This is a title.
What did Evan's baron do for Evan to revolt / kill him?
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
There were a succession of things, but having his wife flogged to death for failing to show respect to an overseer was the final straw.
MIA
makes sense
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Ambarsonof Deshar: They sound interesting, also i`m glad to find a female being The Brute.
What a Crapsack World.
PD: I`m kinda dissapointed who my Crapsack World is probably the nicer of all the Crapsack Worlds who i`ve see in this thread. Even in a Forever War between Angels and demons they still had show modern-like morality (well, the important ones as the Angels, most of the Demon Lords and others, but slavery is surprisingly uncommon -because is a issue who i feel akward to write-
Also, i`m writting Japanese tematic villains, you`d imagine Taira-no-Masakado ghost helped for Susanoo and Amaterasu using a Traumatizated soldier as his pawn in his attemp of take the last bastion of human society and turn it into a New Japan?.
(And starting genocides in name of tolerance, you follow the path of Law or the path of Chaos? You`re a danger)
edited 16th Apr '16 7:48:15 PM by KazuyaProta
Watch me destroying my country
This is a title.
Redacted!
edited 1st Aug '17 5:16:39 PM by Eagal
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
The Electric Eccentric
You're lucky. Your dreams end up becoming the inspiration for good stories; my dreams tend to throw me into situations where death (or dealing with huge spiders) is the only available option. Either that, or abject humiliation. Is there any difference? Discuss.
Anyway, Jack. I'll admit that going into a villain critique thread, I didn't expect to read about a guy who's so friendly on the surface. But here I am, and your character's no poorer for it. He seems like a nice guy, but that kindness might end up being a part of what makes him unnerving. If he's some kind of nightmare creature born from dark magic, then can he really understand the meaning and concept behind kindness? I can't help but wonder, but I find that divide to be pretty interesting regardless. I didn't know what to make of the magic sword requirements at first, but I'm buying into the idea more and more; it'd be a perfect way for him to charm his way towards scoring one for the bad guys...well, in a sense.
I'm also buying into his goal. Trying to save his mom sounds like something a hero would do, but here I am again. Granted you've already said that he's not the main villain, so that changes things a bit; still, I can already get a sense of the roads you can take the character down, and they're all pretty fascinating. I'll admit that I'm curious as to how his kind nature can be reconciled if he's the type to murder anything/anyone he thinks needs to bite the dust, but I'd guess that that's something better shown off in the story, not in a 1k-word forum post.
You say this is a WIP, so I'd imagine that you've got a long road ahead. But for what it's worth? It sounds like you're already moving toward something exciting. Keep it up.
I'll be sure to post a villain of mine in the next day or two. In the meantime, anyone who wants to jump in is free to do so — as long as they promise to speak ill of creepy spider dreams.
My Wattpad — A haven for delightful degeneracy
Baby dango
A being made of evil actually being kind seems kind of contradictory, unless you are making him to be like Hannibal Lecter or Johan Liebert, both psychopaths but act polite towards others. I suppose his mother is the actual evil person between the two so that they will actually seem like villains and not just people sealed away by superstitious people afraid of their power.
Now for another denary member.
Name: Neto Bran Camulos
Age: 24
Appearance: Neto's hair is completely white due to the large amount of stress from his illness, with pale skin and an emaciated body. He needs a wheelchair to move due to being unable to walk for long distances.
Personality: Neto is a deeply insecure individual, feeling useless due to needing constant care from others as he can't even move around without help. Thus, he can be quite abrasive towards people that looks down on him. He is opinionated and quite stubborn, holding on to the opinion that corpses are just worthless sacks of flesh and its a waste of time to bury them, instead trying to use them as weapons by catapulting rotting corpses into cities. She also feels that anyone content with what they have and not working for more are wasting their perfectly healthy bodies, loathing them. He has an extremely strong desire to be self-sufficient, not relying on anyone, and being an atheist, hates praying to god. He builds a mental wall around himself, not interacting with others beyond official matters, preferring to be alone and working. While he doesn't show it, he is deeply afraid of dying, often crying when nobody is around, and is envious to those that can live healthily. As the eldest brother of four siblings, he feels responsible in taking care of them, and since he doesn't much time left, aims to obtain large amount of riches so that they live happily without worrying for money. Thus, he is ruthless in his actions, preferring more pragmatic tactics that could help fulfill his objectives faster, without a care for the morality of his actions, though he tries to keep it a secret from his siblings.
Abilities: He is a ruthless tactician, using unconventional strategies and tactics that makes it difficult for his opponent to figure out his plan before its too late. He is adept in psychological warfare, tiring out his enemies and uses tactics to deplete the morale of his opponents. He believes warfare to be a game of cards between him and his opponents, requiring bluffs and hiding weakness to fool your enemy, as well interpreting your opponent's motives from the smallest of hints.
Weakness: Due to his proud personality, he will often overwork himself despite his illness. He will not rest even in harsh weathers, which affects his illness greatly. He collapses often, and often loses focus during important battles. He skips out on medication during war, as they make him sleepy which means he will lose his ability to focus.
Goal: Help the Big Bad conquer the continent.
Motivation: The Big Bad promises large amount of money as well as the safety of his siblings, ensuring that they would have bright futures.
Role in story: He is the one who help conquered the northern lands, greatly expanding the territory of the Big Bad, and is the largest threat towards the protagonists intellectually.
Backstory: Born in a family of farmers, he already has a weak constitution from birth. He couldn't help out in the farms due to this, and he is rarely able to even leave the house. He feels guilty for not being able to help his parents, though they reassure that he isn't a burden. When the war broke out, his village was pillaged for food, with his parents killed while trying to resist. Neto and his siblings managed to hide from the soldiers. As it was winter, Neto had no choice but to to slice of the meat of his parents for his siblings to eat, lying to them that it was from a dead horse that was left behind by the soldiers. This haunted him till this day, and he tried his best to dissociate the bodies from his parents. Eventually, it ran out, and they have to leave to find food. Neto told them to leave him behind, but his siblings refused to leave without him, lifting him up and carried him against his will. Along the way, they met with Alden, who took them in.
Relevant tropes:
{{Don't You Dare Pity Me!}}: Don'r even suggest it.
Determinator: He is still alive on sheer will alone.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Doesn't take much to set him off, and he already detest you for having a healthy body to begin with.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: He has deep self-esteem issues, and his attitude serves as a defense mechanism,
Jerkass: Only his siblings and his boss are free from this behavior.
Stepford Smiler: In front of his siblings.
Chessmaster: Unsurprisingly.
Incurable Cough of Death: His disease isn't incurable, but the chance of success is too small and it requires years of being bedridden, and he doesn't want to waste time and have false hope.
The Unfettered: He has no hesitation in doing downright cruel things for his goals.
Workaholic: The fact that he can actually work satisfies him.
Big Brother Instinct: Don't even try to hurt his siblings.
edited 20th Apr '16 6:51:08 AM by Ikedatakeshi
The Electric Eccentric
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your guy took notes from ''Sengoku Basara’s'' Hanbei Takenaka.
White hair, sickly, working for the main baddie, cunning — all that’s missing is a whip sword and a stylin’ mask. And the ability to walk. Not that I’m raising hell over the similarities (if one could call them that). It just puts a smile on my face, that’s all.
But back on topic. It’s an interesting character, for sure; he may not have a strong body, but his mind is obviously what makes him a dangerous foe. My initial reaction to him was “This guy should be dead by now”, but you went ahead and preempted me by saying that his willpower is basically the only thing keeping him alive. That’s a cool principle — though if I had to guess, I’d say his willpower would be tested when things don’t go his way. If the baddies’ forces suffer a big loss because of him, would thinking that it’s over make him drop dead? That’d be a sight to see.
I’m more intrigued by the potential interactions/relationships he’d have with other characters, though. Is he 100% loyal to the Big Bad, or just using him for his own purposes? Is he willing to show even a sliver of his dark side to his siblings, or does he shuffle them away every chance he gets? How would he react if they learned about “the family business”? Those are things I’d be eager to see, no matter which avenue you take with the character. Then again, the mere fact that he’s willing to “catapult rotting corpses into cities” earns you, like, 15 million bonus points. That’s pretty metal.
So yeah, neat character. And since I promised to upload one of mine, I guess I’d better follow through. ARE YOU READY, GUYS?
Name: Jack Selberg
Theme song (because why not): “Demonoid Phenomenon” by Rob Zombie
'Age: 36
Appearance: 6’3”, though his less-than-stellar posture may mean he’s even taller than that. Very leanly built, but definitely not lacking in muscle. He’s got slicked back (if unkempt) dark gray hair, with the ragged eyebrows to match. His skin has an unhealthy grayish tint to it, but that’s offset by almost half of his face being covered in black ink — a tattoo that forms the imprint of a skull. In turn, THAT’S offset by his red eyes; he’s got red sclera, stark white irises, and no pupils — just more redness instead of black. Dresses almost exclusively in torn-up (and often bloodstained) jackets and biker pants, and occasionally slips a hood over his head. So basically, he’s the exact type of person you’d want to meet in an alley at night.
Personality: Two words: [[Blood Knight]]. Selberg slinks through the streets of New Line City in search of a good fight, and the thrills it can offer — whether it’s simply watching one play out, or jumping into the fray himself (and to be sure, he favors the latter). He’s rarely seen without a smile on his face, and it takes a ton of effort to make him lose his composure. Planning and thinking ahead aren’t his forte, of course; he lives and acts on instinct, with impulses alone guiding him toward his next “meal”.
