A world (dystopian or otherwise) ruled by supervillains (or their equivalents)

So, I've been having this idea in my head after carefully thinking about superhero and dystopia genre. A dystopia ruled by supervillains. I mean, that's a perfect setting for superhero stories, isn't it? I have my own idea about this place (it's called Absolute Authority):

So, since supervillians are essentially people who try to achieve their goals with their extraordinary abilities ruthlessly (I know not all fit the criteria, but most of them do), I thought that they would establish "achieve your goals and do what you want, no matter the cost" doctrine, promote Social Darwinism and discard morality. The purpose was to create a stronger whole and give everyone fair chance by promoting competition. But of course, it doesn't work.

Supervillains are super elites: no one, unless one kills them, can take away their power. They are the masters of the world, forming what is called "Council of Divinity". They decide how the world will be run.

"Weak" are not necessarily culled, but they live in a shitty situation or become slaves, while "strong" are filthy rich. However, ㅣlower class can kill the higher class so that they can get all the fortune for themselves, and that is legal. Of course, it doesn't prevent the elite from killing the average person. So, becoming one of the "elite" is not hard if one is willing to cross all moral lines. And many do cross the lines.

The elite are allowed to do anything. For example, one of the elites can rape someone from the lower status without any repercussion. As long as s/he makes sure that their victim is harmless.

There is a super-powered police named Watchcorps that are supposed to keep order. But, the reality is that they are essentially mercenaries of the elite. They will do anything for money. Ultimately though, they answer to the Council. One has to go through specific training to become a "Watcher", member of Watchcorps. The Owl established it.

There is a cult of personality revolved around Ubermensch, leader of the Council, as well as the emperor of Absolute Authority. This cult was just a side project for General Esper, but it amassed quite many cultists, thanks to the promise of wealth and luck, as well as everyone considering Ubermensch as a god.

There are quite a few Mega Corps in the world, but they are all actually under the control of one man, Professor Rourke. They are all specialized in certain industries. One of the most notable ones is Carnival Corportaions, which produces drugs and various entertainment materials (movies, games, comics etc.) for the masses. These Mega Corps ensure that things are at best decent for people of lower class. They are mostly targeted to the rich, boasting their egos with expensive products (even though some may not actually be useful), as well as encouraging the poor to work better.

I feel that the whole thing is disjointed right now, so I am requesting for help, basically. Feel free to criticize this and ask questions.

Also, I would like to hear about your "worlds ruled by supervillains".

I had an AU of a collaborative world a few friends ran an RP for. Basically a "nega verse" where the heroes went off course.

A mech hero (Iron man expy, basically) decided that machine trumped man and went full borg; my own OC was a magician but in the nega verse broke after he realised all his work was for naught. He thought he was a Well-Intentioned Extremist but he went a bit too far off the rails.

Essentially, he made "The Magic Came Back" happen. Turned the UK into a magical dystopia, imprisoned the other heroes of Europe in a dessicated skyscraper (The Shard basically) and summoned a mist across the islands that prevents intervention.

Life is "fine" as long as you don't stray from main roads, or walk too long on the villages. He has Black Dogs roaming, sentient gargoyles acting as magical CCTV and essentially punishes corruption... if he finds it. Life has gone to a more basic, agrarian lifestyle for the most part, with the cities still allowed to "trade" with the outside world via specific ports.

Basically, he turned the UK into a Hidden Elf Village with very strict rules and insight into "fairness" - you won't get screwed on your mortgage, but you may get tortured horribly if he thinks you've broken the rules.

It sounds really cool. I imagine it looks gothic as hell, which is always awesome. Though mind if I ask what happens in other parts of the world? Are they controlled by a Mech?

Continuing from my first post:

Continents of Absolute Authority:

Asia: It's ruled by a being called Descendant of the Heaven. He used to be a delusional supervillain who thought he was a reincarnation of a certain Chinese Emperor. The Big Machine Corporations's main office, which is responsible for heavy industry, is stationed there. Watchers in that place can turn into half-dragons. Descendant can also turn into a dragon. And the sky is red, due to the dragon presence.

