Hi everybody.

I just wanted to do some thinking out loud regarding writing Sailor Moon Villains because I am currently stuck on this concept in a fic I am working on at the moment. I'm hoping that by getting a little discussion going, maybe something will shake loose?

Re: Writing Villains

The best advice I heard regarding villains is that as the writer, you have to consider the villains as the heroes of their own parallel story. They have their own motivations and personalities and hang ups. Whatever their villainous plans are, they should make sense on their own. It is the Hero's interference that throws the monkey wrench into whatever world they are working towards. They aren't just plot devices to get your heroes form one cool scene to another (excepting for Monster of the Day type villains....those are just fun plot devices).

More specific to Sailor Moon fics, I try to organize my villains similar to how they were presented in the original source materials. My system looks something like this:

1) Big Blob of Evil 
2) Head Honcho Avatar of the Blob of Evil 
3) Lieutenants of the Head Honcho who are really just dark reflections of the Senshi 
4) Monster of the Day aka "Plot Devices to get your hero to do cool things on screen"

So when I am starting to storyboard a new fic that involves external conflict, I decide just how big the threat I want the villain to be, then go from there. 

Thoughts? Comments?

Cheers,
-Drifter.

I think deciding if your villain is going to be a part of a bigger villain community, like in Sailor Moon, is a good idea. Most of my villains tend to be singular villains on their own

Each villain is also going to have their own personality. If we take the four shittennou for example and look at how each of them approached in the 90s anime of getting energy (as we had more episodes with each of them to see). They all had their unique style that fit them.