| 1 | [[center:[-[[Characters/ChildOfTheStorm Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormHarryThorson Harry Thorson]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormHarrysFriends Harry's Friends]] ([[Characters/ChildOfTheStormCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]]) | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormAvengersAndAssociates Avengers and Associates]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormOtherHeroesAndAllies Other Heroes and Allies]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormTheMagicalWorlds The Magical Worlds]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormCivilians Civilians]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormGodsAndCosmicEntities Gods and Cosmic Entities]] | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormXMen X-Men]] | '''Villainous Groups''' | [[Characters/ChildOfTheStormNonAlignedVillains Non-Aligned Villains]]-]]] |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | This page lists tropes associated with the Villainous Groups in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm''. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | '''Beware: Spoilers for''' '''''Child of the Storm''''' '''are''' '''''unmarked.''''' |
| 6 | ---- |
| 7 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | [[header:HYDRA]] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The leading villains of the first book, ''Child of the Storm'', the fallout from their actions and defeat influences the second book, ''Ghosts of the Past.'' |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 14 | |
| 15 | * AdaptationalBadass: This version briefly manages to put the entire ''world'' at its mercy, something only the ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' incarnation in the comics can claim to better. |
| 16 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: As they discover in the finale of ''Child of the Storm''. In retrospect, using the Darkhold was probably a bad idea. |
| 17 | ** The Red Room, since they were (and are) a government funded organisation, so have a far greater depth of resources and manpower, and are even more terrifying than HYDRA themselves. |
| 18 | * AncientConspiracy: Originally. The bulk of the organisation is a modern creation with no interest in its origins. |
| 19 | * ArchEnemy: To SHIELD, [=MI13=], and, latterly, the Avengers - Captain America above all. In the case of the former, they were trying to mould it into something similar via HYDRA infiltrators, via the whole HeWhoFightsMonsters thing. |
| 20 | ** Also to the Red Room, who [[TheDreaded scare even hardened HYDRA leaders.]] |
| 21 | ** Magneto also qualifies, for obvious reasons. |
| 22 | * BadassArmy: One trained and commanded by [[EmpoweredBadassNormal Baron Zemo.]] |
| 23 | * BadBoss: Lucius in particular tends to regard most of his personnel as entirely expendable. |
| 24 | * CannonFodder: See BadBoss. Most mooks are regarded as totally expendable. |
| 25 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: As shown when Strucker goes after Narcissa for negotiating with SHIELD, for which Lucius murders Strucker and takes the position of Supreme HYDRA. Meanwhile, Pierce cheerfully leaves Lucius to swing in the wind when the Shadow Initiative, Harry and company, and [=MI13=]'s Excalibur squad reduce his base to rubble. |
| 26 | * EliteMooks: The Winter Soldier and the Red Hood function as this, as do the Extremis Soldiers, though the latter suffer from the WorfEffect in their brief appearances. |
| 27 | * EqualOpportunityEvil: They'll employ anyone, despite their Nazi connections. |
| 28 | * EvilWearsBlack: They favour black tactical gear. |
| 29 | * FacelessGoons: The vast majority that appear do so in black tactical gear. |
| 30 | * {{Ghostapo}}[=/=]StupidJetpackHitler: They used to be this, but they've mostly discarded the Nazi theme. |
| 31 | * TheHeavy: The Winter Soldier is mainly this, though so is Gravemoss, and occasionally, the Red Hood. |
| 32 | * HegemonicEmpire: Seek to establish this over the entire world via shock tactics - in chapter 74 (after they took out the Avengers on their home turf, capturing most of them and nearly killing several others), it almost succeeds. |
| 33 | * TheInfiltration: The faction within SHIELD consists of about a third of SHIELD's total membership, including some of its highest ranked officers - it would be more, were it not for the fact that SHIELD's Psi-Division was impervious to this, thanks to screening would-be members, and HYDRA therefore had to step lightly. At the end of ''Child of the Storm'' Pierce is caught redhanded by Fury, who'd pulled a BatmanGambit on Lucius, and a purge promptly ensued. |
| 34 | * KlingonPromotion: An accepted method of ascending in HYDRA, as shown when Lucius murders von Strucker, then has the Winter Soldier shoot a dissenting Conclave member. |
| 35 | * LegionOfDoom: They provide the main villains for ''Child of the Storm'', so... sort of. |
| 36 | * MotiveDecay: Originally, it was an ancient cult that worshipped one of the first Inhumans. By the 20th century, it had developed into two factions: the original one, the religious branch, which was tiny and borderline irrelevant, and the much more powerful scientific branch, which disdained and/or forgot about the religious HYDRA and focused on [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]] for its own sake. The latter was closely tied to the Nazi regime and Grindelwald's Empire, led by the Red Skull. |
| 37 | * NaziNobleman: Baron von Strucker plays this straight. Baron Zemo, however, rejects Nazism - he's a SocialDarwinist, thank you very much, and he doesn't give a damn about race. |
| 38 | * NearVillainVictory: After chapter 74, they appear to have the entire world in the palm of their hand. However, they'd fatally over-extended, and don't get the chance to consolidate - the Winter Soldier, before being brainwashed again, managed to slip the heroes the location of HYDRA's base. With the help of [[MagnificentBastard Doctor]] [[TheChessmaster Strange]], the tables are promptly and violently turned. |
| 39 | ** Even with that, ''Ghosts'' notes that had Pierce not been caught red handed, the HYDRA within SHIELD would likely have remained undetected and reaped untold gains in power and influence thanks to the threat of the HYDRA without. |
| 40 | * NebulousEvilOrganisation: Probably the most powerful, until their catastrophic defeat at the end of ''Child of the Storm''. |
| 41 | * NGOSuperpower: The faction within SHIELD effectively is this, while the faction outside briefly ascends to this status in the latter parts of ''Child Of The Storm''. |
| 42 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: Several examples - notably, Alexander Pierce appointing Fury to the Directorship of SHIELD, HYDRA's evisceration of [=MI6=] and [=MI13=] which allowed the ruthless Peter Wisdom the chance to take charge of [=MI13=] and reform the organisation into something much more lean and dangerous, as well as effectively taking charge of British Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, and ordering the Winter Soldier to kill a child when that is well documented as the one thing he will ''not'' do, triggering his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 43 | ** Von Strucker's attempt to also grab Narcissa Malfoy counts, as EvenEvilHasLovedOnes and this leads to [[spoiler: Lucius killing Von Strucker and taking sole control of HYDRA, making the organization more dangerous]]. |
| 44 | * OddlySmallOrganisation: After Operation Overlord, they are dramatically cut down to size, and reduced to a single base. It is admittedly very well hidden and armed, boasting; a Vibranium hulled Helicarrier armed with Destroyer cannons, capable of duelling the [[MoreDakka ludicrously heavily armed Project Wolftrap]] several squadrons of fighter jets, and multiple Avengers including Thor... [[CurbstompBattle until Magneto happened.]] That and the fact that they're plugged in to SHIELD's intelligence network (which in turn is diverted by the HYDRA within from finding them), have multiple superhuman operatives including a [[PhysicalGod Loki-level]] {{Necromancer}} wielding the Darkhold in the form of Gravemoss, and are hidden even from Heimdall's sight, means that they can strike hard and with impunity. However, when they are found, it does not go well for them. |
| 45 | ** It is also implied towards the end of ''Child of the Storm'' that they're rebuilding and expanding into other bases. |
| 46 | * OffScreenVillainDarkMatter: It seems this way, though it has a lot to do with Lucius Malfoy being filthy rich and bankrolling them, also siphoning off money from other ex-Death Eaters. Also, they swiped some SHIELD resources including a Helicarrier, and are implied to have acquired quite a lot of money over the years - [[FridgeBrilliance after all,]] when you've got one of the world's most powerful AIs as your EvilGenius, a little electronic financial fraud is a piece of cake. They also have access to magic and some exceptionally advanced technology. |
| 47 | * PlayingBothSides: Their modern modus operandi. After they were defeated in WWII, the scientific HYDRA split further, between the faction within SHIELD and the faction outside. The faction within used the actions of the faction without and other terror groups to coax SHIELD towards its agenda. Only a select few even suspected its existence until Nick Fury caught Alexander Pierce red-handed. |
| 48 | * ReligionOfEvil: The original HYDRA. The modern HYDRA also has a somewhat cult-like atmosphere. |
| 49 | * TheRemnant: The faction outside of SHIELD is this to the WWII HYDRA. |
| 50 | * SendInTheClones: Mentioned a few times as a way to boost their flagging manpower. |
| 51 | * SmugSnake: Baron von Strucker, who is outplayed by superior MagnificentBastard Nick Fury, and even more superior MagnificentBastard Lucius Malfoy, who himself is reduced to this by the biggest bastard of them all, Doctor Strange. |
| 52 | * TakeOverTheWorld: As Lucius puts it, it's a good start. |
| 53 | * TerroristsWithoutACause: It used to be a ReligionOfEvil, then spin-off Nazism, now it's mostly just [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]] for the sake of it. |
| 54 | * UnwittingPawn: To both Chthon and Doctor Strange, the latter of whom was simply waiting until they over-extended themselves before arranging for them to be crushed. |
| 55 | * VillainDecay: Between WWII and the modern day, they went from a global - or at least, continental - scale threat, to a punchline and annoyance. Of course, the HYDRA within SHIELD was arguably more powerful than any of its predecessors had ever been, and under Lucius Malfoy's influence, they experience a dramatic resurgence. |
| 56 | * WeHaveReserves: Lucius in particular regards HYDRA mooks as being entirely expendable, mostly because he can have more cloned if needs be. |
| 57 | * WesternTerrorists: Though they operate worldwide. |
| 58 | * WhatMeasureIsAMook: HYDRA goons are consigned to fairly miserable fates by both their [[BadBoss bosses]] and their enemies, and no one really cares. |
| 59 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Lucius pulls this on Strucker and then Pierce pulls this on him. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Lucius Malfoy]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | !!Lord Lucius Malfoy |
| 65 | |
| 66 | -->''Wizarding Britain is not enough. The '''world''' is not enough. But it's a start.'' |
| 67 | |
| 68 | Pureblood Lord, formerly one of the IdleRich after Voldemort's fall. Thor's reveal that he'd once been James Potter and consequent reclamation of his son spurs him into action and to become TheSpymaster and DiabolicalMastermind that he once was. But this time, he's operating on a much larger scale, becoming the Supreme HYDRA via KlingonPromotion, and successfully masterminding a strategy that completely dismantles the Avengers and puts the world at his mercy. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, however, both have other ideas, making this position unsustainable. After the Battle of London, where Chthon, gets involved, Lucius flees and is occasionally mentioned as having found a rock to hide under. |
| 69 | ---- |
| 70 | [[hardline]] |
| 71 | |
| 72 | * AdaptationalBadass: His canon counterpart was a skilled political operator and powerful duellist, but [[IdleRich little more.]] This version is a brilliant [[TheSpyMaster spymaster]], [[MagnificentBastard several steps of]] [[TheChessmaster (almost) everyone else]] and [[AmbitionIsEvil out for world domination.]] And he's more than capable of it. He only uses magic twice on-screen, simply because he generally doesn't have to. |
| 73 | * AffablyEvil: Wanders the line between this and FauxAffablyEvil. He doesn't really do things ForTheEvulz, and he does have [[EvenEvilHasStandards standards]]. What he is, however, is thoroughly sociopathic. |
| 74 | * AmbitionIsEvil: See the folder quote. |
| 75 | * ArchNemesis: He and Fury are each other's. |
| 76 | * AristocratsAreEvil: Completely. |
| 77 | * TheChessmaster: He is an excellent schemer, and runs rings around everyone who isn't named Stephen Strange and, eventually, Nick Fury. |
| 78 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Trusting him is a very bad idea. |
| 79 | * DespotismJustifiesTheMeans: Ultimately is out for this. |
| 80 | * DiabolicalMastermind: Prefers moving the various pieces of his plans from the shadows, leaving multiple ways out and leaving others to take the fall. He's very, very good at it. |
| 81 | * DirtyCoward: As T'Challa points out, and Draco later confirms, while he's actually a very skilled duellist, he'll only fight if he has absolutely no other choice, and will instead hide behind his minions and pull a VillainExitStageLeft at any given opportunity. |
| 82 | * DragonAscendant: In respect to Voldemort after the fall of the Death Eaters and his ascent to command of HYDRA. |
| 83 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He does seem to genuinely love his wife and son, and a large part of the reason that he kills Strucker is that he went after his wife. Of course, he didn't know that it was because she was talking to SHIELD. |
| 84 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: He was horrified by pretty much everything that Gravemoss did in chapter 21. |
| 85 | * EvilChancellor: He was this to Voldemort, with a touch of TheStarscream but generally content to remain TheManBehindTheMan, and recognises Baron Zemo as a man of the same stripe. |
| 86 | * EvilCripple: For a given value of cripple. |
| 87 | * EvilGenius: He was this to Voldemort (who was something of an EvilGenius himself), handling the everyday details. |
| 88 | * EvilOverlord: As of chapter 70, steadily accelerating towards this trope. As of the end of chapter 74, he essentially is this. Unfortunately for him, Fury always has a backup plan. |
| 89 | * EvilOverlordList: Reviewers occasionally ask if he's read it. The answer is no, but he could apparently write a credible version - though he isn't immune to some of the follies warned against. |
| 90 | * EvilVirtues: ''Ambition''. He has it in spades. |
| 91 | * FatalFlaw: Overly complex plans and {{Pride}}, in the form of arrogance. |
| 92 | * FauxAffablyEvil: Perfectly friendly and charming when it suits him, if you ignore the arrogance. He's just vaguely sociopathic and doesn't really acknowledge the existence of those he considers beneath him. |
| 93 | * FictionFiveHundred: He is hinted to be as rich, if not richer, than the Potters, putting him well into the billionaire bracket. |
| 94 | * {{Foil}}: |
| 95 | ** Positioned as one to Fury - both are crippled [[TheSpyMaster spymasters]], both are cold, ruthless pragmatists willing to do anything to achieve their objectives, both are natural leaders who command armies, and both assemble and manipulate powerful allies to their own ends. The main difference is that Fury actually cares for others and has genuinely good intentions - he wants to protect the world, while Lucius wants to rule it. |
| 96 | ** Also to Peter Wisdom. Both are the sons of ancient pureblood lineages, both joined the Death Eaters, ruthless, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] [[TheSpyMaster spymasters]] before realising the value of MugglePower and eventually turning against Voldemort and abandoning the ideals of pureblood superiority. The only differences are that Lucius is a ruthless SocialDarwinist who's only out to benefit himself and his family and he only turned away from the Death Eaters after Voldemort fell and Pureblood ideals after he joined HYDRA. And even then, Lucius maintained ties with the Death Eaters, while Regulus is determined to hunt them down and destroy them. |
| 97 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Once, he was simply a powerful part of the Death Eater Inner Circle, before becoming one of the IdleRich. Not a nobody, but limited in his influence. Then, he arranged a powerful alliance between the Death Eaters, HYDRA and Gravemoss, acquiring the Darkhold for the latter, disposes Strucker, takes control of the Winter Soldier and with him, HYDRA, and becomes the temporary ruler of planet Earth. |
| 98 | * GeniusCripple: Walks with a limp - which means that he actually needs his ClassyCane - courtesy of Nick Fury. It is implied that he suffered further damage in that fight, thanks to Fury leaving him to burn to death. |
| 99 | * GentlemanWizard: Fits this trope, despite being evil. |
| 100 | * HandicappedBadass: He doesn't like fighting, but that doesn't mean that he can't. |
| 101 | * IdleRich: After the fall of Voldemort. Swiftly discards this once he [[TookALevelInBadass retakes his levels in badass]]. |
| 102 | * LeanAndMean: He is tall and lean and very, very mean. |
| 103 | * LoveRedeems: A dark subversion. His love for his family drives him to murder von Strucker and take over HYDRA. |
| 104 | * KlingonPromotion: Exploits this to become head of HYDRA. With the Winter Soldier at his back, no one argues. |
| 105 | * ManipulativeBastard: See above. |
| 106 | * ManOfWealthAndTaste: Very much so, and complains that one of the problems of going to be debriefed by Gravemoss is that the [[NoodleIncident last time he did that, he never got the stains out of his robe.]] |
| 107 | * OhCrap:When he realizes that his base is under attack. |
| 108 | ** And in chapter 77, when he realizes that Strange has thoroughly, and more or less effortlessly, OutGambitted him. |
| 109 | ** Shortly after this, he calls Pierce for help--only to discover that the other man already knew about, or at least suspected the existence of, the Shadow Initiative, and is content to rest on his laurels while Lucius takes the heat. Cue SkywardScream and ScrewThisImOutOfHere. |
| 110 | * ThePlan: As it turns out all of his actions in the fic have been leading to the point where he is indisputably in charge of HYDRA, controlling the Winter Soldier and with enough financial firepower to do pretty much whatever the hell he likes. |
| 111 | * TheSocialDarwinist: By chapter 59, he has discarded, or rather, modified, his previous belief in Pureblood superiority to take into account superhumans and groups like HYDRA. Now, he still believes that only the strong and superior should rule, he's just altered his definition of who qualifies. |
| 112 | * TheSociopath: Possibly. While he does seem to love his family, he ticks every other box for this trope. |
| 113 | * TheSpymaster: Served as this to Voldemort, and was good enough to outmatch a young Nick Fury. That said, he had both a head start and a considerable resource advantage. |
| 114 | * TookALevelInBadass: As compared to his canon counterpart. While he, at first, appears as if he's going to be something of a joke villain, this was discarded as part of the change in tone around chapter 11 and he quite quickly evolves into one of the most dangerous characters in the entire setting. Not bad, considering that he's only actually used his wand twice on-screen. |
| 115 | * UnholyMatrimony: With Narcissa. By all evidence, they're very happy together. |
| 116 | * VillainExitStageLeft: Escapes during the chaos of the first book's FinalBattle. |
| 117 | * VillainRespect: To Nick Fury, who he despises but respects. Also Arthur Weasley, weirdly enough, once he realises how effective muggle tech is, complimenting Arthur on realising this before everyone else and having the good sense to take a job with Tony Stark where he'll be respected and well paid. Unfortunately, Arthur doesn't live for very long afterwards. |
| 118 | * VisionaryVillain: He intends to unite the world under HYDRA and then go further. As he puts it, [[AmbitionIsEvil the world is not enough. But it's a good start.]] |
| 119 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: In his own mind, at least. |
| 120 | * WickedCultured: He's a man of wealth and taste. |
| 121 | * WorthyOpponent: Considers Nick Fury to be this. Hates his guts, mind you, but respects his abilities. |
| 122 | * WoundThatWillNotHeal: One of the reasons that he hates Fury is that the other man somehow managed to damage his leg so thoroughly that even magical medicine couldn't entirely repair it. And there's implied to be something else that happened to him that night, after Fury left him to die in the flames of Malfoy Manor. |
| 123 | * XanatosSpeedChess: He is very good at turning an adverse situation to his advantage, as chapters 22 and 50 demonstrate. |
| 124 | * YouAreACreditToYourRace: He has this attitude, mixed with a sizeable dose of pure hatred, towards [[ArchNemesis Nick Fury.]] He also holds this towards Baron Zemo and Doctor Zola and to an extent towards Muggles in general, admiring their technology. He used to hold this attitude towards Baron Von Strucker, but later changed his mind. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness This did not end well for the Baron]]. |
| 125 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: He absolutely loves this trope. |
| 126 | * YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: For all his evil, he has standards. [[OmnicidalManiac Gravemoss]] [[AxeCrazy doesn't.]] |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Baron Von Strucker]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | !!Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker |
| 132 | |
| 133 | The leader of HYDRA, and former ally of Lucius Malfoy. Is all too eager to renew that alliance in order to take advantage of the world's changing status quo and ensure [=HYDRA's=] dominance. In retrospect, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness this was a bad idea.]] |
| 134 | ---- |
| 135 | [[hardline]] |
| 136 | |
| 137 | * AdaptationalWimp: Not exactly weak, but he doesn't match up to his canon counterpart in cunning or physical threat and is killed by Lucius Malfoy in chapter 50 on the grounds that he'd outlived his usefulness. |
| 138 | * AristocratsAreEvil: He's a NaziNobleman, so... |
| 139 | * ArtifactOfDoom: Possesses the Satan Claw, which allows him to drain the lifeforce of others, enabling him to maintain his own life. Unfortunately for him, Nick Fury is CrazyPrepared. |
| 140 | * GeneralFailure: Is easily outclassed and OutGambitted in the field by Fury. |
| 141 | * LongLived: Was in his prime during World War II, and is still at it, thanks to the Satan Claw. |
| 142 | * NaziNobleman: He was one, back in the day. |
| 143 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: He's actually competent enough that [[MadScientist Zola]] and [[EvilChancellor Baron]] [[IFightForTheStrongestSide Zemo]] tolerate his command. However, he's well out of his depth with Fury and Lucius. |
| 144 | * SmugSnake: He's reasonably competent, and is sharp enough to notice the pattern of Zemo's [[IFightForTheStrongestSide loyalty]], but he's nowhere near as good as he thinks he is, getting the better of Lucius a grand total of once. And when Lucius [[LetsGetDangerous gets serious]], the disparity in their abilities as schemers and manipulators becomes very obvious. |
| 145 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: Is the [=13th=] Baron Von Strucker. Things don't end well for him. |
| 146 | * ThoseWackyNazis: Has been one since their glory days. |
| 147 | * VillainousFriendship: Subverted. He appears at first to be close friends with Lucius, but it soon becomes apparent that beneath the friendly facade, they're each only using each other to achieve their own ends. And unfortunately for him, Lucius is better at it than he is. |
| 148 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Is on the receiving end of this from Lucius. |
| 149 | [[/folder]] |
| 150 | |
| 151 | [[folder:Gravemoss]] |
| 152 | |
| 153 | !!Gravemoss |
| 154 | |
| 155 | -->''Death is a gift, little mortal. And tonight… I am feeling '''very''' generous.'' |
| 156 | |
| 157 | A Light Elf {{Necromancer}}, banished long ago from his realm for his use of black magic. Now in the employ of HYDRA, though it's clearly only for as long as it pleases him, and everyone else in the organization is scared stiff of him. Possessor of the Darkhold during ''Child of the Storm'' (though which is possessing which is a good question). Last seen being hit by a MegatonPunch from Jean-Paul and either vaporised or punched somewhere past Jupiter. |
