Just the name inspires awe, a level of attention and gravity. Because it was a name before it became a noun: she was the ancient Greek goddess of revenge and retribution against those who committed any kind of hubris.
In stories though, a character that takes the position of nemesis, must be the main, most insurmountable foil for the protagonist; the one person (or group of persons, or agent, or force of nature, you name it) that the protagonist cannot win over, cannot overcome, cannot conquer.
The nemesis outclasses every and any other antagonist in the story from the first moment the spotlight is on him/her/it. The audience realizes somehow or suspects that he/she/it is the Big One.
The only difference, in my opinion, is when the spotlight really falls on the protagonist’s nemesis. It might be in the last act, if he/she/it had been working in the shadows, lurking and conniving with machinations, or just unnoticed by circumstance or chance; or it might be from the get go, to immediately set the stakes on what the final confrontation will entail.
Both can work excellently to set the tone, mood and suspense in a story. Even more so in webcomics, when the story is complemented with strong visuals and ‘camera’ angles.
In my opinion, a story is defined by the nemesis as much as it is by the protagonist. So much so that the nemesis might decide the story’s genre- for example, when nature is the nemesis, we get disaster movies.
In the same token, the nemesis defines the protagonist, just as the protagonist defines the nemesis as well; I’ve always thought, for example, that the Joker is basically Batman’s doppelganger, drawn to antagonize Batman because they’re both intelligent, violent and willing to go above the law to enforce what they want (whether it is nihilistic anarchy or ordered state/benevolent crony capitalism, depending on the writers, heh heh).
On the other hand, Batman as a character defines Joker as his nemesis, because Joker employs the exact principles and methods that go against everything that could constitute Batman’s approach. They are nearly equal forces, with different methods and philosophies and motivations, that continually clash- and that makes for ultimate confrontations and great drama: Sherlock Holmes vs. Moriarty, MacGyver vs. Murdoc, Jean Valjean vs. Inspector Javert, Light vs. L, Zuko vs. Azula, Johann vs. Dr. Tenma… everyone has the nemesis that matches.
Or maybe the one they deserve?
So what about you? Is there a nemesis in your webcomic? Will there be?
Nemesis
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 14, 2017
4 likes!
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Udyr at 7:10PM, Jan. 14, 2017
I love this article, well written and it's a very interesting subject. I love "comic science". Personally I've not done many comics up til now with a proper villain, but as a kid when i created comic stories there was always one guy/woman that would try to ruin for the main character in a tasteful way. Classic prince-fighting a evil witch/wizard style. I got a nemesis in varied formats in my new comic story project and maybe some unusual turns; like dating your rival whom you're constantly trying to overcome, only to find their death leaving you clueless and without direction.
Banes at 11:50AM, Jan. 14, 2017
Fascinating stuff! The idea of a true Nemesis as opposed to an Antagonist is new to me. Very very cool! I don't think I've ever written a Nemesis, but it would be nice to try it at some point!
KimLuster at 5:56AM, Jan. 14, 2017
What an outstanding article! Well done..!! The Batman mythos also sometimes (and often outright) suggest that the Joker wouldn't even exist without Batman, that in a way, Batman created the Joker! That's a gut punch: you're trying to fight criime, but the worst crime only exists because you do... I've sorta taken this theme up a notch in the Godstrain. The main Big Bad, Eli Hoff, was just your run-of-the-mill pedophile, but to Kimber Lee (via her suppressed childhood memories) he was an voilent unstoppable force, and then she, via the super-infectious power of the Godstrain, unwittingly made him exactly that!! So, while he now represents a formidble physical threat to her (and to the U.S. Military), he also can be see as her fighting against her own inner demons. It's in the latter sense that I haven't fleshed out Eli's personality all that much - this isn't about Him as much as it is about Her!!
usedbooks at 5:32AM, Jan. 14, 2017
I'm terrible at writing villains, so I'm basically still in an experimental stage. My early attempts at true nemeses were so pathetic, they had to die. :-P Used Books doesn't have a single identifiable protagonist, so it's a little tricky to have a defined antithesis character. Kaida has too many loathed characters and has no desire to confront any of them. Seiko is always attempting to understand and ally with people. Yuki is really the only character actively confronting "bad guys." For her, the enemy is the crime syndicate, and her nemesis is the, as yet unknown, leader of it. So I suppose that person is the true UB nemesis. More a puppetmaster than a direct opposing force, though. The immediate and present threats are what most of the protagonists focus on.
Ozoneocean at 4:30AM, Jan. 14, 2017
That would be Cc then :D
PaulEberhardt at 4:17AM, Jan. 14, 2017
The end boss! I mostly associate nemesises (what's the plural of nemesis, anyway??) with the way those old jump & run games tried to procure a climactic ending, and I found that really lame if they were just to be beat by brute force, rather than cleverness - i.e. just about always. But I do love a nemesis that is a bit more complex and perhaps a little mysterious, or if a protagonist is his or her own greatest enemy without realising it. That's either good for laughs or at least interesting. I used to have two candidates for a nemesis for Gundula in store, a bureaucrat who has a brief appearance in one of the very first episodes, and an obsessed academic I've never shown. They wouldn't have been a mirror to her, but more of a perfect antithesis, that makes Gundi's character stand out more. I soon abandoned both of these characters, though, as I felt they'd just get in the way of everything else I have in mind with the comic. I might get back to that if I do something else, though.
MOrgan at 4:04AM, Jan. 14, 2017
I suppose M.Organ's nemesis is Throckmorton P.Oodle. Although since M isn't a hero, TP is more of a serious annoyance. ;-)
Tantz_Aerine at 3:14AM, Jan. 14, 2017
It doesn't have to be the villain. It could just be the opposing force. It could even be the hero, depending on the approach the story is taking. It's just the other hand in a bras-de-fer :)
Ozoneocean at 3:12AM, Jan. 14, 2017
So this isn't so much a traditional villain, but a specific antagonist mirror for the hero?
bravo1102 at 1:34AM, Jan. 14, 2017
Another fantastic news post. You got it right on the money. Even now I can hear that "we are much alike, except I am the dark version" speech the nemesis is contractually bound to give. Since I try to break tropes, there are no recurring nemesis characters. There's a villain and she will die. But being evil is so easy that there is always another ready to step into her shoes. The nemesis in my stories is not an individual but a way of thinking. You can kill an evil doer, but that does not stop evil.