In a word... YES!
Every good story has a villian. It's your job to build that type of character into your screenplay. Remember, some bad guys are likable and heros may be irritating.
Here's something I was reading on Fathom.com: In most cases, the antagonist is easily identifiable as "the bad guy." His morals and motivations are clearly corrupt, his goals destructive--Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, for example.
In other stories, the antagonist's objectives may be less sinister but still pose the major obstacle for the protagonist. In the classic romance Casablanca (1942), for example, the antagonist is Ilsa's husband Victor, the war hero. Although the Nazis threaten Ilsa and Rick, it is Victor and all that he represents who ultimately stands between them. He, too, is fighting for Ilsa's love. Rarely does a movie succeed without an antagonist.
Even disaster and man-against-nature stories need a human opponent. If the sinking ocean liner were the only problem in Titanic, for example, the film would be thrilling but not moving.
Pretty cool, right? Take time to really develop this element into your script.
Happy writing!
Brian
********************************************
Brian K. Allen
Screenplay Writer & Coach
http://www.Scripts4Agents.com
********************************************
Dedicated to helping you learn how to write (or improve) a screenplay. In addition, we cover methods of marketing scripts and improving writer exposure.
