Sorting Algorithm of Antagonists + need for Big Bad?

So the setting I had in mind has various "magic" powered teens (and older) fighting it out in some forsaken district of their city for wishes. The wish is granted by the resident magical force of nature, but the actual things it grants are limited. The fights range from simple tournament combat to citywide war to magically spawned monster hunts. And every time a wish gets granted, everyone's power levels increase, including the wish parameters. In time, the area of the power will expand to encompass the whole world.

The way it is now, the protagonist team, which contains a bunch of highschoolers, can repeatedly deal with any amount of antagonists who aren't exactly world-ending evils. Either that, or the real bad ones get dealt with in a way that doesn't let them return to the big wish tournaments. But since it's durr hurr Urban Fantasy action and all, the only thing that achieves is to let characters figure things out about themselves and grow as people. Does this sort of setting call for a much larger conflict down the line? I guess I'm also throwing down a list of character (concepts) that you can peruse at your "leisure".

List of characters who are antagonists or can end up as antagonists, so far:

• A former drug-dealer that acts like a classical tempter. Gives people more power but in exchange for something, or the recipients end up addicted to more anyway.
• A guy who believes himself to be an alpha predator. In some vague older iterations I had him successfully killing powered people without any real powers of his own.
• An anarchist, more along the lines of the idealist type. He wants to win so that, the current world will be thrown for a loop with the sudden introduction of all these powers.
• A rich heir. Goes in the tournaments just because he can. Knows a lot of the protagonists and has quite a few personality disorders.
• The strongest powered person in the city. First on a number of hit-lists and rankings, and one of the first known powered folk. Mentored some of the secondary characters for some reason, but is nowhere near a Big Good at all. Is mostly passive due to the nature of his powers. Several scenarios I imagined have various people convincing him to go against other antagonists.
• The secondary characters mentioned above, they were originally conceived as the main protagonists, so it could end up as protagonist showdowns.
• A lady who fights with bees and is up there on the lists. Is sort of crazy and no one wants to know what would happen if she wins, so I imagine several groups will band together to knock her out of any game she participates in.
• A trio of people involved in the club scene but are very powerful and on the top of the lists as well. The leader is cool towards most, but the other two are sketchier.
• A young vicar-in-training who throws energy crosses that expand inside people because he likes the idea, but it wasn't his original power. Extremely sketchy.
• Another student who was a childhood friend of one of the protagonists, but eventually gets mad for a bunch of different stupid reasons. The first to demonstrate that people can acquire other powers.
• Or perhaps some of the main protagonist team break off because of the desire for absolute power. Or something.
• Or maybe the source of the magic itself gets a bad thing happening to it.

edited 18th Sep '11 5:55:32 AM by OuthouseInferno

It really depends on what kind of story you want to tell, but personally I'd say that this work will be more interesting with larger conflicts down the line. After all, the prize of the tournament is extremely desirable, so it wouldn't be too weird to see people that are willing to be... "extreme", if not outright dangerous or evil. Heck, the premise of the story allows for lots of themes like betrayal, infighting, etc.

I don't think you need an actual Big Bad because antagonists can keep on fighting in the tournament even if they lose. It actually makes for an interesting read, seeing villains up their game accordingly.

So, maybe not a Big Bad, but definitely larger conflicts. Just let your villains be capable of moving up the sorting algorithm of evil. Plus maybe some betrayal, infighting and stuff. I also like the sound of the source of magic itself being corrupted.

So, some questions:

1) How exactly do people join the tournament? Are they "invited"? Can they just join if they want to? Can they join accidentally?

2) Is there a set number of participants in the tournament? If there's a set number, can new people join, or will the number of participants just keep dwindling? If new people can join, will they immediately be at the current power level?

3) What'll happen when the area of effect covers the entire world? Is there any significance to it aside from having the largest wish parameters?

1) You're sort of "recruited" by the power origin itself. You develop 1 or 2 powers at first and then you start feeling a call toward other magical people, creatures, and the origin itself. So far I have the origin sounding a big call and gathering lots of people together, and that's when it starts. If you're just in the area of the game, you're probably going to be involved, magical or not.

2) Yes, new people who "join" will be closer to current power levels, but not in experience or amount of abilities. This encourages banding together.

3) In theory the power would probably keep extending right beyond the earth but in practice the story probably will have to end with a utopian/apocalyptic wish, or stopping all the magic, or something.

I see... it would be interesting to see how the muggles react. I can see the badass normals already.

If new people can join, then you're set! If you ever change your mind about having a Big Bad you can just adjust your story, since your premise leaves a lot of room for that.