Prior to penning Assistant to the Villain in book form, Hannah Nicole Maehrer made a name for herself and developed the story concept through a series of TikTok skits about a “sunshine” happy-go-lucky assistant to a dark and brooding villain. Maehrer has a long-standing interest in villains, specifically their origin stories and the things they find amusing. Initially, her TikTok skits revolved around an assistant to a strong female heroine, but as her fame grew, she realized that she really wanted to tell the story of the villain and his loyal assistant. Like the novel, the skits focused on a female employee at a villain’s office, and in the beginning, they were largely improv comedy as Maehrer became more comfortable with the character. As she delved more deeply into the assistant’s obliviousness to the villain’s affections, the character started to gain traction and eventually became Evie. From there, the other characters (Trystan, Blade, Becky, and Tatianna) were developed as Maehrer put words to the page, and eventually, she transformed the 200-plus TikTok shorts into a novel.