Creating a major hidden villain that works in plain sight?

For my graphic novel series, the penultimate villain is like an iceberg—there is much more to him below the surface. In the former part he is introduced as a simple writer that is traveling the fictional country the story takes place in. However, he is really a master manipulator that pulls a majority of the strings in the plot. His goal is to lead the world into chaos and write a book detailing his success and intricate methods of doing so. This is done in devotion to an eldritch-being that feeds on the chaos and negativity in humanity. While in the whole scope of the series he is technically not the biggest bad of them all (the eldritch being is), he is the bigger "face" out of the two since his character is more fleshed out. At least for the first half of the book, I want him to be believable as a good character that is helping the protagonists. However, being able to lay down subtle foreshadowing without making him stick out like a sore thumb is what I worry about. I want his reveal to be world-toppling and not a sneaking suspicion either, like uncovering a government conspiracy.

There are other characteristics about him that are hidden along with him being the villain—one of the most major being that he is immortal. He has been alive from the 1100's to this current century, giving him a lot of time to craft, plan, and become comfortable with pulling off a major machination. As for being an immortal human acting as an evangelist to this eldritch monster, the major concept of the story is "The Imp of Perverseness" as described by Edgar Allan Poe, also called intrusive thoughts or Call of the Void. With the idea of introducing tempting thoughts or "evil ambition" into people's minds, it basically works as a quasi-mind control device. There are many examples of how he operates, such as leading a murderous three-man group into kidnapping two of the protagonist's friends, an ax-crazy woman stalking a later character and driving his paranoia to the point he commits murder, and more. There are also grander, more public actions, such as a metro subway massacre and a political assassination gone wrong—all of this taking place over a spread out timeline. In summary, his actions fuel paranoia on an individual and global level, acting as a snowball effect capable of starting wars and anarchy.

The most personal the reader gets to experiencing one of his plans is the book club he starts with the main cast of the story. At first, that's what the group starts out as, a club discussing books and all that. Some of the works, including A Clockwork Orange, act as influential books specifically chosen to tailor the group's perspective and foreshadow future events. While his goal is to form the group into a sort of cult, this isn't made readily apparent—the word "cult" isn't even mentioned. However, as strange events start targeting the characters, they resolve to stick together and cope with a sort of hive mind approach—believing that it's best for them to always be on the same page and to be prepared for the worst by taking direction. Here though, I don't want it to seem as if the villain is giving too much drive to the plot or has all the attention.

I'm not sure if I've given too much information or too little, but I don't want to ramble on in one long post. In summary, I want this villain to be able to work in the shadows by driving wedges between relationships, and also lead the characters to disaster like lemmings jumping off a cliff. His intentions are not transparent to the reader or the character's however until an irreversible point in the story. I just wonder if you guys have any thoughts or opinions on how you might go about this. I'd also like to hear if you have any similar characters who are puppet masters in their own ways.

edited 2nd Jan '18 1:44:42 AM by SkullySnot

You might find these articles helpful. I'd also recommend looking at the Exposition of Immortality page, and researching real-life cult recruitment.

These links are really helpful. Thanks!

You might wish to have a look at some 'conspiracy theories,' to see how people envision 'hidden, over-powered' manipulators. You'll probably find a few ways in which the conspiracies seem to manifest or are accused of doing so, while remaining mostly 'hidden.' While the Freemasons need not use secret symbolism, that device would make for an interesting plot in some stories. They also tend to match the general atmosphere of a 'sinister secret threat,' and might help with the paranoid atmosphere.

Other than that, you might want to make a note of what the villain is doing across these scenes. Then, rather than having him act overtly sinister, you can overlay the scenes on top of the hidden plans while making him seem more innocuous. Think of it as two 'layers' - you want to keep the hidden stuff apart from what is manifested, yet still have some of the effects carry through. You might want to create alternate conflicts to distract the reader from the villain. For instance, if some character clash or disagreement goes on among the group, so that the audience is already split over the characters and has things to think about other than the villain. Of course, this conflict should be a diversion from the main one, not merely a way of indicating the villain's villainy.

edited 10th May '18 6:15:32 PM by zeroflyingwherever