Abilities: As a Prime, Selberg has no problems seeing and interacting with the paranormal creatures/events in New Line City; in fact, he’s better at it than nearly everyone else in the cast. The crux of his powers revolve around his fighting ability, though; he’s severely lacking in technique, but his speed, power, and reflexes make him more like a beast than a man. In some cases, that’s quite literal — because he can and will slash at people with his bare hands.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Selberg’s Prime abilities make him even more dangerous. For starters? The more he gets into a fight, the more his energy will run wild — meaning that he gets progressively stronger, albeit for as long as his enjoyment of the fight holds out. Worse yet, he’ll display an incredible knack for taking damage that would otherwise kill a normal person — and given the chance, he can actually reverse that damage 100%. How? You’re better off not thinking about it.
Weaknesses: Selberg is a dangerous fighter, no question; he fights more like an animal than a beast. Incidentally, that’s also a major failing. His instincts and reactions lose effectiveness against a smarter opponent, and/or against multiple targets; not only does he get distracted, but also can’t build any momentum — and thus can’t increase his power mid-fight. As a side note: as much as Selberg loves to fight, it’s very common for him to get interrupted before he can really cut loose. The reason for it? He doesn’t even know himself, but he keeps teleporting at random to random places.
As you can guess, Selberg isn’t exactly a tactical genius. He’s not a complete idiot, but he’s still got a one track mind. He’s cocky and confident, with no reason — or desire — to consider anything beyond a couple of basic goals. It sounds harmless, but it ends up costing him big time later on in the story — as a direct result of his actions, no less.
Motivation: He’s ready and waiting to carve up New Line City. Selberg prefers to feast (figuratively or literally, depending on his mood) on people that can fight or entertain him, but he’s still indiscriminate enough to kill anyone that crosses his path — especially if it means healing his wounds. His overarching goal, however, is to spread chaos; New Line City is being plagued by The Corruption, which distorts the environment and can potentially turn innocent citizens into murderous monsters. Given that he finds ways to hasten the chaos — and beyond that, unleash the Big Bad locked away/behind it all — he goes forth with gusto so that the all-you-can-eat buffet can start early.
Role in the story: Selberg got his start in New Line City as a serial killer a few years prior to the start of the story. He got caught eventually, but the rumors suggest that he broke out and escaped — and died along the way. There’s no conclusive proof as to what happened to him — or if he’s a dead man walking — but he’s still one of the four core villains of the story. Granted he’s more of a minor one despite his deadly potential, but A) there are still ways for him to be a threat, and B) even if he’s not the worst of the bunch, he’s still responsible for helping to make New Line into a hellhole. I mean that quite literally.
Relevant Tropes:
- The Dreaded: He became so notable for his killing sprees throughout New Line City — all committed with his bare hands — that in most circles, just saying his name is taboo. His mere presence is enough to leave the majority of the main cast trembling in fear whenever they cross paths.
- The Drifter: Blows into town on a whim, and moves through it without a care. Part of that has to do with him being…
- The Ghost: To most people, Selberg is still a phantom — left unseen, since he’s spatially unstable (i.e. he slips through planes of existence at random). He manages to make his appearance eventually, though. And naturally, he makes a bad situation worse.
- Last-Name Basis: The “Jack” might as well be a formality.
- Slasher Smile: Constantly. It actually manages to get even wider when he’s into a fight. Goes hand in hand with him Laughing Mad.
- The Hedonist: Lives solely for the chance to fight and feed. Turning New Line into the ultimate battleground is the most structured plan he’s had in years, and even then it’s pretty scattershot.
- Chaotic Evil: Type 3 — and most definitely a predator.
- Faux Affably Evil: Acts like a pretty chill guy during conversations, but he’s not fooling anyone.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Mentions that he only remembers people he kills, and even then his victims all tend to blur together in his mind. Unfortunately, he ends up saying that to the wrong lady at the wrong time.
- Self-Deprecation: Uses a striking amount of it as part of his “humor” — but it’s not enough to wipe away his crimes or demeanor, and he’ll gladly drop it if things don’t go his way.
- The Berserker: His default fighting style and strategy. He’ll solve as many problems as he can with relentless offense, slashing, stomping, and using all sorts of nasty attacks.
- Lightning Bruiser: One of the fastest characters in the entire story, and his claw swipes are strong enough to carve through metal and asphalt once he gets hyped enough. He may be Unskilled, but Strong, but he’s a serious threat if and when he gets even the slightest amount of momentum.
- Battle Aura: The key signifier that Selberg’s getting into a fight; plus, it goes through progressive stages. At first, crimson steam issues from his body. After that, he’ll gain a thick — and dark — aura, with attacks that leave ragged energy in the air and motions that generate afterimages. No one knows what happens to him after that, but I’ll tell you for free that it’s not pretty. Or pleasant.
- Next Tier Power-Up: The core principle behind his Prime abilities. Here’s the scary part: Selberg’s stats increase as he fights, with the changes listed above taking effect. He manages to go up a couple of tiers against characters that are effectively powerless — satisfying, but they can’t draw out his full potential. So the stronger the opponent, the more he can fight, enjoy himself, and power up. In practice? As long as he doesn’t die or lose his hype, Selberg will keep gaining power…which means that his power level is potentially INFINITE.
- Implacable Man: He’ll take huge amounts of punishment over the course of the story — punched, kicked, thrown, having his nose broken, getting his arms dislocated, blown a mile away by a giant explosive energy wall, blasted off a twenty-story building, and more. Yet even without his Healing Factor, he keeps coming back for more.
- Insanity Immunity: In a scenario where The Corruption is turning normal people into monsters — by taking advantage of their insecurities to drive them insane — Selberg remains his usual, sociable self. He’s already nuts, and he’s arguably corrupted beyond help…although the freaky eyes should say plenty.
- Unwitting Pawn: Selberg’s plan is pretty basic, largely because he doesn’t know (or care about) the details behind New Line’s corruption. His antics help the Big Bad immensely — to the point where he goes out of his way to thank Selberg upon release — but his service to worldwide chaos ends up being a happy accident.
- Static Character: Selberg in the first chapter is the same Selberg dozens of chapters later: a smiling, fight-happy killer regularly drenched in blood. It ends up costing him later on; though the main baddie thanks him for a “job well done”, he’s quick to point out that Selberg’s simplistic worldview and desires make him unworthy of the new world.
- The Unfought: Selberg is basically salivating at the thought of a good fight, especially when he finally comes face to face with the Big Bad. But the baddie deems him unworthy; when Selberg rushes in anyway, he ends up getting banished to another dimension — dragged to hell by a slew of clawing, screeching phantoms. It doesn’t take, and he comes back later on…reportedly, by clawing his way out.
That’ll do it for now. There are a couple of details I’ve left out, like why he’s teleporting at random (since it would take the mention of an entirely different character), but I’d like to think this is a good start. So feel free to speak your mind about this super-nice and totally-pleasant altruist.
Or...you know...PUT YA GUNS ON!
My Wattpad — A haven for delightful degeneracy
He speaks to me of a badass individual, someone with very high combat credentials, but whose abilities and mindset are meant to not be emulated - while he's capable of great things, I see in that last bit about him in Static Character that he'd probably look pretty frightening.
- Name: HENDERSON
- Age: basically a Time Abyss by now.
- Personality: HENDERSON has undergone a fair bit of character evolution by the time he's become like this. He's still basically Justin Henderson, the omnicidal Cyborg who all but waged war on life itself to try to die. Except After the End there isn't enough humanity left to kill him. Without even Revenge to satisfy him, he resorted to resuming his exile from the planet, instituted earlier to try to be rid of him, in hopes of finding a planet to live upon. He eventually convinced himself of a new purpose of "regenerating humanity in his own image", viewing nonhuman people as vermin in the path of his purpose who're out to make sure he fails. No matter what, he wants to make sure that the "mutant and the deviant" are ripped from the worlds he stumbles upon and letting him and his robots regenerate humanity. He has a lot of loathing for those who get in his way, especially in cases as ironic as in the current case. "I've fought and killed gods, erased whole worlds when they would not admit the Regeneration, and I am not going to stop here." At the same time, there is an aspect of weariness and loneliness, as he is absolutely alone now except for his robotic servitors and agents. Its been speculated that HENDERSON's loneliness and isolation have driven him even further insane. He desperately longs for revenge and satisfaction against something, just to make his life have some amount of direction. He seems to have an interest in making sure even his more nightmarish minions keep living, as they're the closest thing he has to company any more.
- Abilities: HENDERSON has the ability to control all manner of machines and robots, which with his Techvein Virus lets him play Necromancer and Puppeteer to anyone he manages to gather. He also has a very potent Healing Factor, letting him pull himself together even after massive trauma. He has a massive arsenal of weapons under his command, and his space-faring form has both the advantages of size and control of more weapons than most nations in the modern day. The one constant is his Eye Beam, a bright red blast fired by his left eye, which can rip through buildings and the countryside if not properly controlled. He also has the Magna Thor Space Station under his control, which has a nuclear arsenal, which in at least one What If? story / Bad Future has let him create a nuclear winter out of spite. He's also technically by this point unbound by any sort of form, letting him basically choose whatever tech and power he wants for the moment. A more recent addition to his powers is his Mana Drain, which, with his Adaptive Ability, lets him be utterly deadly to those whose nature is tied to magical forces.
