Journey of the Villain
I. Ordinary World
The villain believes they are on the journey of the hero, or they are doomed to be a villain (and they know it, or not yet). The establishment of the ordinary world is at the crux of the villain’s journey, more like tying ropes around posts on the dock to keep the boat from setting sail than planting seeds for growth. In the journey of the villain, there are unique circumstances regarding the identity of the character or there is a tragic event early on in life that makes our potential hero go bad—from being abandoned at birth to bullied at school to witnessing or being a victim of brutality—something evil marks the villain early on. However, this kind of event or circumstance is often the journey of the hero as well, also known as the underdog, many of whom had childhood trauma that gave them superpowers, for bad example. But rather than undergo the journey of learning from that change in order to change again, they refuse to confront the initial change, pressing on, their focus fueled by denial.
II. Call to Adventure
The villain is determined to adhere to the dream they’ve always envisaged, which is to say they eventually fail to accept their changing perspective in addition to their specific plans. The call to adventure is the high point for the villain, probably too high. During this phase we begin to see how the villain disregards the suffering of others that comes at the expense of achieving their goals, by their own hand or otherwise by the power invested in them.
III. Refusal of the Call
Where the hero wants to turn back because the journey is not what they thought it would be, the villain is in the same sinking boat, only the villain identifies this as a mere challenge of ambition, muscling through their doubt, pushing their necessary questions down and away to get to where they want to go next. The power of the villain’s fear this early in their journey is to keep them from processing the view of the road ahead, choosing ignorance by putting on blinders (i.e. Cypher in “The Matrix”).
IV. Meeting the (Wrong) Mentor
Where the hero meets the mentor whose words will echo to give them strength and wisdom in the future, the villain meets someone I’ll categorize as the wrong mentor. This is a turning point for the villain as the one who should be a mentor is instead abusive, deceptive—this may act as the triggering event for the making of the villain, especially if this person was initially viewed as a surrogate parent.
V. Crossing The Threshold
VI. Tests, Allies, and Enemies
VII. Approach to the Inmost Cave
VIII. Ordeal
IX. The Reward
X. The Road Back
XI. Resurrection
XII. Return