"Everything is designed as misdirection to send whatever it's made a deal with to its eventual doom." note
"I suppose after generations, the dragon, now self-crowned as the Cinder King, grew greedier with the island's limited resources and began razing the Mournset countryside south of the Verdant Expanse and the Stormcrest Mountains. [...] We traveled to investigate, but arrived to find this creature destroying everything surrounding the Glade Pools. Port Udall, gone, Byroden a smoldering ruin, and we gathered a small army of mercenaries and hunted it back to its new den in the Stormcrest, where a large number of lizardfolk had formed around him. But we were overpowered by the sheer might of the dragon. Many lives were lost."
Critical Role began as a one-shot D&D game, but has become one of the largest Web Video Series in history, spawning countless characters within campaigns, and even alternate mediums. Amongst these characters are the vilest beings in Exandria.
All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Franchise-wide
- Lolth, the Spider Queen, is one of the Betrayer Gods who decided to ally with the Primordials during The Founding to plunge Exandria into chaos. Sealed away by the Prime Deities for their actions, Lolth and the other Betrayer Gods, upon being released, decide to conquer Exandria for themselves, resulting in a war that wiped out two-thirds of Exandria's population. After being banished to the Abyss by Kord the Stormlord, Lolth attempts to wipe out her former followers within the Kryn Dynasty for turning to worship The Luxon. Lolth has the nether gnomes enslaved, threatening to wipe out the race if they don't lure the Aurora Watch to be slaughtered by her followers. Soon afterwards, Lolth corrupts the daughter of Leylas and Quana Kryn into becoming a feral drider, resulting in Quana being forced to kill her own daughter. Even adventurers with no connection to Lolth aren't safe from her influence, Lolth creating an artifact, the Circlet of Barbed Vision, in order to corrupt the minds of adventurers into killing their own party members for her own enjoyment.
Original videos
Campaign 1 (Vox Machina in Tal'Dorei)
- The rakshasa Hotis, a shapeshifter from the Nine Hells, is the second monster hunted by Vox Machina for the Slayer's Take. Disguised as a dwarf, Hotis creates an establishment for the rich named the Velvet Cabaret for the sake of gathering information about who the richest people in Vasselheim are. He then tracks them down and brutally mauls them to death before taking their belongings for himself. When discovered by members of Vox Machina and the Slayer's Take, Hotis tricks them into falling in a river of acid when they chase him down in an attempt to have them be slowly dissolved alive. When they survive, Hotis offers the party a deal to cease hostilities and work as business partners, intending to find an opportunity to kill them in the future. After finding himself at a disadvantage during the fight, Hotis promises to kill the loved ones of the party, including Thorbir's young daughter, all to spite them. After reforming when Vax kills him, Hotis hires assassins from The Clasp to murder the rest of Vox Machina while he disguises himself as Gilmore to lure Vax away from the group, tricking Vax into wearing a cursed robe that will slowly rip off his flesh in case he survives. Hotis then attacks Vax in Gilmore's form, taking pleasure in torturing the half-elf to near death. Despite his limited screen time, Hotis proves to be among the most vicious of minor villains within the series.
- Kraghammer arc: The mutated beholder, K'Varn the Mad, attacked and enslaved the cities of Emberhold and Yug'voril after finding one of the horns of Orcus, intending to build up an army to launch an attack on the surface world. K'Varn launches attacks on Kraghammer while having his army capture as many dwarves and Underdark creatures as possible to warp into horrific abominations, his experiments resulting in countless deaths. When Lady Kima and a group of adventurers venture into the Underdark, K'Varn has nearly all of them slaughtered while having his men torture Lady Kima for days on end. When Vox Machina defeats Queen Ulara, to ensure she can't give any information about him to the party, K'Varn kills her from the inside out.
- Chroma Conclave arc:
- The ancient red dragon, Thordak the Cinder King, is the leader of the Chroma Conclave, a faction of chromatic dragons with the goal of destroying the system of order within the continent of Tal'Dorei and dividing it amongst themselves. Centuries ago, Thordak was the tyrannical ruler of the desert continent Marquet, regularly slaughtering its residents. When the city of Ank'Harel began to rise to prominence, Thordak unsuccessfully attempted to destroy the city. Hiding in the seas to recover, Thordak destroyed any ships that passed by before being captured and empowered by the necromancer Opash. Thordak then killed Opash and took over the Island of Viscan before deciding to expand his rule. Killing hundreds of innocents in his conquest, Thordak was eventually sealed away within the Elemental Plane of Fire. When Raishan the Diseased Deceiver freed him, Thordak killed the majority of the Fire Ashari, and established the Conclave along with Raishan. Thordak then has the Conclave attack numerous cities in Tal'Dorei, costing countless lives. When Vox Machina leads an army to take back control of Emon, the capital of Tal'Dorei, Thordak attempts to create a volcanic eruption to wipe out enemy and ally forces alike.