Africa: Ruled by a half-lion half-gorilla (and a snake tail) warlord called Apex Predator (used to be human), Africa turned into a biopunkish place due to his biopunk tech.

Australia: Controlled by The Owl, the most dangerous human alive. Watchcorps' main HQ is situated there. Since The Owl is a control freak, Australia is essentially 1984.

Europe (including Russia): THE main continent. Ubermensch is said to reside in Rome, while Professor Rourke - in London. Both of them are essentialy rulers of that place.

America (both South and North): A continent where Carnival Corporations HQ is located.

This will be updated.

So the USA is a bit of a messed up state due to one of its premiere businessmen turning into a sadomasochist borg. If I recall correctly, California is essentially a wasteland after he tried to take over. The rest is a heavily militarised state, armed against supervillains and with a corp of "heroes" conscripted as essentially sentient weaponry.

A flotilla of ships patrols the atlantic (a la the fire nation blockade) to prevent the Diabolist from extending his influence.

Africa is much the same.but add in a deluge of heroic abilities and actual genetically engineered monsters that escaped some corporate research firms - due to lax legislative laws and companies leveraging lobbying in the Niger, Sudan and Sierra Leone. However, in response, many states have cemented as real bastions of progress and stability, filling the industrial vacuum left by a broken EU, USA and India.

India itself is broken - their premier hero, Kali (Who isn't really Kali, rather a girl who was created and artificially "made" into an embodiment of Kali - think a religious themed Incredible Hulk...) broke free of government control. She became a celebrity for a while, essentially with modelling contracts and a stint as a human rights proponent, pushing her "intended" purpose. Anyway, Pakistan and India don't nuke each other; it's China, suffering a slump, which invades to seize territory and prevent arguments over the Indian Ocean and naval activity in the South China Sea.

This leads to deployment of meta humans and basically huge amounts of collateral damage that renders a lot of Southern India essentially inhospitable. Pakistan is then embroiled in the middle east, where supervillains end up gaining a foot hold (especially in the pashtun regions)

Russia, like the USA, has militarised its border and occupied a lot of former Warsaw Pact nations, to prevent the Diabolist expanding across the former EU states.

Other mages and heroes have done a "Doctor Doom" and set up their own little free states. Minor nations rely heavily on the patriotism of their meta human populations, or genius inventors.

The world operates, minor wars exist, but the status quo has shifted, with Africa and a lot of the Southern Hemisphere taking primacy as the major powers and blocs crumpled. Companies are propping up some states, others are basically nationalised arms of governments that allow them to gain additional direct revenue.

We did a whole swathe of theory posts about the alt verse - with meta humans and magic, it changes the nature of engagements; conventional military barely keeps up. A lot of the meta humans are still, basically, human - a single bullet will kill them. But it's hard to get close to deliver the final blow when half of them can teleport, summon fire or monsters from the ether, or are encased in essentially a transformer with plasma cannons.

I think the only nation pretty unaffected was Australia, which had become host to a number of "Governments in exile".

Sadomasochist borg? Religious Hulk? They're infinitely better than any ideas I have!

I'm sorry if I come across as annoying, but could you give some critique to my world? What works and doesn't work?

edited 16th Nov '17 8:27:22 AM by kaalban

I'd be interested to know more about Carnival corps. Also, the abilities of the dragons - magic? Weird science?

How'd a guy who was so delusional get where he was? Or is he just a figurehead?

I'd like to hear more about the daily lives of citizens - are they basically viciously oppressed (The world sounds a bit like the Dark Elves of Warhammer Fantasy - crapsack world for Commoners who can basically be taken for ritual sacrifice wherever)

Is it similar to the comic Wanted in that regard? Or is there more a masquerade?

I'll try to answer all the questions as clearly as possible (because, frankly, all of these ideas are not finished).

1. Carnival Corps is one of the oligopolies of the Authority, responsible for "entertainment and happiness of the people" (their slogan for marketing campaign). They produce drugs of all kinds, movies, superhero comics, "sexual" material for all ages (I don't think I need to explain this one), games and etc. They are currently testing how well gladiator games would go in South America.

