So, my big bad for my dark fantasy Peter Pan retelling is Titania, Queen of the Fey/Limbo
She, years before the beginning of the story, manages to find a way out of Limbo through a small hidden gateway, and comes to Earth, where she finds Tinkerbell, and over the years, learns of the value and power of fairy tears (drugs) and fairy dust (flying, potions, many other things), and tries to find the way into Neverland so she can kill Pan and take the fairies and their dust (and a few thousand souls would be a plus as well)
She sends Hook (who comes from a strong magical bloodline of mercenaries) to Neverland (who is able to get there via his magical ship - damn, I need to figure out a better way for Hook to go to Neverland but at the moment Titania cannot) and kind of brainwashes Hook into thinking that Pan is this evil god of hell, and has all the souls trapped there and is enslaving and torturing the Neverfairies.
Anyway, a bit of background out of the way.
WHY does Titania want fairy dust and tears? I don't want her to be just the typical bad guy villain who loves power for power and has no real motivations behind anything except power power power.
But, I also want her to be a really bad person/fey, because my MC Pan is kind in the gray area regarding good/bad, so in contrast, I want her to be like omg she's evvvvvviiiilllll, but to have reasons for that.
Help me please
Maybe she could want to use the dust and tears to enslave children and brainwash Peter Pan into bringing them to her. She could want the children because their souls contain the secret to eternal youth. As a fairy she cannot age, but this type of youth is the happiness and purity of a child, which the bitter queen is lacking. Could that work? Also, as someone who was in Midsummer Night's Dream as Oberon, will Oberon, Bottom, and Puck have an appearance in this? :)
You could also set up a backstory for Titania that includes her parents dying from an unnatural cause, but the whole universe never seeming to care because the poor and lower class seemed so insignificant. Because of this it's her life mission to become a powerful figure everywhere she can, to avenge her parents death and make herself known.
But, I also want her to be a really bad person/fey, because my MC Pan is kind in the gray area regarding good/bad, so in contrast, I want her to be like omg she's evvvvvviiiilllll, but to have reasons for that.
You don't necessarily have to do this just because your main character is morally grey. In fact, it can be a good thing to blur the lines between good and evil in your story.
As far as motivations go, money is a good one. Maybe fairy tears are valuable, if you can find the right buyer. Maybe she could somehow use souls for free labor (If they're humanoid and can interact with objects). Maybe Titania has some other quest or goal that she uses the tears/souls as a lever to obtain somehow.
OR maybe she hates the idea that so many souls are forgotten. She hates the idea of Neverland itself so much that she wants to destroy it (and use the fairy tears to fund whatever place she intends to put all the souls), which also ties into barbara's idea a bit of wanting to avenge the unknown.
Perhaps she had a child that was swayed into Pan's carefree lifestyle, resulting in her accidental death. Perhaps she needs the fairy tears and dust to sway children 'for their own good' into seeing that she knows best. Genuine motives backed by immeasurable grief.
Perhaps she had a child that was swayed into Pan's carefree lifestyle, resulting in her accidental death. Perhaps she needs the fairy tears and dust to sway children 'for their own good' into seeing that she knows best. Genuine motives backed by immeasurable grief.
The 'hero in their own mind' thing is indeed a great suggestion. A good example is the Owl witch from Song of the Sea. Not only does it give you're villain a clear motivation that isn't just being evil and ultimate power, but it also helps the reader to understand the villain's actions better. An alternative is that she isn't grieving but desperately trying to save something/someone she cares for. She's a Queen, right?