| 158 | ---- |
| 159 | [[hardline]] |
| 160 | |
| 161 | * AdmiringTheAbomination: Practically squees when the Winter Soldier shows up. |
| 162 | * AnArmAndALeg: |
| 163 | ** Sif cuts his arm off during the fight under Paris. [[HealingFactor He just grows it back.]] |
| 164 | ** Dresden cuts his arm off again during the FinalBattle. Since it was done by use of a Soulfire lightsaber this time, [[AntiMagic it]] ''[[AntiMagic doesn't]]'' [[AntiMagic grow back]]. This realisation absolutely horrifies him. |
| 165 | * AncientEvil: He's about 1500 years old, so qualifies as one by himself. |
| 166 | * AndShowItToYou: Does this to Sif in chapter 45. In response to this, is on the receiving end in chapter 75 from Harry Potter. His HealingFactor repairs it. |
| 167 | * BasementDweller: From one point of view, he's a classic nerd squatting in a friend's basement. From another, he's also an [[HumanoidAbomination abomination]] into whose lair only the very unfortunate and the very stupid dare go. |
| 168 | * BlackComedy: A master of doing this via unintentional pop-culture references. |
| 169 | * DirtyCoward: Per WordOfGod, this is why he never directly fights the Avengers unless it's with a sucker punch he's sure will work, and why whenever something goes unexpectedly wrong, his go-to response is to run like hell. |
| 170 | * TheDreaded: Is feared by everyone. |
| 171 | * ElaborateUndergroundBase: Had a comfortable lair in the Paris catacombs, until the battle with SHIELD and Dresden forced him to evacuate. After that, he spends the period up to the Battle of London [[BasementDweller living in the basement]] of [=HYDRA's=] own underground base. |
| 172 | * EvilSorcerer: Specializing in all things relating to death. |
| 173 | * EvilerThanThou: Even HYDRA and the Death Eaters are afraid of, and disgusted by, him. The only exceptions are Doctor Zola, with whom he shares a VillainousFriendship, and possibly Baron Zemo, who doesn't seem all that bothered. |
| 174 | * GodOfEvil: Already a borderline example, adding the Darkhold cemented it. |
| 175 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: During the FinalBattle, he breaks down the barriers between worlds in order to feed off the chaos and spiritual energy, but this just enables Strange to likewise feed off all the additional magic being fed into the Earth from the other dimensions. |
| 176 | * ImmortalsFearDeath: His own. He loves the idea of everyone else's, but he's absolutely terrified when someone actually succeeds in hurting him, with Dresden's Death Curse leaving him with an enduring fear of the man in question - though that part is probably because he has no idea how Dresden survived casting it. He's also terrified of the Phoenix, and with good reason. |
| 177 | * KilledOffForReal: Possibly. It looks like Jean-Paul hitting him while he was possessed by Chthon with an Infinite Mass Punch, channelling the full power of the Speed Force into him vaporised him, though Chthon remarks that he's actually orbiting Jupiter. Either way, chances are he won't be causing much trouble in the future. |
| 178 | * LightIsNotGood: He's a pale-skinned albino Light Elf, and is also pure evil. |
| 179 | * LongLived: Roughly 1500 years old. |
| 180 | * MegatonPunch: On the receiving end from Jean-Paul. [[UncertainDoom It may or may not have killed him]]. |
| 181 | * {{Necromancer}}: An incredibly powerful one at that. |
| 182 | * NotInThisForYourRevolution: A villainous version. He's only really working for HYDRA because they offer the best opportunities for mass carnage and he owes them for acquiring the Darkhold. |
| 183 | * OmnicidalManiac: Like Thanos (who it is implied he has served in the past), he wants to kill everyone and everything. Unlike Thanos, however, his ultimate goal seems to be rule over a universe of the dead. |
| 184 | * PhysicalGod: Was arguably this already. Add the Darkhold, and he's bordering on full blown GodOfEvil. |
| 185 | * PragmaticVillainy: Even he had every reason to fear the bringing of the full power of the Darkhold, and thus [[EldritchAbomination Chthon]]. |
| 186 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After [[HumiliationConga repeatedly]] having his [[CurbStompBattle ass handed to him]] during the FinalBattle, which includes [[AnArmAndALeg losing an arm]], and then sensing [[TheDreaded Strange's]] presence nearby, he decides to cut his losses and flee. Chthon has other ideas. |
| 187 | * SoftSpokenSadist: he's got a soft, lulling voice... he's also sadistic beyond words. |
| 188 | * TooSpicyForYogSothoth: He notes that the Dementors won't feed on his memories, since they're too vile for them. |
| 189 | * UncertainDoom: It's unclear whether Jean-Paul's MegatonPunch vaporised him or, as Chthon suggests, blasted him past Jupiter. |
| 190 | * UnskilledButStrong: Downplayed, since he's fairly skilled. He's survived duels with Loki and Strange in the past, and good enough to force Dresden to pull out his Death Curse to beat him. However, when Strange actually goes toe-to-toe with Gravemoss, he's utterly outclassed, and the heavy implication is that Strange only let him get away the first time because he would be useful later. |
| 191 | * VillainousFriendship: Gets along remarkably well with [[MadScientist Doctor Zola]], much to Lucius' concern. |
| 192 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Is seemingly killed when Jean-Paul rams him at light speed, but this is not confirmed. |
| 193 | * YouExclamation: When the Phoenix briefly manifests during the FinalBattle. |
| 194 | [[/folder]] |
| 195 | |
| 196 | [[folder:Baron Zemo]] |
| 197 | |
| 198 | !!Baron Helmut Zemo |
| 199 | |
| 200 | -->''[[TheUnfettered There is something to be said for being a monster. If you are a monster, you have no limits. If you have no limits, you have nothing holding you back. And if you have nothing holding you back, you are truly able to fulfil your potential.]]'' |
| 201 | |
| 202 | A leader of HYDRA, and the organisation's field commander. Has been described as both [=HYDRA's=] answer to Captain America, and along with Doctor Zola, the true brains behind the organisation. Is generally unfazed by anything and everything. |
| 203 | ---- |
| 204 | [[hardline]] |
| 205 | |
| 206 | * AffablyEvil: Is unfailingly polite and will [[BaddieFlattery genuinely compliment]] a WorthyOpponent on their skills. |
| 207 | * ANaziByAnyOtherName: Gets annoyed when T'Challa accuses him of this, explaining that he is TheSocialDarwinist and deriding the Nazi obsession with "cosmetics." |
| 208 | * AristocratsAreEvil: It's ''Baron'' Zemo. |
| 209 | * BewareTheQuietOnes: Second only to the Winter Soldier in this regard. |
| 210 | * BloodKnight: At the very least, he's usually on the look-out for a WorthyOpponent to test himself against. |
| 211 | * CompositeCharacter: Of his Earth-616 self and his ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' self. |
| 212 | * DeadpanSnarker: He has an extremely dry sense of humour. |
| 213 | * TheDragon: Right hand man to first Von Strucker then Lucius, in conjunction with Zola. |
| 214 | * TheDreaded: Is rightfully feared for his combat skills, having once slaughtered in an entire US Army patrol when caught by surprise, and armed with nothing but a sword. |
| 215 | * EnigmaticMinion: His true motives and true reasons for joining HYDRA (who killed his father) remain a mystery - though chapter 75 suggests that he's a SocialDarwinist. |
| 216 | * EqualOpportunityEvil: The root of his disdain for Nazism, dismissing its obsession with "mere cosmetics", pointing out how Nazis would see T'Challa as subhuman, where in fact T'Challa is a SuperSoldier, WarriorPrince, and GeniusBruiser who Zemo comes to see as a WorthyOpponent after he TookALevelInBadass. |
| 217 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Doesn't take kindly to being called a Nazi, because he sees Nazism's obsession with race as preventing proper [[SocialDarwinist Social Darwinism]] from taking place. |
| 218 | * EvilChancellor: Serves as such to Baron Von Strucker and then to Lucius Malfoy. |
| 219 | * EvilMentor: To his protégé, Jason Todd, taking the Batman role. |
| 220 | * EvilVirtues: |
| 221 | ** ''Diligence'': Consistently described as efficient and hard-working. |
| 222 | ** ''Humility'': Usually in the form of VillainRespect. He's got a bit of an ego, but he fully accepts the possibility of being beaten and both applauds and appreciates opponents who can go toe to toe with him. |
| 223 | ** ''[[UndyingLoyalty Loyalty]]'': To HYDRA. [[IFightForTheStrongestSide Not, however, to the person leading it if they prove to be unworthy.]] |
| 224 | ** ''Patience'': Tends to maintain a calm demeanour in fights, chapter 60 showing how he's perfectly content to let his opponent tire themselves out. |
| 225 | ** ''[[VillainousValor Valour]]'': He doesn't run from fights, even with equals. He will, however, make a strategic withdrawal if he is outmatched and outnumbered. He's brave, not stupid. |
| 226 | * FunetikAksent: One that only appears when he's annoyed, agitated or, in Lucius' words, deriving some obscure amusement from the situation at hand. |
| 227 | * IFightForTheStrongestSide: Serves Strucker as long as he proves worthy of leading. When Lucius assassinates him and takes over, Zemo is the first to pledge loyalty. |
| 228 | * KnightOfCerebus: When he takes the field, odds are good someone is going to die or come ''very'' close, as the kids and T'Challa find out. |
| 229 | * LegacyCharacter: Is the second Baron Zemo. However, his father Heinrich is a subject of AdaptationalHeroism, being a German noble officer who was assassinated by the Red Skull for defying the Nazi regime, whereas Helmut is not only HYDRA but a leader of the organization. |
| 230 | * LightningBruiser: Very fast and when required, he hits very hard. |
| 231 | * LongLived: He's around seventy years old; he's been fighting since the 70's at least and he's still got the physique of a man in his prime. |
| 232 | * MadeOfIron: An extended fight with two SuperSoldier level opponents in quick succession, T'Chaka and T'Challa (killing the former and crippling the latter), leaves him barely scratched and breathing fast. The rematch with T'Challa has him demonstrate similar durability and even Logan stabbing him in the back doesn't do much more than make him reassess the wisdom of continuing the fight in question. |
| 233 | * MalevolentMaskedMan: As per canon, the mask is stuck to his face. This makes it next to impossible to read his expression. |
| 234 | * MasterSwordsman: He's killed entire US Army patrols with nothing but a sword, and demonstrates his skills on T'Chaka (who he kills) and T'Challa (who he cripples) without taking more than a few scratches. |
| 235 | * MotiveRant: An understated one to T'Challa when the latter demands to know why he - whose father was killed by HYDRA - joined the organisation in question. |
| 236 | * MysteriousPast: No one knows all that much about his past or his motivations for joining HYDRA, despite the fact that they killed his father (explained by his view of his his father as a fool clinging to a lost past). |
| 237 | * NervesOfSteel: Nothing, absolutely nothing, particularly fazes him. The most emotional he gets is irritated at the name of Operation Overlord, then mildly peeved and [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] in chapter 60 when the Destroyer knock-off he's remote controlling has been blasted from Colorado to a potato field in Russia, and somewhat annoyed at having missed the Winter Soldier's HeelFaceTurn. |
| 238 | * NoNonsenseNemesis: He rarely wastes words and and gets the job done with maximum efficiency. Aside from Daken, he's the one person who really comes close to killing Harry (via HYDRA's Destroyer), and unlike Daken, he didn't have to drive him into a rage to do it, simultaneously nearly killing the rest of the aged up kids in less than ten seconds. |
| 239 | * OfficerAndAGentleman: Always courteous, to allies and enemies alike. |
| 240 | * OnlyAFleshWound: A bullet in the shoulder is only sufficient to annoy him, and being stabbed in the back by Logan doesn't slow him down much either. |
| 241 | * PopCulturedBadass: Hinted to be aware enough of ''Series/DoctorWho'' to make a very dry joke. |
| 242 | * PurpleIsPowerful: As befitting his place in HYDRA's aristocracy and his formidable skill set, he wears purple. |
| 243 | * SocialDarwinist: Like Lucius, believes that the strong are meant to rule the weak, and anything else holds mankind back. |
| 244 | * TheStoic: He never gets more than mildly peeved or somewhat irritated, and even being stabbed in the back by Logan doesn't make him lose his cool. |
| 245 | * TheStrategist: His role in HYDRA, along with being their field commander. He's specifically described as being 'HYDRA's Captain America', while WordOfGod refers to him as 'the Anti-Cap' and 'exactly as frightening as that implies.' |
| 246 | * SuperSoldier: It's not entirely clear how powerful he is, but he's up there. He's capable of flattening Greyback in less than two seconds, and Lucius notes that when it comes to it, he's fast enough to make a vampire blink. He also proves capable of killing T'Chaka and overpowering T'Challa without getting more than a little out of breath. |
| 247 | * TheUnfettered: Freely admits to being this in chapter 75 and extols its virtues, considering it to be the primary means of realising one's full potential. |
| 248 | * VillainExitStageLeft: Like Lucius, he flees during the first book's FinalBattle after his fight with T'Challa is interrupted by Wolverine, and disappears. |
| 249 | * VillainousFriendship: He and Zola get on fairly well, as do he and Lucius. |
| 250 | * VillainRespect: Expresses genuine admiration towards Harry for his effective IndyPloy. |
| 251 | ** Is impressed by T'Challa's speed and on their rematch, compliments the improvements he's made to his style. |
| 252 | * WorthyOpponent: Why he spares T'Challa. |
| 253 | [[/folder]] |
| 254 | |
| 255 | [[folder:Doctor Zola]] |
| 256 | |
| 257 | !!Doctor Arnim Zola |
| 258 | |
| 259 | -->''Those who do not know that they are beaten can prove the most dangerous of enemies.'' |
| 260 | |
| 261 | The Red Skull's former right-hand man, and the founder of the modern version of HYDRA, of which he is now a key member. A MadScientist of the highest order, nothing is too depraved for him. |
| 262 | ---- |
| 263 | [[hardline]] |
| 264 | |
| 265 | * AGodAmI: In chapter 74, he gloats that he is effectively one to Tony Stark. Tony is unimpressed. |
| 266 | * AtLeastIAdmitIt: Considers America hypocritical, as at least the Nazis were ''efficient'' in their genocide. |
| 267 | * BrainUploading: Did this decades ago, into a series of robots and mainframes, usually wandering around in an LMD designed after his original body. |
| 268 | * CardCarryingVillain: Has absolutely no illusions about his (lack of) morality and doesn't care one bit. |
| 269 | * ForScience: The only justification he requires for doing anything, which he learned from his teacher, [[spoiler: Nathaniel Essex/Sinister]]. |
| 270 | * GeniusLoci: He's become a borderline example, and in chapter 74 he boasts to Tony that, having taken over Avengers Tower, he is nothing less than Tony's god. |
| 271 | * HerrDoktor: A fairly classic case - though he's Swiss, thank you very much. |
| 272 | * IFightForTheStrongestSide: Like Zemo, will follow whoever leads HYDRA, so long as they're worthy of it. After Lucius' coup, he's right behind Zemo in declaring loyalty. |
| 273 | * MadScientist: He's arguably the purest example in the series, exceeded only by Sinister, his former teacher. |
| 274 | * MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate: Will do anything to anyone for the sake of his experiments, and expanding [=HYDRA's=] power. |
| 275 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: As Lucius notes, his appearance belies just how dangerous he is. Chapter 74 demonstrates it for everyone else, with his single-handedly taking down Avengers Tower. |
| 276 | * OmnidisciplinaryScientist: A master of everything from AI and robotics technology to high end genetic manipulation. |
| 277 | * TheSmartGuy: For HYDRA. |
| 278 | * ThoseWackyNazis: Admits he was one and has no regrets, but generally seems to regard the Nazis as inefficient. |
| 279 | * {{Technopath}}: And an extremely powerful one, having become a borderline GeniusLoci. While this enables him to get the better of JARVIS - at least, the first time round - Hogwarts sent him packing. |
| 280 | * VillainousFriendship: Gets along disturbingly well with Gravemoss. |
| 281 | ** He also gets on fairly well with Zemo and Malfoy. |
| 282 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's left unclear whether JARVIS' counter-attack and the subsequent crippling of the ''Dreadnought'' killed him, or whether, like Zemo and Lucius, he fled when the tide turned. In Chapter 61 of ''Ghosts'', Bucky confirms that he hasn't been seen since the Battle of London, with no one sure whether or not he survived, though it's believed he didn't, given that it was [[MagnetismManipulation Magneto]] who downed the ''Dreadnought''. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Alexander Pierce]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | !!Alexander Pierce |
| 288 | |
| 289 | -->''SHIELD and HYDRA [[NotSoDifferentRemark aren't so different...]] See, SHIELD’s enemies are the same as our enemies. They always have been. [[WellIntentionedExtremist Chaos, conflict, disorder... they need to stamped out. We both agree on that. We both believe that peace is not something that should be rewarded, it is a responsibility. The only difference there has ever been is the lengths that we are willing to go to see that dream come to fruition.]]'' |
| 290 | |
| 291 | Secretary of International Defence, liaison between SHIELD and the US government. Also secretly in charge of HYDRA's SHIELD division, those SHIELD Agents that are loyal to HYDRA. Possibly the archetypal WellIntentionedExtremist. |
| 292 | ---- |
| 293 | [[hardline]] |
| 294 | |
| 295 | * AffablyEvil: Perfectly friendly and polite at all times, to the point that even [[EvilDetectingDog Freki and Geri]] like him. Also one of HYDRA's two heads and fully on board with their world domination ideology. |
| 296 | * BadassBureaucrat: He seems to be more of an administrator than anything else, yet he can get into HYDRA's hidden base with perfect ease - something that should be physically impossible - and he's completely unflappable. |
| 297 | * BoxedCrook: In ''Ghosts'', the only reason he hasn't been executed for treason is that he's leaking just enough secrets to make himself useful, while keeping enough behind to make sure he continues to considered useful. |
| 298 | * DeadpanSnarker: He drily refers to Fury's counterattack in chapter 77 as "not all that convenient" for Lucius. |
| 299 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: He might not approve of experimenting on children, though it could be PragmaticVillainy - the narrative leaves it ambiguous. He's also horrified by the news that Project ''Krasnyy Syn'' has been resurrected by the Red Room, though this is implied to be because he's at the top of the likely target list. |
| 300 | * EvilGenius: He's brilliant at political manipulation, enough that Malfoy treats him with wary respect, and spends his imprisonment toying with his interrogators. |
| 301 | * EvilOldFolks: Physically the oldest of the villains in Book I (save Gravemoss, obviously - Zola is a digital entity and doesn't count), and absolutely soulless. |
| 302 | * FriendToAllChildren: A dark subversion. He's very good with kids and charms the wary Harry with ease, apparently genuinely coming to like him. However, he doesn't blink twice at the prospect of Harry's death, merely expressing mild regret and clinically noting how it could actually work in his favour. |
| 303 | * FourEyesZeroSoul: Doesn't even blink at the prospect of a child's death being part of a plan, merely remarking that grief would make the Avengers easier to manipulate. |
| 304 | * ManipulativeBastard: He's been running both sides for decades and he's smooth enough to charm a wary Harry and fool [[EvilDetectingDog Freki and Geri]]. His concocting of the Young Avengers initiative is entirely this trope, as it would allow him to directly control and mould the next generation of Avengers. |
| 305 | ** His response to Lucius' statement that his plans involve killing Harry is merely say that a properly conditioned clone might be more convenient for his purposes and that the Avengers would be easier to manipulate. |
| 306 | ** Spends his imprisonment toying with his interrogators, as he does Alison, Thor, and Loki in ''Ghosts'', knowing that they need him - and effortlessly deducing ''why'' they need him too. |
| 307 | * MoleInCharge: The head of HYDRA's SHIELD Division and, well, SHIELD. |
| 308 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: Zig-zagged. As per canon, he had a hand in Fury's rise to the Directorship, which in this 'verse, was at an extraordinarily young age. On the other hand, as he points out in canon, Fury was the best man for the job and he wanted SHIELD to be the best it could be. |
| 309 | * OhCrap: When Alison tells him that the Red Room are back and that they've resurrected Project ''Krasnyy Syn'' - 'Red Son', he cracks. Considering what the Red Son proves capable of, this is entirely justified. |
| 310 | * PragmaticVillainy: His smacking down of Ross' attempt to get hold of Carol in chapter 61 to study the effects of the temporary mystical enhancement is probably this, considering his casual attitude to Harry's potential death and [[NoodleIncident what happened last time the US government meddled in magic.]] |
| 311 | * RunningBothSides: He plays off the antics of HYDRA as run by Von Strucker and later Malfoy to steer SHIELD closer to HYDRA's agenda. Considering how well it worked, and the fact that he was only caught thanks to a desperate mistake by Lucius Malfoy, he seems to have been onto something. |
| 312 | * SeenItAll: Zola's appearance through a computer screen doesn't even make him blink. |
| 313 | * SocialDarwinist: Judging by his agreement with Lucius' speech. |
| 314 | * TheSociopath: Has absolutely no problem with the prospect of having children that he likes killed, treating it as the mildly regrettable cost of doing business. |
| 315 | * VillainRespect: Describes Peggy Carter, who he met briefly as a young Agent, as being a very impressive woman, and needles Alison about not being her equal. |
| 316 | * VisionaryVillain: In a quiet, subtle sort of way - he sees a world united under HYDRA. |
| 317 | * WouldHurtAChild: Doesn't seem particularly bothered by the prospect of Harry's demise, merely commenting that it's unfortunate, because he genuinely liked him. |
| 318 | [[/folder]] |
| 319 | |
| 320 | [[folder:Jason Todd]] |
| 321 | |
| 322 | !!Jason Todd |
| 323 | |
| 324 | -->''Faith can be something someone has in you.'' |
| 325 | |
| 326 | An Agent of HYDRA, one of their best, serving as Baron Zemo's protégé and right-hand. He later becomes disillusioned with HYDRA on seeing the devastation of the Battle of London and temporarily takes up the Sword of Faith. |
| 327 | ---- |
| 328 | [[hardline]] |
| 329 | |
| 330 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Say what you like about canon Jason, but he was never anything like a HYDRA Agent - though in fairness, it is implied that the difference is who took him in (in this case, [[EvilMentor Baron Zemo]]). |
| 331 | * AgeLift: In canon, he's the second Comicbook/{{Robin}}, and thus quite a lot younger than Batman. Here, he's several years older than Bruce, at least. |
| 332 | * BadassNormal: He didn't become Zemo's protégé for his looks and Lucius inwardly notes that he's worryingly reminiscent of the Winter Soldier. He chases down a moving tube train and matches [[Comicbook/{{Agent13}} Sharon Carter]], who has semi-dormant supersoldier genes, blow for blow. |
| 333 | * CoolMask: His red balaclava, a palette swapped version of Zemo's own. |
| 334 | * EmpoweredBadassNormal: Already a serious badass, he (at least temporarily) joins the ranks of the Knights of the Cross and wields ''Fidelacchius,'' making him StrongAsTheyNeedToBe. |
| 335 | * EnigmaticMinion: He barely ever says anything, and until the finale, he never even gives a hint of his true intentions. |
| 336 | * HeelFaceTurn: During the FinalBattle, he sees the kind of evil HYDRA really can cause, which causes doubts that Strange then manipulates into making him switch sides, become a temporary wielder of ''Fidelacchius''. |
| 337 | * MalevolentMaskedMan: Like his mentor, though his is a) red, b) removable. |
| 338 | * MookLieutenant: As Baron Zemo's right hand man. |
| 339 | * TheQuietOne: Even more than his master, to the point where Lucius compares him to the silent Winter Soldier. |
| 340 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It's unclear what happened to him after the [[FinalBattle Battle of London]], and whether he kept the Sword. |
| 341 | [[/folder]] |
| 342 | |
| 343 | [[folder:Daken]] |
| 344 | |
| 345 | !!Daken Akihiro |
| 346 | |
| 347 | -->''I think I want to see what it is about you that has everyone so excited.'' |
