UKA THE UNDYING, the zombie sorcerer, is experimenting with flashes of dark magicks to blast the minds of bards! Illustration provided by Mustafa Bekir.
"Flashes of Wonder" is posted irregularly. It will feature a sword and sorcery flash fiction prompt. -JRC
Rendering Villainy through Costuming
Sword and sorcery villains bear a lot of narrative weight. Memorable villains have complex personalities, their evil actions driven by specific and often contradictory motivations and psychodramas. But how can writers externalize such internal psychological elements for readers without resorting to long passages of inner monologue, a narrative technique often (though not always) precluded by sword and sorcery genre expectations? One often-overlooked tactic is costuming. Imagine a sword and sorcery villain and describe their costume in detail, using clothing, accessories, and colors to symbolize their inner psyche, i.e., to signal their motivations, their contradictory impulses. For example, maybe they wear all black to represent their cynical worldview, or they might display flashy jewelry to demonstrate their greed, or they might wear religious icons or symbols to clarify their loyalty to dark powers. Moreover, give a sense of time to their costuming; show how their appearance has evolved over time, thereby giving the reader an opportunity to reflect on their growth or descent into darkness. How does their wardrobe interact with the setting and other characters? Let the clothing speak for the villain and deepen their personality in unexpected ways. 300-500 words.