- Weaknesses: His own insanity actively works against him - in certain situations he can't adapt due to his mind glitching out. Otherwise, disabling a certain area in the Space Faring Form makes him unable to use Magna Thor.
- Goals: Regenerate Humanity, and exterminate everything in his way that won't let him do so in peace. And he has a really warped definition of "not letting him do so in peace", that at times simply means "existing the wrong way".
- Motivation: He's a crazy bastard who went even crazier due to people exiling him to the loneliness of outer space. Even his revenge was denied to him, which ironically ended with him deciding to regenerate the people he wanted revenge on.
- Role in the Stories: Big Bad of either an Arc, the story, or the RP
- Backstory: Ever the Outside-Context Villain, he's a wandering force, coming from outer space and usually bringing his robotic "friends" with him. Its implied by their appearances he bases them off of his memories of what entertained him and what he saw when he was just a normal human. He has a very distorted view of his own history, believing his exile was a betrayal by his own "lineage", and that he was forced into becoming what he is as a grand experiment, which is both untrue and perhaps speaking of projection on some level.
- The truth of the current, most relevant story is that HENDERSON while in space ensured a group of not-quite-humans who nevertheless had genetic potential to regenerate humanity made it to a world. He then tried to return to Earth to check if his exile was done and whether the people he wanted revenge on were still there. He was devastated by the reality that humanity was dead, and all that remained was "the souls, imprisoned in crystals". He managed to get the souls out of the Crystals, turning them in the process into creatures called Shadows. He tried to return to the world he'd inadvertently terraformed via his not-quite-humans and the tech he sent with them, but they'd become xenophobic and basically a copy of Greco-Roman times and the relevant deities. HENDERSON did not take it well, and launched an invasion to try to ensure his Shadows could regenerate properly.
- Relevant Tropes:
- Abusive Precursors: Played with; The Gods were ignorant of the role HENDERSON played in their development, and simply thought he was some ancient thing that left the planet and which deserved no respect simply for being old. And to HENDERSON's credit, they reacted to his return by being abusive right back to him a hundredfold. And he thus reacts to this...
- A Father to His Men: Denying his usual Bad Boss traits, he's nothing if not a good, stand up guy for his Shadows, withdrawing injured Shadows and healing them. Its a hint as to the Awful Truth.
- Artificial Human: Created them out of strange birthing pods, both for company and for champions for the field.
- Awful Truth: Perseus is reveal bombed with the awful true nature of things; He's a copy of the Earth Greek Legend of Perseus, and his world was created due to an accident and / or an attempt at terraforming by Henderson. And the Shadows he's been slaughtering? All humans, desperately trying to survive. HENDERSON initially tried to eke out a separate space for his Shadows, but the Gods would not have it, terming the degenerated humans Abominations and ordering their various Heroes to slaughter the Shadows. Which enraged HENDERSON, leading him to take them up and prepare for a grand invasion / full on assimilation.
- Ax-Crazy: His introduction saw him shooting a hole through a character randomly just for speaking up against him. He admits afterwards "I did not intend for that...BUT IT PAINTS ENOUGH OF A PICTURE TO THOSE ARROGANT FOOLS."
- Badass Boast: "I have bested the heart of a sun! My foes who numbered in the thousands all perished and I yet walk! Know me, and know terror, falsebound divinities!!"
- Bee People: The HENDER Cylinders act like bees, regard him as the "Hive Lord", and in their own warped way collect something similar to honey in terms of the function it has to them.
- Benevolent Boss: His Shadows are very, very precious to him, and he'll try his best to protect them. Even his Cylinders, basically Daleks, are viewed as "precious things" by HENDERSON.
- Berserk Button: Tied in with the above - kill too many of his Shadows, and you have HENDERSON's direct attention and unrepentant utter cruelty.
- Body Horror: Some of his nanomachines can get into people and do horrible things. And the Shadows, besides that, are not only fully human, but fully aware of what sort of monstrosity they've become.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Having a HENDERSON Derived Implant will do this to you, and the more there are, the worse it becomes. The said people even can be said to have "contracted" HENDERSON's insanity, experiencing drastic Motive Decay and lack of purpose over time.
- Break Them by Talking: He utterly despises the inhabitants of any planets he interacts with, and despises the Gods and their servants even more for suborning the purpose he thinks he made them for - such that most of his words for them are this trope. "There will be no Task for the likes of you. Only suffering. Only death after death after death."
- Its kind of scary how good he got at dealing this out to the very gods themselves.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: HENDERSON basically lights up the entire area after the fight with Hades just by looking down at it with his gigantic form's single eye.
- Came Back Wrong: Fitting his original origin story, Henderson was a guy named Justin Henderson, grievously wounded by a villain. He got brought back to life by cybernetics, nanomachines and a strange magitech liquid. Bad idea.
- Chrome Champion: Oh, the regular Cylinders and Advancers not cutting it today? The Adamantines are light silver, made of shifting metal (ala T-1000), and are even nastier than most of Henderson's other minions.
- Combat Tentacles: His large form has these, a bunch of nasty worm-like things with curved blades around a mouth-like construct. One of them outright impales the last Big Bad, Hades, when he tries to challenge HENDERSON. While not fatal, it does put Hades out of the action for a while.
- Conflict Killer: Say hello to the guy powerful enough to disrupt The War of the Gods.
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: In a twist, while they don't eat his soul, being exposed to them will do quite a number on anybody else's soul. People with implants derived of HENDERSON almost uniformly go Ax-Crazy, turn evil, and / or undergo Sanity Slippage. Its eventually revealed to be a logic plague developed in his own mind.
- Death Is Cheap: Killed him? No you didn't.
- Death Seeker: He's still hoping someone can permanently put him outta his misery. He's always disappointed. "ADMIRABLE EFFORT FOR A MERE SERVITOR OF THE GODS. SADLY, I WAS KILLED THAT WAY BEFORE."
- Desperately Craves Affection: After years...thousands of years, maybe even millions...in isolation, HENDERSON is desperate for some friends. He even copies some villains, both ones from the past and ones from comic books he read. He...got a lot of the personalities wrong. Its ambiguous how truly alive these clones are, in relation to the Shadows.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: He wandered the galaxies looking for something, any calling he can accomplish, wanting some sort of purpose again. And when that purpose he decided on is threatened.
- The Dreaded: Feared by many, and for good reason. REALLY good reason as far as Zeus is concerned.
- Dystopia Justifies the Means: Played with; Dystopia for the Gods and their "septic little slaves" and vague, ambiguous utopia for the regenerated humans. Given he already is really nice to the Shadows...
- Eldritch Abomination: How the deities perceive him - a being of writhing technology, moving through space, ravaging planet after planet either with his horrifying cylinders or with nuclear bombardment, and never able to die very easily.
- Eldritch Location: The space-faring form is a massive, meteor size monstrosity and inside it is...well, its not normal to say the least. It best resembles a Womb Level made of machinery and approximates of biology using robotics and nanomachines. HENDERSON himself lives in the core, and has to undergo a squicky birthing sequence to leave it.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Does not take it well if his less combative Shadows are harmed, and takes it even less well if someone in his Legion is hurt.
- Evil Laugh: Averted. HENDERSON is too much of a No Nonsense Nemesis about absolutely ravaging and destroying his foes to take any real joy in it. "Ha. Ha. Ha...EACH OF YOU WILL SUFFER FOR YOUR CRIMES, BECOME AS ONE LIQUEFIED CORPSE IN THE GROUND."
- Evil Sounds Deep: His voice projected through his space-faring form. It certainly adds a bit of weight to his gloomy and despairing proclamations. "For every single dead Shadow, I will exact a million deaths upon you callow wastes of space."
- Eviler than Thou: His introduction saw him skewering Hades and introducing his Legion of Doom, who were all darker characters or were they? than previous villains.
- Evil vs. Evil: The Awful Truth basically turns the chief gods v. HENDERSON into this. The one is a mad thing desperately looking for a new planetary home, and the others are xenophobic deities who basically don't like the Shadows because they're ugly.
- Hollywood Cyborg: To such a degree now there's very little biological matter left in him. He swaps in parts and bodies so often it makes it seem like he's always upgrading.
- I Am Legion: He is each and every one of his robots. Thus making some very...odd vibes when he treats the Cylinders and other creations a certain way. Almost like creating a split personality for company...
- It Can Think: At first HENDERSON's invasion seemed like an invasion of robots, the undead, and other horrors...and then he starts talking. And hoo boy does he never go back from there.
- Kill Sat: Magna Thor. With nukes. Lots and lots of nukes. Its about the size of a continent, and aside its arsenal, it has a number of other weapons, including freakin laser beams. The problem is HENDERSON needs time to synch up with Magna Thor, and its quite easy to disrupt the contact.
- Kill the God: His end goal - he wants all the deities dead, so he can recreate humanity, with a vague "in my image" tacked on, almost as an afterthought. And he really, really despises the gods.
- "Sickening little sprouts of belief, you are not holy. You are not wisdom, war or sea. You...are...CHATTEL."
- Knight Templar: Perhaps most disturbing, he believes he's absolutely right in destroying the Gods and their servants, even - especially - when it involves massive destruction and horrific loss of life. Even his Legion share in this belief, with varying results.
- Legion of Doom: As an experiment in Life-Sewing, HENDERSON made a legion of doom made of people based on bad guys he remembered from many sources. Perhaps a statement on his own mind believing he needs to redeem himself by doing what he's doing now, as he would otherwise be evil.
