not just defined by a role; they’re shaped by emotion, experience, and belief.
Final Thoughts: Build from the Inside Out
If there’s one takeaway I want you to have from this post, it’s this:
“Believable characters aren’t built with checklists. They’re built with intention, empathy, and a little bit of messy humanity.”
Let them be brave and scared. Noble and selfish. Right and wrong. That’s what makes them stick.
And if you’re ever stuck, just ask yourself: Would I believe this person if I met them in real life?
If the answer’s no… dig deeper.
Want More Help With Character Building?
I’ve created a free printable character development worksheet just for you! It walks you through the core questions I use when developing my characters, and yes, there’s a whole section dedicated to villains, too.
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter to get access to my free resource library and grab it today!
Happy writing, friends. And don’t forget, your characters are waiting to tell their story. You just have to listen to what they are trying to tell you.
With love and creativity,
Writer | Blogger | Daydreamer with a coffee addiction
