Designing a Antihero/"Human" Villain: Griffith Did Nothing Wrong

In the C&C discord, myself and a few other players had a pretty good discussion about writing villains who are likeable, sympathetic, and overall just people who don't act like cardboard cut outs. While this post will be something of a paraphrase, I feel it holds merit in designing your champion or writing fan fiction. So the main question is:

#How do I make an anti-hero/villain who is sympathetic/"human"?

The obvious answer is...y'know. Just write them as human. Flaws, quirks, etc. But I found that this can be cut down in an even better way. It's not original or revolutionary, but I like to call this the Griffith argument. For those unaware, Griffith is one of the main antagonists of Berserk and kind of a shitty person. However, he's famous for the phrase "Griffith did nothing wrong", which is where people argue that while Griffith did horrible things, they were for a greater good and served to establish peace in the world.

So here's a fun exercise for your next champ concept/fan fic/etc. that's on the less-than-moral side.

#"<Your champion> did nothing wrong"

A simple statement and it might seem obvious, but let's work through it:

• Can you defend your champion/character's point-of-view in a meaningful way?
• Can you understand or even sympathize with their goals?
• Are you arguing from a stance or just trolling/joking about?
• Is your character acting in a horrible way but understands and/or justifies their actions?

All of these things contribute to a villain or anti-hero people can understand or even rally to as a point of reference. So, using this, let's take a look at two examples using very recent league lore.

#Good Example: "Urgot did nothing wrong".

Urgot is a piece of shit who was a headsman for Noxus that got locked away and forced into labor until he arose from Zaun's depths and started something of a rebellion. At a glance, pretty indefensible. Using this argument...

• Urgot is killing/overthrowing the chem-barons, who are making life hell for Zaun citizens.
• Urgot doesn't kill for the sake of killing. He's doing to see who is strong enough to survival based on his morals/ideals.
• His goal is not to destroy Zaun but to let it free and be what it should be.
• His followers believe in his goal and Urgot himself isn't trying to rule. "I am more than a man. More than a machine. I am an idea!"

So, using that argument, there is a basis for defending Urgot's actions and the bad that he does. In addition we have to remember that defending this point doesn't mean we have to AGREE with what Urgot is doing. It's still morally wrong and Urgot is still a "bad guy". However, we can understand why he does what he does and see some sort of twisted but ideal goal.

#Bad Example: "Evelynn did nothing wrong".

I know, "no shit" example but just for the sake of points:

• Evelynn has no higher goal other than others pain and her pleasure.
• Evelynn kills because fuck it, it makes her feel good.
• Her goal is to cause another rune-war/more suffering.
• Her followers fly to their death based on the promise of some sexual congress.

Yeah, obvious, but Evelynn can't really be defended. And you know? That's ok! Not every villain has to be some obtuse mass of scars and complexities. League (and your concept) can benefit from just being a one-note bastard who just wants to cause pain with no higher goal or moral highground. But if we're trying to design a sympathetic villain, Eve wouldn't fill these boxes as she's a demon who only cares about her own pleasure.

#Conclusion

I hope this all was a fun topic and didn't come off as pedantic. I got super inspired by you guys in the C&C discord and I thought it was a great topic to cover. Just remember that we're humans: Very few people set out to do evil and those that do are often unstable mentally or physically. When trying to make that villain who is coming from a place we should understand, remember that step one is to see if their ideal is something that can be defended as a higher-yet-reprehensible goal...or if they're a demon who wants to get their rocks off.