- The Leader: Nemesic: The Human H-Bomb, he has atomic powers, and is basically Henderson's Nuke whenever he cannot reach Magna Thor. Also a Badass who equals Perseus and six other Heroes at one point.
- The Evil Genius: Lagasha, a copy of Amanda Wallace, The Baroness and planner of the team. Unlike Wallace, has ice based powers as an extension of temperature related powers. She can plunge someone to near 0 or less in temperature, even freezing and kicking off someone's leg at one point.
- The Brute: Haliac, based on a hectic collection of brutish villains, is an unintelligent, simple man. He is also unable to have any of his bones broken, nor his skin broken, and also regenerates on top of Super-Strength and "Density Control".
- The Dragon: The Cylinders, so really more like a collection of dragons. The worst of them, the Omega Cylinders, really fit the role.
- Mecha-Mooks: And a lot of them, at that!
- Mind Rape: can imprison people's minds in their bodies, and then torment their minds, extending the torture well beyond the natural bounds of time. "The next hour will be, for you, seventy two years." The implications are all there, and most of his victims come back almost as crazy as him.
- We actually see first hand what he does when he hits Athena with his agony beam that induces this. Oh, its not what you think it is. Its a million times worse. She felt her skin writhing with worms beneath. Even as she shredded herself, flayed the skin the worms borrowed deeper. Deeper. Into her soul. And ever did the Red Eye of HENDERSON stare at her, absorbing every facet of her misery and amplifying it.
- Moral Myopia: Shadows and anything of humanity are instantly worth more to him than the Heroes and those derived of the Gods. In his defence, they started with this mindset as well as Absolute Xenophobia.
- Nuke 'em: His ace in the hole, the deadly satellite Magna Thor. It can bring down "thundering judgement", by which I mean "it rains nukes and everything dies".
- Omnicidal Maniac: He wants to sweep aside the people who've sprung up in the world(s) he's affected, and then regenerate Humanity there. As in, everyone, everything, all dead.
- One-Winged Angel: He goes through a number of these, eventually turning into basically a white and black angelic thing.
- His lesser minions can do it too, becoming more deadly and adapting if not finished off quickly enough.
- Pet the Dog: extremely protective of the less than combative Shadows. Though this is directly tied to him being even more horrific to those who attack his Shadows.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: His most identifying feature is a single, glaring red eye.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Hoo...boy. Have a collection of HENDERSON;
- "There will be no reprieve. There will be no rest. All that arose on this troubled planet will know nothing but suffering. They will rise and they will SUFFER. Life will become a simple story of death and suffering, and nothing good will ever come of their continued existence."
- Robotic Psychopath: A more cerebral and oddly sympathetic version - he has little choice in the matter so he thinks. He has to regenerate humanity, otherwise it is back to gnawing, maddening loneliness. He's lost the ability to see other beings beside humans as anything but those who stand in his way and foes of the Grand Regeneration.
- Empathy For The Different is a human weakness I've abandoned in favour of guaranteeing survival.
- Sanity Slippage: Revenge against everything turns into madness from loneliness and wanting to create life in his own image, which in turn turned into regenerating humanity, embodied in his Shadow minions.
- Shout-Out: A lot, frighteningly enough, to The Gravemind.
- HENDERSON: I am a monument made of your sins. Considering the things the Gods did and how they originated, from Henderson's own actions, he's not exactly wrong.
- Its easy at first to think of the Shadows as being like The Flood - a disturbing, twisted bunch of the undead, half shadowy essence-flesh half warped crystalline pieces. The truth is they're human underneath it, most are frightened by their strange and horrific appearance, and despite the number who went along with HENDERSON, by and large the lesser Shadows do not want to get involved in fighting and battle.
- HENDERSON: The graves below open, and the dead reach, making room for you. That is your fate, pathetic servitors.
- Technopath: To such a degree he seems like a Reality Warper in the wholly tech area of his space faring form.
- Time Abyss: "I AM OLDER THAN YOUR CONCEPT OF TIME." And quite correct there.
- Tragic Villain: Much as he talks a sadistic game and destroys his way, he's utterly without purpose and wants so desperately to recreate humanity just to have something he's familiar with return to him. His insanity is less his choice than the result of millenia of travelling alone through space because there was no other choice.
- We Have Reserves: A massive number, in the trillions...but defied. He utterly refuses to view his Shadows that way.
- Your Worst Nightmare: This is a creature / man / abomination that even Gods fear. Because he would reveal the Awful Truth and is a Conflict Killer. Best put this way by Zeus;
- Zeus: I fear nothing in this world, Hades!
- Hades: Zeusie, I see you shaking...
- Zeus:...you want honesty? Fine. I fear it, the HENDERSON-thing. It is a mass of suffering, hate, pain and destruction. Nothing like it has existed before and nothing like him will come again for much time.
edited 5th May '16 3:27:59 PM by NickTheSwing
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
The Electric Eccentric
Thanks for the critique; I was starting to worry that I'd killed the thread. But back on topic: I've never actually thought of Selberg as a "badass" before. I mean, he does some fancy moves (in a sense) and manages to critically injure one of the core cast members, but it's interesting that you came to that conclusion. I'm not knocking it; I'm just surprised, that's all. In terms of the threat level of the four villains, Selberg's arguably on the lowest rung.
You've got it right, though. He's not exactly someone you want to use as a role model. Too bad that well before the story's end, most of the main cast ends up following his example and sacrificing big chunks of their humanity to The Corruption just to get a leg-up. Or "for a good cause" or whatever.
It's fine, though. I'm sure it'll all leading to a happy ending.
My Wattpad — A haven for delightful degeneracy
Baby dango
Henderson seems to be severely twisted and desperately requires a therapist, but I don't get why his name is capitalized. Where the heck did he get so much tech in the first place, how was he exiled if he is so powerful? If he created the tech after his exile, how did he acquire the necessary skill to even create them alone? Is there a The Man Behind the Man since all the humans had to be sealed in crystals by something.
Henderson is quite an interesting twist on the Omnicidal Maniac concept. I really love the whole "All right, I win! Wait. What do I do now?" angle. Come to think of it, he has some similarities to the villain I'm posting. I've technically already posted this guy, but his personality has changed a lot in recent drafts.
Name: Grand Lich Alivus the Second
Age: Somewhere between Really 700 Years Old and Time Abyss - he's easily a few thousand, and some information suggests he might be older than that. To the eldest beings in existence, though? He is as pitifully young and temporary as everything else to come out of his world.
Personality: Alivus is a highly intelligent, psychopathic academic. He has an obsession with knowledge and learning, an almost Social Darwinist view of the world and an absolute lack of empathy. Despite being quite introverted, Alivus is a sort of Attention Whore who accquires this attention through overcomplicated plans. He is also highly sadistic and cruel, enjoying and feeding on the suffering of people around him. To this end, he can best be described as a combination of a Mad Scientist and a Serial Killer who is dedicated in equal parts to the acquisition of knowledge and to the causing of pain.
Abilities: Alivus, like most liches, is an extremely skilled spellcaster. It is his magical might that makes him a personal threat; he's the type of High Fantasy style mage who can call meteors from the sky with a wave of his hand or suck the life from a foe with a single breath. Physically, he's no slouch either - in just his tattered robes with a ritual dagger, he can kill a lesser man in full arms and armour. Lastly, comes his strategic intellect. Like most characters in my stories, Alivus is fond of Batman Gambits. He is completely without rules or boundaries and has a knack for analytical thinking, which, refined over years of practice, allow him to create plans which his opponents unwittingly enact in his favour.
Weaknesses: Despite being physically skilled, Alivus is nothing to most of the protagonists without his magic. In addition, he suffers from a serious Complexity Addiction stemming from a chronic need to prove his superior intellect to everyone he encounters.
Goals: Alivus wants to wipe stupidity from the face of the earth. This is to say, he wants to kill everyone who is less than intellectually gifted.
Motivation: A combination of raw hatred and pure sadism. Despite claiming to be justified, Alivus really just hates "stupid" people with a fiery passion and enjoys seeing people he hates suffer.
Role in the story: Alivus is the primary Big Bad of the story, though he might be replaced by the Bigger Bad at the end.
Backstory: Alivus doesn't really have a backstory that gets revealed, since (in my opinion) psychopaths work better without a tragic past. Also, any backstory given to him would likely not fully justify the character he's become, which might bother many readers (even though the point is that he's a much a product of nature as nurture).
Relevant Tropes:
Arch-Enemy Sort of, to Aenlen Once Noble. I say sort of, because Alivus only sees it as such much later on in the story. Before that, it's Unknown Rival.
Ax-Crazy Kills people constantly. For fun. I'd wager that he's this.
Back from the Dead First off, he is undead. Second, did you really think a guy like this would last thousands of years without a backup plan... or twelve?
Badass Bookworm Very, very much so. About the biggest bookworm in the entire story, but can be more Badass than the entire team of heroes when called for.
Bad Boss Kills his associates, whenever they act stupid. Of course, he always has a clone of each of them ready to go, so that no one figures out.
Berserk Button Obfuscating Stupidity is his single biggest berserk button. The last time someone tried it, there wasn't enough left to cremate, let alone bury.
Big Bad Of most of the story anyway.
Black Cloak Is dressed in a tattered, hooded black robe, with hand and foot wraps.
Black Mage If one were to use the Black-Red-White system, he's as black mage as they come.
Break the Haughty Attempts this on several characters. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it gets spit right back in his face.