| 348 | |
| 349 | The son of Wolverine, he's one of HYDRA's top mercenaries, and, apparently, just in it for the blood rather than any real interest in power or HYDRA's principles. Succeeds in briefly killing Harry in chapter 70. It didn't last. In chapter 75, Harry gets his own back, leaving him literally skewered to the wall of HYDRA's London base, and he hasn't been seen since. |
| 350 | ---- |
| 351 | [[hardline]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: But of course. |
| 354 | * BloodKnight: Shows interest in finding out 'what all the fuss is about' where Harry is concerned and admits once his attempt to fill the kids with bullets is thwarted that he prefers doing it up close. |
| 355 | * BodyHorror: What the Phoenix does to him isn't pretty, and what Harry [[MetronomicManMashing does]] [[GrievousHarmWithABody to]] [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice him]] in their rematch isn't all that pretty either. |
| 356 | * BullyingADragon: Tries to attack Phoenix-possessed Harry, and gets charbroiled for his efforts. It would have been worse, too, if the Phoenix hadn't been intent on a fully fledged rampage. |
| 357 | * CombatPragmatist: is quite happy to just shoot his targets and have done with it. |
| 358 | * HealingFactor: Of course. Actually how, along with his claws, Dumbledore determines his parentage. |
| 359 | * HeroKiller: Manages to, while briefly, kill Harry. |
| 360 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Does this to Harry. It doesn't stick, and Harry later returns the favour. |
| 361 | * IShallTauntYou: [[ManipulativeBastard Uses this]] to get Harry to lose his temper and attack head on. It works perfectly. At first. |
| 362 | * ManipulativeBastard: See IShallTauntYou. |
| 363 | * OhCrap: Causes one in Dumbledore when the latter realises exactly what kind of person Harry is fighting. |
| 364 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: He's only in it for the pay-check - though he does relish the opportunity to take on Harry. |
| 365 | * PsychoForHire: See above. He's not working for HYDRA because he's a believer. |
| 366 | * ARealManIsAKiller: Tries to invoke this with Harry after the latter wins their rematch. |
| 367 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He was probably captured by SHIELD, but it's never confirmed. |
| 368 | * WolverineClaws: Again, an inherited trait. |
| 369 | * WouldHurtAChild: Isn't even remotely fazed by the prospect, as he demonstrates when he kills Harry and when he tries to shoot the kids in chapter 75. |
| 370 | [[/folder]] |
| 371 | |
| 372 | [[folder:Narcissa]] |
| 373 | |
| 374 | !!Lady Narcissa Malfoy |
| 375 | |
| 376 | Wife of Lucius, mother of Draco, and sister of Bellatrix, she's mostly a background figure. However, she's very sharp, very intelligent, and as per canon, willing to do just about anything to protect her family, making her a dangerous enemy. All tropes up to ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets''' still apply. |
| 377 | |
| 378 | ---- |
| 379 | [[hardline]] |
| 380 | |
| 381 | * AffablyEvil: She's actually fairly friendly, in a snobby sort of way, though that could be well-bred politeness. |
| 382 | * AristocratsAreEvil: Evil may be stretching it a little, but she's stuck up and patronising, as well as being part of an old money noble dynasty. |
| 383 | * AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: She and Lucius do genuinely love each other, with Lucius' love for her motivating his murder of von Strucker and assumption of rule of HYDRA. She will also do ''anything'' to protect her son. |
| 384 | * BigFancyHouse: Though Fury burned most of it down some years ago in a failed attempt to murder Lucius, and von Strucker's assault led a large portion of it being demolished. Again. |
| 385 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: She genuinely loves her family, which Fury mercilessly exploits to get her to talk, revealing that Draco tipped SHIELD off about the ''veidrdraugar'' and that HYDRA know. |
| 386 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Gravemoss' antics horrify her and she's infuriated by von Strucker's betrayal. |
| 387 | * HeelFaceTurn: Turns on HYDRA when von Strucker spots that she's been talking to SHIELD to get protection for her son, who tipped off the Avengers. After he tries to kill her, she sings like a canary and Lucius, who doesn't know that she was talking to SHIELD, murders von Strucker to become leader of HYDRA. |
| 388 | * ItsPersonal: She particularly hates Fury for his attempt to murder her husband. It mostly manifests in SnarkToSnarkCombat, however, as she also fears him. |
| 389 | * LoveRedeems: Her love for her family leads to her being willing to betray HYDRA, even seek to enlist the aid of Magneto, who terrifies her. |
| 390 | * MamaBear: She's fiercely devoted to her family, and willingly crosses HYDRA to protect her son. |
| 391 | * NobleBigot: More so than her canon counterpart, having a touch more respect for Muggles and getting on surprisingly well with Agent Coulson, greeting his (calculated) revelation that he's a squib (and related to the Weasleys) with amused surprise, remarking that her husband would be rather annoyed that he didn't pick up on that little fact. |
| 392 | * OddFriendship: She gets on surprisingly well with Coulson, though it's implied that he's manipulating her. |
| 393 | * RichBitch: Cold and haughty, though she has a nicer side. |
| 394 | * SnarkToSnarkCombat: With Fury. They have a history, and not a pleasant one. |
| 395 | * StepfordSmiler[=/=]StepfordSnarker: She puts on a good show, but it breaks down over time. In chapter 42, both Fury and Rhodey see straight through it when they meet her - she's terrified for her family, terrified of SHIELD's vengeance, masking it through genteel snark and cool disdain. Fury, however, quickly pierces through the mask and presses her buttons. |
| 396 | * UnholyMatrimony: With Lucius. By all evidence, they're very happy together. |
| 397 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Her HeelFaceTurn and von Strucker's attempt to ensure that she's RewardedAsATraitorDeserves leads to Lucius killing von Strucker, gaining control of the Winter Soldier and making HYDRA exponentially more dangerous. |
| 398 | [[/folder]] |
| 399 | |
| 400 | ---- |
| 401 | |
| 402 | [[header:The Death Eaters]] |
| 403 | |
| 404 | Voldemort's elite followers. During the First Wizarding War, they were Voldemort's inner circle and acted as the elite force in his [[ArmiesAreEvil army]]. After the War, many slipped through justice's grasp thanks to copious bribery and claiming that they were under the Imperius. Under Lucius Malfoy's temporary command, driven by fear of the vengeful Thor, they allied with HYDRA. This was a Bad Idea. |
| 405 | |
| 406 | ---- |
| 407 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 408 | |
| 409 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: While moderately threatening when well-led, most of the time they're not much of a threat to the likes of the Avengers or the reformed [=MI13=]. However, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass they shouldn't be underestimated]]. |
| 410 | * ArchEnemy: The mortal enemies of the Order of the Phoenix and [=MI13=]. |
| 411 | * ButtMonkey: Lucius excepted, whenever they turn up, they're usually about to get demolished by someone else. |
| 412 | * CannonFodder: Lucius and later, Voldemort, treat them as such. |
| 413 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Voldemort's a half-blood and they were entirely willing to work with HYDRA - or at least, not complain too loudly about it. It probably helped that HYDRA had previously worked with Grindelwald. |
| 414 | * ANaziByAnyOtherName: Which is probably why they were so comfortable working with another example of this trope, HYDRA. |
| 415 | * NoHonourAmongThieves: Voldemort doesn't care about any of them beyond their utility to him as minions ([[spoiler: and, following his acquisition of psychic powers, puppets]]) and Lucius happily uses most of them as CannonFodder and decoys. |
| 416 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The Death Eaters' goal was to exterminate all "impure" wizards. |
| 417 | * WeakButSkilled: Compared to, say, Harry - while he can easily overpower them by ''Ghosts'', Thor worries his inexperience would make him vulnerable, noting each is "an experienced fighter and a sadistic killer", while Coulson later notes that while they're relatively easy to contain when properly prepared, one mistake can be fatal. |
| 418 | [[/folder]] |
| 419 | |
| 420 | [[folder:Voldemort]] |
| 421 | |
| 422 | !!Lord Voldemort, aka Tom Marvolo Riddle |
| 423 | |
| 424 | -->''There is no good or evil, only power and those too weak to seek it.'' |
| 425 | |
| 426 | The Dark Lord who terrorized Britain for decades, Lucius' former master, and the man who killed Harry's parents (though [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence it didn't exactly take for either]]), before the infant Harry himself somehow turned his own Killing Curse back on him. NotQuiteDead ever since, he and Harry are bound by prophecy to face each other again. |
| 427 | |
| 428 | ---- |
| 429 | [[hardline]] |
| 430 | |
| 431 | * AdaptationalBadass: He's smarter and more patient than in canon, a CombatPragmatist who held his own with a young Magneto, and he's implied to have killed a previous Captain Britain. He's also not prone to BondVillainStupidity like his canon self, and ''Ghosts'' reveals that he's now able to take more or less anyone who isn't Omega Class in a straight fight with frightening ease, as he demonstrated with Harry Dresden. |
| 432 | ** Even before his resurrection, he was capable of going toe-to-toe with Dumbledore (though usually avoided him when he could), whereas his canon self was definitively nowhere near Dumbledore's level. |
| 433 | * AGodAmI: Somewhat, believing that he and Harry are alike in escaping the usual cycle of life and death. |
| 434 | * ArchEnemy: Harry's, both by prophecy and experience. He even lampshades it early in ''Ghosts''. |
| 435 | * BadBoss: He treats Wormtail even worse than canon, [[HumanResources cannibalising his body to build himself a new one.]] Plus, he uses the Death Eaters as CannonFodder and PeoplePuppets. |
| 436 | * BigBad: Subverted in the first book, choosing to observe the situation, before becoming the driving force behind the scenes in ''Ghosts'', preparing for something unspecified and big. |
| 437 | * BigBadEnsemble: With the Red Room, Selene, Dracula, and possibly [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]] in ''Ghosts''. |
| 438 | * ChildByRape: His mother drugged his father with love potions, explicitly described in-story as date rape drugs. |
| 439 | * ChronicBackStabbingDisorder: He's got enough of a reputation for this that everyone expects him to stick the knife in at some point, it's just a matter of figuring out ''when.'' |
| 440 | * CombatPragmatist: Although a very powerful and dangerous wizard, he won't pick fights he isn't sure he'll win. |
| 441 | * DarkLordOnLifeSupport: At first. He rectifies this by taking over and reshaping Wormtail's body. |
| 442 | * DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally, like his canon counterpart. |
| 443 | * TheDragon: To Selene, though [[invoked]] [[spoiler: he leaves her to swing in the wind once the Darkhallow is dispelled, having got what he wanted]]. |
| 444 | * TheDreaded: Most of Wizarding Britain is too afraid of him to even say his ''name''. |
| 445 | * EvilCounterpart: To Harry, as usual, and Ginny notes the similarities. |
| 446 | * EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: He's not very funny, at least at first. |
| 447 | * EvilOldFolks: He's over eighty years old by this point, even if he doesn't look it, and vile as they come. |
| 448 | * FauxAffablyEvil: He remains perfectly charming and urbane while threatening to kill people in the most horrifying ways possible. However, this vanishes when someone actually hurts him, as both Betsy and Dresden find out. |
| 449 | * TheGhost: For most of ''Child of the Storm''. Ironically, he takes on a much bigger role in ''Ghosts''. |
| 450 | * GrandTheftMe: Pulls this on Wormtail, reshaping his body into something more useful. |
| 451 | * HealingFactor: After Selene taught him how to pull off VampiricDraining, he developed a monstrously powerful one. |
| 452 | * HiddenAgendaVillain: As Dumbledore observes in chapter 70 of ''Ghosts'', while they've got a pretty good general idea of what he's been doing, no one's actually sure what his end goal actually ''is.'' The best speculation is that involves trying to circumvent or overpower Harry's protection, but even that is a bit confused. |
| 453 | * HumanResources: [[TransformationHorror What he does to Wormtail]] in order to build a new body is not pretty. |
| 454 | * HumanoidAbomination: He’s even worse than canon after he gets his body back, with Dumbledore terming him "something more than a spirit and less than a man." He ''looks'' perfectly human, [[VampiricDraining drains life-force with a thought]], reshapes his host’s body like clay, regards lethal injuries as passing inconveniences, has some terrifying PsychicPowers, and it’s unclear if he’s really even alive or not, at least as we know it. |
| 455 | * {{Hypocrite}}: As per canon, he derides Dresden for being a half-blood, despite being one himself. |
| 456 | * IAmHavingSoulPains: The result of Betsy cutting the connection between him and Harry, resulting in what is described as a whole body migraine. He recovers pretty quickly, though. And holds a grudge. |
| 457 | * ItsPersonal: Develops a grudge against Betsy, after she hurt him by cutting the connection between him and Harry, resulting in what is referred to as an epic scale whole body migraine. While he recovers pretty quickly, most of what annoys him seems to be the fact that she outsmarted him. |
| 458 | ** As always, things are ''very'' personal between him and Harry Thorson. |
| 459 | * IWasQuiteTheLooker: Was quite the looker when he was younger, and before he started dividing his soul up. After taking Wormtail's body, he alters it to look like his younger self, though it doesn't entirely last. |
| 460 | * JustToyingWithThem: He pretty clearly had the advantage in his duel with Harry Dresden and Carlos Ramirez, and the only reason they weren't killed was because of this and him rifling through Dresden's mind for information - he then swats Ramirez like a fly, and when he gets serious, he nearly kills Dresden in three seconds flat, only prevented by Wanda's intervention. |
| 461 | * KnightOfCerebus: For ''Ghosts'' - whenever he turns up, things are about to get dark. |
| 462 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: He vanishes once he's got whatever he wants, or whenever he might be about to be pinned down. |
| 463 | * ManipulativeBastard: As per canon, he's extremely accomplished at this. On his reappearance in ''Ghosts'', he plays everyone like a harp, getting the desired reaction each and every time. Then he tries it on [[EvilerThanThou Dracula.]] It ends badly... or so it appears. Going by the ''Bloody Hell'' arc, it seems that he did get the better of Dracula after all. |
| 464 | * MindRape: By ''Ghosts'', he's become a highly accomplished at this (though it's hinted that he was already quite good prior to his temporary death). He gets it turned back on him by Harry. |
| 465 | * NotQuiteDead: He was reduced to a spirit when his Killing Curse bounced, and later rectifies the situation. |
| 466 | * OnlyMostlyDead: Before he regains a body - and, it could be argued, even after. |
| 467 | * OurGhostsAreDifferent: Prior to stealing Wormtail's body and reshaping it to fit his desires. |
| 468 | * OurLichesAreDifferent: Owing to the Horcruxes. |
| 469 | * PeoplePuppets: Gains the ability to do this by ''Ghosts'', and uses it to ''terrifying'' effect. |
| 470 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Less so than canon, but he still considers muggles far beneath him and happily murders them at the drop of a hat. He also refers to Dresden as a "half-blood worm" after he's hit by his ShockAndAwe attack. |
| 471 | * PowerParasite: Has been using his PsychicLink with Harry to siphon off some of Harry's mutation- and Asgardian-based powers. Betsy cuts the link in Chapter 68, but he's already gained a significant amount. |
| 472 | * PsychicNosebleed: Harry gives him one in chapter 2 of ''Ghosts.'' |
| 473 | * PsychicPowers: Drains some of Harry's telepathy and uses it for himself, to devastating effect. Wanda reveals that even before this, he'd had a gift for the mental areas of magic. |
| 474 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: Like canon, he develops these again in ''Ghosts'', some time after his resurrection. |
| 475 | * TheSociopath: As per canon. |
| 476 | * SoftSpokenSadist: Though he has his hammy moments, this version mostly speaks in normal, mild tones about the most horrific things imaginable. Like canon, these moments are considerably creepier than his EvilIsHammy screaming. |
| 477 | * SoulJar: As per canon, his Horcruxes. Though between Harry and Wisdom, most of them have been destroyed. |
| 478 | * {{Troll}}: He turns [[spoiler: Carol and Uhtred]] into PeoplePuppets and makes it look like they're rejecting and demeaning Harry just to screw with him. He later steers Ron and Hermione into the Fallen Fortress as a distraction while he [[spoiler: robs the Department of Mysteries]] and actually contemplates sticking around with a scrying bowl and some snacks to watch the carnage. |
| 479 | * UnexplainedRecovery: A few shots to the head and having most of his blood ripped out by Magneto don't prove more than a temporary inconvenience. |
| 480 | * VampiricDraining: By ''Ghosts'', he's can use his new powers to drain life from others, likely thanks to Selene. |
| 481 | * VillainExitStageLeft: He pulls this in chapters 2 and 33 of ''Ghosts.'' |
| 482 | * VillainTeamUp: In the first book's epilogue, he allies with Selene, and in the sequel, he cuts a deal with Dracula. |
| 483 | * VillainsNeverLie: He's remarkably up front about what he's up to when he confronts Harry because he correctly believes Harry can't stop it. He also admits his plan in ''Bloody Hell'' to Dresden because he believes he can kill him as soon as he gets serious. Frighteningly, he's right about that too, and only Wanda's intervention stops him. |
| 484 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: Downplayed, but as a Transfiguration expert he's able to rearrange his looks to a certain extent. |
| 485 | * WalkingSpoiler: Due to the exact circumstances around his resurrection in this universe. |
| 486 | * TheWorfEffect: Gets subjected to this in chapter 24 of ''Ghosts'' -- Dracula suppresses Voldemort's psychic and magical powers without any visible sign of effort. |
| 487 | * WorthyOpponent: Respects Harry because of his power, their shared ability to return from the dead, and, by the end of their first encounter in ''Ghosts'', his ruthlessness. |
| 488 | * XanatosGambit: He set up his deal with Dracula so that either way, he will win - either Harry will defeat Dracula, dealing with the person who pulled an EvilerThanThou on him, or Dracula will weaken Harry enough that Voldemort can deal with him at his leisure, and either way, keeping his ArchEnemy (and the Avengers) busy while he and Selene perform the [[AGodAmI Darkhallow]] a.k.a. she tries it and he stabs her in the back, running off with a copy of the ''Word of Kemmler''. His scheme in chapter 62 of ''Ghosts'' seems structured the same way. |
| 489 | [[/folder]] |
| 490 | |
| 491 | [[folder:Wormtail]] |
| 492 | |
| 493 | !!Peter Pettigrew a.k.a. Wormtail a.k.a. Scabbers |
| 494 | |
| 495 | Traitorous ex-Marauder and member of the Order of the Phoenix, he defected to Voldemort to be on the winning side. After a decade as Scabbers, the Weasley family rat, he got wind of the fact that Thor and Loki were taking an interest in Harry and promptly ran for his life, finding Voldemort in Albania. He came to regret that decision. All tropes relating to him through ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' apply unless noted otherwise. |
| 496 | |
| 497 | ---- |
| 498 | [[hardline]] |
| 499 | |
| 500 | * {{Animorphism}}: Spends much of his life as a rat. |
| 501 | * BodyHorror: What Voldemort does to him is not at all pretty. |
| 502 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: Cowardly and treacherous he might have been, what Voldemort did to him was beyond horrible. |
| 503 | * DirtyCoward: As per canon, he sold out the Potters, and has no interest in hanging around once it turns out that Thor is actually James (though given that James would've almost certainly recognized him immediately, this is probably a very good idea). |
| 504 | * TheDogWasTheMastermind: There was considerable surprise when Thor revealed that Peter was the traitor. |
| 505 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: By Voldemort, who possesses him and reshapes his body into one more suited to his preferences. |
| 506 | * {{Slimeball}}: A cringing, pathetic, slug of a man and seen as such by all around him. |
| 507 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: Until Thor sets the record straight, he's believed to have died a hero. |
| 508 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: As an animagus, he can turn into a rat and back. ''Involuntary'' shapeshifting at the hands of Voldemort, meanwhile, is ultimately his undoing. |
| 509 | [[/folder]] |
| 510 | |
| 511 | [[folder:Barty Crouch Junior]] |
| 512 | |
| 513 | !!Barty Crouch Junior |
| 514 | |
| 515 | One of Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters. Now that his master has returned, he eagerly jumps back into service. This time, he's infiltrating [[spoiler: the Department of Mysteries]]. All tropes prior to ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' still apply. |
| 516 | ---- |
| 517 | [[hardline]] |
| 518 | |
| 519 | * TheBusCameBack: He's PutOnABus almost as soon as he appears in chapter 2, and otherwise isn't even mentioned for 60 chapters, when it's revealed that he's been infiltrating [[spoiler: the Department of Mysteries]]. |
| 520 | * TheDragon: To Voldemort. |
| 521 | * InSpiteOfANail: Despite everything else that's happened in the series so far, he's still set to follow more or less the same role he had in HP canon. |
| 522 | * UndyingLoyalty: As per canon, is fanatically devoted to Voldemort. |
| 523 | [[/folder]] |
| 524 | |
| 525 | ---- |
| 526 | |
| 527 | [[header:The Red Room]] |
| 528 | |
| 529 | The Soviet, now Russian, equivalent of SHIELD, and [[SovietSuperScience creators of both the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow program.]] Widely [[TheDreaded feared]], even by the Death Eaters and HYDRA, and for good reason, haunting Eastern Europe and Central Asia for over half a century before their fall in the early 1990's. In response to the chaotic upheaval of the post [[Film/TheAvengers2012 Battle of New York world]], their return is hinted at throughout ''Child of the Storm''. In the sequel, under the command of General Lukin, they're back with a vengeance as one of the titular ''Ghosts of the Past''. |
| 530 | |
| 531 | ---- |
| 532 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 533 | |
| 534 | * AdaptationalBadass: They were always fairly anonymous in the comics, mainly being shown as the source of Black Widows and the Winter Soldier, but not much beyond that. Here, they went toe to toe with SHIELD for half a century and scared the hell out of HYDRA. |
| 535 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: A popular tactic of theirs, controlling the Winter Soldier, the Black Widows (to an extent), and most recently, the Red Son this way. |
| 536 | * ChronicBackStabbingDisorder: It's nearly as endemic with them as it is with HYDRA, especially where Lukin is concerned. They've also been on the receiving end from Natasha and Ivan, as well as, more recently, Gambit, Volodya, and [[spoiler: the Indian government, which decided to back the winning horse and pinch as much useful intel as possible in the process.]] |
| 537 | * TheDreaded: These are the people who make ''HYDRA'' wet themselves. Even nearly twenty years after their fall, their ghost is not one lightly conjured with. |
| 538 | * EnemyMine: On the receiving end at the hands of SHIELD and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (who not unreasonably thought that they were out for his blood, not liking the direction he was taking Russia in). |
| 539 | * EvilCounterpart: Originally to SHIELD, but the modern version actually bears a much closer resemblance to the newly resurrected [=MI13=], right down to the leadership (though Wisdom is more competent and functionally crazy). |
| 540 | * FemmeFataleSpy: Produced some of the best of these in the form of the Black Widows, though this is by far the least of what the Widows are capable of. |
| 541 | * HeWhoFightsMonsters: They were originally a heroic, or at least anti-heroic group formed to fight the Nazis, HYDRA and Grindelwald, but eventually became just as bad. This is lampshaded and discussed by Dumbledore in a talk with Dresden. |