- The ancient green dragon, Raishan the Diseased Deceiver, is a powerful sorceress and the most intelligent member of the Chroma Conclave. Prior to the story, Raishan murdered a group of followers of Melora, the Wildmother, for her own amusement. When a follower laid a deadly disease on Raishan before dying, Raishan pledged servitude to Thordak in exchange for a cure. Raishan establishes the Chroma Conclave, making her responsible for the lives lost due to the faction. When Thordak was sealed away, Raishan disguised herself as an outcast girl to deceive the Fire Ashari into taking her in before freeing Thordak, not caring that Thordak would wipe out the majority of the Fire Ashari. Later, Raishan and the Chroma Conclave destroy the city of Emon, Raishan kicking off the attack by murdering Sovereign Uriel and several council members. After coming to the conclusion that Thordak won't honor their bargain, Raishan betrays the Conclave and offers to help Vox Machina kill Vorugal and Thordak. When the party kills Thordak, Raishan steals Thordak's corpse and multiple dragon eggs, intending to use them to help her attack a different continent in the future.
- Kevdak is Grog's uncle, and the leader of the Herd of Storms. For years prior to the story, Kevdak had the Herd destroy countless settlements, killing or enslaving as many inhabitants as they could. When Grog refuses to kill a helpless elderly gnome, Kevdak beats Grog to an inch of his life, and exiles him from the Herd, leaving him for dead. During the Chroma Conclave arc, after witnessing the might of Umbrasyl the Hope Devourer, Kevdak pledges servitude to the dragon with the intention of finding an opportunity to kill him in the future. Kevdak then has the Herd take over Westruun, killing any citizens who don't give offerings to either Umbrasyl or the Herd. Kevdak also has the Herd take citizens away from their families, having them work as slaves under the Herd or imprisoned and left to starve. When Kevdak finds out that his son Zanror is planning a revolt, Kevdak has him along with Zanror's pregnant mate Worra enslaved with intention of executing them both. When Grog calls the rest of Vox Machina to help him fight Kevdak, Kevdak orders the Herd to kill every innocent civilian in the area, including a little boy, all out of spite.
- Cult of Vecna arc: Vecna, the Whispered One, is the mastermind behind the Briarwoods who revived Sylas as a vampire in exchange for him and Delilah going to Whitestone and massacring the de Rolo family, along with many innocents, to revive him. Upon his return, Vecna manages to ascend to godhood, killing Vex'ahlia and Vax'ildan, before setting off to create a "miracle of terror" to make him feared across the world for more power. Vecna uses the loved ones of Vox Machina as shields, trying to trick them into killing those they care for, while intending to obliterate the city of Vasselheim and all within, wiping out a seat of power for good and condemning the entire world to evil and nightmares. The true villain of the first campaign, Vecna shows why he is the most wicked and monstrous foe Vox Machina encountered.
Campaign 2 (The Mighty Nein in Wildemount)
- Trent Ikithon is a powerful archmage and master of the Cerberus Assembly. Secretly a devious sadist who cares nothing for his students, Trent was the architect of everything that went wrong in the life of Caleb Widogast. Trent preys on impressionable students, subjecting some to torturous experiments before brainwashing them into assassins and sealing their loyalty by having them torture and kill those he deems "problematic." Using them as assassins, Trent steadily purges people he dislikes and eventually has his students murder their own families using false memories of treason.
- The Bad Guys arc: Lorenzo, leader of the Iron Shepherds, is a sadistic oni who enjoys nothing so much as causing pain. Capturing his victims, Lorenzo breaks them in body and mind with physical and mental torture to sell them for profit, even eating children himself. Upon being challenged by the Mighty Nein, Lorenzo brutally kills one of their number, Mollymauk, choosing to let the dwarf Keg go on as to carry that pain with her for the rest of her life.
- The Bright Queen's Favor & Swords and Angels arcs: Obann is a cambion in service to the "Angel of Irons" who lives for the utter domination of others. When Yasha Nydoorin was at her lowest, Obann found her and like so many others, robbed her of her mind. Utilizing Yasha as a guard and killer, Obann forced her to commit numerous atrocities, which he had done to many who fell under his sway. Seeking to unleash the Angel of Irons, Obann proceeded to use his agents to open up demonic rifts, heedless of any damage to the world.
