While not specifically about cartoon show antagonists, I
felt that this video would be appropriate to the topic at hand. There are of
course several different roles an antagonist can take and not all of them have
to be monumental tasks that the heroes overcome. However, there comes a time
where a hero must face the ultimate antagonist.
This is someone who challenges the hero like no other. That
changes them forever in ways that not even they could imagine. They can
effectively define a protagonist and the story overall by their very existence.
So yeah, the ultimate antagonist can be quite a big deal.
When it comes to shows, these types of villains aren’t
always common. However, when they do appear, they can make or break a show.
Since they do appear across several episodes, their characterization has a
bigger impact than most other characters. Usually, they are given season long
arcs in of themselves.
Sometimes even longer than that if the show writers keep them along, such as Megatron of the Transformers series. Megatron was a crucial antagonist. You can't make a Transformers show without having him appear because of how great he is as a villain and how much his very presence effects the plot. He is the central antagonist as well as one of the strongest in all of the series. His viewpoints and how far he'll go put him as the exact opposite of the hero of the franchise, Optimus Prime.
Joker fits this same role for Batman. He is his anti-thesis. He brings chaos to the order Batman tries to maintain. The two opposites are allowed to play off each other and really test the other's weaknesses while showing off their strengths. They allow each other to reach their full potential in their line of work.
Sometimes even longer than that if the show writers keep them along, such as Megatron of the Transformers series. Megatron was a crucial antagonist. You can't make a Transformers show without having him appear because of how great he is as a villain and how much his very presence effects the plot. He is the central antagonist as well as one of the strongest in all of the series. His viewpoints and how far he'll go put him as the exact opposite of the hero of the franchise, Optimus Prime.
Joker fits this same role for Batman. He is his anti-thesis. He brings chaos to the order Batman tries to maintain. The two opposites are allowed to play off each other and really test the other's weaknesses while showing off their strengths. They allow each other to reach their full potential in their line of work.
Stretching such a character across such a span of episodes
can be extremely challenging, but the reward is most assuredly worth the
effort. They will create, in essence, an entirely new show as the series goes on. Now they don’t have to be ‘evil’ parse, but they do have to be a challenge
in both strength and intelligence.
This video does an extremely good job of highlighting many
of the best character aspects that one has to take into account when attempting
to write an ultimate foe for your show’s protagonist.
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