| 542 | -> '''Dumbledore''': Wielding such powers is not to be done lightly; unless done with great care, caution and preparation, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope it can transform even the best of intentions into something horrific]]. After all, the Red Room was formed, in large part, to confront the likes of Grindelwald and HYDRA when they threatened Russia. Now they are spoken of in the same breath, as things alike in their evil. |
| 543 | * InformedAbility: The Winter Guard was intended to be the Red Room's answer to all supernatural threats. But when it comes to fights, they're defeated quite easily by the Avengers with Xavier's help and then, [[spoiler: except for the Red Son,]] they're [[CurbStompBattle completely crushed]] by Magneto after being lured into a trap. It's explained that they're actually very good... but not [[OvershadowedByAwesome Avengers good.]] |
| 544 | * KnightTemplar: They're intent on restoring Russia to greatness, by any means necessary. |
| 545 | * PoweredArmour: The modern incarnation has managed to replicate the Iron Man armour, if somewhat imperfectly. |
| 546 | * RenegadeRussian: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, then on their resurrection, developed into this under General Lukin (whose canon counterpart provides the page quote). |
| 547 | * RenegadeSplinterFaction: For the Russian government, specifically the intelligence corps. |
| 548 | * [[RogueAgent Rogue Operation]]: Natasha confirms that they've become this under Lukin, since kidnapping Harry is ''not'' on Volodya's agenda, simply because it makes the wrong enemies. |
| 549 | * SovietSuperScience: Practically the embodiment of the trope. Their modern incarnation, while apparently unable to recreate the Infinity Formula, is able to create reasonably effective counterparts of the Iron Man armour. |
| 550 | * SpySchool: Run one of the most brutal and effective. |
| 551 | * SuperSoldier: Have produced a number of these, mostly infamously, the Winter Soldier. |
| 552 | [[/folder]] |
| 553 | |
| 554 | [[folder:General Lukin]] |
| 555 | |
| 556 | !!General Aleksandr Lukin |
| 557 | |
| 558 | -->''If the alternative to insanity is cowardice, then I can live with it.'' |
| 559 | |
| 560 | An extremely ambitious middle aged Russian General who plans to return the Red Room, and through that, Russia, to its former glory and destroy anyone who gets in his way. His primary weapon in this regard is the mysterious ''Krasnyy Syn'', the 'Red Son', later revealed to be [[spoiler: a BrainwashedAndCrazy Harry.]] |
| 561 | |
| 562 | ---- |
| 563 | [[hardline]] |
| 564 | |
| 565 | * AdaptationalWimp: The canon version had a cosmic cube and a corporation that was basically a small country in its own right. This version is an intelligent and dangerous General, but plays a definite second fiddle to Sinister. |
| 566 | * AmbitionIsEvil: In spades. He wants to recreate the old Tsarist Empire/the Soviet Union. |
| 567 | * BadBoss: Doesn't seem to care all that much about his minions. |
| 568 | * BerserkButton: Played With. He really doesn't like someone not according him his rightfully earned rank, but since the person in question is Sinister, he knows very well that there isn't anything he can do about it. |
| 569 | * BigBadWannabe: He's not on Sinister's level. Surprisingly, he doesn't care, since he knows that Sinister's ambitions mostly extend to opportunities to maximise his number of interesting test subjects. |
| 570 | * BodyHorror: On the receiving end in chapter 15, when [[spoiler: Dark Phoenix Harry]] melts his mouth shut. |
| 571 | * TheCoup: [[spoiler: Pulls one off in chapter 12, executing Volodya.]] |
| 572 | * CrazyPrepared: With the emphasis on the crazy part, shows this in chapter 14 with his PoweredArmor. However, it didn't account for [[spoiler: Maddie wielding Mjolnir]]. |
| 573 | * CrazySane: Starts as this, as his folder quote shows, descending into frothing lunacy over the course of the arc. |
| 574 | * DissonantSerenity: Doesn't raise his voice from a mild, conversational tone as he orders [[spoiler: the execution of Volodya's soldiers, then executes Volodya himself.]] |
| 575 | * TheDogBitesBack: On the receiving end from both [[spoiler: Maddie]] - who settles for humiliating him with a ShutUpHannibal response - and [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix a.k.a. Harry a.k.a. the Red Son]], who melts his mouth shut. |
| 576 | * EvilMentor: Functions as this to Yelena and later the Red Son, being in charge of the Red Room. |
| 577 | * FourStarBadass: Though he plays second fiddle to Sinister, he's still the commander of the Red Room, capable of controlling [[AxCrazy Yelena Belova]] (no mean feat), and someone who ''earned'' his rank. |
| 578 | * GeneralRipper: Though he's fairly good at concealing it, he is certifiably insane, and obsessed with restoring Russia's power and prestige. |
| 579 | * KlingonPromotion: [[spoiler: In chapter 12, he executes Volodya and becomes ''de facto'' ruler of Russia.]] |
| 580 | * MaskOfSanity: It wears very thin in chapter 12, stating that if insanity is the alternative to cowardice, he'll take [insanity]. He finally snaps at the end of chapter 14 after [[spoiler: Maddie]] and [[CurbstompBattle crushes him and all his finely armoured forces]] with [[spoiler: Mjolnir]]. |
| 581 | * OhCrap: When he sees how the Avengers are carving through his troops, most especially the vengeful Winter Soldier. |
| 582 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Spews a stunning amount of misogyny at [[spoiler: Maddie]] in his VillainousBreakdown. |
| 583 | * RenegadeRussian: Natasha outright states that he isn't exactly dancing to the Kremlin's tune, because they don't want to make enemies of SHIELD or the Avengers. Underlines this in chapter 12 by [[spoiler: executing President Volodya.]] |
| 584 | * TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised: In chapter 12 he [[spoiler: has the Red Son execute Volodya's troopers, crush his support helicopters with pilots and crew inside them, and then personally executes Volodya, after the latter opposes him.]] |
| 585 | * SanitySlippage: The more powerful he gets, the less sane he is, descending into frothing insanity when [[spoiler: Maddie defies him.]] |
| 586 | * SpyMaster: Runs the Red Room, Russia's superhuman/supernatural military-intelligence apparatus. |
| 587 | * SpySchool: As the head of the Red Room, which also possesses one of the most brutal and effective versions of this in the world. |
| 588 | * TinTyrant: Gets a set of PoweredArmour by the end of chapter 14, complete with psi-blockers, intended to help him take on the likes of [[spoiler: Maddie]] if Essex ever turned on him. It doesn't stand a chance against [[spoiler: Mjolnir]], however. |
| 589 | [[/folder]] |
| 590 | |
| 591 | |
| 592 | [[folder:Black Widow II]] |
| 593 | |
| 594 | !!Yelena Belova a.k.a. Black Widow |
| 595 | |
| 596 | -->''"I am the Black Widow! The real Black Widow! That old woman, that traitor, is nothing but a fraud!"'' |
| 597 | |
| 598 | The Red Room's new Black Widow, their elite agent, death in tight black trousers. Like all Black Widows, she's beautiful, brilliant and utterly deadly. Unlike Natasha, however, she's clearly insane. Trained to kill Natasha herself, she's also obsessed with being the true Black Widow. |
| 599 | ---- |
| 600 | [[hardline]] |
| 601 | |
| 602 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: She's got a severe complex about [[LivingLegend Natasha]], with good reason. |
| 603 | * AndIMustScream: Put it this way. What Dream does to her is brutal enough that even [[ExaltedTorturer Loki]] couldn't think of ''anything'' to make her situation worse - [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge and he was looking.]] |
| 604 | * AssholeVictim: When chapter 60 reveals just what she did to Harry, she is firmly established as this. |
| 605 | * AxCrazy: She's clearly unhinged, and becomes more so about time goes on. The amphetamines don't help. |
| 606 | * BerserkButton: Natasha in general, particularly implications that Natasha might be better than she is. Carol, naturally, pushes the button repeatedly, calling her 'Black Rip-Off'. Natasha herself presses the various buttons repeatedly, before [[CurbstompBattle proving her point]], punctuated by a brutal TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. |
| 607 | * TheBerserker: To an extent in her fight with Natasha, partly thanks to amphetamines of some kind, enough that she barely notices that Natasha's sliced her thumb off in the KnifeFight. If anything, it's counterproductive, and learning her lesson, she doesn't take them before her second round with Natasha. It doesn't help. |
| 608 | * CurbstompBattle: After she gets her measure, Natasha winds up handing out an extremely comprehensive one, interspersing it with a brutal TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. The rematch was so one-sided it wasn't even worth showing. |
| 609 | * DarkActionGirl: She puts [[SuperSoldier Carol]] down in the blink of an eye, but isn't a match for Natasha, however, despite her superior strength and size. The rematch is [[CurbstompBattle so one-sided]] it isn't even shown. |
| 610 | * DesignatedGirlFight: Downplayed. Carol sets off her HairTriggerTemper, and ItsPersonal with Natasha. |
| 611 | * DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted, ''hard''. She feels up the Red Son [[spoiler: (a.k.a. Harry)]] and kisses him aggressively in front of Natasha as a provocation, stating he's 'almost done cooking', implying she'll rape him when he's 'done'. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Her sane teammates]] [[{{Squick}} are thoroughly disturbed by this]] and Natasha cuttingly calls it out for what it is - Belova gloating about how she's going to rape a child. |
| 612 | ** In chapter 46, it's revealed that she molested the Red Son, usually whenever she wanted to exert her... ''authority''. While it never quite graduated to rape in the strictest sense, that was the eventual intention, and it's bluntly stated that legal definitions aside, it absolutely was rape. Consequently, when [[spoiler: Harry]] unlocks the memories once more, it's revealed in chapter 60 that what ''did'' happen was quite horrific enough. |
| 613 | * TheDragon: Thinks she's this, valued and important, on course to be a DragonAscendant. Functionally, she's more like TheHeavy, as Natasha points out. |
| 614 | * EvilCounterpart: To Natasha. |
| 615 | * {{Fingore}}: Natasha ends up slicing her right thumb off in a knife fight. |
| 616 | * HairTriggerTemper: It doesn't take much to set her off. |
| 617 | * IcyBlueEyes: They're as cold as her heart. |
| 618 | * ItsPersonal: Desperately focused on beating Natasha and proving herself the true Black Widow. |
| 619 | * KnifeFight: Ends up in one with Natasha. She loses a thumb, her knife, and what the narration refers to as a large chunk of her remaining sanity. |
| 620 | * MaskOfSanity: It's a thin one to begin with and it gets even thinner after Natasha beats her in a KnifeFight, taking off her thumb. |
| 621 | * MookLieutenant: She's one of Lukin's chief lieutenants and thinks that she's therefore TheDragon. [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech Natasha brutally sets her straight]], underlining why she's actually this trope and no more. |
| 622 | * OohMeAccentsSlipping: Speaks English with only a trace of accent, if that, one that thickens significantly when she gets angry. Carol, already winding her up over her obsession with being the true Black Widow, then jabs her further by saying that the ''real'' Black Widow doesn't lose her temper or let her accent slip. |
| 623 | ** Natasha snarks that she can hear a Ukrainian accent when Belova declares herself a proud daughter of Mother Russia. As she notes internally, she can't, but she knows that Belova's Ukrainian and does it to piss her off. |
| 624 | * PsychoSerum: In their first fight, Natasha notices that she's on some cocktail of amphetamines and other drugs, taken in lieu of the Infinity Formula. It boosts her physical abilities and frays her already thin sanity. |
| 625 | * SexSlave: Used the Red Son as this, as a way of getting one over her predecessor. |
| 626 | * SirSwearsALot: Calls Carol a bitch and a whore, and apparently curses up a storm in Russian when Carol catches her off-guard. Is similarly foul mouthed when fighting Natasha. |
| 627 | * SmugSnake: She's deadly dangerous, a funhouse mirror version of Natasha, but she's not operating on the same level. |
| 628 | * SpyCatsuit: Wears one clearly modelled after Natasha's, right down to the hourglass buckle. Natasha notices this. |
| 629 | * StealthHiBye: Manages to pull this on Natasha in chapter 10 -- the first, last, and only time she ever gets the upper hand over her predecessor. |
| 630 | * StrongButUnskilled: Compared to Natasha. She's very skilled, as well as being bigger than Natasha and on some kind of uppers in their first fight. Natasha still destroys her. The second fight, minus the uppers (less strong, more skilled), is so utterly one-sided the narrative doesn't even bother to show it. |
| 631 | * SuperiorSuccessor: Thinks of herself as this to Natasha, as she was raised, trained, and conditioned for just that purpose. As it turns out, she ''really'' isn't. |
| 632 | * TranquilFury: Her rage tends towards the cold and vicious. |
| 633 | * VillainRespect: Moderately impressed by Carol's calculation. |
| 634 | * WaifFu: To an extent. Carol states that it'll only take one good hit to put Belova down. Belova retorts that she won't get that hit. It's not hard to believe her. The dynamic is reversed with her and Natasha. |
| 635 | * WeHaveReserves: Aware of the Red Room's tendency towards this, even with Black Widows, but thinks that she's the exception, having been told all her life that she is. Natasha brutally sets her straight. |
| 636 | [[/folder]] |
| 637 | |
| 638 | [[folder:Sabretooth]] |
| 639 | |
| 640 | !!Victor Creed a.k.a. Sabretooth |
| 641 | |
| 642 | A vicious, sadistic, and deadly dangerous mutant who's far more intelligent than he seems and happens to be the ArchEnemy of Wolverine. Mentioned in ''Child of the Storm'' as a mercenary and possible employee of HYDRA, he appears in ''Ghosts of the Past'' working for the Red Room and/or Sinister. |
| 643 | |
| 644 | ---- |
| 645 | [[hardline]] |
| 646 | |
| 647 | * AlwaysABiggerFish: Bucky's Winter Soldier persona tears him to shreds and Loki also demonstrates this, by breaking him with the right words whispered in his ear... and possibly an illusion or two. |
| 648 | * AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Wolverine. He tries to prove he's better by beating Bucky, and he gives a fair account of himself. But to beat Wolverine, Bucky - who was admittedly short of time and carrying broken ribs - had to use a thermite tipped RPG, and had an immediate OhCrap reaction at the famous ''snikt''. Creed? He just marks him as a threat to those with him, and all he needs is a metal railing. |
| 649 | * TheAgeless: At least as old as Wolverine, if not older. |
| 650 | * ArchEnemy: To Wolverine. He has a bone to pick with Bucky, too, though mostly to prove he's better than Wolverine. |
| 651 | * AnimalThemedSuperBeing: Big cats in general. |
| 652 | * BerserkButton: Tries to push Bucky's, to make him lose concentration. It doesn't work, and Bucky presses his in response. |
| 653 | * BloodKnight: He enjoys violence immensely. |
| 654 | * CardCarryingVillain: He knows he's the bad guy and he enjoys it. |
| 655 | * CombatPragmatist: Deliberately chooses a location where he'll have the advantage over Bucky. |
| 656 | * TheDreaded: He's a deadly dangerous monster and is treated as such, with Bucky sending the kids away so he can handle Creed alone. |
| 657 | * EatsBabies: Heavily implied, since he's a confirmed cannibal and casts a certain look at baby Ada. Loki blinds him for it. |
| 658 | * FaceHeelTurn: At the very least, he used to be a TokenEvilTeamMate back in WWII. |
| 659 | * ForTheEvulz: More or less why he does most things. That and ItAmusedMe. |
| 660 | * GeniusBruiser: As Bucky notes, he's much, much smarter than he pretends to be, picking a spot that plays to all his advantages (and nullifies Bucky's) when they fight. |
| 661 | * HealingFactor: A powerful one, though not as strong as Wolverine's. |
| 662 | * ImAHumanitarian: Casually, and it's also implied that he EatsBabies. He then made the mistake of implicitly threatening Ada with that fate in front of [[ReformedButNotTamed Loki.]] |
| 663 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: By Bucky, with a railing, through the stomach. |
| 664 | * IShallTauntYou: Tries to goad Bucky. It doesn't work. |
| 665 | * ItAmusedMe: Gives this reason for why he did certain things. |
| 666 | * KickTheDog: Kills for amusement, as a random wizard he gutted for amusement/to goad Bucky/as a snack found out. |
| 667 | * LightningBruiser: He's big and he's very, very fast. |
| 668 | * NoodleIncident: He met the Winter Soldier in the late 1970s or so, and having met Bucky during the War, figured out the truth. |
| 669 | * ObfuscatingStupidity: As Bucky notes internally, he is much, much smarter than he pretends to be. |
| 670 | * OneSceneWonder: He only appears on-screen once, but as the number of tropes shows, he makes a clear impression. |
| 671 | * PrivateMilitaryContractors: He's a mercenary, and a highly sought after one. |
| 672 | * PsychoForHire: See above. |
| 673 | * {{Sadist}}: He's vicious, he's cruel, and he enjoys it. |
| 674 | * SeenItAll: Unfazed by ColdBloodedTorture, and even SHIELD's best couldn't break him. Then he met Loki. |
| 675 | * SmugSuper: Thinks a lot of himself. Bucky takes him down a few pegs, as does Loki. |
| 676 | * SuperSenses: Like Wolverine, he's got enhanced smell, enough that he can recognise individuals by their scent. |
| 677 | * TheWorfEffect: A serious badass, but his first on-screen appearance features him both handing this out and being on the receiving end. First, he rips out a ghoul's throat out with minimal effort. Then he's on the wrong end of a CurbstompBattle from the Winter Soldier, and finally, he's mentioned as being a hardcase that SHIELD's best interrogators couldn't break, before Loki whispers something in his ear to make him sing like a canary. |
| 678 | * WouldHurtAChild: It's implied that he EatsBabies, too. |
| 679 | * ToThePain: Is unfazed by Loki's threats along this line. Then, Loki whispers something in his ear that makes him sing like a canary. |
| 680 | [[/folder]] |
| 681 | |
| 682 | [[folder:The Beast]] |
| 683 | |
| 684 | !!Dudley Dursley a.k.a. the Beast a.k.a. the Blob a.k.a. [[spoiler: the Fledgling]] |
| 685 | |
| 686 | -->''I'M GONNA KILL YOU! I'M GONNA KILL YOU TO DEATH!'' |
| 687 | |
| 688 | Harry's bullying cousin. After his parents were locked up, he was found by Doctor Milbury [[spoiler: a.k.a. Essex/Sinister]] and his latent X-Gene was activated. After that, he became the Red Room's [[TheBrute chief thug]], gaining a fearful reputation among the prisoners. After ''Forever Red'', he vanishes, returning [[spoiler: as 'the Fledgling', turned by Dracula after Voldemort gave him as a gift.]] |
| 689 | ---- |
| 690 | [[hardline]] |
| 691 | |
| 692 | * AchillesHeel: His eyes are vulnerable, as are his joints to someone strong enough to hurt him. Also, if you can get him off the ground, as Harry points out, he's just another case of mass times acceleration. |
| 693 | * {{Acrofatic}}: He's noted as being extraordinarily fast for someone of any size, despite his bulk. However, Harry's faster and after [[spoiler: internalising his telekinesis]], [[LightningBruiser strong enough]] and skilled enough to [[CurbstompBattle make it count]]. After he TookALevelInBadass and [[spoiler: became a Grey Court vampire turned by Dracula himself]], he becomes even faster. And yet, [[LightningBruiser Harry]] is still more so. |
| 694 | * AdaptationalBadass: Oh dear lord, yes. This version has superpowers, for starters. |
| 695 | * AdaptationalVillainy: Never had his BreakTheHaughty experience and [[TheCorrupter was enabled by the Red Room]], to the point that he becomes far, far worse than a simple bully. |
| 696 | * AggressiveCategorism: People with powers are freaks. He has powers, but isn't a freak. Harry [[LampshadeHanging points out]] the InsaneTrollLogic. |
| 697 | * AnArmAndALeg: After he becomes [[spoiler: a vampire, Harry coldly removes both arms without dropping a beat in his BreakingSpeech, before decapitating him]]. |
| 698 | * AssholeVictim: Harry winds up systematically destroying every joint, sinew and ligament in his body, [[spoiler: Carol]] fries him with a condensed lightning bolt, Thor [[MegatonPunch punches him halfway into a mountain]], Dracula captures and turns him, and Harry finally kills him. He's also so vile that per Harry, [[spoiler: becoming a vampire only changed his diet]]. |
| 699 | * BaldOfEvil: Temporarily, after Harry hits him with a gigantic fireblast. |
| 700 | * BerserkButton: Actually being hurt really, ''really'' pisses him off. |
| 701 | * TheBrute: Serves as this to [[spoiler: Sinister]] and the Red Room, and later [[spoiler: Dracula]]. |
| 702 | * BullyingADragon: He doesn't think Thor will be much of a threat. Since Thor has him outclassed in raw physical power, let alone all of his other abilities and combat experience, what occurs next can barely even be described as a fight. |
| 703 | ** He later decides that crippling one of Harry's close friends is a good idea. Needless to say, it isn't, and he pays for his mistake [[spoiler: with his life.]] |
| 704 | * CurbstompBattle: From Harry and later Thor, and implicitly by Maddie. Hands them out to everyone else and, [[spoiler: as a vampire]], to [[spoiler: Uhtred]], then from Harry again. [[spoiler: He doesn't survive it.]] |
| 705 | * DirtyCoward: Played With. Harry leaves him fleeing and gibbering in terror and he only turns after Sinister amplifies his rage. [[spoiler: As a vampire]], though, he continues trying to attack Harry despite [[spoiler: Harry methodically dismembering him]]. |
| 706 | * DumbMuscle: He's still not very bright, and none of his various masters regard him as anything more than a dumb thug. However, he is very, very strong. |
| 707 | * EvilFeelsGood: The core of his motivation, plus belief that Sinister and the Red Room respect him. In fact, Sinister deems him to be an expendable idiot, but he's too dim to notice. He also enjoys his [[spoiler: vampirism.]] |
| 708 | * EvilPaysBetter: Part of his motivation for working for the likes of the Red Room and Sinister. |
| 709 | * FatBastard: Harry notes he's mostly grown sideways, and he's a massive (in every sense) bastard. |
| 710 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: Went from spoiled bully/nascent thug to superpowered rapist and murderous psychopath, to a [[spoiler: Grey Court vampire]] who [[spoiler: nearly kills Uhtred.]] |
| 711 | * FullFrontalAssault: Against Thor, after all his clothes were destroyed. |
| 712 | * GiantMook: He's huge, in all directions. |
| 713 | * HealingFactor: One that combined with [[NighInvulnerable his durability]] makes him exceptionally dangerous. |
| 714 | * HeManWomanHater: Much more than either canon counterpart. He's a rapist and he likes it. |
| 715 | * InsaneTrollLogic: People with powers are freaks. He has powers. He isn't a freak. [[LampshadeHanging Harry points out how ridiculous this is.]] |
| 716 | * {{Irony}}: As Wanda points out, there's no little irony in how Dudley (who used to taunt Harry for being a freak), son of two people who prided themselves on being incredibly normal, is himself a mutant. |
| 717 | * TheJuggernaut: His fighting style. It works... until he runs into [[PersonOfMassDestruction Harry]]. |
| 718 | * {{Kevlard}}: Incredibly fat and durable, enough that carbine rounds bounce off him and he can trade blows with heavyweight superpowered bruisers. So Harry attacks his [[EyeScream eyes]] and [[AttackItsWeakPoint joints]]. |
| 719 | * LackOfEmpathy: Lacks any sign of it, and never even mentions his parents. |
| 720 | * LargeHam: He's quite big on the shouting and the dramatics. |
| 721 | * LightningBruiser: Much faster than you'd think; though [[LightningBruiser Harry]] is still faster. |
| 722 | * LogicalWeakness: Considering the amount of weight they're carrying and their relative lack of padding, his joints are naturally one of his weakest points. Ditto his eyes. Harry exploits both mercilessly. |
| 723 | * MetronomicManMashing: Pulls this on Harry after Harry gets too close, via his broken arm, no less. |
| 724 | * MilesGloriosus: He's a serious threat to Alpha Class superhumans, but drastically overestimates his power - when he tries to go up against someone like Harry, Thor, or [[spoiler: Maddie]], he's on course for a thrashing. |
| 725 | * MookCarryover: [[spoiler: Some time after escaping the downfall of the Red Room, Voldemort gets hold of him, then gives him to Dracula as a peace offering, who turns him into a vampire fledgling.]] |
| 726 | * MoralEventHorizon: As a rapist and casual murderer, he went zooming over it some time ago. Harry explicitly points this out when explaining [[spoiler: becoming a vampire only changed his diet -]] he was already a monster. |
