Humanize your Nemesis

Yet another fascinating discussion in my current Character Development Keys class, this one about how to create a “worthy Nemesis.” An excerpt from what I posted today:

Frankly that’s one reason why I choose to call this archetype Nemesis rather than Antagonist. Here’s a quote from my Core III: Character class, Lecture 3: Nemesis:

The word “nemesis” has an interesting linguistic history: Nemesis, the ancient goddess of vengeance. Dictionary.com defines nemesis as “an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.” And that is why I prefer Nemesis over the term antagonist. Whereas the latter is merely an “adversary,” a Nemesis represents someone who by definition holds the upper hand against the Protagonist.

By all rights, they should defeat the hero, thus immediately casting the Protagonist as an underdog — and this dynamic makes for a more interesting and compelling story.

“A worthy nemesis.” How many times have I heard that phrase tossed around in studio story meetings? Producers and execs know that without at least one strong oppositional character, someone working against the wants and needs of the Protagonist, it’s hard to generate tension and, therefore, drama.

One key I have found in doing this is to make the Nemesis a real flesh-and-blood type of character. However much time you spend digging into the Protagonist to find their humanity and core essence, you should spend an equivalent amount of time and energy with the Nemesis. In fact, one of the values of working with archetypes is it allows you to do an exercise whereby you switch Protagonists — that is you look at the story universe through each character’s eyes as if they are the story’s P. This is especially valuable for the Nemesis, a character some writers find difficulty writing because they are… well… bad. By looking at things through their eyes as the P, it’s much easier to humanize them.

When you humanize the Nemesis, that brings them closer emotionally to the script reader. And that creates a really interesting psychological dynamic where the reader now finds him/herself identifying even in a little way with the Bad Guy.

Here is a great little example: When Hannibal Lecter says he will help the FBI find Buffalo Bill, what is his request? He could say, “I want a naked baby to devour raw.” Ugh, right? Can’t relate to that. Instead, he says, “I want a view. I want to see trees. Water.” Everybody can relate to that. In that moment, we can, if we let ourselves, almost feel sorry for Lecter. And that creates a more multidimensional experience for the character and the reader in association with the character.

So a part of being a worthy opponent is all those things you list above, absolutely. But also the human element. Because in doing that, we make the Nemesis worthy of a reader’s attention due to our increased identification with him/her.

The Nemesis character is almost always hugely important to a story for multiple reasons, one of them being that they generally are involved in a relationship with a Protagonist that pivots on key existential questions: Who is the Protagonist? What is the nature of their soul? What is at the core of their being? Will they thrive or die emotionally, even spiritually?

To the degree we humanize the Nemesis, we make them that much more powerful as characters because they become more intriguing and compelling.

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