I was listening to a celebrity show on the TV, and a random idea hit me. What would it be like to use the villians as main characters, instead of the heroes? I'm pretty sure it's been used, but if it has, could you tell me the author of the book, or the name of it? I don't know if it'd be cliche or not. I'm debating adding a sort of forbidden love plot twist... does it sound interesting? I just want an opinion or two.
A story concept means nothing. I can tell you now, it has been done before. What matters is how you write it, the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it. There's no point to asking what other people think of the concept! They'll either say,"Sounds great," or, "it sounds like a ripoff of..." If the idea stirs you, write it. Then ask people what they think of the final story. After they tell you what they don't like about it, revise it, usually several times, until you're happy with it or until you throw up your hands and say the hell with it. Please read this thread about What is Plot Creation and Development? (and yes, this is a template post, which should give you an idea of how often this comes up.) So it really doesn't matter if the story idea has been used before, and by whom. Just write it, in your own unique voice. Ideas and storylines are not cliche! Words, phrases, and metaphors can be cliche, but not concepts!
What Cogito said. Also, there's this thing called the Tragic Hero, who is technically the villain but the story follows him more than the heroes (Macbeth, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog...)
Brief point of order: the Tragic Hero is not necessarily a villain, but he does sow the seeds of his own demise through a tragic flaw. This can sometimes make him seem villainous, but it's not quite the same as, say, Soon I Will Be Invincible, which follows the story of a literal supervillain who is trying to take over the world because of his personal issues. In other words, good Lord, yes, they've written stories from the point of view of the villain - Richard III, anyone? - but that's hardly a reason not to do so. They've written stories from the point of view of the heroes, too, after all.
I was told at one point about creating characters that when you create the villian in a story, create him as you would the hero. Think about what he is thinking during the scene. What makes him do what he does? In his or her mind, the villian should have a reason for what they do, even if it doesn't make sense to the normal person. So to answer your question, it is possible for you to make the villian the main character in your story, as long as you make his actions beleivable based on that character.
I agree with Cogito. Just about everythings been done before. Don't waste your time worrying over whether or not the idea is original it's a lost cause. The key for making your story "unique" is going to be in how you present these already used ideas and if you can add a new twist to the mix. These days most stories are new twists on old ideas.
Rephrase. Plots are about characters, cause every now and then, one of my villian's turns out to be a figment of the imagination or some crazy Artificial Intelligence (I named him Bob ) and neither of those are people per se ) thanks Maia).
loh, m'dear... my unrepentant virgoness compels me to point out that it's 'per se' as it's latin, not english... and should be in italics, preceded by a comma... hugs, m
your question is so general, the question might as well be "has anyone ever used a protagonist to defeat a conflict and develop personally from the experience?"
I think the definition of people is sufficiently broad that those examples are people, and just aren't humans.
