What do your villains want?

My favorite villain I have is an old Hickman's Villain's thread character named Witchdoctor Seuss. His motivation is more insanity and Xenophobia than Evil. I change the bio from time to time from its original state trying to get something like a cross between a Dark Graphic Novel and a Children's Book...

Once upon a time in Paragon City
There was a doctor quite wise and quite witty

His friend were all gathered, quite a social affair
everyone he would care about was standing right there

The town was undergoing a Rikti Invasion
Which I heard has happened on more than one occasion

The doctor and his friend partied without a care
then were captured and dragged off to the Rikti Lair

The doctor heard his friend screaming one by one
his medical mind noted their experiments were not done

They connected a probe and they sampled his brain
no anathesia no tylenol just massive waves of pain

What was this poor fractured mind supposed to do
When the brain started thinking Mg'awd Gr'rakk Mu Cthul'hu

The Rikti have never once magic detected
When the dead rose, bit and clawed it was all unexpected

The doctor gyred and gimboled as his friends followed his lead
They went to the next lair and watched the Rikti all bleed

Meanwhile in Paragon City the Heros were praised
No Rikti? O Frabjuos Day! The town was amazed

Meanwhile under town the Doctor continued his merrymaking
Rikti Pinata's from the ceiling all his friends just kept breaking

Now the newspapers say the Heroes made the Rikti fail
But how come not a single Rikti rests in our jails?

When the Zig Warden was asked if the escapees were back yet
He remembers something terrible and starts a slow sweat

For his mind has seen, it can't unsee, yes it has seen
The yellow beamish smile from the man in cell thirteen


(I have notes about the pictures to go with this but not really wanting to ruin peoples sleep)

Hmmm...

Soulcatcher - somewhere between Misguided Idealism and Revenge. She is a Netherworld echo of heroine Andrea Blake, found in the Netherworld by another villain who used forbidden blood magic to trap her in a body. She has most of Andrea's memories up until the age of seventeen (when Andrea first died and returned to the mortal realm). But she still has much of Andrea's personality and moral code, which is slowly starting to drive her insane. She is dimly aware that there is more of her 'soul' somewhere in the world, and she wants it back.

Dissoulution - Misguided Idealism, Revenge, and Higher Purpose. She was fifteen when the Rikti invaded, and was told she was too young to be of any use. Bitter at being denied her right to fight and die for the world she loved, she let herself be captured by the Rikti, stole some of their technology, and escaped. She has now nearly perfected a virus targeting Rikti DNA that will destroy them utterly - and anyone with Rikti DNA is also a potential victim (Timothy Raymond, Angus McQueen, the Lost, etc). She doesn't care. Her only goal is to eradicate the threat to her world. And if the heroes aren't up to the job... she is.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

The reason why it is acceptable to be a baseless hero but not a baseless villain is because villainy runs against the morale gradient in society, and thus need to have some manner of propulsion to get them going in that direction.

It's like this in real life. The few times that I've been put on the spot IRL to save someone, no one ever stopped and said "Hey, why is that guy climbing through rubble? What is his intrinsic and deeply moving motivation to do so?". They just rolled with it. If I were to grab a baseball bat and start smashing everyone's cars, they'll definitely wonder what is wrong with me. It is so easy to be nice because no one hates you for it. To be mean or "villainous" means going against standards and performing actions in direct contrast to the negative consequences that come from them. You usually need an explanation for not following the path of least resistance.

Now, something I think is important is not just what is present to motivate a villain to villainy, but what is absent from motivating them away from villainy. Morale abhors a vacuum, so something can pull someone toward evil just because it wasn't there. The real life example is sociopaths, who are often completely devoid of the empathy that prevents most people from doing things to hurt others.

The fictional example is in Vespila (and Nazka, but not as important ATM). As part of the "Bartholomew's Legacy" gag that I have running, I have more than one toon that is a descendent of Adrian Bartholomew. The other is a hero named The Obsidian Gales, and a key difference between Gale and Ves is that Gale had loving parents who still raised him as their own. Because of this, he developed meaningful relationships with people, and ergo seeks to protect people instead of dominating them.

