This is a character sheet for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, namely the individual Big Bads of each book, the source of all troubles who must be defeated . The list itself was so long it has to be divided in three. It is under construction and any contributions are welcome!
Given the nature of the gamebooks any vital plot-relevant twists and weaknesses (especially weaknesses) should be kept under spoiler tags.
Major Villains I to O
Ishtra, One of the Snake Demons
The most warmongering of the Snake Demons, the highest tier of the Demon Princes lording over the Night Demons. The current Demon Princes being the only ones of their kind to escape banishment to the Void after the apocalyptic First Battle, who took over The Pit.Ishtra rules the Demonic Plane of Ichor, commands the Night Demon Shakor and is mostly influent on the Earthly Planes. It was he who stole the Lizard Men from the Lizard God Suthis Sha, becoming their main idol. He he has immense control over the Dream Realm and commands Morpheus the Lord of Nightmares. Ishtra ialways tries to gain control of Dark Magic and the forces of Nature. He is now out to take every monster in the continent of Khul under his command to ignite a second Chaos War, and it is up to a young elf titled the Eldenurin (Defender Shaman) to stop him...
Ikiru, The Master of Shadows
A powerful Greater Demon who aims to cause chaos to Hachiman, the Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Japan, and to the entire continent of Khul. He resides in a gloomy lair in the mountains called the Pit of Demons, in reference to the Pit, the name given to the local Hell. He controls the Dai Oni, another powerful demon, and steals the Singing Death katana, which could grant control over the country to the one that could unlock its power. The Shogun's Champion is tasked to retrieve the blade and take him down...
Jaxartes, Fallen Leader of the Mage Order
Once the wisest and mightiest mage of south-west Khul, leader of the local Mage Order, he got corrupted when delving too much into The Dark Arts, and was banished. As the formidable army of the mighty warlord Ostragoth the Grim is threatening the land, he makes his move to take over the city of Zamarra, and the rest of the continent. But there is one warrior that could thwart is plans...
The Lizard King, Slave Master of Fire Island
The ruler of Fire Island, a former prison colony turned into a slave mine, the Lizard King is a brutal tyrant who has used voodoo to make himself even more powerful. On Fire Island, he has amassed an army of lizardmen, orcs, giants and all manner of monsters, and periodically send them out to raid the surrounding islands for slave labor. To make matters worse, the Lizard King is fused with a Gonchong, a spider-like parasite that grants its host enormous strength in return for most of their free will. But there is one who will rise against him...
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Blue scales are quite uncommon, even for lizard men.
- Antagonist Title
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: He became king of the lizard men of Fire Island by being the strongest, baddest and meanest of them. His mastery of Voodoo sorcery helped.
- Attack Animal: He has a black, maneless lion as a pet, that he sics on you before the fight starts.
- Badass Normal: He might dabble in Voodoo Sorcery, but he does not use magic in battle and does not need to.
- Empowered Badass Normal: That being said, he still uses a magic Fire Sword that boosts his skill by 2 points, and the Gonchong also boosts his physical condition.
- Big Bad: The slave-driving Evil Overlord who must be taken down, to restore Fire Island and relieve the local fishing ports of his raids.
- Body Horror: Has a horrible parasite attached to his brain.
- Evil Overlord: Pretty low-scale compared to the others fought in the series, but he still qualifies, being a powerful tyrant leading armies of monsters, with dark powers and unique weakness, who threatens the neighbouring coasts.
- Evilutionary Biologist: He attempts to create new monsters and life-forms to serve him.
- Final Boss: With 12 in skill and 15 in stamina, not to mention being only vulnerable to a Fire Sword makes him a very powerful foe to face. Fortunately, there are ways to weaken him.
- Post-Climax Confrontation: After killing, him, you must kill the Gonchong by severing its proboscis. If you fail or drop your guard, the Gonchong takes control of you and makes you the new Evil Overlord of Fire Island.
- Flaming Sword: His weapon of choice is a fiery magical scimitar that makes him impervious to normal weapons. If you have another one, you can challenge him safely. If you have a monkey, he'll be so frightened he'll drop his own sword, which you can use.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He was originally just one of the guards when the island was still a penal colony. When it was abandoned, he unified the other guards and turned the prisoners into slaves.
- Hollywood Voodoo: Like Bloodbones, it uses Voodoo of this variety.
- Kill It with Fire: The Lizard King and the parasite must be killed with a Fire Sword.
- Master Swordsman: He is a very strong and skilled fighter.
- Monster Lord: A king among lizard men. Self appointed for sure, but he still deserves the tittle.
- No Name Given: The Lizard King is never named, just referred to by his title.
- No-Sell: Attacking him with anything else than a Fire Sword is useless and leads to a painful demise.
- Panthera Awesome: His aforementioned pet. Not a panther but a lion in fact, but black and without mane, it gets quite close...
- Puppeteer Parasite: Not the Lizard King himself, but the Gonchong he fused himself with. Contrary to most examples of the trope, their relationship is more of a symbiosis than outright domination from the Gonchong.