All aspiring artists and creators can only apply for this place, or else Carnival Corps. will make sure that lives of those who do not work for them will be ruined. Workers of that place are also slaves to Loki the Damned (not an actual Loki from Norse Mythology, just a supervillain who named herself after him), who decides the final result of the product (Professor Rourke is responsible for handling money problems, while Loki - creative problems). She makes sure that they are fun and profitable, even if they are "sick" kind of fun and ultimately shallow. Besides, people don't have an alternative.

2. Dragons are indeed magical beings in universe. It is said that previous Chinese Emperors could transform into dragons (or at least, closely related to them). Watchers can transform into half-dragons by drinking Descendant's green blood.

3. As for the Descendant himself, Council assigned him as the Emperor of Asia because they thought it was funny. As for his actual abilities as a ruler.... think Commodus from Rome (in short words, tyrant and incompetent). Related to Carnival Corps, Descendant imposes heavy censorship on media, so he's in conflict with Carnival Corps (rather, with Loki the Damned).

4. Civilian's lives.... They're not as oppressed as other totalitarian dystopia's citizens, but nevertheless, fear and paranoia pretty much rules the day. One has to worry about if someone won't kill them, steal their property/money or just about any crime in general. Also, there is also a possibility to be betrayed by anyone, including one's own family (though that happens rarely). Arguably the only solace for these people is Carnival Corps's products and the cult of Ubermensch.

So, it's essentially RL except if negative aspects have gone Up To Eleven and supervillains were added to the mix.

About regular people themselves.... They're more busy trying to gain more money/power and become the elite. They're generally a whole lot crueler, more amoral and more selfish than RL people (maybe) , as well as being hypocrites , since Absolute Authority's doctrine pretty much encourages to disregard morals and ethics.

However, only very few, including supervillians themselves, are petty or pure evil. Rather, they're cold, manipulative and hedonistic type of evil. That said, it doesn't mean all of them are irredeemable. Rather, they became cruel because of the cruel world. This society, dystopia forced people to become cruel because if they show a sign of "weakness" (compassion), then they will get exploited and betrayed. And most of them have lines they won't cross.

At least, that's what I'm trying to write.

Wanted is my primary inspiration for the comic (only the world ruled by supervillains part, however). There is no masquerade. Everyone knows that supervillians and dragons exist.

edited 18th Nov '17 7:05:24 AM by kaalban

I'd be keen to know more about the other industries that are running in the world, keeping it balanced. I mean, the whole place sounds like a powder keg.

I take it there's sort of cold war ongoing between the various factions? Any open warfare between them? Any actual heroes still knocking about?

In a good way or a bad way?

Anyways, to talk about other corporations:

1. Big Machine Corporation takes care of heavy industry of Absolute Authority, including robotics. It is controlled by an AI called Big Machine (it looks like a giant and complex steampunk/clockpunk machine). It used to be Ultron of this universe, but Professor Rourke deemed it as too dangerous (he feared that Big Machine would try to destroy all life) and reduced its intelligence to a simple-minded producing machine.

Uncle Sam's is a food focused corporation. No one, not even the Council knows who in the world is Uncle Sam, supposed Director and Chief Cook of this company (to describe his appearance, he wears a creepy Uncle Sam mask). Even those who know this villain refuse to talk to him (sans Loki the Damned). The only reason he is in his position is because of Loki. All that is known about this company is that they produce food of large quantity and not necessarily of good quality.

I haven't really thought of other corporations. Will add them.

2. Cold war is pretty much a constant state between factions. Everyone wants to gain the upper hand in this battlefront in all but name. There has been an open conflict between the Council members due to an intense disagreement between them (and some villains did die in the process), but it's surprisingly quiet otherwise. About the heroes... there is a group called League of Vengeance led by The Red Fox, a former superhero and lover of Ubermensch. It is the largest revolutionary organization.

edited 30th Nov '17 7:04:48 AM by kaalban

Have you got a Soylent Green element to the world...?

And I mean in a good way RE: Powder keg - always the start of a good story, conflict!

The other Dystopia I had envisioned for one of my stories is based on my experience industry. Basically our world, but the debt crisis has gotten so severe after another market crash that everyone owes money - no one is really solvent anymore, except the high level corporate CE Os, CF Os and upper management of big banks.

