Writing: I want to die!

That is not what most people will say on most days of their lives.  So why is it that I see far too often a group of “bad guys” willingly fighting to the death when they have other options?

A few weeks ago I talked about the value of a bad movie and how you should take away lessons for writing from the time that would otherwise be wasted.  Here is a second lesson I wanted to impart from that thread:

The bad guys don’t want to die!

I don’t believe the villains in the real world want to die any more than anyone else.  In fact, I would argue they might want to live even more than the “good guys”.

In looking at any character, we really need to examine their motivations.  One common attribute I often see in villains is greed.  I see it in the real world when I read news stories about people I find I don’t really like.  They tend to have a willingness to take advantage of those in vulnerable positions, possibly causing significant harm in the process.  They usually desire power (or money as a means to power).  They might defend their own friends and family, possibly even to the death, but what I can’t see is an army of “bad guys” charging into a hailstorm of bullets, watching their comrades dropping dead all around them, and still chasing after what amounts to money.  After all, you can’t spend it when you are dead.

If I was a villain, I’d back off (perhaps letting a comrade who pissed me off die so I could escape) and then come back and do harm to the “good guy” when they were more vulnerable.  Some might call it cowardly behavior, but it makes valid sense.  What motivation do I have to die in the pursuit of money that I could come back later to get safely.

For heroes, the motivation is often one of protecting someone or some ideal they care deeply about.  For the villain, they tend to care more about themselves than others, so they would naturally protect themselves.

I will grant that anyone backed into a corner would have plenty of motivation to fight to the death.  If you have no other options and/or no hope left in life, that behavior is something I can see.  I can see being driven by fear of something worse than a quick death (such as a sociopath leader for example).  However, I don’t see charging to a certain death as valid for someone who normally would never face their foes in an open and equal manner.

To me, if the story needs a fight to the death, the protagonist is stronger when they pursue the villain and corners them (forcing a surrender or death) or the protagonist leads the villain into a trap though cunning and guile, killing them to make certain they can’t come back later when the hero is vulnerable.  I am less impressed when the villains continue to march forward to their death as if their feet were fixed to a conveyor belt and the hero is merely removing foes as if they worked an assembly line.  When escape and safety is a valid option, I feel the villain should take it.