| 727 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Beast is not a name that makes one want to meet the bearer, and for good reason. |
| 728 | * NighInvulnerable: Crossed with a HealingFactor and later, [[spoiler: vampirism]]. |
| 729 | * NormalFishInATinyPond: A relative example in the context of the Red Room. He's arguably the most powerful being there after [[spoiler: Maddie]] and Sinister, and even Gambit's decidedly wary of him - with good reason. [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Then Harry comes along]]. |
| 730 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: On the low end - he's a serious power-house, but his limits are brutally exposed. |
| 731 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: A violent rapist and murderer who calls all other superhumans 'freaks'. |
| 732 | * PsychopathicManChild: He's basically an EntitledBastard with superpowers, and a stand out example, paraphrasing the infamous quote from Superboy-Prime. [[spoiler: If anything, he's even worse when comes back as a vampire.]] |
| 733 | --> I'M GONNA KILL YOU! I'M GONNA KILL YOU TO DEATH! |
| 734 | * RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Confirmed. It's implied that it's used to reward him and punish prisoners. |
| 735 | * SchoolYardBullyAllGrownUp: To Harry, thanks to time dilation. The disproportionate psychological effect (something lampshaded by Harry himself) and Harry's PowerLimiter gives him the upper hand. Then the tables turn. |
| 736 | * SmallNameBigEgo: He thinks a lot of himself, despite evidence to the contrary. |
| 737 | * StartOfDarkness: Probably being found and empowered by Sinister while in government care. |
| 738 | * StoutStrength: He's huge, fat, and incredibly strong. |
| 739 | * StrongButUnskilled: He's used to overwhelming people with raw power and is clearly not used to getting hurt. However, he's vicious, with a knack for hurting people. As [[spoiler: a vampire,]] he nearly kills [[spoiler:Uhtred]], though it's implied that he caught him off-guard. |
| 740 | * SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious: [[spoiler: As a vampire, drinking Uhtred's blood seems to make him stronger, faster, and heal even quicker.]] It doesn't save him from [[TranquilFury Harry's]] [[UnstoppableRage wrath.]] |
| 741 | * SuperStrength: He's on par with the strongest ordinary Asgardian. Then he [[spoiler: becomes a vampire]]. |
| 742 | * TeensAreMonsters: He ends up so bad that [[spoiler: becoming a vampire]] only changed his diet. |
| 743 | * TookALevelInJerkass: He took ''many''; per WordOfGod, unlike his canon counterpart he never had a BreakTheHaughty moment, and his worst instincts were encouraged. He's so bad, [[spoiler:becoming a vampire only changed his diet]]. |
| 744 | * UsedToBeASweetKid: Sweet would be stretching it, but he was a harmless spoiled bully, once upon a time. |
| 745 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: On the receiving end of this from Sinister, though oddly, he survives. |
| 746 | [[/folder]] |
| 747 | |
| 748 | [[folder:The Red Son]] |
| 749 | |
| 750 | !!Project ''Kransnyy Syn'' a.k.a. the Red Son |
| 751 | |
| 752 | A Russian SuperSoldier project intended to replace the Winter Soldier, formed during the last days of the Red Room at the end of the Soviet era as it tried to claw back its power and position. It's supposedly capable of single-handedly reshaping the balance of global power. Since [[spoiler: it's Harry]], [[OhCrap this is absolutely true.]] |
| 753 | ---- |
| 754 | [[hardline]] |
| 755 | |
| 756 | * AnArmAndALeg: Loses his left arm fighting Magneto, but the Transmode Virus grew back a mechanical one (which was then promptly blasted off as well). When he becomes [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]], he immediately grows it back. |
| 757 | * BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: There was a lot of screaming involved in his creation. |
| 758 | * BewareTheQuietOnes: Almost never says anything at all. |
| 759 | * BewareTheSuperman: As the spearhead of the Winter Guard, he helps the Red Room subdue their 'Twelve Day Empire'. |
| 760 | * BlankSlate: Explicitly referred to as this, with everything he once was having been wiped away. |
| 761 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: The victim being [[spoiler: Harry,]] with a side order of BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil. |
| 762 | * BrokenAce: The Red Son is a LivingWeapon broken to the Red Room's bridle, with no discernible will of his own. |
| 763 | * CombatPragmatist: He immediately goes for the quick kill, attacking internal organs. |
| 764 | * CreepyChild: He's a teenager who's colder and emptier than the Winter Soldier at his worst. |
| 765 | * {{Cyborg}}: Becomes one via UnwillingRoboticization. |
| 766 | * TheDreaded: The mere mention of the project can make a veteran Cold Warrior like Ivan Petrovitch go white and a previously calm, amused and obdurate Alexander Pierce more than willing to talk. And with good reason. |
| 767 | * EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Even more so than usual, what with being BrainwashedAndCrazy and all. |
| 768 | * ElectronicEye: The Transmode Virus gives him one after Magneto blows his left eye (and arm) off. |
| 769 | * ExplosiveLeash: Lukin prepares to use it after [[YouHaveFailedMe Magneto subdues him]] [[IfICantHaveYou (to prevent the Avengers' getting him)]]. However, [[spoiler: Essex]] presents the option of the Transmode Virus, and Magneto's colossal EMP cuts him off. Given the likely consequences, this is a Good Thing. |
| 770 | * LivingWeapon: Intended to be the ultimate example, and was arguably a complete success. |
| 771 | * MadeOfIron: Goes toe to toe with Magneto, and it takes losing an arm and an eye, plus brutal internal injuries to drop him. After the Transmode Virus, it takes being a lightning bolt and electromagnetic pulse run through a gigantic cobbled together lightning rod, via a colossal geomagnetic storm just to knock him out. |
| 772 | * OneWingedAngel: Through the Transmode Virus after Magneto beats the crap out of him. |
| 773 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: Singlehandedly reshapes the balance of global power and goes toe to toe with freaking Magneto. And that's ''before'' he goes OneWingedAngel and takes a step up. |
| 774 | * PowerUpgradingDeformation: Gets a warped metal arm via the Transmode Virus. |
| 775 | * PsychicPowers: Sufficient to strike from the other side of the planet, if the fears of Alexander Pierce (not a man to jump at shadows) are anything to go by. |
| 776 | * TheQuietOne: He doesn't say much, generally because he doesn't need to. |
| 777 | * ReforgedIntoAMinion: [[spoiler: Harry. Or, to be specific, the BlankSlate of him.]] |
| 778 | * RogueProtagonist: [[spoiler: Harry,]] though not by choice. |
| 779 | * SovietSuperScience: The last, greatest, project of the Red Room, one that never got off the ground. Until now. |
| 780 | * SpoilerCharacter: His identity carries major spoilers regarding the ''Forever Red'' arc. |
| 781 | * SuperSoldier: The Red Son was created to be a SuperiorSuccessor to the Winter Soldier. [[OhCrap It succeeded.]] |
| 782 | * SympatheticSentientWeapon: His true identity is key to the sympathetic part. |
| 783 | * UndyingLoyalty: To the Red Room. |
| 784 | * TheUnfettered: Sort of, regarding what [[spoiler: Harry]] could do if lost his morals? They're justified. |
| 785 | * UnwillingRoboticization: On the receiving end through the Transmode Virus once it's activated. |
| 786 | * VillainousLegacy: Explicitly designed as 'the Winter Soldier Mk II' - faster, stronger, and ''much'' more powerful. |
| 787 | * ViralTransformation: By the Transmode Virus. |
| 788 | * TheVirus: Infected by the Transmode Virus by [[spoiler: Essex]] - it's initially dormant, however. |
| 789 | [[/folder]] |
| 790 | |
| 791 | [[folder:Red Guardian]] |
| 792 | |
| 793 | !!Colonel Alexei Shostakov a.k.a. the Red Guardian |
| 794 | |
| 795 | Russia's Captain America, and appropriately, the Red Room's TokenGoodTeamMate. Killed by Nick Fury back in the 90s, he was resurrected by cloning, his memories restored from a mental back-up by Sinister for Lukin's iteration of the Red Room, and is a key member of the Winter Guard. |
| 796 | |
| 797 | ---- |
| 798 | [[hardline]] |
| 799 | |
| 800 | * TheAce: A SuperSoldier skilled enough to break the rest of the Winter Guard (and under Belova's direction, the Juggernaut) out of the Raft. It's unclear if he was allowed to do so, but he's good enough that it was plausible. |
| 801 | * CameBackWrong: Subverted, to Belova's irritation - his conscience made the return trip. |
| 802 | * MyCountryRightOrWrong: Implied. He was empowered by the same SuperSoldier Serum that Steve was, or a reasonably good imitation of it, and didn't turn into a monster like the Red Skull, the Abomination, or even a TrueNeutral[=/=]HeroicNeutral character like the Hulk, meaning he must be a genuinely decent man. He's also the TokenGoodTeammate of the Red Room, and Nick Fury regretted having had to kill him in the past as a result. It remains to be seen what will happen to him after he learns the truth about his resurrection. |
| 803 | * PosthumousCharacter: Fury killed him, but he's resurrected by cloning. |
| 804 | * SuperSoldier: Thanks to a successful Russian bootleg of the SuperSoldier serum. |
| 805 | * TokenGoodTeammate: Belova inwardly complains about this. The Red Room feel it necessary to lie to him about just who and what the Red Son is, and why they're raiding the Xavier Institute. |
| 806 | * UncertainDoom: He's bound up by Magneto, but it's unknown whether he was imprisoned by the Avengers or murdered by Loki and his associates in their purge of the Red Room. |
| 807 | [[/folder]] |
| 808 | |
| 809 | ---- |
| 810 | |
| 811 | [[header:The Vampire Courts]] |
| 812 | |
| 813 | There are five Vampire Courts: Grey, Black, Red, Jade, and White, in order of age. Each is a separate supernatural nation, and they're among some of the most powerful supernatural powers in the modern world. Three of them, the Red, White, and Black Courts, are at war with the White Council of Wizards - the Grey and Jade Courts regard it as none of their business. Though most are unrelated, they're all predators that feed on human life, ruled by Kings, and while they stab each another in the back at any opportunity, they all share an aspiration: to create a world where they can feed without opposition. Accordingly, they regard the rise of organisations like SHIELD and [=MI13=], groups like the Avengers, and the general empowering of humanity with intense suspicion. |
| 814 | ---- |
| 815 | [[folder:In General]] |
| 816 | |
| 817 | * AffablyEvil: The White Court act this way. Whether it's genuine or [[FauxAffablyEvil not]] depends on the vampire. Dracula also qualifies, most of the time. |
| 818 | * AlwaysChaoticEvil: With the exception of the White Court, who're still part mortal, they're all pretty evil at baseline - and most White Court don't bother trying. |
| 819 | * BeautyIsBad: White Court specialise in this, being a court of Succubi and Incubi (though only one of the main houses, Raith, feeds via sex). The Red Court work the aesthetic via their flesh-masks and their 'Kiss'. However, the former is merely a cover for a horrific looking bat-monster, and the latter is basically just narcotic drool. |
| 820 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: On a massive scale -- [[spoiler: between scenes of Chapter 52 of ''Ghosts'', Strange proceeds to ''genocide the entire Red Court'']]. |
| 821 | * FauxAffablyEvil: Mostly. As the narration makes clear, they're predators. Playing civilised is a hunting strategy. |
| 822 | * FriendlyNeighbourhoodVampire: Averted. Thomas Raith is the only known full vampire who is genuinely this. |
| 823 | ** The Welshman, sort of. He feeds off blood banks extras, keeps other vampires out of Britain, and monsters out of his part of south Wales. It's noted that crime rates in and around Cardiff, both mundane and supernatural, have dropped like a stone since he moved in. However, this is more a mixture of pragmatism, territoriality, and a firm desire to be left alone than any heroic endeavour - additionally, he's specifically noted as being from outside the Court system. |
| 824 | * GameFace: Grey Court look human until they're about to feed or fight, at which point, their faces elongate, becoming gaunter and paler, their eyes go red, and their fingers develop talons. |
| 825 | * TheGhost: So far, no Red, Black, or Jade Court vampires have appeared in the story, nor have the Welshman or any White Court except for Thomas Raith. This is justified--the Jade Court mostly keep to themselves and their power base is in Asia, far away from where Harry and his friends usually operate. The Black Court is a shadow of itself, and the Reds are busy with their war against the White Council and don't need any more enemies (before they're exterminated by Strange). Meanwhile, the Whites tend to act indirectly, and also don't want to make an enemy of Asgard. The Welshman, too, is generally a loner, and was apparently told by Strange to stay out of the events of Book I. |
| 826 | * KissOfTheVampire: The Red Court's saliva, their 'Kiss', is a powerful narcotic that drugs and addicts their prey, making them easy to feed off and get them to come back for more. Others either don't drink blood, can mesmerise their prey, or in the case of the Black Court, straight-up don't bother. |
| 827 | * MonsterProgenitor: The Red King is the father of all currently living Red Court vampires (though the species as a whole is descended from the Mayan bat god Camazotz [[spoiler: who Strange murdered when he genocides the ''entire Red Court'' in chapter 52 of ''Ghosts'']]), and Varnae was the Grey Court's, before passing his powers on to Dracula. |
| 828 | * OriginalCharacter: While Dracula is a PublicDomainCharacter, the Grey Court are original to the story, as is the Welshman. |
| 829 | * OurVampiresAreDifferent: They come in a number of different flavours, with Lupin quoting Pratchett's remark on there being as many types of vampire as disease. There are five main ones, however. |
| 830 | ** '''Grey Court''': classic 'living dead' types who drink blood and can pass for human easily enough. They take three days to turn, during which time the part-vampire has powers, but can walk in sunlight and pass as human. The oldest and most powerful breed, they've got the typical weaknesses - staking, beheading, garlic, faith, fire, and sunlight. ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is noted InUniverse as broadly accurate depiction - they tried to stop it being produced. They're also an OriginalCharacter to the work, [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles unlike the others]]. |
| 831 | ** '''Black Court''' are the same but with the emphasis on the 'dead' part, appearing as zombie-like rotting/mummified corpses, and they turn almost instantly. This is as a result of their creation, an experimental piece of necromancy where a necromancer tried to 'turn' a corpse Grey Court style. Since it was [[spoiler: Apocalypse]], he got more or less exactly what he wanted. ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' led to the collapse of their power - unlike the Grey Court, they couldn't pass as human unless very recently turned. |
| 832 | ** '''Red Court''' are Mayan bat-demons created by Camazotz that can hide behind a 'flesh-mask', drink blood, and have narcotic saliva. They don't fully turn until they make their first kill, remaining part-human before then. Less powerful than Grey and Black, they're also less vulnerable to the various weaknesses, but conversely can be killed if shot enough in the right places. |
| 833 | ** '''Jade Court''' are your typical ChineseVampire - a revenant that feeds on LifeEnergy. They're rare and secretive, keeping to themselves, and so far have yet to be seen in the story proper (probably). |
| 834 | ** '''White Court''' are born human and have a hereditary symbiotic relationship with an unknown breed of demon that feeds on LifeEnergy [[EmotionEater via emotions]], manifesting at puberty. The least powerful and [[MadeOfIron (eventually)]] vulnerable to standard weapons, with powers dependant on how much they've fed. They have no special weaknesses other than the opposite emotion to the one they feed on, and are also almost indistinguishable from humans unless they're actively using their powers. |
| 835 | * PsychicPowers: All of them, to some extent, particularly the Grey and White Courts - the former can mesmerise their prey, and the latter [[EmotionEater use them to feed.]] |
| 836 | * StrongerWithAge: All of them become stronger as they get older. This is also reflected in terms of how powerful individual vampires are: Grey Court are the strongest and the oldest, dating back most of 20,000 years to Atlantis, Black Court being an 8,000 plus year old off-shoot. Red Court are next [[spoiler: (prior to chapter 52 of ''Ghosts'', when Strange arranges their genocide)]], in both age and power, followed by Jade Court and White Court. |
| 837 | * SuperSoldier: The Grey Court started out as an ancient Atlantean experiment along these lines; the 'ultimate warrior for the ultimate war.' It backfired. Horribly. The Black Court were an attempt to improve them, and if anything, it turned out even worse - though from [[Characters/MarvelComicsApocalypse their creator's]] point of view, they worked out just fine. |
| 838 | * SuperSpeed: They're all extraordinarily fast, and the Grey Court are the fastest of the lot. |
| 839 | * VampireMonarch: Save for the diminished Black Court, each Court is ruled by a King: Dracula, Kukulcan (or a vampire bearing that name), and Lord Raith [[spoiler: as a puppet of Lara Raith]]. The ruler of the Jade Court is unknown. |
| 840 | ** Varnae was the original Grey King, and also the progenitor of all Grey Court (and therefore, Black Court) vampires, before passing his powers on to Dracula. Kukulcan holds the same role as the Red King (though he in turn was the 'son' of the Mayan bat-god, Camazotz) - [[spoiler: or did, until Strange wiped out the entire Red Court]]. |
| 841 | * VampireRefugee: The Fellowship of St Giles are this, being half-turned Red Court vampires who use their powers to fight the Red Court alongside the White Council and their allies, including the Avengers. [[spoiler: As of chapter 52 of ''Ghosts'', they're cured, as a result of Strange wiping out the Red Court.]] |
| 842 | ** Jackie Falsworth, the second Spitfire, is half-vampire, as is Blade. |
| 843 | * VampireVarietyPack: As noted under OurVampiresAreDifferent, there are many different types. |
| 844 | * WeAreStrugglingTogether: The Courts don't get on. The Whites were behind ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' to weaken the Greys and Blacks, and the Greys disdain the Blacks and despise the Reds as 'Mayan scum'. The Jade Court have yet to be mentioned more than once, and don't seem to give a damn about the other Courts. |
| 845 | ** There's also the mysterious 'Welshman', a vampire from outside the Court system who lives in Cardiff, feeds off blood banks, and is responsible for the lack of other vampires in Britain - though this mostly to be left alone. |
| 846 | * WolverineClaws: Grey Court vampires have short talons extending from their fingers when they go GameFace. |
| 847 | |
| 848 | [[/folder]] |
| 849 | |
| 850 | [[folder:Dracula]] |
| 851 | |
| 852 | !!Vlad Dracula a.k.a. the Grey King |
| 853 | |
| 854 | -->''I am Dracula. I defied empires, causing the fields of Europe to steam with the blood of my enemies, long before I began drinking it as well.'' |
| 855 | |
| 856 | Formerly Voivode of Wallachia, a military genius and bona fide nightmare even back when he was human (or half-human. No one's entirely sure what his father was, but it wasn't pleasant), he is now the King of the Grey Court of vampires, a role he's held ever since he was first turned by Varnae, the former Grey King, back in the 15th century. Incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous, he and his Court do not involve themselves in the War between the White Council and the other Vampire Courts, as he hates the Red Court and has his own agenda. |
| 857 | ---- |
| 858 | [[hardline]] |
| 859 | |
| 860 | * AdaptationalBadass: [[WordOfGod Explicitly designed]] as such. He effortlessly subdues Voldemort, nearly kills Harry twice (and swats away a Cerebro-amped Xavier in the process), ''barely'' lost to Thor at some point in the past, killed another thunder god (Perun) just to prove he wasn't going soft, and takes Thor, Loki, and the Hulk to run off at the end of ''Bloody Hell''. |
| 861 | * AntiVillain: He has a code of honour, loathes those who habitually manipulate and deceive, and has a certain respect for {{Worthy Opponent}}s. He's also entirely evil. |
| 862 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: He's the most powerful Vampire in the Grey Court, fighting {{Physical God}}s on their own terms, and has killed at least one. He also beats Harry to a pulp, shrugging off his best attacks and [[spoiler: two sniper rounds from Bucky, and a Cerebro enhanced attack from Charles Xavier]]. |
| 863 | * BadassBoast: Delivers a long, cold one to Harry just before they go toe-to-toe and, HopeSpot aside, Dracula proceeds to hand him his arse: |
| 864 | -->"Your power and your name cause the likes of Riddle to skulk in the shadows, and they inspire fear in creatures and groups throughout the supernatural world. I respect that, the fear you have managed to inspire. But understand this: ''I do not share it.'' Understand this, as well. I am not like those enemies you have faced. I am not a [[EvilerThanThou hubristic, parasitic shade of a mortal wizard]], scuttling from shadow to shadow and spinning webs of trickery and deceit to try and achieve some semblance of power, [[ManipulativeBastard attempting to manipulate others into defeating my enemies for me]]. I am not a necromancer so detached from sanity as to be willing to [[EvenEvilHasStandards give myself to the Darkhold]]. I am ''not'' as they are, a pale shadow of a greater power, hankering for days long since gone. I am Dracula. I defied empires, causing the fields of Europe to steam with the blood of my enemies, long before I began drinking it as well. When I destroyed their armies, I made a screaming forest of their survivors, ''earning'' the name of Lord Impaler. I am the [[VampireMonarch Lord of the Vampires]], I have slain gods and demons alike, and I, little Prince, am going to teach you a lesson you should long since have learned. Why not to meddle in the affairs of your betters." |
| 865 | * BadBoss: Zig-zagged. He's a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but only until someone oversteps or screws up. |
| 866 | * BerserkButton: Gets ''very'' angry when one of his subordinates suggests using LoopholeAbuse, refusing to taint an honourable surrender. |
| 867 | ** He's also driven to a seething TranquilFury by Harry's attempt to pull a quick BaitAndSwitch on him. Insults, he shrugs off. Assuming he's that easily out-smarted? Now that ''really'' pisses him off. |
| 868 | ** Actually being tricked also enrages him. |
| 869 | * BlaseBoast: He says that fighting [[BadassCrew the Avengers]] and [[WorldOfBadass Asgard]] would swiftly grow "tiresome." Even with the power already demonstrated, that's quite a boast (though it seems, based on later comments from other characters, that he may have been boasting rather than stating a fact). |
| 870 | * BroughtDownToBadass: Politically rather than personally--it's mentioned that although he lost dozens of vampires (including many of his strongest) during the events of ''Bloody Hell'', he still maintains a pretty stable power base. |
| 871 | * CurbstompBattle: Delivers a savage NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to Harry as part of one of these. |
| 872 | * {{Determinator}}: Hardly anything even slows him down - even being run through with a FlamingSword just seems to piss him off, and [[spoiler: being hit by a massive psychic attack by Xavier]] is something he just shrugs off, after recovering from the initial sucker punch. |
| 873 | * DidntSeeThatComing: He didn't expect Harry and Bucky to get involved in the events of ''Bloody Hell'', much less Uhtred, Diana, Logan, and Gambit (though the latter four are lesser concerns), but he isn't particularly surprised, and adapts ''fast''. |
| 874 | * EvenEvilHasStandards: Regards using ExactWords and LoopholeAbuse to cheat someone who made an honourable deal to be beneath him, remarking that such word games are the province of the likes of Voldemort, the Fae, and Doctor Strange (who for unknown reasons, he despises). |
| 875 | * EvilerThanThou: Immediately makes clear to Volemort that their alliance, if he chooses to make one, will be on ''his'' terms. On the other hand, it appears that Voldemort still got the best of that particular bargain... |
| 876 | * EvilVirtues: Primarily, '''Honour''' - he ''will'' keep his given word, and is enraged if someone implies he won't. |