In that world, the economy has tanked, everyone has had their homes repossessed and the economy is basically a giant ponzi scheme - governments are toothless, because they stupidly go along with the companies who repossess their equipment and call in debts.

The story is set in London and people are essentially "owned" by a company, their salary mainly going to repay the "debt" they owe - but their debts elsewhere get tabbed up as they can't repay - so they will invariably owe someone else. Corporate owned people have higher quality of life, as often they get accommodation, or deals on mortgages and food. So, they lead a comfortable, albeit stressed life.

And to make it worse, most "finance" slaves don't really work - they are hooked directly into computers to run the advanced accounting software that manages financial trades.

The story is about a recruitment firm who don't do cold call recruitment - no, recruitment is mainly done by kidnapping people off the street and then selling them to a rival company. The protagonists take it a step further by ram raiding actually financial buildings and fighting the corporate security to get the "best quality" candidates... and in doing so, end up finding a terrible secret from one company about what they're going to do to bring about the end of the other companies and remaining vestiges of independence around the world.

That's just the UK, which is mainly empty houses, with people being forced to live in shanty towns; paid for police and military etc.

The rest of the world is a dogs dinner.

As in human resources? Maybe? I have an idea about robot whose fuel is liquidized human body, but I don't think I'm going to implement it.

That world sounds interesting, too.

Have you decided on a plot for the world yet, or is this more a setting for an RP?

For another dystopia, I was going to go with a theme I saw in The Circle (the book) where social media has warped everyone to a stupid degree - police respond to a beating in an alley and are on the verge of arresting the victim for "walking outside of social view" - but because the attackers were filming it on their camera phones, they were "content creating" and thus nearly get away with it. If you aren't blogging, or updating your status you aren't "partaking in social discourse" and an "anti-social" person.

In this world, the villain is, basically, an emergent AI that essentially "feeds" off information - it only feels satiated with a constant stream. Basically, an Ultron expy, or some form of Galactus that we made, but it NEEDS constantly new data.

The corporations are basically on hyperdrive manufacturing cheap consumable things, but energy is renewable to ensure that the AI is never powered down. However, I'm struggling at making a compelling story that hasn't already been "told", as it were. Big brother went there already in 1984, so I feel I'm at risk of rehashing an old story.

Do you have any further ideas about other continents or what else you want to do to develop it?

That world... sounds disturbing, which is good of course (since it's dystopia).

As for my own story set in Absolute Authority...

It will be either a trilogy or quadriology, but this is irrelevant.

It will center around a girl, Yu-Na, who always wished to destroy Absolute Authority. But, at her birthday, she got beheaded by General Esper. However right after, she got resurrected by a being called Captain Spirit and acquired his powers. With it, she plans to begin the revolution and destroy Absolute Authority with the help of the League of Vengeance, as well as other revolutionary forces, by becoming a symbol of hope.

To give some details about the first book, the main antagonist will be Professor Rourke, who is trying to make a reality-altering weapon called Life. He will challenge the League in many ways, prompting them to make sacrifices and compromises. Also, Rourke plans on exploiting ideological differences between rebels and see them fall apart like a house of burning cards. With victories and defeats abound, the League launches an all-or-nothing attack on Rourke's HQ. They succeed on killing Rourke.

Second one is about League's assault on Carnival Corps and Uncle Sam's to wake the masses from an illusion. After the League kills Loki, however, they discover a horrible truth and disband.

Third one is full of spoilers.

If you wish to see the spoilers, then tell me.

I'd like to develop financial MegaCorp and Europe.

I'd be keen on the spoilers.

I think understanding the mega corps would be good - even an evil society needs trade and movement of sorts.

Is this the only work you're focusing on or are there others?

Ok, this is going to take long.

Ok, spoiler time:

That's pretty much it.

About other works, there is one Capepunk, one Cyberpunk/MilitaryScienceFiction, one Psychological Horror and one comical fantasy work (this one has some information on my troper page)

edited 14th Dec '17 6:19:48 AM by kaalban