Am I the only one who finds it boring when all the villain/antagonist wants to do is kill the protagonist
Like it kills the drama - or overkills it, depending on the story. The villain only wants to kill the protagonist, meaning they won't have to go through much trouble. Reasons that the killing doesn't work get more convoluted and unbelievable the more times the protagonist escapes death. There's not much of an emotional relationship between the villain and hero.
And all that "keep him alive so I can kill him myself" or "her death must be public and painful" crap is just over-dramatic nonsense
Give me a villain who needs the hero captive in order to study them or get information from them or use them for their skill. I love kidnapping situations though they're really hard to pull off long-term because of how much power they take away from the protagonist (*wistful sigh* anyone remember Osprey?). Give me a villain who needs to train the protagonist to do what they need (*wink at Hannah*) or is linked to the protagonist in a way that makes their death a danger to the antagonist. Give me an emotional connection between the protagonist and antagonist (not like "I am your father" but like "I have power over you and what're you gonna do about it"). Give me a villain that has leverage over the protagonist, maybe killing their friends but that's also kinda boring.
I dunno, maybe I'm just a sucker for kidnapping situations (as long as they don't involve anything sexual), and maybe I just watched the White Collar episode where Neal Caffrey gets kidnapped and remembered how much I loved it, but I like antagonists that need the protagonists alive.
I feel like I didn't explain that very well, idk. Does anyone feel me? Why are "the hero must die" situations boring for you?