| 877 | * HalfHumanHybrid: Well, three-quarters human. It's very heavily implied that his father, Drakul, is one of these, being ''something'' very nasty and very, very powerful (probably due to Drakul's portrayal as this in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''). It's suggested that this was part of why Varnae picked him to be his successor. |
| 878 | * IGaveMyWord: Not only does he regard his given word as sacred, he will also keep the word of a subordinate and uphold a pact they made in his name - though only because it doesn't inconvenience him. |
| 879 | * ImplacableMan: As Harry finds when they fight, no matter what he tries or which allies he calls in, Dracula [[PunctuatedForEmphasis just. Keeps. Going.]] |
| 880 | * InvincibleVillain: In the ''Bloody Hell'' arc. The Avengers are unavailable, and nothing and no-one that Harry has available can lay a finger on Dracula - not without getting it snapped off. Harry himself gets beaten to a pulp by Dracula, twice, without the latter getting out of second gear, while a Cerebro-amped Xavier lasts about thirty seconds. He's only defeated by a well-timed KansasCityShuffle, and even then he would have killed Harry if not for [[BigDamnHeroes Thor, Loki, and the Hulk's timely arrival]]. |
| 881 | * KneelBeforeZod: Pulls a downplayed version of this on Harry, warning him to back down and stay out of his plans for [[spoiler: Carol]]. [[GuileHero Harry]] [[ISurrenderSuckers fakes compliance,]] then pulls a BaitAndSwitch and runs with [[spoiler: Carol]]. Dracula, BerserkButton pressed, descends into TranquilFury, and beats Harry to a pulp. |
| 882 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: He leaves Harry alive after he beats him to a pulp, knowing that killing him would start a war with Asgard he couldn't afford. After [[spoiler:Carol has been freed via a KansasCityShuffle]], he leaves, especially after Thor, Loki, and the Hulk arrive, albeit while trailing a frustrated scream. |
| 883 | * LeanAndMean: Described as tall and lean - and explicitly fancast as Creator/CharlesDance. |
| 884 | * LeaveHimToMe: With Harry, but only after chucking [[spoiler: Carol]], his true objective, beating him to a pulp. |
| 885 | * MasterSwordsman: Even when dazed after being distracted, walloped with a monstrous psychic attack, shot, and briefly skewered, he's more than capable of comfortably defending himself. When he's actually focusing, he demonstrates the difference between a master of the blade and a talented amateur like Harry. |
| 886 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Vlad Dracula, Lord Impaler, and Son of the Dragon is really not someone you want to mess with. |
| 887 | * NeckLift: On Voldemort, to remind the latter of his place. Pulls it on Harry, when beating ''him'' into his place. |
| 888 | * NeckSnap: Of another vampire, no less, with one hand and zero effort. |
| 889 | * NobleDemon: He's got the manners and moral code of an aristocrat, leavened though it is with PragmaticVillainy. He doesn't seek to involve anyone else in his scheme to grab [[spoiler: Carol]], he demonstrates respect for her abilities and assents to a bargain that will spare her brother, to the point of snapping the neck of a vampire who suggested otherwise, and he speaks civilly with Harry as a peer to be respected and gives him the chance to back down. |
| 890 | * NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: To Harry, in chapter 32, and then an interrupted one in chapter 33. |
| 891 | * NoodleIncident: |
| 892 | ** It's implied that he's encountered Strange before, and loathes him. The implication is that he came out the worse in one of Strange's word games. |
| 893 | ** Dresden also states that Dracula spent time as a Crusader at one point (most likely before he was turned), possibly referring to his wars against the Ottoman Empire. |
| 894 | * NoSell: Most of Bucky's enchanted bullets either cripple or destroy any vampire they hit. When he shoots Dracula, all it really does is annoy him and draw [[spoiler: a punitive lightning bolt.]] |
| 895 | * OffHandBackHand: Offhand Neck Snap, in fact, with one hand and no effort, on another vampire. And does the equivalent with [[spoiler: a lightning strike]] on Bucky, after the latter shot him one time too many. |
| 896 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: He's crossed swords with Thor previously, with the latter barely winning, and then killed [[PhysicalGod Perun]] just to make clear that he wasn't going soft. |
| 897 | ** He also went toe-to-toe with the Welshman, with both coming off badly. |
| 898 | * OhCrap: When he senses the [[spoiler:faked]] aura of the Phoenix. Given that the last time he ran into the Phoenix, most of the Grey Court was reduced to ash save him and a few others, it's understandable why. |
| 899 | * OldMaster: He was this even before he became a vampire. He's also over six hundred years old. |
| 900 | * PhysicalGod: Has the raw power to match Thor in single combat, and has killed at least one other example. Bucky refers to him as an Omega Class threat, which basically translates to "Call the Avengers and run." |
| 901 | * PragmaticVillainy: Though he doesn't approve of tricking or manipulating [[spoiler: Carol]] via ExactWords, he does tell his subordinates that if she tries to escape the agreement will be void. Therefore, said subordinates will be free to eat [[spoiler: her brother]], who's protected under the agreement. |
| 902 | ** He also agrees to abide by his subordinate's given word that [[spoiler: Stevie]] can go free after they're done, partly out of honour, partly because it'll be much harder for [[spoiler: Carol]] to escape if she has to worry about [[spoiler: Stevie]] as well. |
| 903 | ** Uses lesser minions as CannonFodder if necessary or deciding that YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness, he carefully preserves the more senior ones as they're in limited supply, and elevates CannonFodder if they show potential. |
| 904 | * PsychicPowers: Enough to lay a kind of web of psychic gloom and fear across an entire city for days, making it more likely to descend into panic and chaos when he arranges a black-out. He also represses Voldemort's magic and psychic powers with no visible sign of effort, and apparently has experience with the Askani, allowing him to turn back a psychic attack from Charles Xavier and send it back at him. |
| 905 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Has been around since the 1400s, making him an almost literal case. |
| 906 | * RedBaron: Known as "Son of the Dragon", "the Impaler", and "Lord Impaler." |
| 907 | * StrongAndSkilled: He has ComboPlatterPowers that put him on even par with Thor, and he is ''very much aware'' of how to use them effectively. The results allow him to simultaneously take on Harry, Bucky, ''and'' Xavier (amped by Cerebro) and come out the clear winner. |
| 908 | * SuperToughness: He'll take more or less whatever is thrown at him, endure it, then return it with interest. |
| 909 | * SuperSpeed: He can cross twenty feet in an eye-blink, faster than even vampire eyes can keep up with. |
| 910 | * VampireMonarch: King of the Grey Court. |
| 911 | * VillainRespect: |
| 912 | ** Shows genuine admiration for Carol's quick thinking and awareness of her situation, regarding her as an honourable opponent. He also notes that, as one professional to another, he genuinely respects how Harry has carved out [[TheDreaded a significant reputation]], overcome formidable opponents, and even stood up to him. |
| 913 | ** Averted in terms of the Red Court, whom he regards as disgusting despite their power. To be fair, pretty much everyone else agrees with him in that respect. |
| 914 | ** Also averted for Xavier, dismissing him as just another Askani adept. |
| 915 | * VillainousBreakdown: Goes from calm and controlled, as he had been in all his appearances, to a mixture of mindless terror and blind rage when it looks like [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] is paying him a visit. Harry's actually [[spoiler: pretending to be the Phoenix]], and once he realises that he's been tricked, he goes absolutely apeshit. |
| 916 | * VillainousValour: He does have genuine courage, attacking what he believes to be [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]] head on, despite being absolutely terrified. That terror swiftly segues into rage once he realises that he's been tricked. |
| 917 | * VillainTeamUp: Voldemort offers him the means to feed on [[spoiler: Carol's SuperSoldier blood]] if he serves as a distraction for the Avengers and White Council. Dracula accepts... but on ''his'' terms. |
| 918 | * WeatherManipulation: On a vast scale, though maybe not enough to match Thor - either way, he comfortably keeps a dark and overcast weather system over New York and much of the North-Eastern US for days, combining it with a kind of psychic gloom. [[ShockAndAwe Lightning bolts are a speciality.]] |
| 919 | [[/folder]] |
| 920 | |
| 921 | [[folder:Syrus]] |
| 922 | |
| 923 | !!Syrus |
| 924 | |
| 925 | A century old Grey Court Master Vampire, one sufficiently trusted by Dracula to lead the strike team that captured [[spoiler: Carol - and her younger brother]]. Reasonably smart, fairly powerful, and pragmatic, he serves as the primary antagonist for the first part of ''Bloody Hell''. |
| 926 | ---- |
| 927 | [[hardline]] |
| 928 | |
| 929 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: While all his minions are unconscious or incinerated within forty five seconds by Harry, he puts up a very good fight. |
| 930 | * BreakingSpeech: Tries, but fails miserably. |
| 931 | * CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's smug, a little heavy on the EvilGloating, and [[spoiler: Carol]] derides an attempt at a BreakingSpeech as an 'evil hipster riff'. However, he's able to beat Harry [[spoiler: (in astral form)]], and shuts out his psychic attacks - though as both he and Harry note, that's because Harry's [[spoiler: [[WorfHadTheFlu acting through Carol from Hogwarts]]]]. |
| 932 | * TheDragon: A fairly senior and trusted minion of Dracula's, if not quite one of [[CoDragons the Lords Lieutenant.]] |
| 933 | * EvilIsPetty: After forcing [[spoiler: Carol]] to surrender for the second time to spare [[spoiler: her brother]], he prepares to kneecap him with a machine-pistol, pointing out that 'alive' is not the same as 'unharmed'. |
| 934 | * ExactWords: His second deal with [[spoiler: Carol]] - he'd leave [[spoiler: Stevie]] alive if she surrendered again. He then plans to kneecap him with a MAC-10, as he said nothing about leaving him ''unharmed''. |
| 935 | * FatalFlaw: '''Pride.''' If he cut down on the EvilGloating, he'd go from dangerous to downright formidable, and succeed in not only recapturing [[spoiler: Carol]], but also lobotomising Harry. |
| 936 | * FauxAffablyEvil: Puts on a good show, but it cracks under strain, and Harry reveals after a look around his mind that the 'bones as toothpicks' threat was not an idle one, and he'd pulled it at least once before. |
| 937 | * GameFace: It starts showing more often as a sign that he's cracking. |
| 938 | * MindRape: On the giving end, to [[spoiler: Peter Parker]], and on the receiving end, from [[spoiler: Harry]]. |
| 939 | * MookLieutenant: Controls a group of lesser vampires on Dracula's behalf. |
| 940 | * PragmaticVillainy: Cuts a deal with [[spoiler: Carol]] to spare [[spoiler: her brother]], on the grounds that subduing her would probably cost at least one minion, would waste time, [[spoiler: her shield is a threat]], and [[spoiler: her brother]] would serve as TheLoad if she tried to make another escape attempt. |
| 941 | * PsychicPowers: Enough to shut out an admittedly strained Harry... until he lets him within arm's reach. |
| 942 | * ShockAndAwe: Proves very able at throwing lightning around. |
| 943 | * SmugSnake: Smarter and more capable than most examples, he nevertheless lets his arrogance get in the way of his common sense enough to make two critical mistakes. First, {{Monologuing}}. Second, letting Harry in arm's reach. |
| 944 | * SmugSuper: He's pretty clear in his views that vampires are by far a superior form of life. Neither [[spoiler: Carol]] nor Harry is especially impressed. Unlike most examples, he's actually a very capable fighter. |
| 945 | * SuperSpeed: As is standard for a Grey Court vampire, he's mentioned as moving faster than the speed of thought. |
| 946 | * WouldHurtAChild: And use their bones as toothpicks, no less. Or kneecap them with a machine-pistol just to make a point. |
| 947 | [[/folder]] |
| 948 | |
| 949 | [[folder:The Lords Lieutenant]] |
| 950 | |
| 951 | A group of powerful Grey Court Master Vampire sired by Dracula himself following the disaster in Vienna that wiped out the vast majority of the Grey Court. Over a century old, they're Dracula's most loyal, powerful, and dangerous supporters. Only a few of them are named, including their leader, Mikael. |
| 952 | ---- |
| 953 | [[hardline]] |
| 954 | |
| 955 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Aside from Dracula, and a few implied Elder Vampires who refuse to submit to Dracula (and are strong enough to do so if he isn't nearby), they're the Grey Court's strongest and smartest - the latter because Dracula has a very low tolerance for incompetence. |
| 956 | * CoDragons: As a collective, they serve as this to Dracula - Mikael, their apparent leader, in particular. |
| 957 | * EliteMook: A squad of ten of these, serving, and fearing, only their Lord Dracula. |
| 958 | * EqualOpportunityEvil: Several of them are women, and Dracula seems to treat both male and female mooks equally - i.e. not as 'Brides of Dracula', despite Carol referring to one as such. |
| 959 | * FingerLickinEvil: [[spoiler: Carol]] notices one of the female ones, Elisha, pulling this with bloodied fingers. |
| 960 | * FlyingBrick: [[ShockAndAwe lightning bolts]] make them FlyingFirepower too. |
| 961 | * FlyingFirepower: Flying vampires, plus lightning, equals this. |
| 962 | * MookLieutenant: Serve as some of Dracula's chief agents. |
| 963 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: Each one qualifies as this. |
| 964 | * ShockAndAwe: Like all powerful Grey Court vampires, by throwing lightning bolts. |
| 965 | * SmugSuper: Though less than Syrus, they're all pretty smug about their superiority to humans, mockingly telling [[spoiler: Carol]] that they only regretted that she hadn't led them on a better chase. |
| 966 | * SuperSpeed: They can fly fast enough to keep up with an Iron Man armour going at Mach speeds, and for several hundred miles. |
| 967 | * SuperToughness: One, Elisha, took an air to air missile (an AIM-120) to the face and was just scorched and angry. And then proceeded to rip the F-22 that had fired it to pieces. Unfortuantely for her, this wasn't sufficient to prevent Harry vaporising her. |
| 968 | * TheWatson: They, or their leader Mikael, generally serve as the people to whom Dracula explains things in the latter half of the arc. |
| 969 | * WeatherManipulation: Lightning bolts, as usual, are their stock in trade. |
| 970 | * TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler: Harry]] wipes out Elisha - who'd previously tanked an air to air missile to the face - in one shot, with Dracula remarking that he didn't so much kill her as obliterate her, and [[spoiler: Victor von Doom and a supposedly Phoenix-amped Harry]] disposes of several more of them in the finale. |
| 971 | |
| 972 | [[/folder]] |
| 973 | |
| 974 | [[folder:'The Fledgling']] |
| 975 | |
| 976 | An unknown powerful, but young, vampire who was gifted to Dracula by Voldemort. Aware of Voldemort's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, Dracula remains suspicious of him. For more, see his entry further up the page under [[spoiler: The Red Room, specifically The Beast/Dudley]]. |
| 977 | [[/folder]] |
| 978 | |
| 979 | [[folder:Lara Raith]] |
| 980 | |
| 981 | !! Lara Raith, a.k.a. The White Queen. |
| 982 | |
| 983 | The current ''de facto'' leader of the White Court of vampires and Thomas Raith's older half-sister (so she's not related to Harry Dresden by blood), Lara, like the rest of the White Court, is unlike other vampires in that she is actually part-human, and is ruling her Court through her brainwashed father Lord Raith. Also, she has no apparent interest in war with the White Council, SHIELD, or any of the other powers that seek to protect humanity. |
| 984 | |
| 985 | * BadassFamily: Half-sister of Thomas Raith, thus sort of related to Dresden and his family, and daughter of a (former) VampireMonarch. |
| 986 | * TheGhost: Mentioned once or twice by Harry Dresden and Phil Coulson, and that's the extent of her involvement in the story. Given her ''modus operandi'' is to do things indirectly, and that she has neither the political nor personal power to mess with Asgard, this makes complete sense. |
| 987 | * VampireMonarch: She, as mentioned above, is the true leader of the White Court. |
| 988 | [[/folder]] |
| 989 | |
| 990 | [[folder:Thomas Raith]] |
| 991 | See his entry under Characters/ChildOfTheStormOtherHeroesAndAllies |
| 992 | [[/folder]] |
| 993 | |
| 994 | ---- |
| 995 | |
| 996 | [[header:Surtur's Forces]] |
| 997 | |
| 998 | Surtur of Muspelheim [[spoiler: a.k.a. the original Dark Phoenix]] created armies of fire demons and dragons, led by his Great Captains, and destroyed a galaxy as part of a grand plan to destroy the universe and rebuild it better. |
| 999 | |
| 1000 | ---- |
| 1001 | [[folder:Surtur]] |
| 1002 | |
| 1003 | !!Surtur |
| 1004 | |
| 1005 | -->'''''Very well. If you will not be a student and a partner, then so be it: you shall be my tool instead, naught but a vessel of my will. Your power shall become mine. AND EVERYTHING SHALL BURN!''''' |
| 1006 | |
| 1007 | The traditional bringer of Ragnarok in Norse mythology, his role is something the myths got right. What they failed to mention is that Yggdrasil was created by the Alliance of Realms to imprison him. It's held him for a million years, more or less, despite bouts of it becoming a LeakingCanOfEvil. But in ''Ghosts'', it's cracking. And there's another thing the myths didn't mention: [[spoiler: he was the original Dark Phoenix.]] |
| 1008 | ---- |
| 1009 | [[hardline]] |
| 1010 | |
| 1011 | * AffablyEvil: Originally. Even after the Alliance of Realms slowed him down, he welcomed defectors with open arms and giving them the power they craved, the mightiest becoming his 'Great Captains', his seconds and generals. A million years of imprisonment, however, resulted in a truly epic level of malice and [[FauxAffablyEvil a thin facade of civility that only lasts until someone tells him 'no']]. |
| 1012 | * TheAgeless: It's implied that he didn't age. At all. Even before he turned into an EnergyBeing. |
| 1013 | * AGodAmI: His main problem is that he genuinely believes that he's this trope and doing the right thing. |
| 1014 | * AmbitionIsEvil: Played With. He summoned the Phoenix (then deliberately broke the circle) to plead his case which as Doctor Strange later notes, takes audacity. Yet at the time, he wasn't evil. However, [[AGodAmI his]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist hubris]] is the direct cause of all the horror he's unleashed. |
| 1015 | * AncientEvil: He's been a SealedEvilInACan for a ''million'' years. |
| 1016 | * AndYourLittleDogToo: Makes a threat along these lines in a feeble attempt to counter Harry's ReasonYouSuckSpeech about him being all alone and [[EvilCannotComprehendGood unable to comprehend Harry and his motivations]]. |
| 1017 | * AppropriatedAppellation: Even Strange doesn't know what his original name was, and he instead uses the name the Alliance of Realms gave him: Surtr/Surtur - 'the Dark One.' |
| 1018 | * AxCrazy: ''He genuinely believes that he is the good guy.'' And that was ''before'' he fought a brutal war with the Alliance of Realms and spent a million years locked away at the bottom of Yggdrasil, which is implied to have done his mental health no favours. |
| 1019 | * BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: He started out trying only to save his people and his world, humble and brave enough to summon [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] and immediately break the circle, saying he didn't want to bind Her, just to have the chance to plead his case. |
| 1020 | * BlackEyesOfEvil: When he finally appears onscreen, these (described as being "cold and black as the infinite void [...] utterly devoid of mortal considerations such as kindness or mercy") give away that his FauxAffablyEvil act is just that - an act. |
| 1021 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: It's suggested that he doesn't quite ''get'' why people are opposing him, welcomed defectors with open arms and empowered them on an epic scale because he thought that they'd seen the light, and genuinely thinks that he's doing the right thing. However, it's eventually confirmed that a million years of frustration at being locked away has curdled into a truly astounding level of malice. |
| 1022 | * CreativeSterility: He's stone-cold brilliant, but his brilliance is just that: stone cold. There's no intuition, no spark of inspiration, it's all technical. This is suggested on more than one occasion to be his FatalFlaw. |
| 1023 | * TheCorrupter: Occasionally - his 'Great Captains' were the mightiest defectors to his side. He tries to be this to Harry, both directly and indirectly. It doesn't work on either occasion (in fact, Harry outright laughs in his face). |
| 1024 | ** Odin and Doctor Strange both consider the possibility of his doing so to Jean and Maddie, via the Phoenix and because of their connection to Harry. However, both note that [[MindRape he would have to do it by force]]. |
| 1025 | * CurbstompBattle: Handed these out to ''everyone.'' Only Frey was able to keep up with him, and that with the power of the Kings of Asgard, plus Ván, a sword specifically designed to NoSell Surtur's attacks. And even then, he was only able to keep Surtur busy for long enough for the rest of the Alliance of Realms to seal him away. |
| 1026 | * DarkIsEvil: Mixes this with LightIsNotGood when he appears, being a being of light and fire clad in shadows and with BlackEyesOfEvil (which eventually cover his whole body), embodying the whole 'Shadow and Flame' thing. |
| 1027 | * TheDreaded: He was so feared that he caused perpetual arch-enemies, the Eternals and Deviants of Earth, who spent most of their time trying to wipe each other out, to set aside their feud and stand together against him. |
| 1028 | * EldritchAbomination: Par excellence, evolving past his physical form when he made his fateful choice, becoming capable of destroying an ''entire galaxy.'' Even when he was defeated, he was impossible to kill - the Alliance had to create a Skyfather-level champion with a specially enchanted blade made of Uru and Vibranium, ''specifically designed'' to NoSell his [[spoiler: Phoenix]] fire, ''just to distract him.'' And ''even then'', despite his prison being Yggdrasil itself, which also siphons his power to strengthen the prison/empower the Warden (the King or Queen of Asgard), it ''still'' occasionally becomes a LeakingCanOfEvil. He has the attitude, too, being "devoid of mortal concerns such as kindness or mercy." |
| 1029 | ** And unlike most, he actually created more, including the Great Dragons (think Smaug, but worse), transforming defectors into his 'Great Captains', each of which is ''at least'' a PhysicalGod, turning his dead enemies (and entire species) into [[PersonOfMassDestruction Fire-Giants]]. |
| 1030 | * EmperorScientist: His main area of expertise: before he snapped, he reshaped his world to save it, then improve it, then started forcibly evolving his own people - and had the gall to be surprised when they objected and [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] called him out on it. He also created the Great Dragons, as well as innumerable weapons that Odin admits were 'the equal of anything Asgard or her allies could create today'. That's right: even with a million years of advancement, Asgard is only just matching what Surtur was making back then. |
| 1031 | ** He also forged his sword, Twilight (which [[spoiler: may or may not be Laevateinn]]), which only Frey's blade, Ván, forged of uru and vibranium and enchanted with the best that the nascent Nine Realms and Doctor Strange could offer, could match. His crowning achievement, though, is [[spoiler: severing his fragment of the Phoenix from the entity in question, actually hurting Her.]] |
| 1032 | * EnergyBeing: What he became, as is very apparent when he finally appears. |
| 1033 | * EvilIsBurningHot: He's got a serious fire motif, being described as a being 'of shadow and flame' - which, since he's [[spoiler: the original Dark Phoenix]], is perhaps not surprising. |
| 1034 | * EvilCannotComprehendGood: Harry makes this point to him, at length, merrily jumping up and down on his BerserkButton in the process. |
| 1035 | * EvilCounterpart: To Odin, naturally, and to an extent, to Doctor Strange (brilliant sorcerer who's worked with [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] for his own ends, and intends to reshape the universe to follow his preferred course), but mainly to Harry - both are magically powerful, both are determined to save their respective worlds, and both have [[spoiler: fragments of the Phoenix]] within them. Harry also notes a disquieting resemblance between Surtur's examination of [[spoiler: him]] and Tony when taking apart a new gadget. |
