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by Tyro on Wed Aug 12, 2009 3:53 pm
I thought I'd impart some knowledge...and currently under the impression that any pleb can write here...
Its come to my attention that role-players are,in general...well...nice. Happy, cheery and always friendly. Unless you god/power mode o' course. My point is that there are a very small amount of bad guys that I've seen. They usually have to be created for the RP rather than a travelling bad guy that comes from else where. You can only get people to be bad guys if its a Batman RP. The bad guys in that are more colourful than Batman or robin any day of the week. In short: People want to be the good guys, which is fine...
But bad guys are fun. If done right, they are terrifying, hated, lousy, stinking pieces of refuse that will do anything to rid themselves of their opponents. And I guarantee, from the bottom of the dark void of disgust I can replace my heart with, it'll be the most fun you've had in ages.
Right, lets get cracking! Muhahahahahahahaaaaaaa!
My usual bad guy - Kyrios - will be my example.
The self-proclaimed Lord Kyrios commands a vast and seemingly inexaughstable army. He uses his resources to add to his steadily growing empire. Surprise, surprise! He wants Antlatania. He doesn't give up easily either. Plus, he has a group of generals to call upon, each very dangerous. There has only been one group that has ever stood up to his power and won. There is also only one he would consider his rival.
Personality and behaviour to other characters
This can be summed up in one word; unpleasant. Especially to those in his way.
But lets delve further into that. When addressing the Heroes trusted with killing the villain, there are only really two modes: smug and angry. The villain is usually smug around the hero partly because he is usually in a seat of great power, has what he wants, or is just trying to intimidate the Hero. Villian's tend to have huge ego and over-confidence in their abilities. A Villian without these is in danger of be coming likeable. Plus, motives for being evil tend to make more sense. Nice people aren't greedy.
And how about this. Which sounds better?
Kyrios leaned in to whisper into The Hero's Ear
"You can't beat me. I'm invinsible!" he said before sitting in his throne again.
Kyrios moved in to spit more poison into the Hero's ear.
"You can't beat me. I'm invinsible!" he hissed before slinking back into his throne.
See what I did? The right use of adjectives can make the villain seem disgusting making his easier to dislike. Good right?
Another good way of cementing dislike is insults. Kyrios, if you ever have the misfortune to meet, does this. Depending on the character, its another way of the villain looking down on the character from their feeling of elevated status. However, some villains may find this bellow their station, which in itself is an insult to the Hero. They don't think its worth throwing abuse basically. Intelligence and wit are factors too when hurling abuse. Idiots and slow-minded people will say very simple one liners usually.
"Stupid-tunic wearing berk!"
While the cleverer baddies will do better to intimidate the Hero.
"I am not impressed by the mystical tooth-pick you have chosen to pathetically try and kill me with. Frankly, I was expecting this to have been dipped in pond scum. That sounds like something you'd be about capable of. Plus it would do a better job than the hocus-pocus the wizzard's old folks home have coughed on this thing."
If you can't think of anything quite as witty as you like then you could resort to racism. Please don't mistake this with being racist to the people behind the character. Just to make sure. But, for villian's, its a brilliant way of being unpleasant. Its easy to do, especially if your character is different to the other people around him or her. Y'know, like an elf in a human world or a human in an elf world. Racism could flow easily. Just remember to warn people that your going to be as unpleasant as that. You still might upset someone you didn't intend to.
There is another mode for baddies: sucking up. This is generally with allies or anyone who has something the bad guy wants but is a great threat to him or her. You can make him or her look like as much of a crawler as you can.
Looks
This is a totally blank canvas. Your villain can look like anything you like. Look at the Blue Meenies from 'Yellow Submarine' if you don't believe me. Remember, a baddie in black has been done. Purple is considered a royal colour, try that.
Power
A bad guy must have an advantage over the good guy. This can be status, powers, wealth, intelligence, anything that applies. A villain that is equal or inferior to the Hero won't be much of a challenge. An inferiority complex doesn't work if the inferior has it. Interesting powers that do something unusual like controlling oil or being about to see the future or past of any object, for example just make your baddie stand out.
But don't go over board. Your baddie has to fail. Usually...
Failure
Generally, RP bad guys are defeated. There are probably a few where the Heroes fail but they tend to be rare. You should have a weakness for your bad guy that can be exploited when discovered. A good way of creating weaknesses are history, species and abilities.
You've played Pokemon, right? Fire beats water and that? That can happen for your villain too. Fire is extinguished by water. Plants can be burnt. Darkness hides from light. Its depends on the character.
A painful memory might work. Or that one person that terrified the villain come to finish them off.
Or the weakness lies with the villain's nature. he makes too many enemies and no allies. The choice is yours.
OK. I'm out of ideas. Hopefully, we'll see more loathed baddies rather than just ming-the-merciless types that do bad stuff, laugh and that's it.
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