discussion Villainy Incorporated.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Stories are told about heroes- but every hero needs a good villain to do battle against. Be it a Dark Lord, rival faction, or environmental catastrophe, every protagonist needs to face challenges in order to overcome challenges. In a collaborative storytelling environment (such as the one we have right here on the Shard) someone has to write the villain's side of the story. This thread is a discussion board for your experiences with writing the bad guy.

Since the ancient days of 2018 up until the present, I've found myself gravitating towards the role of antagonist in the stories I've helped to create. And so I pose a question to everyone: who else likewise gravitates towards writing villains? If you do, why? If you don't, why not? What have your experiences been like writing villains/interacting with villains?

[Channelknight Fadran]

[Mario Voice]: Here we go again...

I suck at villains! Really. I do.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

I have a character who turned irrevocably dark recently and I just created a anti-hero.

So I am kind of turning towards more anti-heros. It kind of depends, if there is no main villian I sometimes fill the role. Though I normally won't create another character that is evil. I'll either start with one being an anti-hero or turn one into a villian. Through a corrupting force of some kind.

I think that is changing now. With Villians I have a plan that could work to defeat them, and I give others a rough guide on how to defeat them. But depending on what they do and my villianous character does. It can change how things work out.

It's been really fun to write Emma and her arc, transformation, and her inability to keep the darkness out anymore.

And Pythor is going to be interesting when he gets near main plotlines and what he does.

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

I think the best character that I've ever written is a villain. I think what made me so excited to write about him, especially from his viewpoint, is that I wrote him as a hyper-competent protagonist with a well-defined motivation and very few moral standards to get in the way. 

The funniest thing was, in the context of the story, the villain's kind of correct. There's this interplanetary war that's been going on for years and the villain's sick of it. One character trait that I gave him is that he hates needless death above everything else. He has no qualms killing people, even innocent people, so long as it serves a greater purpose for a larger number of lives. So, he hates this war, as it's basically a bunch of politicians bickering and killing over nothing. Wouldn't it be so much better if he could end the war and put a competent leader in charge?

That being himself, of course. 

For me, the best villains are those you can understand on some level, even if they're methods and worldview are pretty insane. Everyone's the hero of their own story. That's not to say their motivation has to be deep, but it has to be understood. Even something like ''It's fun to do evil" works, so long as the audience see's that side of them.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

5 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

[Mario Voice]: Here we go again...

I suck at villains! Really. I do.

Is that because you're bad at them, or because you don't have enough practice with them, or both? Or are you just too good natured for that sort of thing? 

3 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

I have a character who turned irrevocably dark recently and I just created a anti-hero.

So I am kind of turning towards more anti-heros. It kind of depends, if there is no main villian I sometimes fill the role. Though I normally won't create another character that is evil. I'll either start with one being an anti-hero or turn one into a villian. Through a corrupting force of some kind.

I think that is changing now. With Villians I have a plan that could work to defeat them, and I give others a rough guide on how to defeat them. But depending on what they do and my villianous character does. It can change how things work out.

It's been really fun to write Emma and her arc, transformation, and her inability to keep the darkness out anymore.

And Pythor is going to be interesting when he gets near main plotlines and what he does.

Is Emma an Insanity Clinic character?

3 hours ago, Werewolff Studios said:

I think the best character that I've ever written is a villain. I think what made me so excited to write about him, especially from his viewpoint, is that I wrote him as a hyper-competent protagonist with a well-defined motivation and very few moral standards to get in the way. 

The funniest thing was, in the context of the story, the villain's kind of correct. There's this interplanetary war that's been going on for years and the villain's sick of it. One character trait that I gave him is that he hates needless death above everything else. He has no qualms killing people, even innocent people, so long as it serves a greater purpose for a larger number of lives. So, he hates this war, as it's basically a bunch of politicians bickering and killing over nothing. Wouldn't it be so much better if he could end the war and put a competent leader in charge?

That being himself, of course. 

For me, the best villains are those you can understand on some level, even if they're methods and worldview are pretty insane. Everyone's the hero of their own story. That's not to say their motivation has to be deep, but it has to be understood. Even something like ''It's fun to do evil" works, so long as the audience see's that side of them.

Is this character a part of a personal story of yours?

[Channelknight Fadran]

I've really never written very good villains.

[NameIess]

The only time I've ever written a villain, it started okay and then kinda got less so at the end. It was fun while it lasted.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

7 minutes ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

I've really never written very good villains.

What do you think qualifies a villain as "good"?

1 minute ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

The only time I've ever written a villain, it started okay and then kinda got less so at the end. It was fun while it lasted.

You think you'd ever be up to do that again, or was once enough?  

