I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously attempts (and fails) to stop them due to their hatred of the protagonist.

No matter how I write their appearances, it always feels like they keep jumping out of bushes Team Rocket-style and then fail to do the one thing they set out to do every time (which is kill the protagonist). That would be fine if I was writing an episodic comedy about a group of teenagers discovering the power of friendship through forcing their pets to fight each other, but I’m going for survival horror so it doesn’t really fit right.

My intention is to make a terrifying and competent villain, but I’m just not sure how to incorporate that into a story where the main cast is journeying across the country, short of just making them a giant, all-seeing, orange eye.

I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously attempts (and fails) to stop them due to their hatred of the protagonist.

No matter how I write their appearances, it always feels like they keep jumping out of bushes Team Rocket-style and then fail to do the one thing they set out to do every time (which is kill the protagonist). That would be fine if I was writing an episodic comedy about a group of teenagers discovering the power of friendship through forcing their pets to fight each other, but I’m going for survival horror so it doesn’t really fit right.

Where I am right now: An eldritch god appears out of nowhere, mutating and wrecking havoc across the world. After almost everyone has been killed, a smart, emotionally detached woman tries to reach the city where the god first appeared in a desperate attempt to understand what’s happening. She’s a foreigner though and requires a young, physically disabled child to translate and be her guide throughout the journey. In this case, the eldritch god is more of a force of nature. It has no obvious motivation and is relatively aimless in its destruction so I need another antagonist to keep things spicy.

What I’m working with currently is a person that the god corrupted into a monster. Most people lose themselves on the mutation process but the villain managed to make it to the other side with a clear head. They were abused as a child and hated everyone except their mom who was the only one to show them kindness growing up. This led to sociopathic behavior and indiscriminate killing once the apocalypse hit both out of fear of them hurting their mom and to indulge their power fantasies. Through a series of unfortunate events the protagonist kills their mom and the villain becomes committed to revenge.

My biggest problem is that since my villain’s goal is to kill the protagonist they are never able to achieve it and therefore seem incompetent. Every interaction feels repetitive. (Villain shows up, villain fails to kill protagonist, protagonist gets away, repeat)

I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously attempts (and fails) to stop them due to their hatred of the protagonist. No matter how I write their appearances it always feels like they keep jumping out of bushes team rocket style and then fail to do the one thing they set out to do every time (which is kill the protagonist). That would be fine if I was writing an episodic comedy about a group of teenagers discovering the power of friendship through forcing their pets to fight each other but I’m going for survival horror so it doesn’t really fit right. My intention is to make a terrifying and competent villain but I’m just not sure how to incorporate that into a story where the main cast is journeying across the country short of just making them a giant, all-seeing, orange eye.

I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously attempts (and fails) to stop them due to their hatred of the protagonist. 

No matter how I write their appearances, it always feels like they keep jumping out of bushes Team Rocket-style and then fail to do the one thing they set out to do every time (which is kill the protagonist). That would be fine if I was writing an episodic comedy about a group of teenagers discovering the power of friendship through forcing their pets to fight each other, but I’m going for survival horror so it doesn’t really fit right.

My intention is to make a terrifying and competent villain, but I’m just not sure how to incorporate that into a story where the main cast is journeying across the country, short of just making them a giant, all-seeing, orange eye.

I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously attempts (and fails) to stop them due to their hatred of the protagonist. No matter how I write their appearances it always feels like they keep jumping out of bushes team rocket style and then fail to do the one thing they set out to do every time. That would be fine if I was writing an episodic comedy about a group of teenagers discovering the power of friendship through forcing their pets to fight each other but I’m going for survival horror so it doesn’t really fit right. My intention is to make a terrifying and competent villain but I’m just not sure how to incorporate that into a story where the main cast is journeying across the country short of just making them a giant, all-seeing, orange eye.

I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously attempts (and fails) to stop them due to their hatred of the protagonist. No matter how I write their appearances it always feels like they keep jumping out of bushes team rocket style and then fail to do the one thing they set out to do every time (which is kill the protagonist). That would be fine if I was writing an episodic comedy about a group of teenagers discovering the power of friendship through forcing their pets to fight each other but I’m going for survival horror so it doesn’t really fit right. My intention is to make a terrifying and competent villain but I’m just not sure how to incorporate that into a story where the main cast is journeying across the country short of just making them a giant, all-seeing, orange eye.