- The Villain is the shy weirdo.
This blog post was inspired by the novel One by One by Ruth Ware and the topic the book review invoked on a cliche to avoid.
Disclaimer: It not the intention of this blog to discredit one particular novel. I enjoyed Ruth’s book. This was just the most recent example that I could think of, with the acknowledgment that this trope is quite prevalent in the Mystery/Thriller genre as a whole.
First:
The killer is the shy weirdo: Wrong. Life has proven over and over that serial killers are typically extroverts, with a wife, 3.5 kids, and a white picket fence. They host little league games and walk their neighbor’s dog, lmao. Why? It’s not in fact obvious that they would have done it because they are perceived by society to have it all. It’s very literally, hiding in plain sight.
A more accurate portrayal of serial killers worth the watch (British tv show): The Fall
Yet still, most mystery/thriller authors persist with a trope that does real introverts and people with social disorders a great disservice. Only to find that most serial killers aren’t in fact shy or eccentric in any outward way that people could point to.
Author tip: In the mystery/thriller genre, reality should influence fantasy much more heavily.
Second:
It’s that megawatt smile that hides a true horror. Not the person too shy to smile because there worried about offending. These real-life serial killers also tend to have tragic backstories (that authors love to write as motive) that friends, neighbors, and the like all know about but swore the happy extroverts got over. Right up until the moment, the police find cut up limbs in the basement. So no backstory is lost by making this integral personality change. These people are more twisted in my opinion because their mind is where the evil lives and the only person who sees their true face is the victim at the other end of their weapon of choice.
Unhonorable Mention:
(We’re talking in absolutes here and there are always exceptions to the rule that I’m going to take a moment to acknowledge here. But not to the depth portrayed in these mystery/thrillers.)
Sore spot alert for the sensitive reader: More specific cliches to avoid in scenes consist of bullying, shyness, odd tendencies, and isolation from friends and others, as they all tend to be associated more with school shooters, and sometimes mass shooters. A subject rarely touched on in these kinds of novels for a variety of good reasons. However, there is a sharp distinction there that is rarely heeded too and leads to the shy weirdo cliche to avoid. Mystery/Thriller novels tend to focus on serial killers, the crazy wife, and to a lesser extent terrorists.
Then treat them as such when developing those personalities. For instance, terrorists tend to be extremely charismatic to the people that follow them and their beliefs, again, not shy weirdos. The crazy wife is probably heavily involved in several community groups and has a tight-knit group of friends, that in true to life fashion, are going to love getting interviewed on tv when they tell the world how they were friends with a crazy person and they knew it all along, but secretly worried for their life (not). Again, not the shy weirdo cliche of a housewife whose only friend is her garden plants. Stop it.
Most Introverts or people classified as eccentric usually find their place in the world thanks to a little place called College and/or various community groups you didn’t know existed as a child. They’re not keeping sawed-off feet in their basements. You know who is, the extrovert who always had to be perfect and never got therapy for that tragic event that happened in their life when they were five.
Lastly:
My writing: I can’t promise that my villains will always carry the mantle of an extrovert. However, they will be people easily recognized, not for their level of eccentricity, but because there someone’s mother, neighbor, ex-lover etc. My motto will be to create dangerous, everyday people. The stranger you know. Not the introvert you irrationally fear, a cliche to avoid.
I would love to hear about Mystery/Thriller novels that avoid the shy weirdo trope for its villains if you know of any, so comment down below!