[Channelknight Fadran]

take what I do

and then don't do that

[NameIess]

Just now, xinoehp512 said:

You think you'd ever be up to do that again, or was once enough?  

Yeah, I think I would. I guess I'm technically currently writing a second villain on TLT, (first one was in the Insanity Clinic) so I'm not totally averse to the idea.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

4 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

And Pythor is going to be interesting when he gets near main plotlines and what he does.

I don't know what you're referring to, but I'm reminded instantly of Ninjago.

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

27 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

Is this character a part of a personal story of yours?

He is indeed. One I started writing in 2016 and have worked on and off with over the years. 

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

9 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

Is Emma an Insanity Clinic character?

13 hours ago, Werewolff Studios said:

Yes she is. Currently trying to free the Kaos which is a being which makes bonds with people in exchange for power, and a few rare individuals that are born with a connection to it, it can make them its avatar. Which it did to Emma and she can corrupt others to it, which the corruption works similar to the wheel of time corruption. Any light or anything that they had before is replaced by Kaos and a desire to serve it. Corruption is permanent and can't be fixed, at least it can't be right now. It could possibly be in the future, but that's only a possibility.

9 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I don't know what you're referring to, but I'm reminded instantly of Ninjago.

Fellowship of the thing. Pythor is a possessive kind of reptillian spirit who can possess reptiles, ejecting the other soul and replacing it with his. He has control over the body and can make it grow in certain ways, there are limits to how large he can make it grow without food. Any magical creatures or people that he eats and dissolves. He steals their power and can make it his own. 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

2 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Yes she is. Currently trying to free the Kaos which is a being which makes bonds with people in exchange for power, and a few rare individuals that are born with a connection to it, it can make them its avatar. Which it did to Emma and she can corrupt others to it, which the corruption works similar to the wheel of time corruption. Any light or anything that they had before is replaced by Kaos and a desire to serve it. Corruption is permanent and can't be fixed, at least it can't be right now. It could possibly be in the future, but that's only a possibility.

Is Kaos also your villain?

11 hours ago, Werewolff Studios said:

He is indeed. One I started writing in 2016 and have worked on and off with over the years. 

Have you done any RPs yet?

12 hours ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

Yeah, I think I would. I guess I'm technically currently writing a second villain on TLT, (first one was in the Insanity Clinic) so I'm not totally averse to the idea.

Ah? What's going down on TLT?

 

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

1 minute ago, xinoehp512 said:

Is Kaos also your villain?

11 hours ago, Werewolff Studios said:

Yes, though it's not quite a thinking entity. The first avatar who was called Kaos harnessed the power of the darkness by making a deal to prevent the light from creating anything. So I might end up pulling Kaos the avatar out of my bag of villans because I've name dropped them a few times. Or they might just be the personality of the god attached to the Kaos. Not quite certain what I am going to do yet, still working on the actual backstory for the creation.

[NameIess]

1 hour ago, xinoehp512 said:

Ah? What's going down on TLT?

I got rid of Nameless and decided to make a successor by writing a bunch of candidates and seeing who I had the most fun writing. Ended up with a character named Subversion who killed another candidate and got a bunch of Narrators and whatnot to start a vengeance quest, which ended up being pretty fun, so she’s the Narrator I’ve been using recently. She’s not pure evil, but she doesn’t really care about morality and enjoys subverting expectations.

[xinoehp512 he/him]

2 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Yes, though it's not quite a thinking entity. The first avatar who was called Kaos harnessed the power of the darkness by making a deal to prevent the light from creating anything. So I might end up pulling Kaos the avatar out of my bag of villans because I've name dropped them a few times. Or they might just be the personality of the god attached to the Kaos. Not quite certain what I am going to do yet, still working on the actual backstory for the creation.

What other villains have there been in the Insanity Clinic?

1 hour ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

I got rid of Nameless and decided to make a successor by writing a bunch of candidates and seeing who I had the most fun writing. Ended up with a character named Subversion who killed another candidate and got a bunch of Narrators and whatnot to start a vengeance quest, which ended up being pretty fun, so she’s the Narrator I’ve been using recently. She’s not pure evil, but she doesn’t really care about morality and enjoys subverting expectations.

RIP Nameless. 

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

41 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

What other villains have there been in the Insanity Clinic?

1 hour ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

Emma was originally bonded to an entity called the nethergrim who had offered to help, but instead took over her and became the entity known as The Speakk who was trapped in the clinc's basement. There were no major villans before that, Nameless went insane a few times, but not really any villans. After the defeat of The Speakk, there was an invasion of chickens. They killed Wizard as he sacrificed himself to save Calano, swallowing a chicken with a glowing knife, killing it and himself in the process. Emma and Calano leave the clinic to discover if the Scourage is really over, which is what forced them into the clinical dimension in the first place. 