The Arachnos Commander, when first introduced in 2005, believed that the world needed to evolve. He believed that we could reach a Utopia, only after a cataclysm brought on by heroes and villains waging the mother of all wars.

The only problem was that he felt the heroes were slacking in trying to eradicate the evilness of the world. Rather than them taking action, they would try to solve things diplomatically and find peace. But trying to find peace takes time. Time the Commander felt was being wasted. He believed that we needed a Utopia now. He joined the ranks of Arachnos, believing that Lord Recluse could ignite the fire that would create this cataclysm.

But in 2009, the Arachnos Commander was killed by his protege. His remains were laid to rest in a newly discovered dimension, per order of his Will. But, this new world was filled with power and a familiar enemy that had evolved... Nictus. He was reborn into an Evolved Nictus. But with this rebirth, he lost most of what made him the person he was. The only thing that remained was the belief in a Utopia, except it now ranged across all dimensions.

For the next two years, he, and his Evolved Nictus brethren, battled across the dimensions and wiped out civilizations that refused to be a part of his Utopia. He eventually found that the next dimension the Evolved Nictus were planning on conquoring was our own. He decided that he would make the journey back to Earth alone, convinced he could make us join the Utopia he was creating. If not, then Earth would have to meet the same fate as the countless dimension he had visited.

So, I would have to say that he follows both his Misguided Ideals as well as believing that he serves a Higher Purpose.

Most of my 'Villains' are actually more vigilantes/rogues than true villains. I keep my vigilantes as "rogues" just so they remain based in the Rogue isles, rather than just visiting. Most of my bad guys are defined by their weaknesses- that one flaw that keeps them from rising to true heroism.


Partizan sees himself as something of a champion of the little people. I like the idea of otherwise heroic characters put under the overwhelming pressure of trying to survive in the Rogue Isles. He's a claws stalker- no real powers of his own so he doesn't have the luxury of "fighting nice." He uses disguise and deception to get close enough to "cull" the worst from Arachnos. He strives to protect "the weaker" at all costs and has built up a powerful little network to support his cause. As he's risen in power, though, some of the "weaker" underneath him have started to prey upon each other, forcing him to sometimes use intimidation, force, and even lethal measures to make these people live within his rules. He once hated Marshall Brass for "deluding himself into believing he could use the power of Arachnos to protect the people." Now he hates Brass even more... because in Brass he sees a reflection of himself.

Michio is a young man haunted by his personal failings. He looks back on his life and the places where he came up short in doing the right thing. Partially transformed by the Rikti, he was freed from "the shift" but found he'd rather not BE who he was before. He doesn't admit remembering his past, and in that way, escapes his failings. When Arachnos gave him the chance to be someone else- to turn his back entirely on those failings- he took it. Initially reveling in the lifestyle Arachnos offered, he's gradually started to question it and has finally come to learn where true strength lies. He's just feels too powerless to change the path he finds himself or try to recover the life he abandoned.

Russian Blue is a product of Genengineering, born and raised in the lab- used as a test subject. Through her telepathy she learned from her captors- and learned to see the world as they saw her... with indifferent, cold, and cynical eyes. Eventually, she mastered their thoughts and reversed roles, rewriting minds, forcing them to perform experiments on one another, playing with them like bloody puppets. The media called the lab "a torture chamber of unspeakable horror" and its discovery made her an international outlaw. She's survived in the less lawful states like the Rogue Isles surrounded by the darker souls of the world. Sickened by what she's seen in the minds of man, she's blocked herself from reading the surface thoughts of those around her- and in doing so, failed to ever witness other aspects of humanity. Thus, she's never learned hope, charity, or empathy.

My two latest creations

Very Manly Mummy is a mummy with a human half brother. He struggles with trying to decide if he is a man or a mummy. He will start off as a hero and then slowly becomes an evil villain after much agonizing and singing.

Mummy of a Man is a human whose brother is a mummy. He starts off trying to dress like a mummy and being a mummy villain. As time goes on he will finally embrace his humanity afer much agonizing and singing. He will start as a villain and then work towards being a vigilante

Am I a man ... or am I a mummy? If I'm a mummy then I'm a very manly mummy....

