Share the Themes and Villains of Your World!

(I don't know if there's already a post similar to this, I couldn't find one though) I've been building my world for awhile now and noticed something. As I've built my world I started changing the themes to have more meaning to me and have a story that has a better chance of relating to others in the process. So I'm curious. Are there any themes you've built into your world or plot? What are they, and are they there for a reason or came to be for a reason as you progressed? Is there a theme you didn't notice was there before you took a step back? Also, tell me about your villain and if they tie in with those themes! What or who are they, what are their motivations, and why are they lashing out against your protagonists? Do they represent something, are they in the battlefield or acting behind the curtains, are they driven by their personality and goals or by what they experienced to make things they do seem justified? Share what you have and chat with others about it!

Mine shifted from a techy 1st person dystopia to a more 18th century feeling 3rd person dystopia when my plot underwent some changes. I added in more themes, such as 'Sometimes the right thing isn't easy', 'Losses affect others differently', 'People do bad things for both good or bad reasons', etc.

From another book: 'Trust is precious, don't freely give it away', 'Even the smallest can make a difference', 'Royals are not inheritly evil, but tyrants are,' 'Love is a powerful ally', 'Sometimes the untrained people are more skilled.'
And another: 'Disabilities aren't the end of the world,' 'Do anything to protect those you love, even if they don't realize it,' 'Sometimes the best people die young,' 'Nothing is worse than losing a loved one, it takes a chunk out of you.'

@@JynnieStardust I love the themes you mentioned and how you say they changed! I've always been a fan of stories that give a good message without the themes only being sunshine and rainbows. I could also probably easily relate to and root for characters in your story with the themes you built to be unique to each book, as loss and hardships are real things and hard to deal with and I haven't come across many books that have it as more than a side plot. If I may ask… Are there villains? Or is there another opposition your protagonists must face? I'd love to hear about them with how interesting your stories sound! I wish I could read them lol

@faceless_man's_clairvoyance Pride is a real thing that can be the downfall of characters, so I love that you made the heroes lose because of it! It's unique because most stories have a protagonist win no matter how flawed they are because of the arrogance they have gained through pride. I also like what you said about no absolute good or evil, something I've always thought to be true but never seeing it in stories. The villain will think they're a hero just as much as the protagonists do! I would also like to ask about your villain. Who or what are they? It sounds like they beat your "good" guys but are they an enemy or simply an event they couldn't overcome because of pride? I love hearing about villains and how they may enforce themes, though either way I'd love to know more!

@IOnlyHave1Project
There's a villain, but she's not overly prominent in the story, they mostly fight against her soldiers and such. She represents basically everything wrong with politics and politicians in a way.

@@Jynnie(OnePieceOf)Stardust Neat, not all villains need to have a main role! Why do they fight against her soldiers, and how does it affect them? Do they have an opposing opinion from what she has or do they simply see her as a corrupted person in need of being stopped? Does she hold a large amount of power or are other politics trying to push her back as well?

@Random Crap That's really cool. I would like to see characters like that in more stories, especially since you want to show that having a mental condition doesn't automatically make someone like stories often make them out to be. I think it'll make a great book while showing people everyone can do great things. :) What are they going against and what shows that great power comes with great costs?

A bit of both? She does something that's the final straw, and then it all goes to hell. Or I guess even more to hell. She's an absolute monarch and Twyllo is an autocracy, they fight her soldiers because she sends them after her. She's eventually killed by her own brother, who she attempted to have assassinated when he was in his early teens but he escaped. She has four top soldiers, but one is assassinated by another soldier, one is shot by a con artist as revenge for holding his two favorite people hostage and telling him to shoot one of them, one defects after her girlfriend is assassinated, and the other is shot and killed by the defector.

@Random Crap Oof. That's cool and I can see what you meant by cost now. The life one sort of reminds me of a character I have somehow because she starts to feel like a bad luck charm among the group that also ties into her past. I love the concept! Though I do still wonder… What are they up against? Are they accepting these drawbacks or are they fighting against someone or something?

