How often while reading a book, have we found ourselves being sad over the death of the antagonist? It is so often the case that a protagonist is a dull person who has sheer luck while the antagonist is a complex character who brings life into the story. Antagonists play a very important role in building the character of the hero and make the story interesting. Without them, our too-perfect hero will remain an arrogant person who believes he is at his zenith. One example which could be given is that of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is a boy who becomes “The Boy Who Lived’ because of his mother’s charm. This same boy then escapes Voldemort repeatedly, but he doesn’t do it alone, ever. He always has luck on his side. For instance, in The Chamber of Secrets, the second installation of the series, he would have died if not for Fawkes the phoenix. Even in Goblet of Fire, he would have died if not for Priori Incantatem, a phenomenon that occurs due to the sharing of cores of Voldemort and his wand. The Dark Lord Voldemort on the other hand was born an orphan with no real family. He despises his Muggle father and eventually kills him. He has such a complex personality which provided depth and dimension to his character. The way books set up villains nowadays is very interesting. The protagonist and antagonist, both, are given a tragic backstory, yet it is something only the hero was able to overcome but the villain wasn’t. We see someone flawed, and it’s a direct reflection on us. The hero was wronged, but the hero is so perfect that he overcame it and became stronger, and that doesn’t resonate with most of us. We would much rather see someone take revenge on those who wronged him. It is a somewhat sadistic opinion but a common one. We start to understand the villain, even empathize with them, and that’s when we start liking the villain. They’re more like us but strong enough to fight back against those who wrong them. One example of such a character is Siachen from the book Map of Bones by James Rollins. Her character has a mysterious air about her. We often see her gentle side as well. She spares the life of the antagonist Grayson Pierce, and she is seen joining forces with him when they face a common enemy, the church. I would like to end by saying that many times, although we feel strongly about the villains in a book for what they are doing, it is these same characters that add flavour and life to a book, preventing it from becoming just another ‘happily ever after’. After all, we may be deemed a villain in someone else’s story.