Rule 1 : Kill Em All

I've written this blog post as rule 1, this does not mean that it is the number 1 rule. It just means it's the first one I thought about, and it's a nice and simple one too.

There seems to be a trend in hollywood movies for violence, which is a debate in itself, but in particular there's a trend for the bad guy to just kill everyone who opposes them. Great! I hear you say 'kill em all'. Isn't that the the most threatening a bad guy can be?

Nope.

Bad guys need to threaten violence more than they dole it out. If we know that all a bad guy is going to do is kill someone when he finds they've failed or betrayed him then why should we care. We can't invest emotion in characters we know are just going to be killed. The threat of violence is far more exciting than the execution.

For evidence I invoke the 'RAIDERS CLAUSE' (and beware it will be used again). In Raiders of the Lost Ark Ronald Lacey plays Major Thot. He's a sleazy Nazi who leers rather than looks at people. He's definitely a bad character but the things he's remembered for are not randomly shooting his foes but more interestingly picking up a hot metal artefact that burn into his hand.

In this one act of insanity we understand his ruthlessness in getting what he wants. What would he do to our heroes if he's prepared to hold white metal antiquities for prolonged periods.

In conclusion, make villains interesting, killing for killings sake does not equal character, and the threat of violence will scare and entertain more than a thousand bullets.