Max

On the last day of this series, I thought it'd be fun to bring up a movie I'm sure only a few of you have seen:

The Great Race 

It's one of my favorite silly old movies, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh. But it's also a story that shows us one simple idea about villains:

They need a sidekick.

1. Sidekicks take some of the pressure off the villain

Sometimes there's so much going on in a story that it's easier if the villain has someone they can rely on -- and that's where the sidekick comes in. This is a character who's also villainous, but who works with the main antagonist to make sure things are getting where they need to go.

For a story like The Great Race, Fate needed a sidekick if he was going to screw up enough times to make the story interesting. But for serious writing, your villain might need a sidekick to keep them on the right track and keep them moving forward.

2. Sidekicks can be the comic relief

Especially in things like The Great Race, sidekicks can be around for nothing more than added comic relief. Let's face it, in a lot of movies, we need to have a character who can be a little silly. Especially in stories that have a lot of darkness, a heavy weight cast over them, a screw-up sidekick can be just what the doctor ordered.

3. Sidekicks can take the more brutal beating... and still come out unscathed

Because they're not the main antagonist, readers tend not to put so much pressure on sidekicks. This means that we can send them into battle far easier, and expect them to come out with no problem whatsoever -- and the reader just might buy it.

For The Great Race, it meant that Max could dress up like a friar and beat people over the head with a metal pole... and it was still believable.


What did you guys think of this series? I hope it was fun for you -- it sure was fun for me! If you have suggestions for my next topic, drop a comment below!

[love]

{RD}