If you wanna intimidate your reader there's no gender barrier. A lot of what intimidates me about villains is knowledge about them. What do I know that they're capable of? How aware am I of just how far they're willing to go to achieve their goals? This, in my opinion, is what made Cersei Lannister such an effective villain because I was aware of both. She was capable of mass murder and planning high schemes for her goals and man oh man was she willing to execute them. That left open a world of possibility for my mind to anticipate every time the story called on her to act.
I honestly didn't find Cersei intimidating. She was more like a spoiled brat who was doing things out of a fear of losing her privilege and was under the assumption she was untouchable and far smarter than she was. She was an antagonist, but I never wanted her to succeed, and with a proper villain, you always want them to succeed just a little.
I found Cersei intimidating because the woman would do literally anything in the name of being vindictive and smile while doing it, but I feel the same as you in always wanting her to fail. I have to admit I do think about what would happen if some villains succeed but mostly outta curiosity. Interesting point there though that maybe we want them to succeed
Are you struggling to make your villain feel intimidating in general or do you find yourself struggling to make a female character feel intimidating? These could be two different things and, depending on which one, there are different solutions. I’m in agreement that if you know how to make a character feel intimidating, it doesn’t matter if it is male or female. Just write the character as you would any other villain. Being female shouldn’t lessen her character because, as you stressed, it’s her actions that shows who she is. But if you find yourself having difficulty envisioning an intimidating female character, then it’s more about how to shift your perception on what a female character is capable of. What you described sounds like taking intimidating characteristics that happen to be masculine and putting it into a female character. It’s perfectly okay to have a female character exhibit masculine characteristics and vice versa, just know that you are not limited to leveraging masculine characteristics to make someone intimidating. Feminine characteristics can be equally intimidating, it’s all about deciding who your characters are and what you want them to do.
I'd say menace is very simple. Just show that she is willing and able to cause harm to characters that we care about. If our sympathetic POV is one of the schlubs working for her company and she gets him fired and blacklisted because he spoke out of turn or something, and we get to follow his struggles to avoid destitution, then she's going to be plenty intimidating regardless of how she dresses. Actually, are you sure you don't mean, what makes a cool female villain? Because a lot of the things you list seem to be coolness things, not intimidation things. I don't know, I would have said the same thing once, but that was before Cercei Lannister (who I see has already come up). A mother protecting her young is supposed to be the most terrifying thing in nature. How far will a woman who already has no morals go, if she can rationalise it as protecting her children's interests? Aw, come on. End of season six, you're telling me you didn't cheer for her just a little? And aside from that, I always thought that one of the accomplishments of the series was to show that even a complete loser could make a scary villain, as long as they had power and were just smart enough to use it to hurt others. The idea of being beaten by a loser is even worse than the idea of being beaten by a mastermind, because it adds humiliation on top of everything else.
I think one way you can make her intimidating would be to give her some special power. Whether that's a superpower, or some kind of massive authority over people to do the intimidation. If the former, give her a Brightburn complex where she basically says "Do as I say, or I will kill you." And she sticks with it. If the former, I would make her act like Darth Vader but without the force or suit if you catch my drift. Watch how he walks and interacts with imperial officers. Try to mimic that but for a 35 year old woman. Make her clothes all black, as that is the power of authority, or whatever clothing represents authority in your world.
When I think of intimidating, Hannibal Lecter is the first thing that comes into mind. A person who is highly intellegent and has the will and ability to execute their plans. Someone, who even imprisoned, gives off the impression that he/she is in control, that he/she has an ace up their sleeve, maybe even that he/she is imprisoned at least partially because of their own choice ... Physical appearance is intimidating when you're wandering alone at night and a big, menacing thug approaches you. The same person is not intimidating if it's broad daylight and lots of people around you. That being said, adding physical appearance to the mix can make things even better. But, keep in mind, that a woman will never have a frame as big as a man. I think the most intimidating thing about any person is the knowledge of what they're capable of doing.
I'd say the exact opposite of this. Not knowing what someone might do is a lot more scary. People with explosive tempers who could flip shit at any moment are much worse to be around than people who always get mad when their team loses (though both suck obvs)
Well, you need at least some knowledge. You might not know exactly what said person is capable of, but you need to suspect that they are powerful/capable, etc. I agree that the fear of the unknown is a powerful tool, but you can't fear if you have no expectations. This is where the physical appearance comes in. You will never fear a 50kg super skinny nerd with glasses that you have never met. Yes, you don't know what he is capable of, but you will not suspect that he can knock you out with a spinning kick. On the other hand, if the Mountain would stand in front of you flexing his muscles, you would be scared, even if you haven't seen the things that he can do. This is actually what I meant by "knowledge". It was a poor explanation on my side, so sorry for that.
This. The unknown, to be scary, has to be surrounded by enough of the known that you can start making paranoid guesses about it. Ambiguity is great for this purpose - like, "did he just make a slightly weird off-colour joke, or did he just imply that he wants to rip my spinal chord out??!!"
If she doesn’t have children AND doesn’t care for them, then she would need something else to focus on. Whatever it is can be used to create a sinister impression. For example, if a guy has no kids, doesn’t wish for children or marriage, he will still have a certain ... er ... ‘impulse’ to leave a mark on the world and to invest in SOMETHING. This could be an apprentice of sorts or merely a project quite different from his day job - hobby or past-time. If you already have this and wish to keep it secret just create something else that isn’t as important but does the job of reflecting something ‘off’ about her motives. Maybe she collects artwork and as her journey through the narrative progresses her art purchases start to become more and more ‘peculiar’ (brutal, violence, gory or just plain dark and disturbing). If you go for an apprentice then maybe this could be used to reflect something of her upbringing; she will treat them how she was treated (or maybe the opposite) giving a glimpse into her psychology.
I too, like the replies here, like it when a female villain is manipulative. There's something about them that's charming and amusing despite their despicable qualities. I believe there's a reason why most villains tend to be smart. Think of Cinderella's stepmother, she's married but she still manages to take control of the household, something that Cinderella should have inherit. (at least from my perspective, Cinderella is still a noble who's got stripped off of her title) You could take it to the extreme and make them cartoony like the Disney villains. Though a simple grin and glowing eyes are enough to make someone intimidating. *cough* Lady Tremaine *cough* Second these. Mothers have the tendency to be very protective, sometimes to the point of being destructive not just to others but also to their children. I've also read that there are some cases (pardon the pun) where some parents of certain criminals still believe that their sons/daughters did nothing wrong even when evidence says otherwise. To give you an example, a kdrama called SIGNAL has a father of a serial killer that refuses to let his son go to prison because he still believes his son was just a broken lonely child. But of course, resourceful people, while admirable, if that kind of personality goes to a villain can also be very intimidating. (to the point of being scary) You can imagine a lot of things they can do to you. Should that villain happen to be female, she may use her sex appeal, status, or other people to obtain what she wants. Villains that refuse to give up are also scary. It's like a twisted version of a hero. What was once a noble trait becomes a sickening attribute. (and also annoying hahaha )
