Where do you get inspiration for creating killers or villains?

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-04 13:25:57 UTC #21

valerijsdombrovskis:

I wanted to share a couple of illustrations from my webnovel Gobby’s Adventure – meet Ulrich and Vann, two very different killers. They appear in Episode 5, which is not yet on Tapas but will be uploaded soon. For now, here’s a little preview.In my work as a psychologist, I had the chance to study people who crossed the line into crime. Observing how they looked at the world gave me a lot of inspiration for shaping fictional characters, and that experience now plays into how I create killers and villains in my story.

I’m curious – where do you find your inspiration?* If you have illustrations, please share them here.* If not, even a short description of your villain’s mindset or behavior would be great.* And of course, feel free to drop a link to your comic or novel, and point out the chapter where your villain appears. I’d love to take a look.Here are my characters:

Small update – Episode 5 just went live.
Ulrich and Vann finally step into the story, and I had a lot of fun writing their first real scene together.
I’d love to hear what kind of impression they leave.

stiatent 2025-10-05 02:25:00 UTC #22

Yep Ev (Evan) has a tendency to drag Owen into danger so he stuck with poor luck 🤣 Yep you right on boost immersion, trying to go as far i can with it.
Ur welcome, yea i forget half the time shes an actor bec she does it so seamlessly- the witt, cape toss and diva sass. Saw another hilarious clip where she roasted herself as Malificent 🤣 seems she taking the roasting to a new level lol
https://youtube.com/shorts/ryZEVZ3AF9w?si=9jSrUq8KkWPYVtHS

Congrats on Episode 5 going live, right behind you here trying to finish up a episode for sickboy as well (had to delay bec RL stuffs). Yep looking forward to reading it can DM me here or on Discord too (will dm you my discord info in a bit)

@kyupol lol Me calling Cedrick boyband hair is me being a pot calling the kettle black-(i gots boyband hair in RL) 🤣 True Hot guys thread needs a counterpart, need a Hot Ladies thread too, i too lazy to start a new thread you're more than welcome to start it. Havent drawn some of my fave female OCs in a while speakin of, i gots to change that

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-05 15:11:35 UTC #23

Hey, thanks a lot! Always great hearing from you. I actually made a short video for Gobby’s Adventure recently – would love to hear what you think of it

Introduction video

stiatent 2025-10-05 18:22:42 UTC #24

Most welcome friend and great hearing from you too i sent a DM

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-06 17:59:18 UTC #25

You’re the absolute best!

stiatent 2025-10-12 22:25:50 UTC #26

@valerijsdombrovskis Thanks friend Youre also the best
N wishing you a great weekend n getting your series goals finished

kyupol 2025-10-12 23:50:28 UTC #27

Another inspiration for villains... look at the mirror.

Take some of your own beliefs... and increase the ego dial on them to the max... then you have a villain.

thecamrendutha 2025-10-13 04:03:04 UTC #28

this sounds fun! i draw a lot of inspiration from myths, folklore, and older literary works.
for example, nibelung, the demon king in my fantasy novel, was inspired by wagner’s der ring des nibelungen. in my story, he’s a being who once stole divine artifacts known as gnosis, fragments of cosmic knowledge. but instead of enlightenment, he glimpsed what mortals were never meant to see… and that drove him into madness.
i like villains who aren’t evil for the sake of it, but whose fall comes from seeking truth too deeply.

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-13 05:11:20 UTC #29

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-13 05:11:54 UTC #30

Thanks a lot, my friend
Unfortunately, it’s not really working out for me so far – I’ve reworked Chapter 1, finished Chapter 6, and the view count is still stuck at 19.
Sometimes I start thinking that maybe Tapas just isn’t for me… or I’m simply doing something wrong.
It’s a bit sad, I’m putting a lot of emotion into this story – but maybe I just haven’t found my reader yet.

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-13 05:15:45 UTC #31

That’s a great point – I often tell my students that the only real difference between a criminal and a law-abiding citizen is the level of fear.
For criminals, that fear threshold is simply lower.
So, continuing your idea – to create a true villain, you just need to turn fear down to the minimum.

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-13 05:21:00 UTC #32

Or perhaps not from the loss of truth – but from losing themselves in it?
Could you share an episode from your novel that shows your villain’s typical behavior or his search – maybe even a moment of reflection on that pursuit?

kyupol 2025-10-13 16:23:14 UTC #33

You mean criminals have lower inhibitions? Yes. Also when we're between the age 15-20... inhibitions are lowest (at least I think).

I've done a lot of things that got me in trouble in school at that age. Predominantly fist fights. Even challenged one of my teachers... and officers (had compulsory military) made a scene that would have made me a TikTok viral video star if I was a student today...

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-14 05:42:57 UTC #34

Yeah, that sounds about right – teenage years are basically the perfect storm of energy, ego, and almost no impulse control I guess we all had our “would’ve gone viral if TikTok existed” moments.
Makes me wonder – do you have a character who channels that same kind of raw, restless energy? The one who acts first and thinks later, maybe even mirrors that part of your younger self?

kyupol 2025-10-14 07:57:04 UTC #35

Used to... back when I did self insert characters

This was based on a true event lol

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-14 15:17:48 UTC #36

Something about that sounds very familiar

marladravenauthor 2025-10-14 15:22:30 UTC #37

True crime documentary, movies, books everything!.
Some times I think, if I were to become a killer, wich will be my motivation based on my background?
So I can get in the character mind.

valerijsdombrovskis 2025-10-16 17:09:05 UTC #38

Exactly – motive is everything. If you imagine “what would make me cross that line”, you get much truer, messier villains. Any particular background detail of yours you’d try first as a seed for motive?

LWriter 2025-10-16 19:33:03 UTC #39

Depends, like for my current fantasy story, the main villain, Deadbone, was a combination of things. In many ways, the core of his character represents grief. In a very literal sense when it comes to the protagonist, too. And I accentuated that giving him a Dia De Los Muertos look (which he would find amusing since he eats bones hence the name), and reinforcing his and the protagonist Latin heritage. We have a closer connection to death than most, and I tried to weave that in the story and both characters, even if they are elves (he’s more like a kind of vampire created from an elf).

thecamrendutha 2025-10-17 05:51:48 UTC #40

well the story is still early, so nibelung hasn’t appeared yet. he’s only mentioned as a legend and folklore so far since the setting takes place 1200 years after he was defeated, but he will rise again.
episode 1 briefly tells about him and the great war he started.