- Calamity: Asmodeus, the Lord of Hells, was once a celestial who was imprisoned alongside the other Betrayer Gods for trying to exterminate mortalkind. When the mage Vespin Chloras tried to usurp him, Asmodeus reduced Vespin to a mindless, flayed, enslaved puppet who he then used to release himself and the other Betrayer Gods from their prison. Around the same time, Asmodeus began to appear to the paladin Zerxus Ilerez in dreams and visions, presenting himself to Zerxus as a wounded and misunderstood victim of circumstance in order to play to the paladin's own belief in redemption and feelings of alienation and mistrust and manipulating Zerxus into bringing him all the way into the Material Plane. Once Asmodeus is freed, he kills Zerxus three times within the span of one second while delivering a blistering monologue about how he has always hated mortals and his intent to imprison and torment all mortalkind and the other gods for eternity, then threatens Zerxus's son unless the paladin agrees to become his champion. During the later days of the Calamity, Asmodeus repeated the same trick on the goddess Raei, convincing her that he was redeemable and setting up a meeting between the two that resulted in him and his followers massacring all of her worshippers, to the point that her faith is only just starting to recover centuries later in Campaign 1.
Other Media
The Legend of Vox Machina- Thordak, the Cinder King, is an ancient red dragon previously sealed away in the Elemental Plane of Fire for his destruction across the land. Upon his release, Thordak establishes the Chroma Conclave, a faction of chromatic dragons with the goal of conquering cities across the continent. Launching an attack on Emon that results in countless deaths, Thordak demands all survivors offer treasure to him, incinerating a group of civilians when he deems their valuables of no further use. Uncaring upon finding out about the death of one of his fellow dragons, Umbrsayl, Thordak is revealed to be raising a horde of dragon eggs, all for the purpose of unleashing them for a destructive conquest upon all of Tal'Dorei.
- Season 1: Brimscythe, the Iron Storm, is the blue dragon of the Chroma Conclave and the first true threat faced by Vox Machina. Desiring to conquer Emon, Brimscythe destroys farmland and massacres multiple villages of the Shalesteps, putting Emon at risk of starvation, in order to gain the attention of the Tal'Dorei council. Taking the guise of General Krieg after killing him, Brimscythe led several adventuring groups to be slaughtered, later doing the same thing to a squadron of his own soldiers, to push Sovereign Uriel to mobilize the army against the dragon. When fellow council member Sir Fince begins gathering evidence of Brimscythe's true nature, Brimscythe murders Fince before confronting Vox Machina in his lair. There, it's revealed that Brimscythe intends to have all of Emon's soldiers gathered in one place so that he can kill them all, leaving the Conclave free to attack the defenseless Emon as they please.
- Season 2: Kevdak, Thunderlord of the Herd of Storms, is the wicked uncle of Grog Strongjaw. Leading his Herd of Goliaths as marauding bandits, Kevdak has butchered countless innocents and left villages as lifeless wastelands. When Grog protected an innocent gnome, Kevdak savagely beat him to a pulp and left him for dead. In the present, Kevdak continues his brutal marauding to gather riches for the dragon Umbrasyl, ransacking and ruling over Westruun in the Hope Devourer's name. Upon being opposed by his son Zanror, Kevdak beats him down with a clear threat to his life. When Grog returns, Kevdak gleefully tries to kill his best friend Pike and then beat Zanror to death when his son takes the chance to try to stop Kevdak's madness.
- Vox Machina Origins Series I: Iselda is a higher-up within the criminal organization, The Myriad. Wishing to advance further in the ranks, Iselda attempts to take control of the swamp port city, Stilben, away from a rival criminal gang, The Clasp. Iselda has Zeth, an alchemist living within Stilben, brew a dangerous poison, Aqua Caedes, and have it pollute the swamp, sending infants and ill people who live within the swamp's vicinity into a vegetative state. Iselda then has Zeth trick the residents of Stilben into believing that it's a curse that can be appeased by sacrificing those who were affected by the poison to the shark-speakers. After fleeing from the party during their first confrontation, Iselda makes a plan to kidnap Vax and use him as bait for the rest of the party, intending to use his life as a bargaining chip to get the party to join The Myriad. During Vax's escape, he finds out that Iselda is using the souls of those who fell victim to Aqua Caedes as ingredients for a curse to kill every person who came into contact with the swamp water around Stilben in an attempt to wipe out its entire population.