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: You must kill the Black Lion before facing him: a a powerful foe with with 11 in skill and 11 in stamina.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: He holds every prisoner in Fire Island as slaves, condemning them to grueling forced labour night and day to build his kingdom, and abducts people from the nearby villages to replace them and raise his numbers.
- Weaksauce Weakness: The Lizard King is deathly afraid of monkeys of all things (presumably since monkeys eat lizards). Bringing one to the Final Battle will significantly weaken him. If you already have a Fire Sword, he is so terrified that only the Gonchong's influence makes him put up some token resistance. That way he becomes an absolute joke with but 6 in skill for you to Curb Stomp. If you don't, he either drops his Fire Sword for you to use (and loses 2 skill points in the process), or frightens the monkey away and slaughters you, depending on your luck.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Why did it have to be monkeys to be precise, but well, you know the drill.
Malbordus, The Child of Darkness
A human of great potential for magic, raised by the High Priestess of the Snake Demon Myurr. As the final trial of his training, he is tasked to venture into the lost city of Vatos in the Desert of Skulls to recover lost Artifacts of Doom that would help him take over Allansia. Fortunately, the Legendary Wizard Yaztromo learns about his quest and sends an adventurer to face him.
Zharradan Marr, Master Of Marrangha
A half-human half-demon sorcerer, skilled in necromancy and Marrangha, the strange magical art of creating new and twisted forms of life. Marr trained alongside Zagor and Balthus Dire, though now considers both rivals. Reflecting his part infernal heritage Marr does not fully reside in the material world of Titan and can only interact with others via an enchanted mirror portal to the netherworld.
- Agony Beam: He masters the horrible Torture Spell that inflicts unbearable pain. You need to be covered with Elven Magic Dust to be protected, lest he casts it on you to subjugate you.
- All There in the Manual: Some of his background is filled out in Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World and the rest in the foreword of Creature of Havoc.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: He has green skin.
- Cool Ship: The Galleykeep, a flying galleon serves as Marr's vessel of choice when he does move around. It was stolen from the main character of Creature Of Havoc, who was the original captain before Marr turned him into a monster.
- Evil Genius: He is very intelligent and shrewd, knows how to use his servant's talents to the fullest, searches for the McGuffin from all sides, and manipulates people to get all intel he needs.
- Evil Gloating: He spends most of the confrontation with you monologuing about his plans, and how he is the best.
- Evil Sorcerer: One of the most notorious of the franchise.
- Evilutionary Biologist: He uses The Dark Arts known as Marrangha to create and transform all kind of species. He is known as the only practitioner who created viable lifeforms. You are the result of his best experiment.
- Evil Versus Evil: It is hinted that he is at war with Balthus Dire, the Big Bad of The Citadel of Chaos' ' and his former fellow student. The novelization Trolltoth War'' confirms this and make their conflict the center of the plot.
- Half-Human Hybrid: His mother was a witch, his father a Hell Demon.
- It's All About Me: He is so egomaniac that non only did he discard the name of his hometown he felt beneath him, but cast a spell to make everyone forget he ever had it. He even retreated to the Netherworld to avoid sharing the same air as lowly people.
- Just Between You and Me: He congratulates you for managing to find him, and explains The Reveal. Even the narration Lampshades this, saying that this is like a father teaching his son.
- Manipulative Bastard: He knows how to gain the trust on people he needs, and he uses you as a MacGuffin Delivery Service.
- More Teeth than the Osmond Family: His mouth is full of sharp, pointed teeth.
- Necromancer: His main field of expertise. He is implied to have created the Master of Hellfire, a That One Boss to avoid at all cost.
- Obviously Evil: One look at him is enough to know that his company is not of the pleasant sort.
- Pocket Dimension: He retreated in a dimension he created from the reflection of a mirror. You must know about it to confront him.
- Mirror Monster: You must face his mirror knowing that you will find him here to confront him.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Averted. He tries to teleport away when you are about to defeat him, but it's already too late for him.
- Sorcerous Overlord: A master of black magic with control over many humanoids and other monsters.
- Storm of Blades: In his backstory, he and his fellow disciples cast the Rain of Knives spell to kill their master. Does not sound like a pleasant death... Fortunately for you, he never casts it when facing you.
- Take Over the World: Downplayed. He plans to take over the continuent of Allansia.
- Terrible Trio: With his former fellow students during their tutelage. They even called themselves the Demonic Three. Averted though, for those three have nothing quirky and are as competent and dangerous as they come.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: He is half-demon after all.
- Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: He uses slaves to dig gold from his mines.
- The Unfought: Downplayed, you confront Zharradan Marr but you never actually battle him, since he doesn't exist in our physical reality anymore. To defeat him, you destroy his magic mirror with a crystal club, trapping Marr in his netherworld forever.
- Villainous Friendship: He had one with Oldoran Zagor and Balthus Dire, his former fellow students during their tutelage under Volgera Darkstorm. But being the villains they are, it became bitter rivalry as soon as they established their respective power bases.