@@JynnieStardust Betrayal from within, my favorite! lol But really, the story sounds cool and totally something I would pick up and read. It seems like it's full of plot twists and has a great story to tell, things I love to have in books, I wish I could find it in a book store now!

@Random Crap Uh, well, I don't know if it'll work but maybe I have an idea? If there are others like them maybe there's someone going around offering to take away the drawbacks, only to take the power instead with no or lesser drawbacks. It seems like most of their abilities would limit how they interact with others, which could be a problem for stopping the person doing it or at least warning others? I don't know your story that well though so my ideas are probably bad…

@Random Crap Oof. That's cool and I can see what you meant by cost now. The life one sort of reminds me of a character I have somehow because she starts to feel like a bad luck charm among the group that also ties into her past. I love the concept! Though I do still wonder… What are they up against? Are they accepting these drawbacks or are they fighting against someone or something?

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@@JynnieStardust Betrayal from within, my favorite! lol But really, the story sounds cool and totally something I would pick up and read. It seems like it's full of plot twists and has a great story to tell, things I love to have in books, I wish I could find it in a book store now!

Aw thanks! I'm working on it for NaNo if you want to read some of it then!!

Yay I helped someone XD

Also Jynnie that's cool! I'm writing mine as more of a script, hoping to make my story a comic or series

Ooooooooh! Scripts are always hard! I'm working on a musical, modern-day semi-adaptation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and it's not easy!

Yeah, sort of just skimmed for the basics and then I'll go back and format it better later, really just working on getting the story down first. I love origin stories, secrets, plot twists, betrayal, etc. so I make sure to put in the story even if just a bit. Also I almost picked up a copy of MacBeth by Shakespeare awhile back just because it was something I've wanted to see but my family doesn't really go to theaters or anything. I have only the first two scenes down or something and have been keeping track of everything else through back stories or docs lol

My villain is the heir of Leiris, one of the Eight Houses, therefore a high-ranking Lord but not eligible to the throne. His House sort of disappeared a long time ago when during the last war the Lady and her children were supposedly all killed. The truth is one survived but never claimed her heritage, instead wandering the land as a harper and married a mortal. The High King at the time at left the Leiris land and properties to be taken care of by their subordinate Houses and said that if the true heir of Leiris showed up they would be given back their land. The first couple of half-mortal Leiris never bothered, but later they wanted to, but believed the High King wouldn't give back their land. They formed an organisation intended on taking down the Ruling House. My villain was the half-uncle of the young leader of this organisation, who is an usurper, but with a lot of support
(And to be honest, the good guys' armour, coat of arm etc. looks a lot eviler than the bad guys')

So, correct me if I'm wrong, the villain is the half-uncle of the leader to a group aiming to tear down the house that would keep them from their land because they don't believe the king? They are heirs but think they may be too many times removed or the king will try to get rid of them or something? I'm probably interpreting this wrong and would like some clarification as to why the uncle is the villain…

Ah, so he either doesn't tell the nephew or uses the large support he has to keep the power? Greed is a terrible thing but helps to make a great villain! Sorry if I messed up the interpretation again but either way this story and villain you have seem interesting and this sounds like a great story. XD Since the father never married, is the half-uncle technically only holding the power through blood rather than gaining the last name or did he get their last name? He's powerful either way but I'm curious.

He sounds like a villain with some good background. But the question is, what makes him think he is the hero? Every great villain will think he's doing the right thing or his actions are justified, even if just because of his twisted mindset. What makes him think he is right in what he is doing?

Neat! I love stories where the villain could be the hero if told differently from his perspective, and your story sounds like one where that would work. I think your story and characters are really cool!

Yeah, sort of just skimmed for the basics and then I'll go back and format it better later, really just working on getting the story down first. I love origin stories, secrets, plot twists, betrayal, etc. so I make sure to put in the story even if just a bit. Also I almost picked up a copy of MacBeth by Shakespeare awhile back just because it was something I've wanted to see but my family doesn't really go to theaters or anything. I have only the first two scenes down or something and have been keeping track of everything else through back stories or docs lol

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! DON'T SAY HIS NAME!!!!!