I would like to draw your attention, first of all, to this post here. A traumatic or tragic past really shouldn’t serve to justify the actions of an antagonist or otherwise morally-divergent character. All that information can really do is allow the reader/main character(s) to understand why this character has acted in such a way. It doesn’t make their actions okay though…
As for coming up with backstories, the only thing I can suggest - as I suggest often - is to question your story. If you’re creating an antagonist, then I assume you have a world and story setting already. You probably have an protagonist, as well as other characters.
It’s a common misconception that a ‘story’ is made up of events or happenings (that would be plot). In truth, a story is created by a character and their actions, aka, the things they choose to do. You will be able to construct your antagonist’s backstory once you begin to look at how they are linked to the other characters you have in your cast, and look at what decisions that 1) these other characters have made, versus, 2) the decisions your antagonist has made, to get them all to where they are at the beginning of the story.
Your antagonist has to have a good reason for opposing the protagonist. It can’t just be, ‘because I need someone to oppose the protagonist’. In what way are these two involved, and what has occurred between them to pit them against each other in such a way?
If they haven’t met yet, or only meet during or at the beginning of the story, in what way does each one’s past make an impression on their future to put them at odds. By this I mean… is it political beliefs that divide them? Cultural experiences? Classism? Race? What bigger picture exists around them to make them against one another?
A person’s background is complicated after all. It is just the same for your characters. And it doesn’t have to be ‘tragic’ or ‘traumatic’ for a character’s antagonistic actions to be ‘understandable’.
Look at a character like Loki, for example, in the Marvel movies. Up until he learnt of his true origin, he was raised in a loving, caring environment. His adoptive mother especially loved him as much as she loved Thor, and Odin didn’t have to bring Loki in. There was a genuine affection there; Loki wasn’t emotionally or physically abused, he wasn’t isolated from everyone, and his parents didn’t a make a point of how ‘different’ he was to Thor in any obvious way.
It was Loki himself who took his origin to be a reason why his parents hadn’t pushed him to lead, etc. Because he couldn’t see his own flaws, he put it on them, to make it look like it was their fault, and that they were leaving him out in some way. As viewers though, we can understand why he might come to that conclusion. We can see how a younger Loki might have looked at his brother and his family, and felt isolated or different, even if they weren’t the ones to encourage those feelings in him.
So don’t restrict yourself to the ‘tragic’ antagonist’s backstory if you don’t feel like there’s any reason for one.
Anyway… since this is a question seen often around the writing tumblr community, I’ll point you in the direction of more detailed resources:
Resources
- What to do with your antagonist
- How To Write The Bad Guy
- Creating an Antagonist
- Creating Memorable Characters: Antagonists
- FYCD Previous Answer: Creating Believable/Purposeful Antagonists
- FYCD ‘Sympathetic Villains’ tag
Otherwise, best of luck, Anon! I hope this helps.
- enlee