Defining Evil
Occasionally, everyone does something unacceptable, ranging from not covering one’s mouth during a sneeze to mass murder. Encountering unacceptable people is unpleasant; fortunately, most people have good hearts. Unfortunately, some encounters are so bad that we call these individuals evil. This quality is beyond poor judgment and bad behavior; it is when a despicable person enjoys inflicting harm.
Authors tap into their positive and negative experiences to create stories and characters. I wanted to concentrate on my negative encounters and how they shaped my characters.
During my life, I have experienced a few evil individuals and watched/read many stories that contain evil characters. For example, a good detective who breaks the law. The anti-hero Mad Max who, saves a life one day and kills ten people the next. The desperate Bonnie and Clyde criminals who are “trying to survive against the man.” The trusted person who is a pedophile. The leader who removes seditious people to save society. The person with a mental health condition who “does not know any better.” The despicable Hannibal Lecter and real-life Ted Bundy who enjoy torturing people to death.
At the lesser end of the evil spectrum is a “normal” person who appears to have poor judgment, but an element of evil is contained within their core. For example, a best friend that steals from you. An alcoholic relative who rams their car through a crowd of people in a drunken rage.
Sometimes, a “good” person feels they are performing good deeds with deplorable actions. Such as killing “non-believers.” A less extreme example is a parent who constantly punishes their child. These evil people go to great lengths to justify their behavior. “I had to do this but did not enjoy it.” They genuinely perceived their actions to be helpful.
The worst evil is looking in the mirror and seeing evil in yourself. “Breaking my brother’s arm was not an accident.” “I’m a drug dealer and not a spiritual helper.” I have never seen this trait in my reflection and never want to.
I believe an evil person can become a good person because it is possible to make positive changes, apologize for mistakes, and make amends. Other times, an evil person embraces their inner demon. “I enjoy being a drug dealer.” “Breaking his arm felt good.”
In fiction, negative characters range from annoying to horrific characters that can only exist in outlandish fiction. Can a fictional character be evil? Stories are made up of words that only become real when a reader thinks about them. Does a negative character bring out (invent) evil in a reader’s mind? For most people, no, because they know it is a story. Yet, many evil people got their inspiration from books or movies.
People are complex. We have witnessed events ranging from supreme kindness to unimaginable horrors. A good story will make readers recall and examine their life experiences to visualize it.
Let’s explore two evil people from my life. The first is a former coworker who overcame his incompetence by blaming others. My project came into this individual’s crosshairs, and I suffered during his tyrannical blame storm. The result was hurt feelings and a messed-up project. I still harbor disdain for this individual all these years later.
What did he think of me? I do not have to guess because he told the team what he thought of us many times. We were all incompetent. He would likely summarize me as a non-team player and a bad electrical engineer. This coworker often called another team member “a troublemaker” for pointing out his flaws.
Was he genuinely evil? In my life, I have encountered a few people with evil in their eyes. I would consider them to be a dark soul or a person who has had their heart consumed by evil. This nastiness was in my coworker’s eyes every time I saw him.
That negative experience was many years ago, and I have had time to reflect. This coworker was suffering from severe arthritis and needed to take powerful medications, which led to severe side effects, including mental impairment. He was the only provider of a family with two children. The combination must have placed incredible pressure on him. However, that is no excuse for his poor job performance. As proof, he never asked the team for help, understanding, or forgiveness.
The aspect of his personality that brought out the evil was his enjoyment of inflicting pain. He blamed others rather than accept his circumstances. He savored successfully criticizing team members. This action went far beyond poor judgment or bad manners. Something else was present in that man. I guess that this “evil high” distracted him from his arthritis pain and prevented him from facing his incompetence.
I based one character on my memory of this man. I copied his fashion, arrogant decisions, cover-ups, low ethics, and condescending speech. He made a good foil for my other characters. It is fun to be a writer. Or is it budget therapy? Hmm.
I crossed paths twice with another evil person. In 2015, our house was robbed and severely damaged. The traumatic experience harshly affected me and my family, but there was justice when he got arrested in 2016.
Joey Ramos is a despicable man who committed several crimes by the age of 37. In the courtroom, I faced my accuser. I could see the evil in his black eyes. (They were actually black. I absolutely could not see any white and felt stabs of evil when he looked at me. It was very unnerving.) This man had no soul. He is my definition of evil and the supreme proof that evil exists. The jury gave him 650 years behind bars. (He did some other bad things besides robbing my house.)
Authors tap into their positive and negative experiences to create stories and characters. I wanted to concentrate on my negative encounters and how they shaped my characters.
During my life, I have experienced a few evil individuals and watched/read many stories that contain evil characters. For example, a good detective who breaks the law. The anti-hero Mad Max who, saves a life one day and kills ten people the next. The desperate Bonnie and Clyde criminals who are “trying to survive against the man.” The trusted person who is a pedophile. The leader who removes seditious people to save society. The person with a mental health condition who “does not know any better.” The despicable Hannibal Lecter and real-life Ted Bundy who enjoy torturing people to death.
At the lesser end of the evil spectrum is a “normal” person who appears to have poor judgment, but an element of evil is contained within their core. For example, a best friend that steals from you. An alcoholic relative who rams their car through a crowd of people in a drunken rage.
Sometimes, a “good” person feels they are performing good deeds with deplorable actions. Such as killing “non-believers.” A less extreme example is a parent who constantly punishes their child. These evil people go to great lengths to justify their behavior. “I had to do this but did not enjoy it.” They genuinely perceived their actions to be helpful.
The worst evil is looking in the mirror and seeing evil in yourself. “Breaking my brother’s arm was not an accident.” “I’m a drug dealer and not a spiritual helper.” I have never seen this trait in my reflection and never want to.
