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So said traitor is the villain's son, but it's very obvious that they have a strained and unhealthy relationship, so I'm not sure that kinship is a good enough reason. Are there any other possible reasons good enough to spare him other than plot armor?
On one hand I won't 100% let go of the father son thing (unless your villain is a complete monster) especially if your bad guy loved the boy;s mother and turned full evil after something horrible happened to her and now wants to keep that last reminder alive etc.
but other then that you could have you villain actually having a larger plot that makes the son still necessary. Or if the son is tradition because he helped the heroes maybe the villain says hes sparing him because of family but is actually waiting to follow him to the heroes hideout/ use him as a hostage later once the heroes care about him. something like that that requires the son having a good relationship with the heroes he can use.
Oh, okay. I left out a lot of detail here. He already has established a relationship with the heroes because he was acting as a double agent and trying to help out the heroes. This event happens in order to 1. make him join them permanently, and 2. Increase the heroes' trust in him.
I agree that since he's not entirely a monster, the father-son relationship is important, but it feels overdone… He didn't become evil because of his mother's death. In fact, they separated, and he harbors nothing but bitter feelings towards her and the son who acts just like her and is now rejecting him too.
I definitely like the idea of making him take them to the hideout, but I might throw a little twist in there if possible.
Just throwing some ideas and suggestions out there for ya, Bec. Good luck with your writing! ^.^
Thanks Lee!
Actually the more I think about it, the more I love the idea of him being an object for his father to take out anger on. It would explain a great deal about his personality in addition to being heart-wrenching. That, plus a little bit of information, maybe forcing him to show the hideout. That seems like pretty solid reasoning.
Sweet! I'm glad I helped. Have fun wrenching the hearts of your readers, Bec!
Maybe the villain is under a contract with a magical being and the contract called for his first born son in exchanged for immortality. He hasn't given up his son yet is because the stronger he is the more comfortable his enternal life is promised to be.
Most of the time, the reason one of my villains spares a traitor is because they need an easily manipulated tool (Stephen), a small bit of familial love that's left/to keep up appearances (Jayson), or if the treachery is a double cross that wasn't noticed (Huxley) or happened away from said villain (Samuel).
Hello, just popping in to say something. Based on how they don't have a healthy relationship, maybe he does it to inflict fear on his son? Like, the son knows his dad is up to something so the fact that he just let him go is suspicious. It depends on who your villain is. Does he crave followers? Fear? Lust? Power? Make sure to follow whatever his motivation is.
What about if the mother of the villain's son told the villain that "no harm should come to him" or "please protect him," where the villain won't kill his son because of the promise he made, but that doesn't stop him from making the son's life a living hell or prevent him from killing the son's friends?
That reminds me that I need to figure out how the mom fits into all of this, and if she's even alive still…
Maybe the a hero killed her and that's why the dad is a villian. Maybe He intended to kill the son because the son was stopping him from killing all heros but, then he realized the the mom would be disapointed in him if he did. Something like "What am I doing? I'm killing our boy… The one we raised together…" Something like that {maybe}
The heroes wouldn’t have killed her. There’s no reason. They would’ve been on the same side back then. He hated his wife after some time too, so I’m having a hard time picturing him sparing the son because of her. In fact, he kind of insults his son in her name, complaining he’s “just like his mother.”
Also that sounds almost like an exact quote from a show I watched last weekend and my heart…….
The heroes wouldn’t have killed her. There’s no reason. They would’ve been on the same side back then. He hated his wife after some time too, so I’m having a hard time picturing him sparing the son because of her. In fact, he kind of insults his son in her name, complaining he’s “just like his mother.”
Also that sounds almost like an exact quote from a show I watched last weekend and my heart…….
Was it castlevania by any chance…..
It sure was
It sure was
Lol we homies now you cant deny it lololol
Lol I guess it's not something that everyone watches. Still haven't had time to watch the last episode, but… I'll do it this weekend. Probably tomorrow.
I feel like a villain would only spare the life of a traitor in order to use them as a source of amusement (depending on their relationship and, if they are evil enough, their relationship may not matter). Possibly for some strategic purpose or to use as leverage depending on the traitor's relationship with other hero type characters. They may corrupt the traitor after learning more about them and use them for a purpose that the traitor would never normally participate in, possibly for a purpose that would horrify them (the traitor) and use this as a kind of torture as punishment for their betrayal. They may torture them so much there is no chance for any kind of recovery and send them back to their family, possibly their friends as an example, or just use them as an example to any others who would dare to oppose them. I'll leave what that example may look like up to your own imagination! It also depends on the genre of story, though. A fantasy villain may use the traitor as a form of amusement, like I said before, or they may just kill them. In science fiction, however, a villain may use a traitor as an experiment for some kind of advanced technology. There are very few times when a villain in any genre will allow a traitor to go free, no matter what genre you're talking about, unless they are doubting their status as a villain. Get creative with it, there are so many different reasons why a villain would let someone go, it all depends on how your story has progressed thus far.
Hmm… now reading all of this makes me think this poor guy is going to have to either 1. escape from the hideout/whatever I decide to call it himself or 2. be used to locate the heroes, but he is able to escape to their side in the process and somehow manipulate circumstances so the heroes win or at least escape alive.
If they weren't related romantic interest would work but they could keep the traitor around and blackmail them until they basically become the villian's meat shield to pay for what they did.