| 1036 | * EvilGenius: He was a brilliant mage-scientist back in the day, and aside from all the monsters he creates, actually manages to [[spoiler: sever a fragment of the Phoenix from Her, actually causing Her real pain, enough that she fled in agony and confusion]]. However, his brilliance is purely technical and some things he just doesn't get. |
| 1037 | * EvilIsBigger: He's described as taller than Hagrid, when he finally appears. |
| 1038 | * EvilOverlord: Though it wasn't even close to his primary interest. |
| 1039 | * TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Seems to be a major part of his motivation, according to Odin after the latter [[spoiler:gets a look at Musphelheim]]. |
| 1040 | * EvilSorcerer: What he was. [[EldritchAbomination What he is now is another matter.]] |
| 1041 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 1042 | ** Bears a great resemblance in motives and some methods to both Sauron and Morgoth, and the resemblance to Peter Jackson's Sauron (his appearance and the "I see you" line to someone who unwisely got a vision of him) is emphasised when he finally appears. Unlike them, though, he still genuinely believes that he's the good guy. |
| 1043 | ** As an enormously powerful and ancient sorcerer who sought to claim the power of the Phoenix (or at least a host's portion of it), causing [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] to flee in agonised confusion, with ambitions of ultimate power -- and who's being set up to go up against [[spoiler: a real Phoenix host]] -- he bears a great resemblance to ''{{ComicBook/Excalibur}}'' villain Necrom. Unlike Necrom, though, Surtur's intentions were genuinely benevolent -- and still are, in a very strange, warped sort of way. |
| 1044 | ** His motivations - [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans tearing the universe down to rebuild it better]] - echo a Parallax possessed Hal Jordan in ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime''. |
| 1045 | ** He also parallels Jor-El, both trying desperately to save their people. In the end, he turned out more like Zod. |
| 1046 | * FaceHeelTurn: One sealed by his reaction to his people revolting against his attempts to forcibly evolve them, to 'make them better', and [[spoiler: the Phoenix's]] rebuke as [[spoiler: She came to take Her power back]]. Instead of a HeelRealisation, he decided that he was the OnlySaneMan, and thus he must destroy reality to improve it, which he started by [[spoiler: stealing the Phoenix's power and destroying his people.]] |
| 1047 | * FallenHero: He was once the saviour of his world and people, [[spoiler: a Phoenix Host]]. Then... he went bad. |
| 1048 | * FantasticRacism: He hated the Deviants because he felt that their random mutation was untidy. |
| 1049 | * FauxAffablyEvil: When he finally appears onscreen he maintains an affable facade, but as Harry notes, the eyes give it away. More to the point, it crumbles very quickly when he's told 'no'. |
| 1050 | * FightingAShadow: On occasion, he has managed to project horrifyingly powerful avatars of himself beyond the Seal of Musphelheim, but Surtur himself has (thankfully) never escaped. |
| 1051 | ** A related situation happens when [[spoiler: Harry accidentally makes psychic contact with him via a vision of the future, resulting in psychic combat]]. Thanks to Surtur being unable to bring all his power to bear, [[spoiler: Harry]] gets away more or less intact, [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech leaving a few psychological scars behind.]] |
| 1052 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: He started out as a magical Jor-El {{Expy}}, summoning [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] and then breaking the summoning circle, wanting just to plead his case. He became a horrifying galactic scale EldritchAbomination. |
| 1053 | * GoMadFromTheIsolation: WordOfGod implies that spending a million years trapped in Muspelheim with only Fire Giants - essentially extensions of himself - for company, with every single escape attempt rebuffed by Asgard and her allies, has driven him even more insane. |
| 1054 | * GreaterScopeVillain: For ''Ghosts of the Past''. |
| 1055 | * HeroicHost: Once. It's unclear whether he corrupted [[spoiler: his Phoenix fragment]], or whether it corrupted him. Most likely, it started out as him corrupting it in anger, which kicked off a vicious cycle as they made each other progressively worse and worse. |
| 1056 | * InsaneTrollLogic: He genuinely thought resurrecting his people as [[HumanoidAbomination Fire-Giants]] enslaved to his will was doing them a favour. |
| 1057 | * InTheirOwnImage: His ultimate goal is to break reality down to its most basic components, then rebuild the universe 'better'. [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans The fact that this involves killing everyone in the universe doesn't seem to bother him all that much.]] |
| 1058 | * JoinOrDie: His ancient pitch, summed up - though more accurately, 'Join and Retain (Some Of) Your Free Will, Or Die and Join As A Mindless HumanoidAbomination'. It remains the same when he re-emerges, but it's lost almost all its [[AffablyEvil previous affability.]] |
| 1059 | * KillItWithFire: His primary strategy, on a cosmic scale. |
| 1060 | -->'''''EVERYTHING SHALL BURN.''''' |
| 1061 | * KnightTemplar: To an epic degree. |
| 1062 | * LargeHam: Not quite as Chthon or Nimue (though that's not saying much), but he has his moments. |
| 1063 | * LeakingCanOfEvil: He's previously been able to put "avatars" of himself outside the seal on Musphelheim during its weaker periods, and some of his lieutenants are still around causing trouble, such as [[spoiler:the Elder Wyrm]] and a couple of the Great Captains (though they're far weaker than they would be if he was free). |
| 1064 | * LightIsNotGood: He's heavily fire themed, and when he appears, his body is entirely shaped from light and fire, a beautiful (if slightly alien) sculpture. The BlackEyesOfEvil, however, give it away. |
| 1065 | * MindRape: To his minions, the Fire-Giants, who're the spirits of all those who opposed him (including his own people), enslaved to his will. He also tries this on Harry. In part due to being unable to bring more than a fraction of his full strength to bear, combined with Harry's own power/stubbornness, he fails. |
| 1066 | * MotiveDecay: This is implied by his conversation with Harry, and is likely justified - at first, he was a WellIntentionedExtremist who actually believed that he was doing everybody a favor by destroying the universe so he could rebuild it InTheirOwnImage. But after a million years of solitary confinement and thwarted escape attempts, he's apparently developed a rather staggering level of malice. |
| 1067 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Surtr/Surtur - 'the Dark One', a name he earned because darkness was all he brought, leaving behind 'only remembrances of starlight and echoes of screams.' |
| 1068 | * ObliviouslyEvil: At least to begin with - he didn't quite ''get'' why people objected to his policies of forcibly evolving his species (among other things), much less why [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] rebuked him for it. Now, after a million years of frustration and thwarted escape attempts, he's much more overtly malicious. |
| 1069 | * OhCrap: The general reaction, and for good reason. It's dialled up when it's realised what he actually ''is.'' |
| 1070 | * OmnicidalManiac: Though a bit different to the other versions in the story - Gravemoss wants to rule over a universe of the dead, Thanos wants to hollow out the universe and turn it into a lifeless void to present to Death as a lover's gift, while Chthon wants to dissolve everything into primordial chaos. Surtur, however, doesn't want to destroy the universe, as such... he just wants to burn it down to its most basic components and rebuild it better. |
| 1071 | * OnlySaneMan: Genuinely believes that he's the only sane being in a warped and flawed universe, one that he must therefore burn to the ground and rebuild. |
| 1072 | * PaintingTheMedium: His speech is rendered in bold italics. This is a big clue as to what he is. |
| 1073 | * PlayingWithFire: On a cosmic scale. |
| 1074 | * PostModernMagic: An absolute genius at this, even by the standards of his highly advanced civilisation. It gets to the point where Odin admits that a million years on (in raw power, at least), Asgard is only just catching up. |
| 1075 | * RestartTheWorld: His plan for the universe, which has been delayed for the past million years or so. |
| 1076 | * SatanicArchetype: PlayedWith. While he averts the classic Christianised view of Surtur as the Devil in Norse clothing, and the traditional Marvel depiction as an explicitly demonic figure, he ''does'' have a lot in common with classic examples Morgoth and Sauron. Plus the whole 'sealed in a pit until he is one day going to break free and destroy everything' has a fair bit in common with the Book of Revelations. |
| 1077 | * SealedEvilInACan: For a million years. He, on the other hand, sees himself as SealedGoodInACan. |
| 1078 | * TimeAbyss: He's over a million years old. |
| 1079 | * ThroatLight: After the BlackEyesOfEvil flow over his body, the burning inferno of his LightIsNotGood form becomes this, illuminating him from within. |
| 1080 | * TooMuchForManToHandle: Even touching his mind will cause even moderately powerful mortal telepaths to quite literally go up in flames. Harry manages it because [[spoiler: he's inoculated by his own Phoenix fragment]]. |
| 1081 | * UltimateBlacksmith: Odin admits that the weapons he forged were, even a million years ago, the equal of anything that Asgard and her allies could forge ''now''. Even if that's just due to raw power, that's one hell of an achievement. |
| 1082 | * UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: He firmly believes that the universe is inherently flawed, and that once he destroys it, he can rebuild it into a utopia. Almost everyone else disagrees, especially since it is more than once demonstrated that a) Surtur was insane even before what amounted to a million years of solitary confinement, b) his concept of utopia is every living thing designed/behaving to his exact specifications. |
| 1083 | * VillainTakesAnInterest: In Harry, initially via [[spoiler: the Elder Wyrm]]. It's left ambiguous how much is genuine and how much is just him being afraid of Harry potentially being the instrument of [[spoiler: the Phoenix's]] long overdue revenge and his downfall. WordOfGod has suggested that it's a bit of both. |
| 1084 | * WeCanRuleTogether: Makes a pitch along these lines to Harry, twice, who is less than interested. Whether this is because he genuinely thinks they're the same, or just wants to neutralise Harry's potential threat, is left ambiguous - though the narration hints that it's a bit of both. |
| 1085 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: With increasing emphasis on the extremist part as he got more and more corrupted. |
| 1086 | * WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: He's focused on omnicide, but he started out by wiping out ''his own people'' after they revolted against him playing god. He genuinely thought that by killing them all and resurrecting them as Fire-Giants enslaved to his will that he was doing them a favour. |
| 1087 | [[/folder]] |
| 1088 | |
| 1089 | [[folder:The Great Captains]] |
| 1090 | |
| 1091 | !!The Great Captains |
| 1092 | |
| 1093 | Surtur's chief servants and most powerful generals. Defectors from his enemies, they were imbued with the greatest proportion of his power of all his servants. All of them had different abilities, each was a cosmic scale terror in their own right, and as Surtur stirs, so do they. |
| 1094 | ---- |
| 1095 | [[hardline]] |
| 1096 | |
| 1097 | * BroughtDownToBadass: When Surtur's locked away, they're considerably less powerful than before, but still comfortably planet busters. As the Seal begins to crack and they awaken in earnest, it's made very clear that even one can wreak cosmic scale devastation, with Jormungand alone being more than a match for the Shi'ar Empire. |
| 1098 | * CoDragons: They were Surtur's most powerful servants, and the commanders of his armies. |
| 1099 | * CreativeSterility: Thor theorizes that half the reason they've never targeted Asgard is because they're not that creative, both because they're enslaved to Surtur's will (even if it is not always apparent), and because of age making them set in their ways. This is later confirmed by Loki, who notes that they all follow patterns, with some being more dangerous than others. |
| 1100 | * DefectorFromDecadence: Inverted, since they defected to Surtur after seeing what he was capable of. |
| 1101 | * TheDreaded: And their actions after waking up demonstrate why. Each was, at minimum, capable of destroying worlds all by themselves. The fact that Frey as the new King of Asgard, wielding [[CoolSword Ván]] and what would become known as the Odinforce, beat two of them and sent two more running for their lives served as a major statement of his power. |
| 1102 | * FourStarBadass: All of them commanded Surtur's armies of dragons and Fire Giants, though the Black Captain was the only real general among them. |
| 1103 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: Even when they were active and the Seal of Musphelheim was weakened, none of them have ever targeted Asgard. |
| 1104 | * MookMaker: Most of them can generate servants in their own right out of their victims, or provide vehicles for Surtur to create Fire Giants. A few, like the Black Captain, don't bother. |
| 1105 | * MysteriousPast: Only a few of their original species are even known, and very little is known about their pasts, with only mention of the Black Captain and Jormungand. Thor's already squared off against the latter, and even though he wasn't nearly as powerful as he is now, only won by throwing him into ''a neutron star''. As for the Black Captain, he was singlehandedly responsible for the Aesir-Vanir Wars, among many other things. |
| 1106 | * ObviouslyEvil: Most of them are, at the very least, deeply creepy. The Black Captain is the main exception to this because his [[DemonicPossession powers]] mean that TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse. |
| 1107 | * PhysicalGod: Since they are said to be the most powerful members of Surtur's forces, and considering that this places them above beings like The Elder Wyrm, who was a serious threat to Harry working with Thor, Loki, Dumbledore, Wanda, the Vibranium armoured ''Valiant'', and many others, stated to be a threat capable of destroying Earth, this speaks volumes about their power. Later, Jormungand and a few dozen of his spawn alone are noted to be absolutely ''tearing'' through the Shi'ar Empire, simply because it's in their way. |
| 1108 | * QuirkyMinibossSquad: Each is a cosmic scale nightmare with its own bizarre appearance and powers. |
| 1109 | * TheWorfEffect: On the receiving end from Frey. |
| 1110 | * WorfHadTheFlu: They're considerably less powerful when Surtur's locked away... [[BroughtDownToBadass but still comfortably capable of destroying planets]]. |
| 1111 | [[/folder]] |
| 1112 | |
| 1113 | [[folder:The Black Captain]] |
| 1114 | |
| 1115 | !!The Black Captain a.k.a. Zagreus |
| 1116 | |
| 1117 | One of the only Great Captains mentioned by name, it is eventually revealed that he is one of Earth's Eternals gone rogue: Zagreus. While he's as committed to his pattern as the rest of them, his is a pattern that never goes out of style. |
| 1118 | |
| 1119 | ---- |
| 1120 | [[hardline]] |
| 1121 | |
| 1122 | * BatmanGambit: Loki outright states that his tactics are based off of manipulating sentient nature. And unlike the others, that's a tactic that never stops working. |
| 1123 | * DemonicPossession: One of his main tactics, since he's mostly just a spirit nowadays, and clever enough to leave enough of the original mind and soul to veil his presence. |
| 1124 | * DivideAndConquer: All the Great Captains have their patterns, and this is his - which, thanks to his patience and use of the BatmanGambit (and the fact that via possession, he's not ObviouslyEvil), makes him the most dangerous. |
| 1125 | * TheDreaded: More so than the others. While he's not exactly widely known, he induces a MassOhCrap in Asgard's leaders when it's revealed that he was behind the Aesir-Vanir Wars, among other things. Additionally, while Loki has broad tactics to deal with all of the others, his only advice with this one is "be careful. Be very, very careful." |
| 1126 | * {{Expy}}: He's basically the Sauron to Surtur's Morgoth, right down to position and tactics - though unlike Sauron, he's apparently a notably skilled military commander. |
| 1127 | * FourStarBadass: While all of them commanded armies, the Black Captain was the only real general of the lot. According to WordOfGod, he not only had the associated power of a Great Captain, but served as Surtur's chief military commander, his Field Marshal (equivalent to the US rank of 'General of the Army'). |
| 1128 | * TheGhost: Unlike all but one of the rest, even after extensive searching, Loki has no idea where he's likely to be - and unlike Skoll, that's a very big problem. |
| 1129 | * ManipulativeBastard: His primary ''modus operandi'' - he might be reduced to just a whispering spirit most of the time, but that's more than enough for him to turn various parts of Yggdrasil against each other. |
| 1130 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Eternals stripped him of his physical form after Surtur was defeated. Unfortunately, this has only made him exponentially more difficult to find. |
| 1131 | * NothingIsScarier: He could be hiding inside ''anyone.'' |
| 1132 | * TheParagonAlwaysRebels: He was once one of the greatest of the Eternals, who didn't particularly like the idea of being nursemaid to proto humanity. |
| 1133 | * TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: Thanks to his habit of possessing people and leaving enough of a mind and soul to conceal his presence, he's by far the hardest to identify of the Captains. |
| 1134 | * RedBaron: The Black Captain, Surtur's Black Hand... he's picked up a couple. |
| 1135 | * TheSmartGuy: Of the Great Captains, according to WordOfGod, who referred to the Black Captain as [[FourStarBadass "Surtur's Field Marshal."]] |
| 1136 | * TheStrategist: The only real general of the lot, and dangerous even though his patterns are as familiar as any of the others - DivideAndConquer is a trick that never goes out of fashion. |
| 1137 | [[/folder]] |
| 1138 | |
| 1139 | [[folder:Jormungand]] |
| 1140 | |
| 1141 | !!Jormungand a.k.a. the Father of Dragons |
| 1142 | |
| 1143 | The Great Captain about who the most is known, Jormungand is, as mentioned above, the Father of the Dragons who served Surtur - quite likely literally in many cases. |
| 1144 | |
| 1145 | ---- |
| 1146 | [[hardline]] |
| 1147 | |
| 1148 | * AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: He's shown to be the size of a ''moon''. Yes, that's a dragon the size of the Death Star, and just as dangerous. |
| 1149 | * EarthShatteringKaboom: His spawn can destroy worlds all by themselves, and he can do far, far worse, as the Shi'ar find out the hard way. |
| 1150 | * MonsterProgenitor: 'Father of Dragons' is not just a fancy name. Apparently their nesting grounds involve stellar clusters. |
| 1151 | * NighInvulnerable: Thor had to throw/trick him into a ''neutron star'' to win their fight, and it turns out later that even '''''THAT''''' wasn't enough to kill him. Though this could alternatively be read as a case of the Great Captains just being [[CompleteImmortality impossible to kill]], like Surtur (or that [[ResurrectiveImmortality they can be resurrected by Surtur]]). When he re-emerges with the Seal weakened, it's made quite clear that nothing the Shi'ar can throw at him is likely to threaten him, bar possibly Gladiator - and even he's particularly vulnerable to Jormungand's PsychicPowers. |
| 1152 | * OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Went toe-to-toe with a fairly young Thor, and gave a good accounting of himself, despite his limitations. |
| 1153 | * OurDragonsAreDifferent: A monstrous winged lizard created by [[spoiler:the original Dark Phoenix]]. |
| 1154 | * PsychicPowers: Implied, like all of his spawn, apparently considerable enough to cripple Gladiator's notoriously confidence based powers. |
| 1155 | * ThatsNoMoon: ...it's a dragon. A very, very powerful dragon. |
| 1156 | * WorfHadTheFlu: Jormungand was weakened by the Seal of Musphelheim separating him from Surtur when he fought Thor. With the Seal cracked, he's strong enough to awaken his brood and carve a swathe through the Shi'ar galaxy. |
| 1157 | [[/folder]] |
| 1158 | |
| 1159 | [[folder:Skoll]] |
| 1160 | |
| 1161 | !!Skoll a.k.a. the Devouring Dark |
| 1162 | |
| 1163 | A shapeshifting EldritchAbomination that usually takes the form of a wolf-spider-cephalapod horror, it's the [[IWorkAlone lone wolf]] of the Great Captains, and the most bestial, being concerned with its appetites. [[ItCanThink This is not the same as being stupid.]] |
| 1164 | ----- |
| 1165 | [[hardline]] |
| 1166 | |
| 1167 | * BigEater: Of planets, among other things. Possibly also stars. Certainly, it gets mistaken for Galactus. |
| 1168 | * EldritchAbomination: It's a cosmic horror that eats worlds and/or stars, is found by sifting through possible Galactus sightings, and it's constantly shapeshifting into more and more nightmarish forms, usually based partly on wolves. |
| 1169 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: They're its only colour, and they're burning white. |
| 1170 | * ItCanThink: While it's so primarily concerned with feeding that it tends to be mistaken for Galactus, and more a tactical threat than a strategic one, Loki notes that it's actually quite clever, and a very dangerous ambush predator. For one thing, unlike all of the others but the very well camouflaged Black Captain, no one actually knows where it is. |
| 1171 | * MonsterProgenitor: Apparently the father or grandfather of Fenris, if Sif's inner monologue is anything to go by. |
| 1172 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: On a cosmic and truly horrifying scale. |
| 1173 | |
| 1174 | [[/folder]] |
| 1175 | |
| 1176 | [[folder:The Soul-Eater]] |
| 1177 | |
| 1178 | !!The Soul Eater |
| 1179 | |
| 1180 | A predator of the Astral Plane, a Wraith of an unknown breed, believed to have been what the Shi'ar call a 'Mummudrai' and a distant relative of dementors, it's essentially a living psychic virus which hollows people out and either leaves them as an EmptyShell or a reprogrammed weapon. |
| 1181 | ---- |
| 1182 | [[hardline]] |
| 1183 | |
| 1184 | * BrainwashedAndCrazy: The fate of many of its victims is to be reprogrammed into utterly loyal shock troops for Surtur. |
| 1185 | * TheDreaded: It's eaten the minds and souls of nearly ''900'' worlds, and critically damaged over ''3000'' - they 'should' recover in about three centuries - in a mere couple of months, before being quarantined. And as Loki remarks, that's actually relatively mild compared to prior outbreaks. It's bad enough that some members of the Allfather's Council immediately suggest [[EarthShatteringKaboom blowing up all the infected planets]], only for Loki to reveal that that has been tried, and it doesn't work. |
| 1186 | * EldritchAbomination: It's more of a living idea than anything else, "remnants of things that couldn't quite live but refused to die." This makes it very hard to contain, let alone destroy. |
| 1187 | * EmptyShell: What it turns its victims into, by eating their minds. |
| 1188 | * FromASingleCell: Metaphorically speaking, it can regenerate or spread from a single host, or even evacuate to the Astral Plane. |
| 1189 | * MindRape: It's essentially a cosmic dementor, meaning this comes as standard. It eats everything with a mind, leaving an EmptyShell that it either programs with UndyingLoyalty to Surtur or leaves to be turned into a Fire Giant. |
| 1190 | * MysteriousPast: Loki can only conjecture on what it is, let alone how it became that way. |
| 1191 | * TheVirus: [[MindVirus A psychic variant.]] Some people can develop an immunity or resist it, but there's generally very little point, by the time it's done. |
| 1192 | |
| 1193 | [[/folder]] |
| 1194 | |
| 1195 | |
| 1196 | [[folder:The Frozen Shadow]] |
| 1197 | |
| 1198 | !!The Frozen Shadow |
| 1199 | |
| 1200 | A Frost Giant, one that commands cold - and molecular motion - on a cosmic scale. It usually works as part of a team, with [[LightIsNotGood The Lightbringer]] and The Fallen One, which makes them both easy to find and deadly dangerous. |
| 1201 | ---- |
| 1202 | [[hardline]] |
| 1203 | |
| 1204 | * DarkIsEvil: It's a living obsidian statue that freezes people so thoroughly it traps their souls. |
| 1205 | * EvilIsDeathlyCold: Its powers over cold are so absolute that when it freezes people, it traps their souls inside, with even reality apparently being unsure whether they are living or dead. |
