Game: How well do you know your Main Villain?

ConstellationSkies · Jun 21, 2017

I have three villains:

The biggest one doesn't give a damn about death. He'll figure that out if there is an afterlife. Since no one's proved it yet, he's going to spend his life striving to make his life heaven - even if it makes a whole country's hell.

The traitor hopes there isn't an afterlife, but he's seen some freaky things and is fairly sure there's a higher power. He just hopes it's a bored kid on a computer because he'd much rather be reborn than deal with what he's done. He doesn't care about the people he killed or maimed - in fact, he'd do it again. And again - especially to a specific few. Anyhow, he doesn't like thinking about paying for his actions. It makes him uncomfortable.

The most-seen villain believes in a fire-and-brimstone male god without mercy, and it terrorizes him. One day, he knows he's going to die and face his lord, who has a policy of making sinners experience every hurt they have ever given to others until their deeds and their experiences balance out.

Aside from physical harm/death/imprisonment/otherwise weakening, what embarrassment/gift/policy change would make your villain permanently step away from their goals?

DarienW · Jun 21, 2017

ConstellationSkies said:
Aside from physical harm/death/imprisonment/otherwise weakening, what embarrassment/gift/policy change would make your villain permanently step away from their goals?

Your story sounds interesting. Must be hard to navigate three villains.

My villain is bent on revenge and torment and wouldn't stop until they died of some cause other than something he did. He's tricky in that he prefers torment over actually killing them himself.

What happened to your villain to make them so evil, or vindictive, or just plain nasty?

ConstellationSkies · Jun 22, 2017

I'm glad you think it's interesting! They all tried fighting for an appearance in the query letter, that's for sure

I really enjoy this thread, so I'll wriggle in again.

What happened to your villain to make them so evil, or vindictive, or just plain nasty?

The biggest villain is the second son of a noble family, which makes him the spare that inherits nothing. It's infuriating. He's worked his entire life to be better and he's just a spare. So, he'll conquer another land. He'll have more than his family could ever give and murder anyone who mentions his spare status.

The traitor was born into the lowest ring of a caste system. His name was but a number. He wasn't always bad, but freedom came at a moral choice - using his fellow escapee as a distraction. It was so much easier to abandon the second person, then the third as he escaped into a new country. There, he clawed his way up the ranks, naming himself as he double-crossed and murdered people just to stay ahead of his hunters. He couldn't care less about either of the other villains, but he'll gladly hand them his friends if they ever learn about his intentions.

The religious villain signed up to be a torturer because it paid well. His teacher trained him to hide his disgust, so torture was easy as first, then just mundane. It's not the screams or his eternal fate that keeps him up at night. It's if he saved enough this month. He should check the prisoner lists for overtime.

What is/are your villain/s top three regrets in life? (If they're all about not stopping someone who got in their way, make this question more difficult by making it their three biggest regrets from when they were a child)

Sage · Jun 22, 2017

(So glad to see you here, CS!)

ConstellationSkies said:
What is/are your villain/s top three regrets in life? (If they're all about not stopping someone who got in their way, make this question more difficult by making it their three biggest regrets from when they were a child)

Big Bad:

1) Trying to get rid of his mother in a superscience accident. He, of all people, knew how easy it was to have such things go wrong. Obviously, he'd still get rid of her, but he wouldn't get caught in the wake of it.
2) Creating that waste of space, Ace Starr, and making him so in love with Evie that he couldn't keep control over Ace
3) Not forcing Ace to kill Danny, Evie's ever-stalwart knight, when he had a chance.

Ace:

1) Inviting the other villains to his father's teleporter test
2) Not realizing his and Evie's special circumstances until it was too late
3) Not killing Danny when he had a chance (but he comes to be thankful for that)

Your villain knows, with absolute certainty, that their death will occur in the next 24 hours. There is nothing they can do about it. How do they spend their last day?

Cekrit · Jul 3, 2017

Sage said:
Your villain knows, with absolute certainty, that their death will occur in the next 24 hours. There is nothing they can do about it. How do they spend their last day?

He would make it a point to make Demi and Sage's life a living hell, he would kill as many people and do as much damage as he can before he expired. If he'd going to die, he will leave a world where no one else would want to live.

How does your villain value their own mortality?

flarue · Jul 11, 2017

Cekrit said:
How does your villain value their own mortality?

He's been given a type of immortality, more or less, so he takes it for granted a tad bit, figuring he's got all the time in the world to get things done.

What is your villain's favorite book and why?