- Villainous Widow's Peak: Just to make it clear that he is a bad seed.
- We Can Rule Together: He offers to make you The Dragon when you confront him. It can lead to a Non-Standard Game Over in which you help him take over and rule... Until he grows tired of you and gets rid of you that is...
The Master of the House of Hell
One of the few Fighting Fantasy Villains whose identity is a mystery: As you try to find a way out of the House of Hell, and discover that it shelters a cult of demon worshippers, you hear about the ominous Master who controls the sect. While it first seems that the title refers to Lord Kelnor, it eventually appears that even Kelnor answers to him. Will you be able to find out who he is?...
Morgana, The Fell Sorceress of Krill Garnash
One of the few female Big Bads of the franchise, Morgana is a very powerful and evil witch who resides in the dangerous mountains of Krill Garnash, where she assembles the Twelve Sigils representing all aspects of creation, which she uses to gain power over all things. She created eleven immensely powerful Giant Golems, each imbued with the power of a Sigil, and all she needs is the twelfth Sigil to make her twelfth Golem and make them fully unstoppable. You cannot let this happen...
Mordraneth, The Stealer of Souls
An evil Archmage of considerable influence, feared all over Titan, waging war against the benevolent mages of the city of Pollua, the only obstacle standing between him and his dreams of World Domination. His agents recently abducted the wizard Alsander, just as he discovered crucial intel on Mordraneth's Evil Plan. As such, Vanestin, the Great Mage of Pollua and Mordraneth's Archenemy, hires you to save the wizard and help in the war. To a warrior like you, such a prospect is quite welcome...
Myurr, One of the Snake Demons
The smartest of the Snake Demons, the highest tier of the Demon Princes lording over the Night Demons. The current Demon Princes being the only ones of their kind to escape banishment to the Void after the apocalyptic First Battle, who took over The Pit. Myurr rules the Plane of Rust in the Pit, commands the Night Demon Kalin, is worshipped by the Dark Elves, and is equally influent in the Pit and the Earthly Planes. He once planted false evidence of royal descent and assumed a human aspect to take the throne of Atlantis, spreading such sheer destruction s that the Gods were forced to sink the entire continent, splitting the original continent of Irritaria into the Old World, Allansia and Khul.
In Dead of Night, you play a Holy Warrior known as the Demon Stalker, who thwarted too many of Myurr's plans, earning the Demon Prince's burning hatred. The game begins when he sends you a vision of him holding your parents captive, and you immediately set out to free them from his grasp and defeat him once and for all. But it quickly appears that Myurr is spreading chaos all over the country of Gallantaria, and that his ambition likely goes further than mere Revenge. You will need to overcome many, many troubles, before being reunited with your party.
Nazek, Master of the Midnight Cauldron
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night when you first met this crafty fellow. The darkness prevented you from seeing how Obviously Evil he looked, and he offered you shelter in his campfire, so who were you to refuse. When the storm broke out, he suggested to take shelter in the nearest Abbey, and so you did. Little did you know that he used you to invite you in, for no evil can enter uninvited in Raissin Abbey, where the Black Grimoire is kept away from dark forces who would use it for Evil. And of course, he steals it and dissapears.
Turns out that he was an orphan raised by the monks of the Abbey, who despite their tutelage became an Evil Sorcerer, worshipper of the Demon Princes. He is in fact the ruler of a coven of evil spellcasters, who plans to use the Black Grimoire to release the Kurakil, a demon of the same rank as the Demon Princes. It is up to you to make up for your mistake, to find him, and thwart his schemes before it is too late...
The Night Dragon, Ancient Evil From Before Time
A nightmarish, eldritch monster from before Time itself, and an evil counterpart of sorts to the Dragon God Kilanirax himself. It was, along with the equally nightmarish Black Gargoyle, the mightiest and most formidable general of the Demon Gods during the apocalyptic First Battle. It escaped banishment to the Void after its lords' defeat, for it was defeated in battle during the war or shortly after, and put into a slumber that was to last for eternity. Alas, eons have passed and it is now on the verge of awakening. An Apocalypse Cult is working to bring about his return, and the legendary Conclave of Dragons gathers to find a hero who could prevent it. You. If the Night Dragon resurfaces, everything will be blown away like dust under the icy northern wind. Will you be worthy and skilled enough to stand against such seemingly un surmontable odds? Time to find out...
Orguhuz, Fallen Vessel of the Malice
Once in the continent of Khul, Tancred The Magnificent and his younger brother Orghuz saved the underground-dwelling Gaddon people from an Ancient Evil known as the Malice. Orghuz was killed and his corpse became the demonic spirit's vessel, that it used to attack his brother's newly founded kingdom of Gorak. The Malice, now one and the same with the once great hero, was sealed along its seven demonic servants known as the Khuddams. Alas, eight hundred years later, they are about to resurface and destroy the continent. It is now up to the last descendant of Tancred to destroy the Malice and the Khuddams once and for all, and release Orghuz's souls from his torment...