The Chessmaster Can be considered this, given that he tends to manipulate everyone at all times. Unlike most, though, his Xanatos Gambit is just a bunch of individual Batman Gambits set to be triggered at different times.
Complexity Addiction Can be considered his Fatal Flaw.
Crazy-Prepared Hell yes.
Creepy Monotone Speaks in a relatively monotone, whispering voice.
Curb-Stomp Battle Dishes these out routinely, to characters of all kinds. Gets one from the Big Good at the end.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Intellectually, he understands how empathy works. He doesn't get what makes it valued, though.
Evil Sorcerer He is an evil spellcaster, so yes.
Faux Affably Evil Relatively polite and formal, to a rather pedantic degree. Even, nay especially, when watching someone suffer.
For the Evulz A large part of his motivation.
From Nobody to Nightmare Alivus the Second was simply a normal Serial Killer who dabbled in academia. Alivus the Grand Lich is perhaps the greatest human threat in recorded history.
Hero Killer It's easier to count the number of people who survive meeting him than the number who don't.
It's All About Me He certainly seems to think so, anyway.
Maniulative Bastard Plays games with gods, mortals, angels and demons.
Murder Is the Best Solution Rather frequently.
Not So Different Downplayed with his nemesis. Played almost 100% straight with The Mad Hatter - both are easily bored, do things largely for personal amusement, are intelligent and fond of complexity, lack all or nearly all empathy, seek attention and praise from others... Despite this, the Hatter is Chaotic Neutral where the Lich is Chaotic Evil because the Hatter, though a Narcissist, actually doesn't LIKE hurting people. At least, not anymore.
Our Liches Are Different A 100% sociopathic subtype of undead who are most often spellcasters. Possess some form of self-resurrection, which is unique to the individual lich.
The Sociopath Well, I should hope so.
Tranquil Fury The only kind of anger he ever shows.
The Unfettered The most unfettered character in the story.
We Can Rule Together Gives this speech to Once Noble, who, as is standard, declines. Later revealed to be a subversion - Alivus just wanted to get the hero alone and defenseless so he could kill him without effort.
The questions you guys have can possibly be answered by this taste of HENDERSON's past.
Well, maybe.
Apocalypse Logs. A story of how HENDERSON happened.
I'm not quite sure if this should go here, as the character is an anti-hero/anti-villain depending on the appearance.
Name: Alice Longfellow
Age: 17
Personality: Good girl turned bad by circumstance. She is naive and carefree, initially, only to become jaded and cruel, to the degree where she sees things one-dimensionally,although she maintains a degree of innocence and kindness throughout. Her arc is about learning to live with what you are.
Abilities: As a giant, she has a constant aura around her which makes her literally seem larger than life. However, as she experiences Glamour Failure this becomes uncontrollably terrifying. To everybody watching her, she seems unnaturally tall, with constantly twitching and moving hands and arms. Her fingers are too long; her arms seem to nearly reach her calves. This gives her the ability to scare away any normal she wants, as the glamour is completely under her control under "ideal" circumstances. She also can distend her jaw like an anaconda or other snake. She also has enhanced strength and speed and a healing factor, again due to being a giant.
Weaknesses: She must eat at least one meal made mostly of human flesh a month to maintain her glamour. Not only that, but she experiences a near constant Horror Hunger for almost anything after her glamour completely fails. She is clumsy due to her lack of binocular vision. She does not fit well into small spaces.
Goals: To find the cure for being a giant. There is no cure for being what you are.
Motivation: I Just Want to Be Normal. She wants a return to innocence where there is none.
Backstory: She starts as Brainwashed and Crazy by the local Cannibal Clan. After learning The Secret of Long Pork Pies, she runs from the cult as the main characters burn down the church and have a showdown with the Sinister Minister cult leader. Unfortunately, it's too late for her. She already had eaten the [[{{I'mAHumanitarian}} "specially-prepared meal"]] to become a senior member.
Relevant Tropes:
Wendigo: Her transformation is based off of this.
Running Gag: She keeps on hitting the tops of doorframes.
Reality Ensues: She doesn't have binocular vision.
Ironic Echo: In her introduction, she says the cult's prayer, "I am a giant, fearless and proud. I stand above all. Even the largest man is smaller than I. Even the largest house cannot contain me. My father is the cold wind that holds me at night. My mother is the scorching sun on my brow. And no man dares challenge me, for I am a giant, fearless and proud." After her transformation, it becomes, "I am a giant, fearless and proud. I crouch to live among the rest. I hide from even the smallest man, for he has iron and weapons to hurt me.I shirk even the largest house, for I know I will break it. My father is the cold wind that bites into me at night. My mother is the scorching sun that burns me in the day. And no man has come to challenge me, for I am a giant, fearless and proud."
Horror Hunger: Exaggerated, Played for Horror. Whenever she eats somebody, we get a lot of close-ups of her fingers and teeth, in a very squicky way, and lots of squelching noises. If the victim is still alive, there is screaming. If she's feeling guilty, there's a close-up of her eye, usually with tears and the like.
{{I'mAHumanitarian}}
Body Horror: Her original transformation shows her skull and bones melting and warping to the degree that you can hear them snap, only to reform due to her Healing Factor.
Creepily Long Fingers / Creepily Long Arms: Frequently.
Heel-Face Turn / Face-Heel Turn: She does this often. If she thinks that the main characters can help her find the cure she needs, she'll side with them, and if she thinks the villain will be more beneficial to her then she'll side with them.
Go Mad from the Revelation: She previously had been eating people in the hope that it would sustain her for long enough to find the cure. When she finds out that there is no cure, she has a psychotic break brought on by stress. She eventually gets better, and finds ethical ways of dealing with her hunger.
Madness Mantra: I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill. I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill. I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill. I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill. I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill. I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill. I cannot eat. Thou shalt not kill.
Brainwashed and Crazy: In her backstory.
Meaningful Name: Longfellow, so as to recall long pork.
edited 8th May '16 6:12:55 PM by madprophet
The Electric Eccentric
I don't have a villain to show off right now, but in the interest of keeping this thread alive, I'll gladly give my thoughts on someone else's character. Now then...
I know it's not a complete one-to-one comparison, but reading about Alice reminds me of the Dead Hand from The Legend of Zelda. That seems like a good link to make, if you ask me; if you can sell the horrific aspects of the character, then the juxtaposition of her former (or maybe buried?) innocence could make for an interesting aspect. Then again, just knowing that she's going to teeter on the line between hero and villain is enough for me. Then again (again), it makes me wonder which side she really leans toward. Does she really put stock into the idea of becoming normal and innocent and loved by all who meet her? Or is she just lying to herself to deny her basic instincts — what she secretly wants, but can't bring herself to admit? It's a real quandary, no question.
I can't help but wonder about her interactions with other people — not something I'm knocking, but a point of curiosity. You say she's willing to side with the main characters, but does she truly appreciate them, or are they means to an end? How do they feel about her, especially if they know (or think, or suspect) she's a one-eyed time bomb? And if Alice is more or less a monster, then does that mean there'll eventually be the requisite Torches and Pitchforks scene? Or does she have a secret confidant that helps her maintain her humanity?
Really, I'm only asking because I'm curious. You've definitely piqued my interest with this character — and I don't know if you've heard, but that's definitely something you want to do.
My Wattpad — A haven for delightful degeneracy
She's teetering between the viewpoints you present. At first, she sees them as a means to an end, but as she has more interactions with them, she starts getting connected to them, whether she wants it or not. There's not really a pitchforks scene, as The Masquerade is still going on in the story. However, there might be a scene or two of people staring at her, being unnerved by her, or even straight up running from her. Basically, as she becomes more hungry, she acquires the combined, slimy anti-charisma of Tommy Wiseau and an Uncanny Valley robot. She even, to a degree, looks beautiful. However, as she gets hungrier, people will start noticing a burning look in her eye which belies predator, awakening the primal fear of being hunted. Similarly, as time goes on, she becomes more and more jaded, but still keeps on holding out for the cure. She tries to maintain her humanity mostly through pure force of will; she holds out for a while, but after accepting that there is no cure, she finds that she is happier accepting the way things are.
The heroes have varying opinions on her. Mary sees her as misguided and sad, Julia as somebody who unusual, but can be made harmless, Simon, being the Conspiracy Theorist, is highly suspicious of her, but warms up over time and Boris, once more, has seen worse. She also eventually finds the heroes to be her true friends. See, Simon has an old friend who works at a morgue, and if they are going to be dead anyways, why not eat them?
Also, the Deadhand is a good comparison. The thing I was thinking of most was The Rake, what with the predator aspect and the supernatural thinness.
EDIT: Another good reference point for the body type I'm going for would be the Dancer of the Boreal Valley or the mimics from the Dark Souls series.
edited 20th May '16 8:29:43 AM by madprophet
Three, two, one, THREAD REVIVAL. I thought seven days of inactivity would be enough to post again. Sorry if I did anything wrong. Please inform me if I do.
Name: The Seven (Actually eight) Sins(Wrath, Lust, Greed, Pride, Sloth(who is never seen), Envy, Gluttony and Despair.
Age: ??? It's sort of irrelevant for a demon.
Appearance:
- Wrath is a hulking and imposing man, with a skin made up of hundreds of blades and swords, and hair made of whips and scourges.
- Lust is a somewhat short figure. His face is covered with long, wet hair. He has four arms, the top set much larger than the bottom set. The bottom set drip with something which looks and tastes like water, but definitely is not. He smells of alchohol and something salty.
