Antagonists: Which is more interesting

Hiya folks! So lately I've been on a roll in terms of developing characters, world building and all that jazz, but I've run into a slight snag; I have two really interesting characters I want to use as villains. I know that's not usually a problem, but my plans only call for one to be used and to introduce that character as the archenemy for the protagonist. This is where you guys come in.

Which of these two sounds like a more fitting archenemy for the worlds greatest sorcerer?

• The Shadow: The protagonist, a legacy character whose inherited the role of [1] Master Mystic of Earth, is essentially the collective unconscious of humanity inhabiting a human form ala Avatar. The Shadow, therefore, is the unrestrained (and less tangible) darkness of said unconscious; Humanity's Shadow Aspect. It essentially acts as something of Tempter/Tormentor towards the protagonist trying to get her to fail and give into her own vices and weaknesses by attacking her in the spirit world and, should the protagonist be exceptionally emotional vulnerable, in the real world.

Thus, the only way to defeat The Shadow is for the protagonist to accept her weaknesses, making their encounters not so much about saving their world as it is about continual growth and self evaluation.

• The Architect: The Archenemy of the protagonist's predecessor, The Architect is a very powerful sorcerer who want to change the world into something more in keep with his own philosophy; Logic over Emotion, Rationality over the Irrational, Order over Chaos. Intelligent, arrogant, impatient and rather lonely. The Architect also loves to have intellectual discussions and often looks back on the on the old days against his former enemy with fondness, which makes his new enemy something of a pain since she has yet to grasp some concepts. The Architect serves as the protagonist's foil, not only demonstrating to her the dangers of restricting your perspective and the misuse of magic, but how to use and develope her intelligent for ends towards the good of mankind.

Sorry, for the rather short descriptions, but they are more like concepts at this point in time. So yeah, which one do you think would be more fitting as an archenemy? The Shadow? or The Architect?

Oh by the way, I'm well aware that both these two relate to psychology. It was intentional with The Shadow, but I'm not so sure how that happened with The Architect.

edited 16th Sep '11 11:25:47 AM by AtomJames

I'm old school and I like a tangible villain better, so the Architect would get my vote if I had to choose. Really, though, they're both good, and the concept of a villain who engages in intellectual battle instead of physical is very cool. Why can't you have them both as major villains?

Incidentally, I always enjoy reading your concepts— they're very pulp/science adventurer.

That probably the nicest thing I've ever heard *lip quiver* I do have to admit though, that the whole idea was inspired by Alan Moore and his philosophy on Magic. All that aside, it's not that I don't want to have two villains, is that the protagonist herself is a secondary character within a much larger universe, the kitchen sink variety popular with the capes and cowl crowds if you catch my drift.

The villain I'm hoping to use would be introduced in the same story as the protagonist, who teams up with one of the major characters in order to stop him/it.

The second villain would then be the antagonist or her own story. What I'm looking for is a character who eloquently says "This is the character, this is what she does, heres an example of what she fights" in her very first appearance.

It depends on how psychological you want your story to be - the Architect is definitely the more "conventional" sounding villain.

The first one sounds genuinely neat, and the second is kinda plain. You could use the Architect conflict as a backdrop for the Shadow plot.

edited 16th Sep '11 3:00:47 PM by RTaco

Plain? Hmmm. Might have to work on that. So far, I'm leaning towards making The Architect the antagonist for the character's introduction, while making The Shadow the Big Bad for her second story, The Architect playing the role of the Dragon. Kinda like a compromise.

Why should they be connected at all? I rather like the idea of having the Architect as an apparent Big Bad who the audience and the protagonist both learn isn't - though admittedly that is somewhat overdone.

Big Bad and Dragon are terms are use for simplicity's sake, though admittedly used incorrectly. The story I'm thinking of includes The Architect as the designated villain, but it's the Protagonist's battle against The Shadow that is the real focus.

I'd say use them both in tandem and treat The Shadow as a kind of Bigger Bad. I think you could have an interesting split between the Architect, who wants to get rid of emotion to make what he views as a perfect world, and the Shadow, whose power comes from negative emotion - doubt, fear, etc. - and who can't function in the absence of said emotions. That said, I'm not sure I see how the Shadow presents a tangible threat.

It depends on whether or not your story is mostly action-driven, or character driven.

In an action driven story, The Architect could be a more compelling main villain, mostly because he is a tangible, realistic threat to the world. While I think The Shadow is more interesting, the fact that it mainly presents a threat to the main character would limit the danger he presented to the wider world. On the other hand, I could see your main character crossing some kind of moral line, or even through a buildup of minor acts, which would cause The Shadow to take physical form; I would use this to make the hero into a Fallen Hero, or an Anti-Hero (an Anti-Hero could see The Shadow growing more and more powerful and closer to physical form with every reprehensible action they commit, which would cause a lot of dramatic tension). If she became a Fallen Hero, she could even become The Shadow's avatar on Earth, and you could leave it up to the next Master Mystic to stop her. I could see The Shadow playing a "devil on the shoulder" role for the story, trying to tempt her and bring her closer to the side of darkness as she fought to defeat The Architect. It could go either way; The Architect would make a better villain at the beginning, but The Shadow could become the final Big Bad in the end. Of course, if The Architect is powerful or depraved enough, defeating The Shadow might be a nice and symbolic way of showing that your hero has overcome her flaws and is now ready to take him on.

If, on the other hand, your story is mainly character driven, then The Shadow would definitely be a much better villain; The Architect would almost be an afterthought; seeing a character wrestle with her own dark side would be more interesting than simply seeing her defeat another mad sorcerer in this type of a story.

edited 21st Sep '11 5:18:26 PM by tropetown

In essence, The Shadow is something akin to a dark mirror of the Master Mystic at the time, whose purpose is to use the Msytic's fear and anxieties against them in order to either lull them into the dark side or break them completely. Can you imagine what would happen if the most powerful sorcerer in the world either went evil or nuts?

I always like to mix-and-match those kind of stories, but the action-orientated story is kinda what I'm leaning towards. The idea I really want to get across is that the story is the protagonist's 'trial-by-fire'. Something like Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey and I think that first option might be the way to do it. Thanks for the help Tropetown :)

Oh, just for laughs I figured out just what The Architect looks like. Imagine the first doctor in a red opera cape :P

edited 22nd Sep '11 2:29:13 AM by AtomJames