Cekrit · Jul 12, 2017

flarue said:
He's been given a type of immortality, more or less, so he takes it for granted a tad bit, figuring he's got all the time in the world to get things done.

What is your villain's favorite book and why?

I wouldn't be able to cite a specific novel or book for him- a general answer would be the common book of law from his society. He was brought up by the Council, which is a group of stigma holders that escaped into the mountains, literally hollowed out the mountain and used its shell as protection from a military that hunted them. They are totalitarian in nature, strict, proper. Their law is the "word of god" and they believe they have been chosen by Sera to rule to world, hence their power. They only hide away so that they might build the numbers to properly fight back.

So his books of law are what he lives by.

How does your villian treat the man/woman they love?

Emermouse · Jul 12, 2017

My villain did love a woman once. It came as something of a surprise to him, falling in love. He had just assumed that love was something that wasn't going to happen to him. He tends to be awkward and weird, acting in a way that causes people to say he's all genius, but no heart. So when he fell in love and she loved him back, it was a mind-blowing experience for him. He starts to wonder if maybe humanity is worth salvaging and he doesn't need to work towards wiping them out. Then of course, his wife got cancer and died slowly.

What is your villain's Moral Event Horizon and when does he/she cross it?

For those of you wondering what the term, Moral Event Horizon means, go to TV Tropes. I should probably warn you that "TV Tropes will ruin your life" but I doubt said warning would stop you.

flarue · Jul 13, 2017

Emermouse said:
What is your villain's Moral Event Horizon and when does he/she cross it?

C- The assault(s). There's no redeeming him after that.

T- Standing by and allowing his archenemy's true love to be killed, when he could have stepped in and stopped it. "We're even, now," he reasons. "You took mine, so I will take yours."

What is your villain's greatest, deepest regret?

Cekrit · Jul 13, 2017

flarue said:
What is your villain's greatest, deepest regret?

I'm not sure if he has the emotional capacity for regret. He is lawful evil, whatever he does he is 100% commited to it being the right thing, so I guess his biggest regret would be the fact that so many close to him didnt see his truth before he had to kill them.

So many lost friends.

That, or not killing Demi while they were still young and Demi outgrew him in power.

What is the last thing they think about when they fall asleep, what is the first when they wake up?

Sage · Jul 13, 2017

Cekrit said:
What is the last thing they think about when they fall asleep, what is the first when they wake up?

Ace: Evie Evie Evie.

But sometimes I think about the last thing Evie was thinking about when I wake up, which, sadly, is not always me.

What is the one thing your villain desires most that isn't in the text of the novel?

neandermagnon · Jul 13, 2017

Sage said:
Ace: Evie Evie Evie.

But sometimes I think about the last thing Evie was thinking about when I wake up, which, sadly, is not always me.

What is the one thing your villain desires most that isn't in the text of the novel?

Real love and friendship. He doesn't consciously realise it though, and doesn't fully understand that admiration and people being afraid to cross him isn't the same thing, or that by making people afraid of him, he's preventing them from truly liking or loving him.

What is the one thing that's most likely to make your villain doubt his or her abilities or motives, even if just for a fraction of a second?

flarue · Jul 14, 2017

neandermagnon said:
What is the one thing that's most likely to make your villain doubt his or her abilities or motives, even if just for a fraction of a second?

T: His weakness for a certain friend. She tends to bring out more of his humanity and sympathy, that's been lost underneath all of his evil deeds.

If your villain were to die, what would (s)he want written on his/her tombstone?

S.I. Mansson · Jul 16, 2017

flarue said:
If your villain were to die, what would (s)he want written on his/her tombstone?

Oh, this seems like so much fun!

He wouldn't want a tombstone at all, actually. He's an ancient, immortal deity and if some pathetic little meatsack found a way to take that away from him, he'd rather be forgotten than face the humiliation of our puny mortal death-rituals.

What would your villain be like as a parent?

neandermagnon · Jul 16, 2017

S.I. Mansson said:
Oh, this seems like so much fun!

He wouldn't want a tombstone at all, actually. He's an ancient, immortal deity and if some pathetic little meatsack found a way to take that away from him, he'd rather be forgotten than face the humiliation of our puny mortal death-rituals.

What would your villain be like as a parent?