During this time the chickens come back, and work for a man named Lark who is the temporary leader of the clinic. They are defeated but Calano is killed. Eventually he is restored to life and Emma realizes that Wizard is actually the white tiger guardian, meaning he came back to life as the next guardian. Some people leave for the tower of ghenji and there appears a new villian that only torments them, called Malum, who manipulates people's connections. 

Calano gets married to Emma and learns that she was the cause of the scourage, because the Kaos was coming through and reanimating bones to cause havoc and to force her to give in. This leads to a memory resurfacing of Calano's sister who sacrificed herself to prevent the Kaos from coming through Emma.

Skip a bit more and Emma eventually gives in because the Kaos was corrupting her when she wasn't using her powers through excess buildup, but by using them she corrupted herself until the pounding of the Kaos was too much and she was corrupted. Currently she has corrupted three people and indirectly a fourth. 

Currently her goal is to free the Kaos by shattering the bind points that are keeping it imprisoned.

[Channelknight Fadran]

15 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

I don't know what you're referring to, but I'm reminded instantly of Ninjago.

5 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Fellowship of the thing. Pythor is a possessive kind of reptillian spirit who can possess reptiles, ejecting the other soul and replacing it with his. He has control over the body and can make it grow in certain ways, there are limits to how large he can make it grow without food. Any magical creatures or people that he eats and dissolves. He steals their power and can make it his own. 

And he's from Ninjago

[NameIess]

3 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

RIP Nameless. 

Yes. RIP.

Spoiler

 

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

3 hours ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

And he's from Ninjago

HAH!

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

7 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

Have you done any RPs yet?

Role-Playings? Not really with that story, though it was a part of a shared continuity a few years back.

And on the Shard? Also no, I'm afraid. Haven't really had the time 

[xinoehp512 he/him]

22 hours ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Emma was originally bonded to an entity called the nethergrim who had offered to help, but instead took over her and became the entity known as The Speakk who was trapped in the clinc's basement. There were no major villans before that, Nameless went insane a few times, but not really any villans. After the defeat of The Speakk, there was an invasion of chickens. They killed Wizard as he sacrificed himself to save Calano, swallowing a chicken with a glowing knife, killing it and himself in the process. Emma and Calano leave the clinic to discover if the Scourage is really over, which is what forced them into the clinical dimension in the first place. 

During this time the chickens come back, and work for a man named Lark who is the temporary leader of the clinic. They are defeated but Calano is killed. Eventually he is restored to life and Emma realizes that Wizard is actually the white tiger guardian, meaning he came back to life as the next guardian. Some people leave for the tower of ghenji and there appears a new villian that only torments them, called Malum, who manipulates people's connections. 

Calano gets married to Emma and learns that she was the cause of the scourage, because the Kaos was coming through and reanimating bones to cause havoc and to force her to give in. This leads to a memory resurfacing of Calano's sister who sacrificed herself to prevent the Kaos from coming through Emma.

Skip a bit more and Emma eventually gives in because the Kaos was corrupting her when she wasn't using her powers through excess buildup, but by using them she corrupted herself until the pounding of the Kaos was too much and she was corrupted. Currently she has corrupted three people and indirectly a fourth. 

Currently her goal is to free the Kaos by shattering the bind points that are keeping it imprisoned.

The Scourage sounds like an interesting villain. 

20 hours ago, UnfortunatelyNamed said:

Yes. RIP.

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Spoiler

Spoiler

 

18 hours ago, Werewolff Studios said:

Role-Playings? Not really with that story, though it was a part of a shared continuity a few years back.

And on the Shard? Also no, I'm afraid. Haven't really had the time 

Shared continuity? :curious:

[Werewolff Studios he/him]

On 1/21/2023 at 4:26 AM, xinoehp512 said:

Shared continuity? :curious:

It was pretty sweet. It was called the Insurgency, and it all took place on a Lego-sharing website called MOCpages. A few builders started the group with a bunch of lore and worldbuilding, and then anyone could create a character in one of the four playable factions. Each of these characters could then affect the overall story and crossover with one another, if they wanted. The more stories and Lego builds that you posted, the higher on the scoreboard you went and the more impactful your character and their story could be. 

It started in 2014 and went until the site stopped being supported in (I think) 2019. Real shame.

Myself and one of the admins are trying to archive everyone's characters, stories and builds on a separate wiki, but there's a lot of sifting to do. 

[EmulatonStromenkiin he/him]

I have two ancient entity villains in the works for my book/story, where defeating the first will free the second. They both functionally want true life, though the second is not really sane.