P
Pirogeth
Guest
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[align=center]A Quick Guide to Villainy[/align]
1. The Larch – Yes a Monty Python reference and a good one at that. During said joke, The Larch was repeated over and over until it was funny and made subtle changes here and there to reinvigorate the humor of it. "The Larch" of villains is the "Take Over The World" style villains. This is the most generic one of them all and mainly are defined by what means they are meant to use to achieve their goal. Some examples like James Bond villains will stop at nothing and use super devices to threaten all mankind. In addition there are fantasy villains who will try to rule through their over powered powers or political influence.
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2. Apocalyptic – These villains are usually grouped together with the top ones, however, it is thoroughly my belief that they are separate entities. While The Larch wish to control the world Apocalyptics try to destroy the world. In most cases it is due to an unwelcoming past causing them to hate that which has tortured them and come to the conclusion life is wrong. They might even give cause for alarm to those that follow them as the certain unforgiving manner in which their goal is achieved. Not even children are safe and could end up causing a mistrust in the chain of command. Indeed the Apocalyptic is also mistrusting of his/her staff and seem to have something up their sleeve for every occasion.
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3. Organism – The Organism, "any complex thing or system having properties and functions determined not only by the properties and relations of its individual parts, but by the character of the whole that they compose and by the relations of the parts to the whole." –Dictionary.com. The Thing, Creature from the Pit, Loch Ness Monster, all of these are things that cannot be quite explained and have no means of real communication both with what it is pursuing and their own kind. (usually one of a kind) The being is wrapped in a lot of mystery and can be defined as a silhouette villain. A lot of times they will appear in horror RP's and is designed to keep itself unknown even after the unveiling.
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4. The Horde – A lot of fans behind this type of villain. Every zombie would jump for joy when The Horde is mentioned as the main villain, at least they would if their knee caps didn't break on landing. This villain is not a single person at all and is much personified by endless waves of enemies coming for what little survivors there are. In some rare instances they will be guided by a single focal point like a lead zombie or the Queen of the Borg. Yet, throughout most of its historic presence they have shambled with no meaning or purpose aside from killing in large numbers. Often times their numbers grow by doing said killing.
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5. Crusader – For the lack of better word, Crusader Villains tend to have a very specific goal about them. Usually they will end up taking on a single target and not care about the rest of the world. Something might have wronged them in the past and they wish to get revenge. Even rivals, depending on the situation, may take up this role and want to kill a certain person in the party. Unable to come to terms with what has happened will usually cause these types to become fanatical and have such closed minded goals. The times when they appear are usually only subplot villainy and are rarely the main focus. Still they have a place on this list as they are some of the most hated characters in all of movies, television, and role play.
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6. Oppressive – The last type that can be covered is The Oppressive types. These are the evil kings and queens that are already in control and must be brought down via rebellion and such nonsense as that. Commonly these are some of the hardest villains to fight. They have already corrupted or set in fear the people around you and have all the power they could want. Their goal has already been achieved but the means still exist. It is almost a sort of post nuclear war aspect to it but instead of radiation it is the unending iron fist.
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I am quite sure there are those other rare villains out there that do not fall into these categories. But before saying they do not make sure to check they are not a combination of any of these instead. I really enjoyed making this guide to villainy so tell me what you liked about it and what you would like to have added. These quickie guides are here for all of you.
Over the years of my roleplaying experience I have much come across the villains that seek to plague whatever fantasy we create. Although most think it to be easy to be evil, it really is not easy to be evil in originality. There for the first subject to touch on would be what makes villains different from each other and why.
There are primarily two things that make villains different, their almighty threatening goal and the means by which they have to accomplish it. These things separate one villain from another but although it sounds very general it really is not the case. For example taking over the world and killing a certain set of people cover practically ninety percent of all villains ever made. In that we can assume that there are specific roles in which these villains take and this guide goes over each of them in turn.
These villains tend to have with them a set of mindless minions and a few generals with the promise of ascertaining power in the new world order. Usually one of them will be related to the main character and give a nice little sub plot to that person. The originality of the plot and indeed the villain are harder to come by and can be difficult to keep interest in. This villain is not to be confused with our next one.
Power:
*****
Corruption:*****
Intelligence:****
Sanity:****
Originality:*
The biggest problem with their plans is that they have to fight everyone. So in the beginning of the RP and most of it they will seem well over powered and could cause disinterest especially if the others want to insert their own villain for a sub plot that happens to follow the primary one. Over all the Apocalyptics are villains meant to stand alone against the world as that's how they lived their life.
Power:
*****
Corruption:**
Intelligence:****
Sanity:*
Originality:***
The being is self sustainable and can even be a rogue computer as per the definition of organism. They have nobody that follows them, they have no back up plan, and they mean to have you dead. Being a loner means you must have the power to back yourself up and through stealth most have that. Most sci fi movies from the sixties had this type of villain and rightfully that's what made them good.
Power:
****
Corruption:*
Intelligence:***
Sanity:**
Originality:****
I don't even think we need to go over followers for this type. They are all followers of the motivation. In addition their corruption aspect works very well by forcing anyone over to their side that become "infected" by their party. To wrap up their motives in one phrase, the best control is mind control. Enjoy trying to escape from these nasty critters.
Power:
*
Corruption:*****
Intelligence:*
Sanity:*
Originality:**
Nobody has seen the world the way they do. In addition nobody has seen the person or group they hate the way they do. This causes them to be very selective about who joins up. The stories they own generally become the same story repeated in different proper nouns and verbs. In a way they are like the horde, converting certain lesser wronged individuals but not nearly as large in number. I can almost feel sorry for them, but for most of you, you probably want to strangle them for impeding the main character when he was so close.
Power:
***
Corruption:***
Intelligence:***
Sanity:***
Originality:***
Followers of this type of villain have come to know him/her as either the godly ruler of the land they should protect or be punished, or the ally they had helped achieve their position and are reaping the benefits of doing so. This means that battles will be over territories and end up resembling a wordy version of Fire Emblem. Those who love war scenes definitely will enjoy these types of villains.
Power:
****
Corruption:*****
Intelligence:***
Sanity:*****
Originality:****
I am quite sure there are those other rare villains out there that do not fall into these categories. But before saying they do not make sure to check they are not a combination of any of these instead. I really enjoyed making this guide to villainy so tell me what you liked about it and what you would like to have added. These quickie guides are here for all of you.
