The Lesser of Two Evils

This week, we’re going to the dark side- and that’s not just because the topic for this week stemmed from a binge of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

As all writers and story-lovers know, there is nothing more satisfying than a complexly written villain. We want lies, hidden agendas, deep emotional reasoning that completely justifies the vile actions they take. But, while desperately trying to catch up on the Star Wars universe, there was one plotline that emerged in the show that made my writer brain start thinking about one specific story technique that I’ve rarely seen, but absolutely love when it’s executed well. I’m going to refer to it as the Lesser of Two Evils Tactic.

Let’s break it down. Other than Obi-Wan Kenobi, the only other show I can think of off the top of my head that I thought executed this writing technique really well is Avatar: The Last Airbender, so I’ll compare the two for examples. I’ll try to be vague, but there might be some spoilers ahead. Fair warning.

Okay, so we have two shows that on the surface are very different, other than their obvious roots in the fantasy genre. What’s key here is that both shows introduce you to a villainous character who is clearly the main bad guy of the story at the beginning, even if they’re not the Final Boss bad guy, before suddenly blindsiding you with the fact that maybe this particular bad guy isn’t the worst guy after all.

For example, in Avatar, for the first couple of episodes, Zuko is the only villain (or, at the very least, antagonist) you’re introduced to at all, until suddenly the story carries him and everyone’s favorite tea-obsessed uncle, Iroh, back to the Fire Nation military. Up until this point, Zuko is the only person on Team Villain we’ve seen so far. He’s the one chasing our heroes so ruthlessly, he’s the one driven by anger and desperation against the avatar, he has extremely questionable choices in hair styles…I’m sorry, I had to make a hair joke about Season One Zuko. But, at this moment, Zuko is literally the only person the story has set us up to hate. Enter “The Southern Air Temple” (Season 1, Episode 3), where we meet Admiral Zhao, who is such a villainous jerk, that suddenly you get slapped in the face by the fact that maybe Zuko isn’t really the worst guy in the heroes’ way. Yeah, he ain’t great, but he’s way better than this new guy.

Same deal with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The show presents a villain, Inquisitor Reva or Third Sister, who is real intimidating and driven, and then completely flips what you think you know about this character on its head later on in the story. Maybe what you think she’s doing isn’t at all what’s actually going on. I found this twist very satisfying.

Okay, so other than giving me a very long-winded rant about Avatar and Star Wars, what does this mean?

The reason I decided to compare these two examples is because watching one reminded me of the other, mainly because both seemed to follow the same formula for this great moment of instantly shifting how you feel about a character.

Step One: Enter a character that is primarily introduced as a villain

In both cases, Zuko and Third Sister enter the story as underlings of the Big Bad Guy who are clamoring for a higher position of power and redemption.

Step Two: Motivation for Empathy

In Avatar, it is revealed that Zuko is the disgraced prince of the Fire Nation, who was forced into exile after questioning his father. He cannot return home until he completes the once-thought impossible task of capturing the avatar. If Zuko captures Aang, he gets to finally go home and have his honor restored.

In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Third Sister is on more of a revenge arc than a self-redemption one, but is fueled by a tragic past that makes you understand her rage-filled actions. I’m trying to keep it vague since that’s a newer show. Plus, I don’t want to spoil a good character moment.

As we talked about before, gaining the empathy of the audience is crucial to understanding any character in general, but especially ones like these that tend to fall on that morally grey or villain line. (See our previous blog about writing morally grey characters here. We also talk about Zuko there. We like talking about Zuko.)

So, now we know where this character’s been, what’s driving them, and we’re starting to catch the feels. Well, we still might not like them too much yet, but we’re at least starting to understand why they do what they do.

Step Three: Enter a Worse Bad Guy

This step could technically be interchangeable order-wise with Step Two, especially if this second, more problematic character is the one introducing the first villain’s backstory. But essentially, our original villain encounters a character who’s considerably less likeable than themself, usually due to their behavior, ideals, personality, etc.

As I said before, Zuko encounters Zhao and the two are instantly in conflict, which purposefully reveals the undertone that Zuko, who was specifically exiled for being dishonorable, has more honor than Zhao will ever have. Similarly, Third Sister ends up in a tangled web of trying to execute her own agenda and at odds with Darth Vader.

Step Four: The Fight

This is the step where the similar technique of these stories really hit me. Though the main plotlines of the shows are not very similar, both employed the previous steps until finally everything escalates, pitting both the original villain and the second in a high-stakes battle.

Putting your characters in a literal physical battle might be one of the easiest ways to play off that audience empathy. I mean, hero versus villain is literally one of the most prominent types of story elements there is.

But remember that we’re not talking about a good guy versus bad guy scenario here, right? We’re talking about putting a character we’re pretty sure we don’t like up against another character we like even less.

This is the best part, writing-wise. See, something really funny happens when you put one villain up against another. No matter how much you disliked Villain 1 in those first few episodes or chapters, as long as you like Villain 2 even less, you suddenly start rooting for a character you don’t even like! Do you want Zuko to step up and beat Zhao who’s a total jerk wad or Third Sister to beat Darth Vader? Of course, you do! I mean, obviously you know somebody’s not going to take out Darth Vader, being as he’s still around way later in the timeline, but you can still hope.

The audience wants to root for someone. They’ll even root for a villain, as long as you’ve done a good job of revealing the human side that drives them. Hence, the lesser of two evils.

Anyway, I just thought that was interesting. Watching one show reminded me of another, and I realized that both were utilizing the same technique in terms of their morally grey characters and in both storylines, it pays off in a big way. Maybe that will help some of you writers out there with your technique or point it out if you’re just a fan of well-written stories.

Do you know of any other books or shows that utilize this kind of technique? Do you also just really like talking about how great of a show Avatar is? Let us know!

Thanks for reading. Write On.

-Kamryn