| 1206 | * {{Necromancer}}: Of a sort. It freezes its victims, which it can animate as minions of ice and stone that can teleport through shadows and which Loki compares to Weeping Angels. |
| 1207 | * VillainTeamUp: It works closely with The Lightbringer and the Fallen One. It's unknown whether they're friends, per se, but they work together very effectively. |
| 1208 | |
| 1209 | [[/folder]] |
| 1210 | |
| 1211 | [[folder:The Light Bringer]] |
| 1212 | |
| 1213 | !!The Lightbringer |
| 1214 | |
| 1215 | One of the Alfar, they're bright and beautiful in an eerie sort of way... and fixated on liberating souls from their imperfect bodies as part of the grand reconstruction of reality in Surtur's 'perfect' image. It usually works with The Frozen Shadow and The Fallen One. |
| 1216 | ---- |
| 1217 | [[hardline]] |
| 1218 | |
| 1219 | * BeautyIsBad: They're entrancingly beautiful even in image. They are also completely evil. |
| 1220 | * BlackAndWhiteInsanity: More obviously so than most of Surtur's servants, with an extreme gnostic outlook - the physical is imperfect, like the rest of the universe, so the soul must be 'liberated' and perfected. |
| 1221 | * LightIsNotGood: They rip the souls from their victims' bodies in a warped pursuit of Surtur's perfection. |
| 1222 | * VillainTeamUp: Usually with the Frozen Shadow and the Fallen One. |
| 1223 | * YourSoulIsMine: Its standard ''modus operandi''. |
| 1224 | [[/folder]] |
| 1225 | |
| 1226 | [[folder:The Fallen One]] |
| 1227 | |
| 1228 | !!The Fallen One |
| 1229 | |
| 1230 | The Herald of [[LightIsNotGood the Light Bringer]] and [[DarkIsEvil the Frozen Shadow]], it scouts worlds for them, identifying and neutralising targets and defences. It's unclear what it is, though its name and function implies that it was once a Herald of Galactus. |
| 1231 | |
| 1232 | ---- |
| 1233 | [[hardline]] |
| 1234 | |
| 1235 | * EnigmaticMinion: All the other Great Captains have identifiable methods and fixations. This one is still a bit of a mystery. |
| 1236 | * MysteriousPast: The context implies that it was once a Herald of Galactus, but we don't actually ''know'' what it is. |
| 1237 | * VillainTeamUp: With the Frozen Shadow and the Light Bringer. |
| 1238 | |
| 1239 | [[/folder]] |
| 1240 | |
| 1241 | [[folder:The Shaper]] |
| 1242 | |
| 1243 | !!The Shaper |
| 1244 | |
| 1245 | A female dwarf, and one of their greatest artisans before she joined Surtur's forces. Like Surtur, she's a creator on a cosmic scale, forging weapons, war-machines, and even Fire Giants for his forces. |
| 1246 | |
| 1247 | ---- |
| 1248 | [[hardline]] |
| 1249 | |
| 1250 | * TheAssimilator: Overlapping with TheVirus, she can turn organic life into aspects of herself. |
| 1251 | * ChromeChampion: An evil version, in that she's made from silvery metal. |
| 1252 | * DysonSphere: Part of her forge is this, though it's closer to a RingWorldPlanet. |
| 1253 | * MookMaker: She creates Fire Giants, among other things. |
| 1254 | * RingWorldPlanet: She's seen turning a planet into this around a star, as part of her forge. |
| 1255 | * UltimateBlacksmith: She shares this function with Surtur himself, having apparently been one even before turning to the dark side, building much of the materiel Surtur's forces use. This includes everything from bog-standard Fire Giants to ''[[GeniusLoci Living Planets]]''. |
| 1256 | |
| 1257 | [[/folder]] |
| 1258 | |
| 1259 | [[folder:The Elder Wyrm]] |
| 1260 | |
| 1261 | !!The Elder Wyrm a.k.a. Vándlat a.k.a. 'Dave' |
| 1262 | |
| 1263 | One of Surtur's dragons, it has spent most of the last few hundred millennia asleep [[spoiler: under the Hogwarts Lake]], before being partially awakened by its master's stirring. An enormous wingless dragon, he's immensely powerful, dangerously intelligent, and thoroughly malevolent. On meeting Harry, after Harry stumbles upon him during the First Task, he takes an immediate interest in him. |
| 1264 | |
| 1265 | ---- |
| 1266 | [[hardline]] |
| 1267 | |
| 1268 | * AboveGoodAndEvil: Pulls out this card, sneering that he was created for a purpose beyond the heroes' comprehension. |
| 1269 | * ArcVillain: For the ''Of Dungeons and Dragons'' arc in ''Ghosts''. |
| 1270 | * AxCrazy: Enjoys planetary scale genocide, and is proud of his role as a chief servant of an OmnicidalManiac. |
| 1271 | * BadassBoast: Gives a lengthy one to Harry that carries shades of Smaug's, and one that (since he's capable of taking on both Thor and the ''Valiant'' simultaneously) he more than lives up to. |
| 1272 | --> ''[[TheHero "You]]'' would fight ''me?'' You think much of yourself, oh very ''little'' thing. You are an Asgardian, of the blood of Frey, and one of moderate intelligence at that. Those qualities alone make you worth conversing with. But I, I am far more. My sire was Jormungand, Father of Dragons. I was born at the command of the Surtur Ash-Bringer, King of Flames, Lord of the Inferno, for a purpose beyond your comprehension. I was a vanguard for his infinite armies; I burned worlds beyond number from clouds to core, and devoured their people like sheep on the fold! Your people are gods now, Asgardian, but I ate my fill of gods long before your kind ever claimed the spark of divinity! Your people are old now, but I was ancient when the eldest of your sires were mere mortal babes in their mother’s arms! Even in my sleep, I reached out my thought and ensnared gods, both of this land and of your kindred, and ''broke'' them to my will!” |
| 1273 | * BerserkButton: Has a couple of this, being as arrogant as one would expect. |
| 1274 | ** Insulting his intelligence is a big one. Harry jumps up and down on it to get him to reveal himself. |
| 1275 | ** Generally, he hates being mocked, with Harry jumping down on this, too. |
| 1276 | * BreathWeapon: Of course, and on scales that challenge - if not far surpass - volcanic eruptions. |
| 1277 | * CatlikeDragons: In behaviour, rather than appearance (which is more saurian/lizard-like), with his attitude to Harry and [[spoiler: the Champions]] being explicitly compared to a cat toying with a wounded mouse. |
| 1278 | * CrocodileTears: Tries this on Harry when at his mercy, with the narration noting that the proper name is 'dragon tears' - dragons, after all, invented the technique. It doesn't work, with Harry lampshading the trope. |
| 1279 | * DarkIsEvil: A deep, dark, greenish-black, dark enough to not just blend into shadows but ''be'' them. He's also thoroughly evil. |
| 1280 | * DishingOutDirt: An enormously powerful wielder of earth magic (Wanda wryly remarks that he's [[{{Pun}} an Earth-Wyrm]]), transforming the island he was sleeping beneath into a vast, lava spewing volcano in minutes, and since [[spoiler: it's in the Hogwarts Lake, that's boiled to steam, with the remainder transformed into a boiling volcanic lake]]. He's also an exceptionally powerful gravity manipulator. |
| 1281 | * DisproportionateRetribution: Come near his territory/lair, even unaware? Become either a snack or a slave - an undead one if you're human or a lesser god. Taunt him, then run out on him? Mass geographical arrangement will ensue as he tries to destroy everything and everyone in sight. |
| 1282 | * EvilIsBigger: Initially Played Straight, then Subverted - he's big enough to eat Godzilla like a bar snack, but in Book III we encounter a second example of his kind in [[DefectorFromDecadence Shou-Lao the Undying]], whose back can be easily mistaken for ''a mountain ridge''. He is also commensurately much more powerful. |
| 1283 | * EvilIsBurningHot: He quite literally blows both hot and cold. His wight servants lower the temperature wherever they go, and his lair is dark, damp, and cold. However, once he gets warmed up again, he starts boiling the body of water around his island, unleashes a volcanic scale blast of fire, then turns the island into an actual volcano. |
| 1284 | * EvilIsHammy: Again, drawing from Smaug, he's equal parts boastful and melodramatic - though sometimes he shifts into ColdHam territory when [[TranquilFury he's coldly furious]], which is considerably more worrying. |
| 1285 | * EvilIsPetty: Just before he was killed, the Elder Wyrm touched Ron's mind and pushed him to believe (correctly) that Harry was lying to him, especially about the fact that the Winter Soldier is still alive, just to ruin their friendship. |
| 1286 | * EvilLaugh: A very sinister one that reverberates in the bones of those present. |
| 1287 | * EvilSoundsDeep: So deep that it reverberates in people's bones, and mere angry roars knock people flat on their backs. ''Enraged'' ones shatter reinforced glass and burst eardrums for miles around, nearly killing Archangel. |
| 1288 | * {{Expy}}: Has clear shades of [[Literature/TheHobbit Smaug]] about him, not least with the willingness to chat, indulge in riddles, and boast about he's grown StrongerWithAge. However, being wingless, enormous, and prone to MindManipulation (along with [[spoiler: revealing crucial, tragically influential truths out of sheer spite as he's dying]]), he also owes a lot to [[Literature/TheSilmarillion Glaurung]]. |
| 1289 | * EyeScream: Harry slashes one of his eyes out while attempting to pull a DeathFromAbove on him, which only fails because he moves his head at the last second. All it really does, though, is really, ''really'' piss him off. Harry then compounds the wound by turning the damaged eye to molten jelly. [[spoiler: Later, when Harry finishes him off with a combined blast of mystical and psychic energies, it punches through his eye and out the back of his head.]] |
| 1290 | * FantasticRacism: Sneers at humans, magical or otherwise, as "apes", and the only beings he treats with approximations of respect are Harry and Thor, because they're both Asgardians of Frey's bloodline - and because, in Harry's case, he can sense the Phoenix in him. |
| 1291 | * FauxAffablyEvil: He's perfectly charming, in a malevolent and condescending sort of way, but as the narration notes, his attitude when acting in such a way is that of a cat indulging itself with a wounded mouse. |
| 1292 | * FierySalamander: While he's a ridiculously ancient proto-dragon, being absurdly large, planet-breakingly powerful, and scarily smart, he's depicted closer to a mythical salamander. He lives in cold, damp caves, and once it does emerge, it unleashes volcanic hell (and enjoys swimming in lava). |
| 1293 | * GlowingEyesOfDoom: They're the first feature we see, each the size of Hagrid's hut and glowing like a searchlight. |
| 1294 | * GravityMaster: Related to the above-mentioned earth magic, of which it is a very high end application. He can even use it to [[spoiler: fly in low Earth orbit.]] |
| 1295 | * HealingFactor: Almost immediately heals from any injuries he manages to sustain. |
| 1296 | * ItAmusedMe: Why he goes along with Harry's conversation. |
| 1297 | * IHaveManyNames: Gives a brief speech to this effect when Harry asks his name, one being his 'real' name, Vándlat - Hope-Death. Harry being Harry, he responds by deciding to call him "Dave". |
| 1298 | * {{Jerkass}}: Even when he's not committing planetary genocide, he's just a total dick. |
| 1299 | * TheJuggernaut: Resists the full broadside of [=MI13=]'s Destroyer armed Helicarrier, ''Valiant'', while carrying on a conversation with Thor -- whose powerful blow to the jaw simply, as Thor notes, makes the dragon both angry and aware that he has to take them seriously. Even the dozens of Nexus bombs (weaponised TeleFrag) the ''Valiant'' unleashes don't cripple him, and losing an eye hardly even slows him down. |
| 1300 | * {{Kaiju}}: Compared to 'a small mountain' and WordOfGod observed that he could eat Godzilla like a bar snack. |
| 1301 | ** For reference, his ''eyes'' are described as being roughly the size of Hagrid's hut, with a skull the length of a House table. |
| 1302 | ** However, it turns out that he's an absolute shrimp compared to one of his relatives, [[DefectorFromDecadence Shou-Lao the Undying]]. |
| 1303 | * LazyDragon: He's spent pretty much all the last million years asleep, which Harry taunts him about, also suggesting that he's a coward. His account is that until Harry turned up, he hadn't sensed anything worth waking up for. |
| 1304 | * MadeOfIron: Powerful blows from Mjolnir? Annoying and painful. A full broadside from the ''Valiant''? Irritating, but not much more. ''Sixty'' Nexus bombs, weaponised {{Telefrag}} targeting already vulnerable areas, each capable of vaporising space/flesh the size of a large car, then a massive lightning based equivalent of a MacrossMissileMassacre? Very painful, causing spasms, but only a brief delay. A lightning-boosted sword strike at far beyond atmospheric re-entry speeds, backed by the full power of a high-end PersonOfMassDestruction, right into the eye? ''Extremely'' painful, but not actually crippling. It takes all of that, plus additional attacks to the wounded eye, and a FreeFallFight from low-orbit, and ''finally'', a close range BoomHeadshot, to put it down. |
| 1305 | * ManipulativeBastard: The dragon standard, though he only tries it once all other options are exhausted, offering an alliance on behalf of his master, playing on Harry's frustrations with the world and desire to make it better. [[spoiler: Harry laughs in his face, having heard it all before, and pointing out that he ''knows'' what dragons are famous for.]] Then, it turns out that just before he died, he [[spoiler: hinted to Ron that the Winter Soldier was still alive, and that Harry was hiding this from him - two things which are technically true]], by way of a parting shot. This, and Harry's response (deception by way of very deft ExactWords), are noted to be 'fateful' actions. |
| 1306 | * MoodSwinger: Can go from wickedly amused to coldly furious to roaring with rage loudly enough to cause earthquakes and burst the eardrums of everyone within a couple of miles, all in a matter of moments. |
| 1307 | * {{Necromancer}}: To an extent -- he commands a small army of barrow-wights and makes mention of wraiths, which watch the borders of his domain and report back to him. However, it's unclear whether he created them, or just controls them through sheer force of will. |
| 1308 | * OrcusOnHisThrone: He's been asleep for most of the last million years, and while he's been somewhat active even in his sleep, that activity is limited to dealing with those who trespass on his lair. He claims that this is because, until Harry turned up, he hadn't sensed anything really worth waking up for. |
| 1309 | * OurDragonsAreDifferent: Of the smart-and-wingless variety, like Tolkien's Norse inspired dragons. |
| 1310 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: Claims he was meant to destroy worlds (which the heroes don't deny), and causes earthquakes and boils large bodies of water as mere preludes to his emergence, upon which he turns the small island he was sleeping under into a very large newborn volcano. |
| 1311 | * PsychicPowers: As he boasts, they're enough that he can enslave anything up to lesser gods ''in his sleep''. |
| 1312 | * RankScalesWithAsskicking: One of Surtur's vanguard, sent to destroy worlds alone - and implied to have done so. |
| 1313 | * RasputinianDeath: See MadeOfIron - the bastard is ''unbelievably'' hard to kill. |
| 1314 | * SmugSnake: Literally. He's smart, but his arrogance and mistaken assumptions hamstring him at times - he sorely underestimates Harry, and Thor, letting the latter get in a very good shot with Mjolnir. |
| 1315 | * StealthyColossus: The size of 'a small mountain', could eat Godzilla like a bar snack, and when underground, he can move extremely quietly and hide extremely well, enough that he's chatting with Harry and the Champions for a little while before they realise that he's almost literally right on top of them. |
| 1316 | * StrongerWithAge: Like Smaug, this is a key point of one of his boasts. |
| 1317 | * SuperScream: His roar is destructive, to say the least. |
| 1318 | * TimeAbyss: Over a million years old and still going strong. |
| 1319 | * TranquilFury: Can shift from this to incandescent rage in an instant. |
| 1320 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Surtur, who he continues to serve and refer to as his master. |
| 1321 | * WeCanRuleTogether: When at Harry's mercy, speaking for Surtur, he offers an alliance. Harry understandably refuses. |
| 1322 | * WorthyOpponent: Why he's willing to talk to Harry and Thor. He's also, surprisingly, not bothered by Harry destroying his wight-army, instead being interested and moderately impressed - and thanks to the Phoenix fire within Harry, [[spoiler: which he associates with Surtur]], he refers to them as kin. |
| 1323 | [[/folder]] |
| 1324 | |
| 1325 | ---- |
| 1326 | |
| 1327 | [[header:Word of Kemmler Contenders]] |
| 1328 | |
| 1329 | A group that shows up in Chicago during the events of ''Bloody Hell'', each seeking to take the book known as the Word of Kemmler and the Darkhallow, an Ascension rite that will propel whoever uses it to Greater Godhood on par with Thor and Loki, at the cost of killing a large portion of Chicago's population. See Literature/DeadBeat for greater details on the book these events were adapted from. |
| 1330 | |
| 1331 | [[folder:Grevane]] |
| 1332 | |
| 1333 | The "favored" student of Kemmler, and a powerful necromancer. All canon tropes up through ''Literature/DeadBeat'' apply. |
| 1334 | ---- |
| 1335 | [[hardline]] |
| 1336 | |
| 1337 | * DemotedToExtra: See below. |
| 1338 | * HopeSpot: He had just found the book that will give him knowledge of a rite that will make him a PhysicalGod - oh, wait, there's Voldemort. |
| 1339 | * WeHardlyKnewYe: He doesn't even get ''screen time'' - the only scene involving him directly is when Voldemort kills him with an Avada Kedavra outside the Field Museum, right after he took the Word of Kemmler from Harry Dresden. |
| 1340 | [[/folder]] |
| 1341 | |
| 1342 | |
| 1343 | [[folder:Corpsetaker]] |
| 1344 | |
| 1345 | A female practitioner who specializes in mental magic and GrandTheftMe, stated by Wanda to be more spirit than body. All canon tropes up through ''Literature/DeadBeat'' apply unless otherwise noted. |
| 1346 | |
| 1347 | ---- |
| 1348 | [[hardline]] |
| 1349 | |
| 1350 | * GrandTheftMe: Pulls this twice, on one of the junior Wardens (Kowalski), and briefly on Captain Luccio. |
| 1351 | * TheWorfEffect: She catches major badass Morgan off guard by jumping him in Luccio's body after pulling a GrandTheftMe on the latter, and then, like Grevane, gets an Avada Kedavra from Voldemort. |
| 1352 | [[/folder]] |
| 1353 | |
| 1354 | |
| 1355 | [[folder:Cowl]] |
| 1356 | |
| 1357 | !!Cowl |
| 1358 | |
| 1359 | A wandless practitioner who appears in Chicago during the ''Bloody Hell'' arc, and who seeks to claim the Darkhallow for himself. Unlike the other villains on this page, his actual identity is a mystery, save that he has an apprentice who (might) be named Kumori. All canon tropes up through ''Literature/DeadBeat'' apply unless otherwise noted. |
| 1360 | ---- |
| 1361 | [[hardline]] |
| 1362 | |
| 1363 | * AffablyEvil: Apparently well-intentioned and fairly polite to Wanda. |
| 1364 | * AGodAmI: Downplayed, but present. Not only does he seek the Darkhallow, but he intends to end Death - which Wanda immediately points out is utterly stupid, as even a PhysicalGod is a mere speck compared to the [[CosmicEntity powers]] he'd be contending with (though he has an answer to that, too). |
| 1365 | * TheArchmage: Somewhat downplayed, but he's skilled enough to fight Wanda one on one, and gets the drop on her at least once. Dresden compares his magical power to that of Ebenezar [=McCoy=]. |
| 1366 | * CrazySane: Wanda suspects that if he's not sane, he's the type of insane that can fake it pretty well - he maintains a perfect calm and reasonable tone at all times, even while discussing rewriting the laws of nature. |
| 1367 | * GracefulLoser: He's surprisingly unfazed about Wanda's disruption of the Darkhallow, and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm instead takes the opportunity to leave]]. |
| 1368 | * InTheHood: He's called "Cowl" for a reason. Dresden [[SnarkKnight being]] [[PopCulturedBadass Dresden]], he refers to Cowl as a "[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Ringwraith]] wannabe." |
| 1369 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: After the Darkhallow is destroyed, he sees no point in hanging around. Because of this, he's the only villain in the ''Bloody Hell'' arc that escapes it more or less untouched. |
| 1370 | * LesserOfTwoEvils: Tries to invoke this with Wanda, pointing out that he's probably the least evil of those who seek to claim the Darkhallow (and he's not exactly wrong). Wanda shoots him down (just before she does the same to the Darkhallow) by pointing out that he is the lesser of the evils, but that means he's still evil. |
| 1371 | * TheMentor: Has an apprentice called Kumori, who's about as mysterious as he is. |
| 1372 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Cowl is almost certainly not his real name, and just comes because... well, he's wearing one, and hasn't given out his true name. |
| 1373 | * SecretIdentity: Both in ''Ghosts of the Past'' and Dresden Files canon, who he actually is remains a mystery to both the protagonists and the readers. |
| 1374 | * TheSmartGuy: Of the ''Word of Kemmler'' contenders. While Voldemort is plenty smart and achieves the most with a well-timed backstab, Cowl is smart, practical, and reveals that unlike Voldemort, he knows ''exactly'' who is protecting Harry and how that protection works. He even hints that he knows about Thanos and his goals and even implies that he knows about the search for the Infinity Stones, suggesting a truly frightening knowledge base. |
| 1375 | * UncertainDoom: Strange mentions that he's disposed of most of the Circle a.k.a. the Black Council. This might include him, but Cowl's canonically known for surviving the impossible (or at least, the severely improbable), and WordOfGod has hinted that he may still be around. |
| 1376 | [[/folder]] |
| 1377 | |
| 1378 | [[folder:Voldemort]] |
| 1379 | |
| 1380 | -> Harry Potter's ArchEnemy in canon, who seeks to even the odds between them. Took the original Word of Kemmler book at the end of the ''Bloody Hell'' arc, before running when Wanda showed up to stop him from killing Harry Dresden. See ''The Death Eaters'' above for more details on him. |
| 1381 | [[/folder]] |
| 1382 | |
| 1383 | |
| 1384 | [[folder:Selene]] |
| 1385 | |
| 1386 | !!Selene Gallio |
| 1387 | |
| 1388 | Immortal Dark Lady, sorceress, mutant, and would-be goddess, Selene is evil beyond words and has been for [[TimeAbyss approximately 17,000 years]]. Perpetually on the look out for a means of ascension, she allies with Voldemort at the end of ''Child of the Storm'' when he offers her the ''Word of Kemmler'' and thus, [[AGodAmI the Darkhallow.]] |
| 1389 | |
| 1390 | ---- |
| 1391 | [[hardline]] |
| 1392 | |
| 1393 | * AGodAmI: Frequently styles herself as a goddess, has the power to match actual gods in combat, and has ambitions to ascend to [[PhysicalGod Greater Godhood.]] |
| 1394 | * BadassTeacher: To Voldemort, and possibly to Grindelwald back in the day. She goes toe-to-toe with Wanda and then Magneto in quick succession, she's ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice by Dresden, and ''then'' is finished off by Magneto. |
| 1395 | * BehemothBattle: Gets into one of these with Sue the zombie T-Rex, and wins. |
| 1396 | * CastingAShadow: Wanda mentions that she has some talents in this area. |
| 1397 | * TheDreaded: And with good reason - she's an immensely powerful and nigh-unkillable sorceress, who's been known to feed on Asgardians. Loki had a bruising encounter with her some centuries ago. |
| 1398 | * HealingFactor: Loki burned her alive. It didn't take. |
| 1399 | * KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: Dresden speculates that this is why Voldemort allied with her, and accepted an at least nominally junior position - she's most likely to both know how Voldemort could end-run Harry's Phoenix based protection and be willing to give him that information for the right price. While this hasn't been confirmed, Wanda admits that it's possible, even likely. |
| 1400 | * {{Necromancer}}: Death magic is one of her specialities, [[VampiricDraining most particularly draining life from others.]] |
| 1401 | * PhysicalGod: Already immensely powerful, and seeking to become even more so. |
| 1402 | * StrongAndSkilled: Anyone who can survive bouts with Wanda Maximoff, Loki, and Magneto, the former and the latter ''simultaneously'', is ''definitely'' this trope. |
| 1403 | * TimeAbyss: She dates back to the final days of Atlantis, approximately 17,000 years before the present, making her considerably older even than the likes of Odin. |
| 1404 | * {{Transflormation}}: Wanda turns her into/imprisons her in a tree for a bit. |
| 1405 | * VampiricDraining: This is more or less how she's stayed alive for most of 20 millennia. |
| 1406 | * VoluntaryShapeshifting: She can transform into a truly gigantic dragon. |
| 1407 | [[/folder]] |
| 1408 |
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