- Greed is a man in a buisness suit with many, many arms which constantly grope for various objects. In place of his face, he has a safe, which he puts things in, but never takes things out of.
- Sloth never bothers to show up.
- Envy has no arms at all, and is entirely nude(genitalless). However, his body is covered with hundreds of eyes which can see through almost any non-magical barrier, and some magical ones.
- Pride is always in some form of illusion, but he generally appears as a traditional devil in a red business suit, with horns that form into a crown.
- Gluttony is by far the largest of the lot, though not by weight. He is thin; far too thin. His ribs are just this side of exposed, and his body is covered in meth sores and injection points. His face is like that of a bobbit worm, and he is constantly looking for something new to consume.
- Despair is a three-dimensional shadow, looking almost like a crossection of a person.
Personality:
- Wrath is eternally angry, to such a degree that he rarely will loop back around to other emotions. Even when the emotions aren't anger, he still is always INTENSE and PASSIONATE about his FEELINGS.
- Lust is a serial adulterer, constantly looking for some new lover or catch. If he can't get it in a reasonable manner, he might take it by force.
- Greed is nearing Hulk Hogan levels of love for America. He loves capitalism and all the greed that comes with it.
- Sloth doesn't have enough energy to display a personality.
- Envy is, well, exactly that. He envies people in good relationships(which is everyone, because he doesn't have any real relationships), people with better cars than him(which is everyone, because he doesn't own a car), etc.
- Pride wants to be famous, always have a big crowd around him and always be liked.
- Despair is the only one of the sins who takes the job of being evil one hundred percent seriously. He even includes melodramatics. Despite this, he finds the whole thing a bit pointless, in the 9-to-5 office worker sense.
Abilities:
- Wrath has the aformentioned skin of blades, making him a difficult target to grab. He also seems to spontaneously form weaponry out of nearby objects just by being in the vicinity, and people around him have an increased tendency to rely on violent solutions where just talking or walking away would be far easier on everybody.
- The liquid dripping off of Lust is actually rohypnol, and since the lower set of hands is clawed, he can scratch someone to inject rohypnol into their bloodstream. He also makes people tend towards acts of reckless passion when they are around him.
- Greed can convince almost anybody to charge him a bit less for a service. He also has an extradimensional space in his head, which he can use to trap people. He tends to make people more greedy and less charitable.
- Sloth never shows up to show off his powers.
- Envy, as previously mentioned, can see through almost any barrier. Envy makes people around him more envious of others. Envy also causes things to dissapear around him, slowly making the world around him devoid of valuables. However, unlike Greed, he doesn't have any access to these things, which frustrates him to no end.
- Gluttony can make you addicted to next to anything. He also has an aura of hunger about him which makes those around him slowly starve and waste away.
- Pride naturally makes things around him more shiny or reflective, basically slowly turning the world around him into a house of mirrors and fool's gold. He is also the master of illusion; no one knows what he really looks like.
- Despair has one main ability: his touch will make you feel mentally worse. Everything you did wrong, everything you failed at, everything you feel guilty for suddenly becomes blown out of proportion. It takes exceptional willpower to avoid just laying down and allowing yourself to die after the second or third touch.
- All sins have one additional ability: they can do a Fusion Dance, and become a stronger more specialized sin. However, this is actually parodied. Many of them, while still issues, have a case of crippling overspecialization. For example, Mercenaryism(Greed + Wrath) or Bloodlust(Wrath +Lust) is very useful, but Prostituition(Greed + Lust) or Azazel(Pride + Lust, Fallen Angel of Makeup) is decidely not.
Weaknesses: All of them have a tendency to fall to their own sin. Also, sins are physical manifestations of a concept. Virtues are already strong enough that they don't need a manifestation. That, and they can be banished for a good couple of weeks with the right rituals.
Goals: To spread sin across the world!
Motivation: Each of them is motivated by their personal sin. Wrath is a Blood Knight, Lust is a sex addict, Greed is greedy, Sloth is in his continuing crusade to never show up on time(or at all), Envy wants to steal things, Gluttony wants to EATCONSUMETHEFLESHMOREMOREMORE and Despair is doing it because he has to.
Role in the Story: They're Ineffectual Joke Villains, most of the time. They screw up, and their behaviors and the effect on the people around them is frequently played for laughs. They will rarely get dangerous, or even get a full-blown win against the heroes, simply because the heroes are so used to winning. They also are sometimes used for horror or an Even Evil Has Standards moment.
Tropes:
Body Horror: Hard, especially with Gluttony.
Fusion Dance: Parodied: "WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO AS THE PHYSICAL INCARNATION OF DRUG DEALING?"
Anthropomorphic Personification
Seven Deadly Sins: Intended to be a bit of a deconstruction. All of the sins are seen as genuinely unappealing, and there is no Ms. Fanservice in the form of Lust. Also, Gluttony, while still a Big Eater, is eternally thin as opposed to fat.
Idiot Ball: "Fusion was a terrible, terrible idea."
Driven to Suicide: The victims of Despair.
Blood Knight: Wrath
Creepy Pervert: Lust
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Greed
The Trickster: Pride, though he vehemently denies it.
Alpha Bitch: To a degree, Pride is a male instance of this. He basically feeds off of putting other people down to get higher, and definitely has a lot of vanity in him.
Take Our Word for It: Sloth is the most terrible and evil of the sins, despite never showing up.
Primal Fear: A bit in each.
- Gluttony is the fear of hunger, being eaten alive, addiction and insects
- Wrath is the fear of sadism and squick
- Lust is the fear of rape and violation
- Pride is the fear of humiliation
- Sloth is the fear of the unknown
- Envy is the fear of having things taken from you and being watched
- Greed is the fear of the corporate and the overbearing governement
- Despair is the fear of having nothing left and the fear of everything you've done
Large Ham: Wrath is PASSIONATE about his ANGER and HIS VOLUME RANGES from LOUD to weirdly accented.
The Load: Azazel is decidely useless.
Dark Comedy: Basically their schtick as the incarnations of sin on this earth.
edited 27th May '16 10:38:14 AM by madprophet
Baby dango
Villains themed after the seven deadly sins aren't exactly uncommon, but it is rare to add despair, which was once part of this group. I do have to ask, if sloth never shows up, whats the point of adding him? Their ability to fuse is something quite unique, but their abilities kind of suck unless they get creative, which makes them perfect useless villains.
This is my Deuteragonist and final villain.
Name: Adreiyes Valis Mercier
Age: 18
Appearance: A dashing young man with short brown hair. He is 5'7 and while not muscular, is well built and is typically wear commoner clothing. He looks cocky and has a arrogant grin to go with it. After a timeskip, he looks noticeably more unhinged, with a slight sign of insanity.
Personality: {{Brilliant, But Lazy}} at its finest. He doesn't have a life goal and isn't interested in using his intelligence for productive things. He usually laze around on a field enjoying the breeze. He is quite flirtatious, often teasing any pretty women around him, complimenting their looks and giving seductive suggestions. He encourages those who have no confidence in themselves, and is quite confident himself. After his parents and friends get killed during a coup, he swore revenge against the Big Bad, Cyrus, the one behind the coup. He is under constant stress due to being under constant suspicion of the Big Bad, and upon discovering who is his true father and the death of his sister despite sending her away with the Protagonist, he slides over the edge and becomes even more ruthless than Cyrus.
Abilities: He is crafty and devious, and is Genre Savvy enough to recognize the traps set by his enemies, avoiding them and using it against them. He is skilled with a sword, and while not to the extent of other characters, is enough to protect himself. He is a pretty good actor, feigning loyalty and is extremely cautious.
Weaknesses: His thirst for revenge can overwhelm him, being often tempted to jump at the opportunity to kill the Cyrus, despite it being risky. This causes the Big Bad to raise his suspicions against him, making things harder. After going somewhat insane, he becomes outright reckless in actions, not caring about the consequences.
Goal: Kill the Cyrus and destroy everything he worked to achieved.
Motivation: The coup started by Cyrus killed his parents who sacrificed themselves to protect him, as well as the thousands of innocents killed by the coup, many of them being friends he grew up with.
Role: He is the Deuteragonist, giving the audience the POV of the villain side.
Backstory: He was born with his twin sister as the children of the owner of a bar in the capital. As nothing much happens in the capital, he typically stays at the bar helping out. Cyrus, who was still thought of as a good guy, offered him a job in his mercenary army, but he refused due to laziness and his mother insistence. He found his mother's insistence to be weird, as she usually insisted he do something with his life, but he ignored it. Unbeknownst to him, Adreiyes and his sister was the bastard children of Cyrus. The Cyrus wanted to use the influence of Adreiyes's mother, who before giving birth was the daughter of a noble family, thus seduced her. After succeeding in getting what he wanted, he frames them for assassination in attempt of getting more power, causing her entire family to be killed. She managed to survive, and was taken in by his father. After the coup, he takes the offer of Cyrus and join his army, sending his sister away with the Protagonist, who swore to protect her.
Relevant trope
Best Served Cold: He wishes to kill Cyrus's entire family and destroy the empire he created for his revenge.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The only reason they tolerate his behavior is because he is the one they turn to for ideas.
{{Brilliant, but Lazy}}: He usually slacks off whenever he is asked to work, but he gets the job done quickly.
Magnificent Bastard: He becomes one as the story progresses.
The Man Behind the Man: He lends secret help to many of Cyrus's enemies or make them himself, either to facilitate his own rise in position or make more allies.
