Evil is dumb. There’s no other explanation for why the villains continue to make idiotic mistakes that lets the hero shish-ka-bob their kidneys. There are far too many nearsighted megalomaniacs who spend all their time making complicated deathtraps, gloating over inevitable victory, only to be undone because they can’t seem to figure out how to tie their own shoelaces before running into battle. James Bond would be dead a hundred times over if his various captors and enemies had just offed him with a master sniper from half a mile away, or decided to gut him as he lay bound before them, rather than walking off and leaving him strapped to some deadly machine. It’s the fine points here. Common sense works, even if you are a villain.
Sure, stupid evil people are funny, but hardly satisfying in a story. In fact, I believe that when a villain is stronger, smarter and more resourceful than the hero that there are a lot more ways to make life suck for the protagonist, which is pretty much the point, right?
Check out this list: Stupid Plot Tricks
It starts out with, If I Ever Become an Evil Overlord (which I think I posted a variation of some time back), and lists 230 stupid things for said Overlord to avoid doing so that his downfall is no longer inevitable. This includes measures such as:
8. If an associate begins to transform into something large and threatening, I will immediately act to neutralize the threat, and not wait until the transformation is complete. Likewise, if an enemy begins to metamorphose into something else, I will immediately start whacking away at it, instead of watching in fascination.
13. Self-appointed prophets who deliver elliptically-worded warnings will be politely asked to rephrase their utterances in plainer terms. If said prophet refuses the request, a five-year-old child will be asked to explain the meaning of the prophecy.
139. If I’m sitting in my camp, hear a twig snap, start to investigate, then encounter a small woodland creature, I will send out some scouts anyway just to be on the safe side. (If they disappear into the foliage, I will not send out another patrol; I will break out the napalm.)
The If I Ever Become an Evil Overlord list is closely followed by tried truisms for the Good Guy, Starfleet Captains, and Auxiliary Characters, such as evil henchmen, sidekicks, and Legions of Doom.
A favorite of mine is from the Sidekick section:
17. If I am flying a one-man craft which is critically damaged, I will eject. Only if the ejector seat fails will I belt out a long, despairing, agonized scream as I fly the craft into an enemy structure.
Read through this not only with an eye for plotting out your scheme of world domination, but also to see what overused bits to avoid saddling your characters and plots with. Also, it can be a fun evening game to go through your video collection and see how many of these you can spot in Hollywood’s slurry of drama.
I see that smile.
I, personally, have real trouble finding the will to not absorb energy fields bigger than my head. Power, yum!
Large energy fields have been the downfall of writers everywhere. Watch out!