I believe an evil person can become a good person because it is possible to make positive changes, apologize for mistakes, and make amends. Other times, an evil person embraces their inner demon. “I enjoy being a drug dealer.” “Breaking his arm felt good.”
In fiction, negative characters range from annoying to horrific characters that can only exist in outlandish fiction. Can a fictional character be evil? Stories are made up of words that only become real when a reader thinks about them. Does a negative character bring out (invent) evil in a reader’s mind? For most people, no, because they know it is a story. Yet, many evil people got their inspiration from books or movies.
People are complex. We have witnessed events ranging from supreme kindness to unimaginable horrors. A good story will make readers recall and examine their life experiences to visualize it.
Let’s explore two evil people from my life. The first is a former coworker who overcame his incompetence by blaming others. My project came into this individual’s crosshairs, and I suffered during his tyrannical blame storm. The result was hurt feelings and a messed-up project. I still harbor disdain for this individual all these years later.
What did he think of me? I do not have to guess because he told the team what he thought of us many times. We were all incompetent. He would likely summarize me as a non-team player and a bad electrical engineer. This coworker often called another team member “a troublemaker” for pointing out his flaws.
Was he genuinely evil? In my life, I have encountered a few people with evil in their eyes. I would consider them to be a dark soul or a person who has had their heart consumed by evil. This nastiness was in my coworker’s eyes every time I saw him.
That negative experience was many years ago, and I have had time to reflect. This coworker was suffering from severe arthritis and needed to take powerful medications, which led to severe side effects, including mental impairment. He was the only provider of a family with two children. The combination must have placed incredible pressure on him. However, that is no excuse for his poor job performance. As proof, he never asked the team for help, understanding, or forgiveness.
The aspect of his personality that brought out the evil was his enjoyment of inflicting pain. He blamed others rather than accept his circumstances. He savored successfully criticizing team members. This action went far beyond poor judgment or bad manners. Something else was present in that man. I guess that this “evil high” distracted him from his arthritis pain and prevented him from facing his incompetence.
I based one character on my memory of this man. I copied his fashion, arrogant decisions, cover-ups, low ethics, and condescending speech. He made a good foil for my other characters. It is fun to be a writer. Or is it budget therapy? Hmm.
I crossed paths twice with another evil person. In 2015, our house was robbed and severely damaged. The traumatic experience harshly affected me and my family, but there was justice when he got arrested in 2016.
Joey Ramos is a despicable man who committed several crimes by the age of 37. In the courtroom, I faced my accuser. I could see the evil in his black eyes. (They were actually black. I absolutely could not see any white and felt stabs of evil when he looked at me. It was very unnerving.) This man had no soul. He is my definition of evil and the supreme proof that evil exists. The jury gave him 650 years behind bars. (He did some other bad things besides robbing my house.)
Will I base a character upon him? Absolutely not. He is far too bad for my writing style, but I know that other writers have such characters. He could easily be the despicable criminal a great police officer chases or the theft equivalent of Hannibal Lecter.
I do not know how other writers could craft a character like Hannibal Lecter and get a good night’s sleep. I must have one foot in the real world when I write; therefore, my negative characters must have a quality beyond embracing evil. I have used my powerful memory of this individual to develop character descriptions, especially their evil eyes, manor, and unnerving confidence.
Now, hold on for a second. My fictional stories contain death, torture, murder, and hardship. My first book is about a 500-year-old murdering psychopath. In this (well-written!) book (you should buy) (right now) (please!), the character tries to justify her existence. The result is a (well-written!) story that shows an evil person becoming less evil. Does this make my book evil? Hmm.
My writing goal is to create a story that entertains while keeping my ethical boundaries intact. To appreciate the positive parts of a story, the negative parts must be present. So, my answer is that I explore fictional evil characters.
When I write something negative, am I fostering evil behavior in my readers? Hey, bad people, here’s an idea. Go read Bill’s books and learn how to kill. At least get yourself in the mood. Hmm. I suppose I am adding a bit of evil to this beautiful world.
What other evil lives in my life? I read books and watch movies with evil characters. I play video games where I “kill people.” I admit to making mistakes that cause harm to others. Hmm. I must conclude that a percentage of me is evil. Dang! That is something to think about.
You’re the best -Bill
February 20, 2019 Updated January 20, 2024
I do not know how other writers could craft a character like Hannibal Lecter and get a good night’s sleep. I must have one foot in the real world when I write; therefore, my negative characters must have a quality beyond embracing evil. I have used my powerful memory of this individual to develop character descriptions, especially their evil eyes, manor, and unnerving confidence.
Now, hold on for a second. My fictional stories contain death, torture, murder, and hardship. My first book is about a 500-year-old murdering psychopath. In this (well-written!) book (you should buy) (right now) (please!), the character tries to justify her existence. The result is a (well-written!) story that shows an evil person becoming less evil. Does this make my book evil? Hmm.
My writing goal is to create a story that entertains while keeping my ethical boundaries intact. To appreciate the positive parts of a story, the negative parts must be present. So, my answer is that I explore fictional evil characters.
When I write something negative, am I fostering evil behavior in my readers? Hey, bad people, here’s an idea. Go read Bill’s books and learn how to kill. At least get yourself in the mood. Hmm. I suppose I am adding a bit of evil to this beautiful world.
What other evil lives in my life? I read books and watch movies with evil characters. I play video games where I “kill people.” I admit to making mistakes that cause harm to others. Hmm. I must conclude that a percentage of me is evil. Dang! That is something to think about.
You’re the best -Bill
February 20, 2019 Updated January 20, 2024
Follow me
