Hi... so my excessive plot outlining has given me the idea of two antagonists (well, one main one and a major secondary one). My story idea is large on symbolism and the antagonists are actually both evil but on fairly different ethical poles. One group is similar to the conspiracy theories around Bush-era Neo-Con plots, i.e. old families tied to Bilderberg Group/Illuminati/X-files Smoking Man -type conspiracies. They worship money and power and family influence. The other one is similar to the Glenn Beck nightmare, or McCarthy-era "Reds in the bed" type conspiracies of diverse groups combining and using mob mentality to stir up trouble, i.e. a far left conspiracy that over time has lost all empathy with the individual and think the ideological ends always justify the means. Both groups have an uneasy truce but in the story the truce is broken and the main characters start to become pawns in the geopolitical game of these two major forces. My problem is I have thought a lot about the themes but I haven't figured out a way to personalise the antagonists. Both groups are both evil but I want them to be fairly realistic, i.e. they think they're on the "good" side but they have major flaws, and a lot of my plot is about the main characters wondering who to trust, and the dilemma of "my enemy's enemy". They need to be fairly convincing so that the main characters may go for a few steps down the wrong path before they realise they are being manipulated. Any ideas?
I've never tried to write anything like this myself, but I am a fan of Tom Clancy's books and he tends to use a charismatic leading figure as the spider at the centre of the web pulling strings. In Executive Orders, the main villain is a Muslim cleric in Iran who wants to cripple the US for idealogical and revengeful reasons, whereas in Rainbow Six, the baddie is a whacko environmentalist who wants to largely depopulate the world to allow the natural order of things to be re-established (which includes him and his followers being among the few survivors). The two books are connected as well, linked by the use of a biological weapon. Good luck with your writing.
