YMMV / Villains' Code

• Adorkable: Donald Moss AKA Cyber Geek is a shy, awkward, but helpful young man who wants to date Tori. He's also a superhero with a video game-related power in a world full of gods.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Just how bad was Ivan during his darker days? It's implied that he was a killer that reformed but was he a true monster or an Antivillain like so many other Guild members? Lodestar certainly believed he was redeemable from the get go.
  • Is Tori focused entirely on her career, not interested in anyone who is a superhero, or just simply not attracted to men at all (or perhaps women as well?). She shows no interest in romance or either of her suitors throughout the books but has close female bonds that may or may not be romantic.
  • Just how bad are the Guild in general? Are they Pragmatic Villainy types who just are happy to have Cut Lex Luthor a Check or genuinely victims of society who have become better people once they're given a shot by society.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Balaam is known as a schemer and has orchestrated the events of the final third of Forging Hephaestus. He initially cooperates with Apollo, but then betrays the cape when it's convenient. He easily wins over most of the minor guild members, manipulates Apollo like a fiddle, and brings back Fornax after years of retirement.
  • Apollo is a masterful schemer and liar, ingratiating himself in with members of the Champions' Congress in order to, one day, replace the retiring Lodestar. He secretly works with Balaam to enact their plan to take over their respective organizations in order to get back to the "golden age" of superheroes and villains, without all the red tape and a so-called peace. Unfortunately for Apollo, he turns out to be not quite crafty enough to see through Balaam's deception, who easily outwits him.