Dragon with an Agenda: He aims to be The Dragon for Cyrus so he could destroy him completely.
Fake Defector: Despite hating Cyrus, he never once truly consider running of to the other side to help in his vengeance, since he doesn't trust them to be actually be able to succeed.
Evil Former Friend: He and The Protagonist were once friends who respected each other, and despite being on different sides, they were still friends, with The Protagonist aiming to destroy Cyrus by forming his own empire, while he destroys Cyrus from the inside. After {{The Protagonist fail to protect his sister, their friendship broke apart.
I Did What I Had to Do: His usual justification.
Kick the Son of a Bitch: Cyrus deserved everything coming to him.
Mysterious Backer: Has done this many time for Cyrus's enemies.
Start of Darkness: While his parents's death was traumatizing for him, he was still kind of an Anti-Hero, but he becomes full blown villain after the revelation.
Treacherous Advisor: While his treachery has already been found by other advisors, one of them don't care while the other still finds him useful.
Unholy Matrimony: He gets married with someone who is also aiming to get revenge, who is also ruthless, unscrupulous and intelligent.
Berserk Button: Don't even suggest anything about his heritage, or you would be included in his revenge.
{[Would Hurt a Child}}: After going full blown sociopath, he hangs a baby on a thirty feet pole over fire just to lure out the father, then kill the baby just to spite him before killing him. He expresses zero regret, saying that he would exterminate anyone with Cyrus's blood.
Moral Event Horizon: While he became a Complete Monster after his revelation, he cements it after finally handing Cyrus his Karmic Death by organizing a coup to take over his empire and sadistically hunts down all his followers and familiy and kills them all after torturing them.
It's a Running Gag that Sloth never shows up.
Baby dango
Did this thread die again? If nobody have anything to say, you guys can skip mine.
This is a title.
Evil Versus Evil sort of thing, non?
If you were going for anti-villain, then no offense, but you kinda dropped the ball.
Somewhere around the point where he hanged a baby to lure out its father, then killed that baby out of spite.
I Did What I Had to Do seems, putting it lightly, grossly inaccurate. Needs better establishment that this is solely his own perception.
Also, I must say that 18 seems like an Improbable Age all things considered.
Otherwise, seems interesting. The former friendship with the hero seems like an interesting angle.
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
Baby dango
By that point he is already turned full blown villain, and he still had principles before that point. I will no longer depict him sympathetically after that.
edited 2nd Jun '16 5:23:28 PM by Ikedatakeshi
- Name: Reiji, Scion of Vicelogia
- Age: 2406
- Personality: Reiji is...well, he's the living embodiment of the idea of peer pressure as exerted on an already distant man who only wanted to belong. Fundamentally basically a nerd going along with the crowd, Reiji was always viewed with disdain by his "mother", The Harpy, for being weak and needing to resort to Magic constantly. So when he joined Vicelogia later, he became a bit more confident, but eager to go along with the Dark Gods other servants and their machinations. He's fundamentally principled, but is willing all too often to suspend his principles in the interest of getting respect. He doesn't show it often, but he burns with anger at the fact nobody seems to respect him. He also tends toward Deadpan Snarker, mostly in an effort to "look cool", having little faith in how funny his remarks sound. He doesn't honestly care that much about the Eternal War, or the various goings on just as long as he can improve his Magic. He does however pretend to care when it looks like its something other people are getting involved in.
- Abilities: Reiji's weapon is his Halberd, Lucerne, which amplifies his magic and gives him several innate flashy magic sword moves he can cast off of it, broadening his options in battle. He's enormously talented in magic of many forms, Runes and most Forms of Magic, though he trends toward Jack of All Stats rather than overly mastering one area. His spells seem to mostly involve diametric opposites, Ice and Fire, Wind and Earth, in combination.
- Weaknesses: Reiji is a pushover. Silmarill can make him follow along on even the most asinine of plans, and Dhakar is just a bad influence on Reiji period. While he is good with magic, his close quarters skills amount to little more than flailing and slashing haphazardly.
- Goals: be taken seriously, dammit!
- Motivation: His life with The Harpy was pure hell. After that, even Vicelogia's abuse was basically an improvement. Thus, he's decided he wants to become a fearsome and powerful figure, so nobody thinks to mess with him again. (Pity how that's going for him)
- Role in the story: Evil Sorcerer and high rank partner of several Dark God aligned villains. He and Dhakar are most often partners in crime.
- Backstory: Reiji was a "piece" of The Harpy she broke off and gave individuality to, purely because she got bored and wanted someone new to hurt. Reiji was nerdy, withdrawn, and inexperienced due to literally being born yesterday, making him an easy target. He ultimately ran away at Ein Woe's urging, and found Vicelogia, ultimately becoming a Scion after a fierce and terrible trial. Reiji was gifted with Lucerne, and told to "do as thou wilt" except for when Vicelogia required someone to lecture / gloat to. So here he is...
- Relevant Tropes:
- Ambiguous Disorder: Reiji seems...strange. He's distant most of the time, a chilly academic, but desperately inside wants for friends and affection just as well as a certain kind of attention.
- Animal Motifs: The Dog, at first, due to his persistent loyalty despite his outer reservedness. Reiji even dips into it, saying things like "This Dog's Gettin' His Day!" Kind of ironic, given his disdain for Shane and werewolves.
- Animated Armor: His Summon Spell - Doroma Awake Armor. It conjures an army of disembodied souls connected to suits of armor. Damage one and it'll start repairing itself. Fully destroy one suit of armor and its bound spirit might well try and possess you.
- Butt-Monkey: Downplayed in comparison to some anime butt monkeys, but he certainly inordinately suffers and in some cases in rather comedic ways, though in no overly painful and horrible ways. Vicelogia considers every bit of it "amusing".
- It really reaches its apex when he tried to get into Caine's club. He knew Caine's "interests", and he knew how Caine selected Aaron and Elwood. But then Reiji gets one hell of a bad idea that results in him trying his new nickname and a really bad costume redesign. By the end of it, even constantly angry berserker Aaron Cascade just sits by a sobbing, again humiliated Reiji and pats his shoulder "you thought you were doing right. Easy...easy..."
- Iron Butt Monkey: As a natural consequence. Reiji weathers a lot and then comes out of it snarking.
- Color Motif: First its dark purple, due to liking such a royal color. He switches to red in Book IV much to his misfortune. He switches back to dark purple after.
- Create Your Own Villain: Shane, you should've seen Reiji was frustrated by how you humiliated him that time. Repeatedly antagonizing him resulted in Reiji being desperate to do something in Book IV especially after seeing Shane was involved with Matthew's forces. This upped Caine's count of Champions from three to four.
- Deadpan Snarker: Some times it works for him, some times it makes him sound weird.
- The Dreaded: 300 years later, he's known as The Scarlet Leagues Sorcerer-King. Finally, he got the payoff. The Scarlet Leagues are a badass collection of rogue magicians who basically use rare and forbidden magic types as a matter of course and choice. So to be King of these guys, Reiji finally got the respect he craved and is treated accordingly like a serious threat. Privately, he worried Aaron Cascade and Elwood are still more dangerous than him.
- Dual Boss / Wolfpack Boss: Either or. He never ever fights alone, accounted to his lack of confidence. He either has Dhakar be his Nigh-Invulnerable Sword to his Sorcery, or the dangerous pseudo-berserker Kerron covering his weaknesses. When not with them, he has some summons he can rely upon.
- Dueling Scar: After a fight with Shane in III, he gets a scar up his right arm. He refuses to have it healed until "I make that animal pay..."
- Even Evil Has Standards: Privately, even Reiji is disgusted by Caine's worse excesses. When he sees some of Caine's Blackened Praetors blasting a US Army guy who tried to defect to death and then beyond, Reiji at first gloats...and then looks sick...and then says "...I-I take it back, you guys are sickening. P-Please excuse me." Even as the Praetors continue stabbing and shooting the remains.
- It gets to be enough that Reiji basically pulls a Screw This, I'm Outta Here once he realizes exactly what sort of villain Caine is beneath the nerdy Shout Outs Reiji had kinda liked.
- Evil Makes You Monstrous: Reiji's constantly trying new One-Winged Angel forms on, but when he gets angry and frustrated he picks the most monstrous ones. At the peak of his frustration in Book IV, well; "Face my rage, my frustration, my ascension past the expectations!" His form is basically a crimson giant clad in a big version of one of his animated armor minions wielding a big version of Lucerne, with four glowing red eyes.
- Evil Sorcerer: He wishes he could live up to the image.
- Familiar: His is called Preceptor. He really loved Preceptor due him being there, even if he couldn't get much out of the Familiar, and its emblematic of Reiji's issues. When Shane kills Preceptor during Book IV, Reiji temporarily goes totally insane and says that Shane will feel his total and complete rage. He promptly One Winged Angels into a titanic four eyed giant, and uses Dust Magic, previously used only by Regal Kalvin, to absolutely devastate everything around him in a bid to kill Shane by the most painful way possible.
- Friendless Background: He grew up with The Harpy, a horrific abuser, and had no friends. The only person to really seem like a friend is Dhakar, who is using him for his many spells as part of The Plan of The Week. Reiji, depressingly enough, is more than happy to let Dhakar use him. Past a certain point however Dhakar starts to care in his own warped way.
- If My Calculations Are Correct: He knows the weird and hard to use Numerology Field of Magic. Basically, if his calculations are correct a meteorite will fall on you - fundamentally, manipulating existing factors with and killing you with math.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Reiji just never does anything that lasts, but he's always trying and he always checks back in with Dhakar just to find out if his "friend" is plotting something.
