Create a Formidable Antagonist
At the end of Book 3, Bright Blue Planet, Caroline is convinced that an attack on Earth is imminent, and other characters confirm it, so when I started to think about Book 4, I went straight to the question, What kind of opponent will the inhabitants of Earth be up against?
I’d purposely been very vague about this looming attack, except for the fact that it was going to be a very bad thing.
It was important to me that the Jovians remain mostly nonviolent, though they have slowly moved from a position of devout nonviolence to one that’s become blurred.
So, what would this battle of nonviolence look like?
The so-called “Battle of Philadelphia” that took place in Bright Blue Planet consisted of clones—much stronger than “ordinary” humans—relieving the humans of whatever weapons they had gotten their hands on and one-by-one taking them to the ground (then escorting them out of the battle site). This was the Jovian version of hand-to-hand combat.
Few people died in that fight, and those who did succumbed to self-inflicted wounds.
Suffice it to say, whatever battle was (and still is) to come, I did not want it to entail blowing up bridges and shooting machine guns.
So, what would this formidable attacker look like?
It would have to be invasive and deadly, not something Earthlings are used to seeing. Something from outer space, something that fights in a non-traditional (non-human) manner.
As Caroline tells President Annalise Abela in response to her declaration that the world’s soldiers will be ready, “You will need the tactical thinking of your armies, their organization, power, and presence—but not their weapons. Their weapons will be useless.”
Enter the Moon Children. They are lethal, beautiful, indigenous to their moon origins, and awe inspiring.
The first time the Moon Children came to me as a possible name for an extraterrestrial species occurred when I was writing Bright Blue Planet (Book 3). I needed Evander to toss out the name of a creature that might be involved in a forthcoming attack, and I wanted the species to come from the Jupiter System.
The Jupiter System is made up of the giant gas planet with the immense red eye and ninety-five moons—yes, ninety-five! So I decided Moon Children was appropriate for a species named after its place of origin.
Evander mentions that the Moon Children once lived on Io, a moon about the same size as Earth, but that’s pretty much all the information I provide in Book 3.
A deeper study of Jupiter’s moons showed me that not all planetary satellites look silvery-pretty like our moon does, but Io and Europa, two of the better-known Jupiter moons are dark gray, extremely cold, and icy.
Europa has a frozen crust over what scientists believe is a massive saltwater sea. I took all of these facts (and many more) into consideration when creating the species that lives there.
Our moon has phases, and while Io’s and Europa’s do not, the idea of a species that perpetually changes from one thing into something else influenced my design. It also amps up how frightening and unpredictable they are.
I won’t say any more about the Moon Children because I don’t want to spoil their entrance in story. I will say they have been extremely entertaining to me, as the writer of the book. They are truly fascinating creatures!
I hope you’ll agree.
Tips for Bringing to Life a Fierce Antagonist
Start with Mystery. Reveal the antagonist in bits and pieces. Let the readers’ imagination run wild before you show them your cards. Think Harry Potter’s Voldemort. Other than the fact that everyone feared him to the point of not even uttering his name, we didn’t know the details until the later books in the series.
Give Him Special Talents. Even if he’s human, you’ll want him to be special in some ways that make him the powerful, understandably feared person/creature he is.
Give Him Weaknesses. No one is all bad or all powerful, and when the reader can identify and understand what motivates the antagonist and what flaws he lives with, it makes for a more-effective, realistic character.
Let Him Make a Scary Entrance. Show evidence of his strength before your reader sees him in the flesh. What we imagine is usually much scarier than reality. Then, when it's time, bring him into the story in a scary way, whether that's major action or quiet, Hannibal Lecter–style calm.
Make Him Seem Uncaring and Unstoppable. The antagonist creates the tension, and it’s not until the climax that we find out whether he can actually be beaten.
Give Him a Good Reason to Be Evil. The best antagonists want to further their cause or seek their goal, and they often don’t think they’re doing anything wrong.
