It's not just a tick

 Just like your heroes in your stories the villains need to have some depth if you want an engaging story. Or if you are an actor, an engaging performance.. Without going into some depth for each of your major characters you run the risk of having characters that are forgettable and have little impact on your reader or audience. This does not necessarily mean that you write an entire biography for each character, but a character sketch or at least an outline of formative moments in their history. 

What was their childhood like? Did they grow up in a nuclear family? With one parent or two? Was that couple heteronormative or some other configuration? Did/do they have any siblings? What was the relationship like between the character and their family. This should probably at least a paragraph or two because family or lack thereof is very formative in our basic understanding of the world around us. We see this affect on characters in pop culture. Luke Skywalker is raised by his Aunt and Uncle because Mom is deceased and Dad is the mega villain of that section of the galaxy. There is actually a fascinating book by Robert Bly called Iron John, that does a fantastic job examining the affect of a father on the maturation and development of young men. An absent parent, or an abusive parent both may have a negative affect on the child or either gender. An overly present "helicopter" parent can also be challenging and will inform how the child turns out.

Did the child have friends to pal around with? Were they bullied or were they the bully? What was the dynamic? If they were constantly downtrodden by peers does that make them become a champion for the downtrodden or will they, once they come into their power, become the bully/villain themselves. Or was the formative treatment so devastating that the character is crushed so entirely that they become completely passive and with drawn? 

What roles does school, or religion have on the child as they grow up? These are constructions of society that could provide moral or ethical guidelines. If these influences are draconian they could have a devastating affect on the character as they grow up. Most mildly, they could become conditioned to a certain behavior. At worst they may also be crushed. Somewhere in between they embrace the societal structure and come into power in that environment and uses that power either altruistically or vindictively. Also in the middle a character might rebel against the structure and "fight the power" or overthrow the societal norms to impose their own regime. 

Did they have the influence of a mentor or mentors? A teacher or "wild man in the wilderness" like Obi-Wan Kenobi or as far back as Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh back in ancient Sumer. This is a character that helps the character learn who they are destined to be. They test your hero or villain and teach them where they fit into the universe around them. Sometimes this is by beating them down and remaking them, a bit like a modern military training, or they build them up. The outcome is that the character is either hardened and fixed in a new mindset (usually for a villain) or confident and on a mission in the case of your hero. 

Lastly, we look at the current situation of the character. Are they comfortable in their life? Are they struggling emotionally, economically, socially or physically or are they in top condition in all areas? This does not have to be an all or nothing as usually a person may be doing well in one area or another, but poorly in another. How will this inform the way they interact with their world or the characters in their world? These are decisions you make. 

The great thing about learning about your character in this depth can then allow you to create conflict and challenges in the story that specifically ping against these areas of tension, deficits or strengths. So when you are done with character design you should have one solid page of notes including their development to the point where the initiating action of the story happens. An idea of their relationships, past and present. And a rough matrix as to how they will deal with emotions, relationships, conflict, puzzles or set backs. Then throw the things that will reveal their traits and tendencies through their actions into the story by way of plot and other characters. 

Things like facial ticks, conversational mannerisms and default behaviors would be the final layer to add. However, do not add a tick or behavior just to add it. They should have a reason behind them. The villain has slurred speech, perhaps because of a traumatic brain injury or mental disability. Think of Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade. Yes he is a killer and has a reason to do so and has a specific speech pattern and accent. It makes the character memorable, but it has a basis in the back story. The bottom-line is that there should be a reason.

All in all, be thoughtful when you create characters. There are lots of things that make them the way they are. Just like you and me. Lots of things have influenced how you think and behave today. Your characters deserve nothing less.

Enjoy!