Lesson 2: Heroes and Villains That Sell The Roles!

[Tracy McMahan]

Concept: Two time travelers from the future fight during different periods of Earth’s past. The hero wants to prevent changes to the past that could endanger Earth and his family and the villain wants to change the past to obtain power in the future, regardless of the consequences to Earth’s future.
• Hero Morally Right: Ian MacAllister is stopping the Time Changers to protect humanity and save the future world and his family.
• Villain Morally Wrong: The human leader of the Time Changers, Peter Draclus, wants to use his band of robots and humans to change the past and enable his family to be the most powerful family in the future.
Hero: Ian MacAllister, known as Mac. An engineer
• A. Unique Skill Set: An engineer who can build almost anything including weapons from what is available in different time periods.
• B. Motivation: Save his family and Earth.
• C. Secret or Wound: His brother has disappeared in the future because of changes the Time Changers made in the past.
Villain: Peter Draclus, Wealthy banker and leader of the Time Changers. Wants to become President of Earth by changing the past.
• A. Unbeatable: Has used his money to create a band of robots and humans that travel through time making changes to enable him to dominate Earth and become President of Planet Earth
• B. Plan/Goal: Has used his money to buy top engineers to learn when and where Mac will be at any given time so that he can kill him and stop Mac’s efforts to thwart Peter’s plans to change the past. He’s been chasing Mac through different time periods and hasn’t been able to kill him, so he is also trying to find Mac’s grandfather and prevent Mac from ever being born.
• C. What they lose if Hero survives: His family will not dominate the future with their wealth and power.
Impossible Mission: Mac must stop the Time Changers’ latest effort to change the past and return home where his brother should now be okay.
• A. Puts Hero in Action: He needs to do more than fight the robots. He needs to destroy Peter without changing the future.
• B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: He is fighting a group of well-trained robots and humans who want to kill him and the woman from the past whom he now loves. He must also prevent the robots from killing his great great grandfather, but he doesn’t know who is grandfather was.
• C. Destroy the Villain: Mac has to fight and capture some of the robot fighters in various past times and take them apart to find out where Peter is hiding in the future. He must do this without drawing attention to himself or the Time Changers. Then he must go to the future where Peter is hiding and destroy Peter in the future in their own time, so that Mac avoids changing the past.
What I learned in this assignment is to think of more than one strategy that the villain is using to make my hero have to come up with more than one way to fight the villain.

[ATAUR BACCHUS]

ATAUR’S ASSIGNMENT 2 – HEROES AND VILLAINS THAT SELL ROLES
What I learned : Brainstorming IF ..THEN can be fruitful at any level of detail..

Enhanced Sketch:
Concept: Jesse, an ex-Ranger, fights against big mining interests to protect his small inland town from the ruthless mercenary, Noriega. The battle is a blend of guerrilla warfare, strategic brilliance, and high-stakes action.

Hero Morally Right: Jesse is fighting to resist a land grab by big mining interests and avenge the collective punishment of his fellow citizens by Noriega, a hired agent of those interests.

Villain Morally Wrong: Noriega, a ruthless ex-military leader turned mercenary, kills local smallholders and their livestock to drive them off their land, paid handsomely by the mining interests.

Hero: Jesse
• Unique Skill Set: Ex-Ranger with expertise in guerrilla warfare, weapons, and strategy in rough terrain.
• Motivation: Driven to protect his town and honor his father’s memory.
• Wound: His father was ambushed and tortured in his fields, leaving Jesse with a deep sense of guilt and a desire for justice.

Villain: Noriega
• Unbeatable: Leads a team of hardened criminals he recruited from prison, each with unique skills.
• Plan/Goal: Relishes the power he holds over the townspeople and the wealth he gains from his employers.

Impossible Mission:
• Odds Unfavorable: Jesse must unite the simple farmers into a resistance force and devise counters to Noriega’s superior firepower and tactics.
• Climactic Showdown: The final confrontation sees Jesse using his terrain knowledge and guerrilla tactics to outwit Noriega, leading to (?) a dramatic, action-packed climax.

[Bonita Early]

Bonita's Hero and Villain

What I learned from this assignment: More about my villain and even that it could be a She instead of a misogynistic man. That adds a new element.
1. Fill in the blanks and see what shows up.
Concept:
• Hero Morally Right: Wants to be better for her child and a solid person
• Villain Morally Wrong: Insecure, fearful, and treacherous behind a phony personality
Hero
• A. Unique Skill Set-athletic, quick-witted, and persistent; challenges her fears
• B. Motivation—wanting to be a mother to her daughter
• C. Secret or Wound—She doesn’t remember the reason for her severe claustrophobia.
Villain
• A. Unbeatable—He/She reported to superiors that the hero gave up intel to terrorists
• B. Plan/Goal—Blame the hero for his/her treason therefore setting the military after the hero.
• C. What they lose if Hero survives—everything: promotion, livelihood, new fame, medal, respect, and freedom.
2. If the Hero faces her fears, is a superior soldier, and smart then what might the villain have that makes her unstoppable: command, popularity, and her boyfriend/fiance is the MP Investigator hunting the Hero.
Impossible Mission
• A. Puts Hero in Action—her claustrophobia keeps her outside and moving; she’s unfit to care for her daughter, she wants to be a good mother.
• B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: Situations where she must survive while helping other people from dangerous situations; she must survive for her daughter.
• C. Destroy the Villain: When she realizes she is being accused of treason, she must avoid being caught while revealing the truth.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by  Bonita Early.

[Renee Johnson]

Subject line: Renee’s Hero and Villain
W.I.L. …. I am seeing one of my mistakes. You worded it pretty good above – I do it more than I realize and I recognize (in parts) that I stray. I’ll explain – I tend to let my characters slip away from the storyline of ACTION and slide into DRAMA. It’s obvious it takes away from their great traits of ACTION /ADVENTURE down the rabbit hole of Drama and also significantly alters dialogue and then the storyline is off track.
I like my Hero. I really dislike my Villain. So that’s all good.
This was a great assignment. I’m not sure how I want it to end yet. But the cogs are turning. The Villain will die for sure but my Hero and his girl may die also because of their story. My one thought on that is that in 3:10 to Yuma, several people stated they were disappointed to see Christian Bale’s character die in the end. Something to think about. I don’t want the audience leaving feeling cheated. I guess that settles that.