Terrible. His tribe (40,000 years ago) have no concept of paternity, albeit that men are expected to be loving towards their female partner(s) and supply them with meat, look after them when heavily pregnant or nursing newborns, etc, and men generally become attached to their female partners' babies, and people generally consider babies to be adorable and they watch over each other's children. Not my villain though. He's too much of a selfish control freak. He leaves that kind of thing to everyone else in the tribe. He'll show preferential treatment to his female partner(s) children (whichever female he likes best at the time) in an ostentatious kind of a way, but isn't really capable of forming a lasting relationship with any of the children. Or any of the women for that matter. They only have sex with him because of his status and the fact he has the largest share of the kill. Everyone's scared of him, which is why they don't rebel against him. Kids will know that he's not someone to get on the wrong side of, and therefore keep their distance from him.

Did your villain get along with other children easily when they were a child?

travelgal · Jul 17, 2017

neandermagnon said:
Did your villain get along with other children easily when they were a child?

My protag Leela is a villain, but since I did her in the other thread, I'll do her sister's best friend, Madeline, the cucktoo her parents wish to replace Leela with.

Madeline is beautiful, and boys in particular gravitated to her for that reason. She had plenty of friends despite a terrible home life for she is charming, creative and academically smart. Kids who like arts and books were and still are her best friends. She's good at making people feel sorry for her despite doing serious harm to others through her thoughtlessness and need to belong.

Leela's parents and sister are the other villains/antagonists, but I won't get into them here.

What was the worst day of your villain's life?

CoffeeBeans · Jul 17, 2017

travelgal said:
What was the worst day of your villain's life?

I have a bad guy and an antagonist, but neither would really be a "villain" in a typical sense, so I'll answer for the antagonist.

His worst day is when his trickery gets called out. He's had a pretty good life up to that point - wealthy, handsome, charming. He just got a little greedy and underestimated his target. The day isn't that bad because she caught him, but because she told everyone he'd been trying to sabotage her career

How close is your villain to winning it all? If they had to do it all over again, what would they change?

Nogetsune · Jul 18, 2017

In my new WIP the villain has basicly already won. In the real world she is the wealthiest and most elite of elites, with access to reality-manipulating tech to do with as she pleases. The government bows to her every whim because without her, they'd be broke.

In the sim worlds, including the one the story largely takes place in, she is litteraly God; every aspect of the sims are under her total control and she can do anything she wants there; if she wants 2+2 to equal fish in the sim, she can make that happen. If she wants to make it rain kitties, she can do that too.

However, "Nekohime," as she calls herself in the sim worlds, is first and foremost a gamer. She lives for the rush of "the game," for engaging her genius intellect and experiencing something she rarely does...an actual, stimulating challenge.

So if she had to do it over I think she's re-start her life and from a position where she was not born with the excessive abundance of privileges and advantages she had. She'd want to experience the challenge of trying to claw her way up from the dregs instead of starting out among the wealthy.

Your villain has died, but the God-figure of your setting gives them the opportunity to live again instead of going to your world's version of hell...with a catch..they have to live as the last kind of person they'd want to be while they where alive (I.E a rich spoiled brat or noble would have to live as a person suffering through poverty or a pesant, a white supremacist would have to live as a person of color etc...). Do they accept the offer, and if they do, what are they in their new life?

cpatten · Jul 20, 2017

Nogetsune said:
Your villain has died, but the God-figure of your setting gives them the opportunity to live again instead of going to your world's version of hell...with a catch..they have to live as the last kind of person they'd want to be while they where alive (I.E a rich spoiled brat or noble would have to live as a person suffering through poverty or a pesant, a white supremacist would have to live as a person of color etc...). Do they accept the offer, and if they do, what are they in their new life?

My villain would definitely become his twin brother. They always were competitive growing up and he thought his twin brother was weak, pathetic, etc. He strove to be the opposite of his brother--A strong leader who people looked up to.

He would take the offer, because he cares more about living than anything.

Which disney villain would your character hang out with and why?

Nogetsune · Jul 20, 2017

Definitely Syndrome/Buddy Pine from the Incredibles. They are both huge nerds, especially when it comes to tech, and both value doing their villainy with a hammy sense of style. The rest of the Disney villains sans Hades are too serious for her tastes, and out of Hades and Syndrome she has more in common with Syndrome.

I imagine most of their time spent together would be passionate discussion, and perhaps debates, about science, technology, other nerd stuff. Even if Buddy thinks he's doing good for the world while Nekohime simply lives to enjoy herself, the two would get along because they "speak the same language"...in both the science/tech nerd sense, actual nerd sense and their similar, cynical views on morality. While Nekohime may not care about helping anybody, she doesn't dislike people who do....she is not so much immoral as amoral, and she would appreciate Buddy's intellect and passion as much as he would appreciate hers. Likewise, Buddy would appreciate her city of Nekotokoro and the "reject reality and replace it with a better one we make" mantra at the heart of it, since it mirrors his own desire to make being super the norm.