- Odd Friendship: Reiji and Kerron Casteller. The former is a squishy wizard with a need for respect and people around him, and the latter is Aaron Cascade's sole friend and most loyal ally. Both have been looked down on, and Caine has played with both of their feelings and needs. Reiji holds Kerron's arm when Caine's Shout Out of the Minute offends him so they don't lose everything, and Kerron listens to Reiji and gives him encouraging words.
- "I...really don't know what I'd do without you, Casteller."
- "For a mage, you're a fine guy, Reiji. Don't worry, respect will come. You're getting better, day by day."
- Only Sane Man: In respect to Caine's Umbral Horde. He is the only one who sees where things are leading for Elwood, and tries to advise him its maybe not so wise to gloat to a 317th Commander about all those horrific excesses. Elwood brushes off Reiji. Elwood proceeds to get decisively defeated, the first time a Dark God Champion was beaten on the field.
- He also tries to ask why, exactly, the Umbral Horde is waging war here, but the answer he gets makes Reiji just facepalm and wonder if anyone else notices the various dysfunctions of the Umbral Horde.
- Psychic Powers: He can read minds and move things with his mind. Occasionally he gets hit with A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read. The time Shane was involved in that was the start of his various grudge-building encounters with the werewolf.
- Punch-Clock Villain: As soon as objectives are achieved, he'll teleport out. He doesn't really have malice toward many people, so if you don't overly bother him he won't bother you. Its just a job.
- It's Personal: On the other hand, he despises Shane for humiliating him.
- Red Baron: Reiji of the Million Spells. He tries to come up with a new one to try and fit in with Caine, but things don't go his way, lets put it that way. "REIJI! THE! RED!!"
- The Remnant: The Umbral Horde Fina Branch, which Reiji ended up leading after a quick succession of the Fina Branch's leaders either stepped down or were killed by infighting. They ended up in Siberia, and are basically the underdog of the remaining parts of the Umbral Horde, being contrasted against the Violators / Umbral Horde Caith Branch led by Elwood and Umbral Horde Ragos lead by Aaron. The Underdogs are thus ignored, and become quite powerful and menacing - even evading Siberia's cold by crafting entire underground complexes and coming to some sort of agreement with the Russians.
- Squishy Wizard: A walking nuke type. Reiji's unbelievably powerful, but he's skinny and only has basic amplifications to strength and resilience necessary to wield Lucerne. Even still, he's a deal stronger than a baseline human.
- Summon Magic: Reiji may not be the hardiest fighter and he may not be able to deal with you. But some of the monsters, demons and horrors in his Summon List, oh boy howdy they can! His Summon List includes such juggernauts as Azul Doulcang, one of Varancain's nastiest Demon Dragons.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Reiji lampshades it pretty handily. "Okay, so lemme see if I've got this right. Boss is a daydream believing lunatic fiction-kin who thinks he's someone different most days, Aaron's a self admitted madman with occasional sanity lapses, Tobias is a decay-obsessed weirdo, and Elwood...sheesh, dude, NSFW!"
- Took a Level in Badass: In Book IV, Reiji starts to come into his own - he effortlessly disables a nearly invisible drone plane, realizes it has a pilot and crushes the mind of the pilot from half way across the country, and that's before he starts his grudge match with Shane. Included in that is Dust Magic as an opening move and using a monstrous One-Winged Angel form.
- Unstoppable Rage: Do not be Shane near Reiji. Do not even look like Shane or be a werewolf near Reiji.
- The Woobie: Several times, he dips into this. Poor little Reiji.
edited 9th Jun '16 4:41:38 PM by NickTheSwing
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
I like it a lot, but if feels like the name Silmarill is waiting for a lawsuit to happen and the design doesn't really strike me as much besides "Red Knight".
Now, for mine:
Name: Jenny Longfingers
Age: Old enough to remember when Scarborough Fair was a place, not a song.
Personality: Genki Girl meets narcissist meets Sadist. She makes you feel like the center of the world, glomps on to you, treats you special and makes you feel better about yourself. Eventually, once she has you in her sights, she will make you sign the contract. The contract will seem entirely beneficial to you at first, unless you read the fine print, but even if you do she'll promise not to abuse it, and she'll seem genuine enough about it. She'll hold up her end, going above and beyond to meet your demands and feelings, never even taking the Literal Genie approach that many fairies take. Eventually, she'll start enforcing your end. It'll be small things at first. Knock on your neighbors door three times and run away before they answer, stuff like that. However, the demands will escalate, and when you start refusing, she'll guilt trip you into it. And if you still refuse, she'll start inflicting physical pain and serious consequences. Very serious consequences.
Abilities: The aformentioned long fingers. She's dextrous, and skilled in many forms of combat, and will use her abnormally large hands as an advantage. She also has hundreds of needle-sharp teeth in her mouth. However, her real strength comes from her ability to manipulate people and emotionally control them, often used in conjunction with posession to completely dominate . She also has a little quirk which makes holy symbols (crosses, the Arabic form of Allah, pentagrams, etc.) to tilt or turn upside down in her presence.
Weaknesses: Like all fairies, she's bound by any contract she signs to. When she posesses somebody, she can be exorcised. She is burned by iron, and cannot enter a house with an iron horseshoe above the doorstep. She is also bound by some older contracts; she cannot take a physical form after sunrise or before sunset and must be invited before entering a house (though she can get around this by talking to a land-lord).
Goals: To serve the contract, acquire slaves, live life happily.
Motivation: Because It Amused Me, primarily. As with most fairies, they really just do things because they want to.
Role in the Story: Initially, she seems like a final-hour godsend. She helps the main characters and basically wins the day for the Season 1 finale. However, she becomes the big bad of Season 2, as she starts to leverage herself over Mary, culminating in the exorcism of Jenny at the end of Season 2. Also, the love interest for Tom Lyre (AKA Liar AKA That Son of a Bitch AKA Tam Lin). This segways into Season 3, wherein Tom Lyre comes for revenge.
Backstory: See the story of Janet and Tam Lin.
Relevant Tropes:
Adorkable: On more than one occasion, she can be seen putting the crosses she flips right-side up again. Her outfits range from sweaters (with a mysterious lack of seam or needle-work) to colorful one-piece beach wear and a sun hat (now with 100% actual Sun!). In general, she exudes an outward appearance of cute, only to find a cold and soulless thing on the inside.
Magnificent Bitch: She knows what you want, who you are, who you like, who you dislike, where you go and where you are from. She leverages all of this information to her advantage.
Creepily Long Fingers: Her MO. She actually partially resembles the traditional homunculus.
More Teeth than the Osmond Family
Eldritch Abomination: Her true form resembles something like a vast spider. Even in her more comprehensible form, she acts under the Blue-and-Orange Morality of the fairies.
Eldritch Location: Carterhaugh, her residence. Rosebushes grow there in plenty, animals there mutate into horrid, hairless, foetal things and to top it off, every plant there can be seen to have tiny eyes through which she can see. To top it off, she shares it with Tom Lyre.
Fridge Horror: She refers to the mutated animals in Carterhaugh like they were her children.
Stockholm Syndrome: Implied from her relationship with Tom Lyre.
Domestic Abuse: To her victims and Tom Lyre, though he reciprocates in kind. In fairy terms, she's actually relatively normal, just to give you an idea of how screwed up fairies are.
@arreimil
Can the protagonists actually defeat Karel in the end? You noted that destroying the mirrors in the house distresses him; would shattering them all rob him of some of his power? Otherwise I'm not seeing a way for him to be beaten.
@Exister
Thanks for the commentary on Capreotti. I often find the Italian side of things gets ignored as well—mostly because of their poor military record admittedly.
So, I wasn't sure whether to post this in the Villain or Hero Thread, given that the following is a list of antiheroes and villain protagonists alike. It's also the first time I've ever written up a group. Anyway, let me know what you all think. The setting is a fairly standard fantasy world (which I'm working on fleshing out) and these characters have come together because they all want something and can help one another get it. I'll list each character, what they want, and what they bring to the table, then get into the organization as a whole.
Names: The Gang of 8, the Octagon
Members:
Goals: Each member of the Gang of 8 has something they want but cannot get on their own. At Gorbor's initiative, Artaxerxes brings them all together in the City of Strangers in the hopes that they can assist one another in reaching their respective objectives. Their first target is the City itself; once Artaxerxes is installed as Lord-Mayor, they can use the City's resources to fuel their campaigns elsewhere.
Motivations: To hang together lest they all hang separately. Every member of the Gang of 8 has seen their previous attempts at getting what they want fail when they tried to achieve them on their own. They are now hoping that by playing on one another's strengths and compensating for one another's weaknesses, they can succeed where they have not before.
Role in story: They're the protagonists, though whether you want to call them antiheroes or outright villains is rather up to you. Evan is the viewpoint character for most of the story, though the others will get their moment in the limelight as well.
Relevant tropes: Anti-Hero (nicer members like Evan and Samanda), Big Bad Duumvirate (they typically make decisions by committee), Dark Action Girl (the four female members), The Exile (for many), Legion of Doom (how the rest of the world sees them), True Companions (eventually), Villain Protagonist (the eviler members, like Alys Leocanto), Villainous Friendship (slow to form, but it eventually happens)
edited 16th Apr '16 9:53:26 AM by AmbarSonofDeshar