Here's mine: Death Revolution, Dark/dark brute

In death, there is nothingness and silence. But because there was nothing, there was a void, one that waited to be filled. The void sought power to fill its emptiness and thus, was attracted to the strongest power of all: life.

The void siphoned life from any living creature, man or beast, until a form emerged from its dark consumption. Under the cloak of darkness, she awoke. Memories of the lives of those that fed the her hunger flashed through her mind. She licked her lips, as if to taste their final movements of oblivion. Eager to taste it again, she caught the first man who crossed her path and watched him die slowly in under her death shroud. More followed. Somehow, it was not enough to capture her victims in the binds of her midnight grasp and watch them die. She wanted to see them struggle, to fight for their lives. So she sought stronger prey. Unaware of her own mortality, she fought carelessly until the first jolt of pain lanced through her body. Instead of anger or fear, she felt a wild exhilaration. More, she must feel more.

Soon, she began to encounter more enemies known as Arachnos. Many wolfspiders fell to her shadow punches, so drones and mechanical spiders were sent to fight her. Since machines lacked a soul, she learned how to draw upon their energy source to heal herself. One particularly large group managed to overcome her, but by reaching into their nearby souls or power, she managed to revive herself. After several dozen or so Arachnos littered the ground around her, a ghostly woman appeared and motioned the rest of the group to fall back. She attacked this phantom lady and was surprised to be restrained by a storm of screaming souls that bound her limbs. Her eyes followed the path of the souls to the arm of her opponent.

The lady's voice rang cold in her ears. "Little one, your rampage is causing too much inconvenience and must end. If you think you can't be stopped, I will simply trap you in an armored crate and drop it in the nearest lava pit. You will have no one to siphon life from. I can easily do that."

She glared in defiance at those pale pupiless eyes. Those eyes seem to bore into her soul. "However, I have been watching you. Every time you fall, you rise again with hunger in your eyes. Why rise to fight and fall again and again in a revolution of death?"

The fey lady paused as if waiting for a reply. When none came, she crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. "There is no doubt that you are strong, but are you strong enough to master this hunger or will you let it master you? If your brain has a glimmer of intelligence, then come with me, for I have traveled the paths of life and death. Arachnos will give you opportunities to sate this hunger and perhaps, you will discover what it is you truly seek."

With an elegant wave of her hand, the lady dismissed the souls trapping her limbs and she fell to the ground. Then the lady turned away and spoke, "Follow if you choose."

She got up and followed to live, seeking to die.

I play most of my villains as what amount to metahuman thugs who are finding their way up the ladder as freelance "muscle". This achieve several things for me. First, it fits for me the game mechanics of starting at level 1 with dinky powers. It bugs me when I see characters who are "Zog the God of Darkness" who's level 8, unless he actually has a description that explains why he's level 8, fighting security guards and dudes with baseball bats. Second, it clashes less with the narrative of the Rogue Isles, which mostly treats you as a meta-lackey anyway. More importantly, I actually envision most of their personalities very much as how the game depicts the "Rogue" alignment, as opposed to thoroughly evil/ruthless villains, and I think that fits well with the "gun for hire" characterization, which then also works decently as a lackey to Arachnos, no matter how transiently.

As they grow in power and become Incarnates, I see them seeking power for its own sake, not so much because they want to use that power to master others, but because sufficient power equals freedom from interference by most authority (heroic or villainous). They can do what they want, and most of them wouldn't bother a lot of other people with what they want.

I have one exception: a Dominator who has visions of taking over the world with his psychic powers. He was once much more powerful, but was defeated by a team of heroes and lost much of his power when defeated. Leveling represents returning to previous heights for him. I love this character's story, but honestly, I have trouble explaining why he would ever be in a SG or join a team. His story says he has a singular focus on making a perfect world in his own image which demands that he view everyone as his inferior, even if they are more powerful than he is. Frankly, if he had his way, he's one of those characters that villains would help heroes put down, because he's a threat to them all.