More importantly, though, Buddy knows how to have fun. He knows how to toss out amazing one liners and quips. While most of the other Disney villains would spend the entire time brooding or talking about themselves, Buddy is somebody she could laugh with, geek out with, and actually engage in an intellectually stimulating conversation with. The two of them are also big kids at heart, and I can see them doing a lot of silly things once they realize the other is just as childish as them. Oh, Nekohime also would love exchanging research, inventions and ideas with Buddy..provided he proved interesting enough....and he'd probably be impressed at what she managed to create as well.

Flipping that around, what Disney heroine or hero could your villain stand to be around for more than a few minutes, and vice-versa?

Shirokitty · Jul 20, 2017

Lerissa would no doubt choose Simba, because she has a soft spot for animals. Really, anyone with fur and four legs would probably work. She might get along with Belle, but simply being human means she would most likely become another victim to Lerissa's experimentation.

As for the red-eyed man, he'd choose all of them. Best case scenario, one of them proves they're worthy of being his lackey and he can kill the rest. Worst case scenario, he slaughters them all... and he enjoys a slaughter.

If your villain had to date any one good person in your story, who would it be? Provide an explanation of what this person is like.

Flambeau · Jul 21, 2017

My villain is dating a good person in the story; in fact, he's dating the heroine! She is his opposite in many other ways too. While he is flamboyant, flowery, sophisticated, confident, and sly, she is tomboyish, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, insecure, and brutally honest.

If your villain had to have a soft spot for one group of living things, what would it be? (I.e. animals, kids, plants, brunettes with long hair and gaps in their teeth, etc.)

Nogetsune · Jul 27, 2017

This one is too easy. Nekohime calls herself Nekohime for a reason. Granted, it's mostly because she likes to look and act the part of an "kawaii", anime-style catgirl...but that does not change the fact she is very much a kitty person. She loves cats, but especially cute ones...she's more fond of the kind of kitties you would keep as a pet then things like lions and panthers. In the real world, she actually has a kitty named Momo...who is her only true "friend," and the only living creature she feels she has anything in common with.

If your villain ran a business of some kind, what would it be, and why? If your villain already runs a business, what other kind of business could you see them running? (Note ruling a nation or holding a similar political power-position does not count as "running a business," here...the "business" they would run must actually provide some kind of good or service to the economy and must be private sector, not public sector.)

Paula Davids · Jul 28, 2017

Well, My villain, Mr Neethling runs a game and wine farm. If he could indulge his dream it would probably be to open a cake shop that he could entice children into.

Is your villain aware of the gracious villainy trade fare in Arkham? What would he or she most hanker after.

Nogetsune · Jul 31, 2017

I think your may have been lost. Well, it was lost to me at least, but in the name of getting this thread moving again I'll take my best guess at what the reference is and say it's like a black market fair put on by the batman villains, because out of Batman and Lovecraft such a fair seems more like something out of Batman.

That being said, Nekohime is not there for the goods if she's there at all. She already has way better tech than anybody from Batman's verse, and in her reality slaves and other playthings are exceptionally easy to come by. So if she's there, it would be for the personalities and visceral experience of it all, rather than the goods. As a self-described "gamer" she'd enjoy testing her wits against people like, say, the Joker, and considering their similar penchant for putting things in motion I'm almost positive one of them would start something. As for who it would be, well...with both of them it's hard to say since the two of them are equally unpredictable and determining the odds of who the instigator would be is essentially a crapshoot. Even if the Joker isn't present she'd still have plenty of other interesting personalities to interact with, and perhaps push in just the right ways to make the fair a little more interesting...

Your villain is, likely against their will, forced by an omnipotent being they can never hope to challenge to work at McDonalds as a lowly fry cook or cashier, being taken out of their own reality to facilitate that if needed. How do they cope with being brought so low?

Game: How well do you know your Main Villain?

ConstellationSkies

DarienW

ConstellationSkies

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

Cekrit

flarue

Dreaming of Waltzes & Fantasy Lands

Cekrit

Emermouse

flarue

Dreaming of Waltzes & Fantasy Lands

Cekrit

Sage

Supreme Guessinator

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!

flarue

Dreaming of Waltzes & Fantasy Lands

S.I. Mansson

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!

travelgal

CoffeeBeans

Nogetsune

cpatten

Nogetsune

Shirokitty

Flambeau

Nogetsune

Paula Davids

Nogetsune