Cruel Intentions by Rast
03-11-2009, 07:02 PM
An old Article I had for a couple years and
decided to post... I didn't write it.
Was a series of articles. Due to size, all
the articles are now in separate spoilers.
decided to post... I didn't write it.
Was a series of articles. Due to size, all
the articles are now in separate spoilers.
Cruel Intentions
by Rast
by Rast
A Guide to Creating the Perfect Villain
I: A Guide to Creating the Perfect Villain
For every protagonist, there must be the antagonist. The antagonist is the person or force opposing the protagonist. Well, the antagonist is usually the villain of the storyline. First, let's take a look at some of the people and forces that have opposed the protagonist in the storyline.
First, Sephiroth from FF7 is my personal favorite kind of villain. He has all the power in the world, loathes the protagonist, and even kills one of the main characters. He's sex)', he's strong, and he's the most dangerous man you'll ever meet. Not only that, but he's trying to become God. But the best part is that he's based on the Tree of Life, from the Bible. I'll get more into that later on.
The second best villain in my opinion is Liquid Snake, from Metal Gear Solid. He's intelligent, rude, witty, and has everything he needs to destroy the world. He's not exactly a powerful man physically, but with the Metal Gear, he's seemingly invincible. He always knows exactly what to say to make Solid Snake miserable, and wishes to torture him in any way possible. He's a sadistic, evil, evil man.
The lquanox, from my game: ),Canqui: Life is More than Fate, is sin1ilar to the previous, but with some tweaks. He's sadistic, sexy, extremely powerful, and a perfect replica of Xanqui. He was born to be an assassin for his father, Xellseph, to kill Xanqui. However, after he assassinates hundreds of thousands of people, he realizes just before he kills Xanqui that what he has been doing for the past nine thousand years is pointless. The lquanox is almost like a backwards version of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VIl.
The all-time favorite villain, it seems, is Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. I personally love the guy, because of his lack of sanity and his extremely sadistic and uncaring attitude. He poisons the river to kill everyone in a castle, and doesn't care that his troops think it's wrong. He also releases unthinkable power in the middle of the storyline that causes the deaths of a very large portion of the population. Kefka is sadistic, powerful, and insane.
This tutorial will only go into, physical beings that are antagonists. Wait tor the next tutorial to show forces.
Now, the part you've been waiting for: How do I make something cool, Xanqui?
A villain can be cliche', because evil is the same tor everything. It's supposed to be dark,powerful, sadistic, and possibly sexy, in other words, create temptation.
The sexiness of a character is actually important. It draws the protagonists to almost want to trust them. It also makes the player want to be him. If a character is very good-looking, whether it's male or female, there should be some sort of temptation involved. Kuja, Sephiroth, and the Iquanox are sexy, and all of them at one point attempt to tempt the protagonist to join them.
A sadistic attitude really doesn't matter. If the antagonist wants to kill for the sake of killing, then well, he's sadistic. Sadistic means you take sexual pleasure from the pain of others. If you want a sadistic villain, making him sexy does help, don't ask me why. If you want him to be truly horrible and awful, he's going to need to do some pretty bad stuff. Poisoning the river in FFVI was pretty messed up. Also, they should randomly kill people every now-and-then. If you want, make each kill for a reason. However, although it means taking sexual pleasure from causing the pains of others, don't make them moan...
Instead of making them sadistic, you could give the character a viable reason to kill. Perhaps he found a way to suck the power from people he kills, and he wants to become powerful for whatever reason. Maybe he has to destroy another world in order to save his.
Your villain could also want revenge on the world, like Sephiroth and Liquid Snake. They're pissed off because they have no parents, and they were created to serve someone. Liquid Snake and Sephiroth have very much in common.
Well, now you've got the personality set up. That's just the beginning. Now, whenever your villain appears, or most of the times when he appears, the scene is going to need a change in mood. The music should change, the light should change, and the characters should prepare for a pretty hard battle. There doesn't necessarily need to be a battle, but you need to put the protagonists into the mood to fight. Everything needs to be tense, depending on the situation. There needs to be that feeling of evil.
Obviously, this article is more fqr the fantasy or science fiction villains who have, or are trying to achieve ultimate power. The traits you should consider are: sadistic, sexy, powerful, and darkness.
My next chapter will have more on forces and villains who lead powerful armies against the good guys.
For every protagonist, there must be the antagonist. The antagonist is the person or force opposing the protagonist. Well, the antagonist is usually the villain of the storyline. First, let's take a look at some of the people and forces that have opposed the protagonist in the storyline.
First, Sephiroth from FF7 is my personal favorite kind of villain. He has all the power in the world, loathes the protagonist, and even kills one of the main characters. He's sex)', he's strong, and he's the most dangerous man you'll ever meet. Not only that, but he's trying to become God. But the best part is that he's based on the Tree of Life, from the Bible. I'll get more into that later on.
The second best villain in my opinion is Liquid Snake, from Metal Gear Solid. He's intelligent, rude, witty, and has everything he needs to destroy the world. He's not exactly a powerful man physically, but with the Metal Gear, he's seemingly invincible. He always knows exactly what to say to make Solid Snake miserable, and wishes to torture him in any way possible. He's a sadistic, evil, evil man.
The lquanox, from my game: ),Canqui: Life is More than Fate, is sin1ilar to the previous, but with some tweaks. He's sadistic, sexy, extremely powerful, and a perfect replica of Xanqui. He was born to be an assassin for his father, Xellseph, to kill Xanqui. However, after he assassinates hundreds of thousands of people, he realizes just before he kills Xanqui that what he has been doing for the past nine thousand years is pointless. The lquanox is almost like a backwards version of Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VIl.
The all-time favorite villain, it seems, is Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. I personally love the guy, because of his lack of sanity and his extremely sadistic and uncaring attitude. He poisons the river to kill everyone in a castle, and doesn't care that his troops think it's wrong. He also releases unthinkable power in the middle of the storyline that causes the deaths of a very large portion of the population. Kefka is sadistic, powerful, and insane.
This tutorial will only go into, physical beings that are antagonists. Wait tor the next tutorial to show forces.
Now, the part you've been waiting for: How do I make something cool, Xanqui?
A villain can be cliche', because evil is the same tor everything. It's supposed to be dark,powerful, sadistic, and possibly sexy, in other words, create temptation.
The sexiness of a character is actually important. It draws the protagonists to almost want to trust them. It also makes the player want to be him. If a character is very good-looking, whether it's male or female, there should be some sort of temptation involved. Kuja, Sephiroth, and the Iquanox are sexy, and all of them at one point attempt to tempt the protagonist to join them.
A sadistic attitude really doesn't matter. If the antagonist wants to kill for the sake of killing, then well, he's sadistic. Sadistic means you take sexual pleasure from the pain of others. If you want a sadistic villain, making him sexy does help, don't ask me why. If you want him to be truly horrible and awful, he's going to need to do some pretty bad stuff. Poisoning the river in FFVI was pretty messed up. Also, they should randomly kill people every now-and-then. If you want, make each kill for a reason. However, although it means taking sexual pleasure from causing the pains of others, don't make them moan...
Instead of making them sadistic, you could give the character a viable reason to kill. Perhaps he found a way to suck the power from people he kills, and he wants to become powerful for whatever reason. Maybe he has to destroy another world in order to save his.
Your villain could also want revenge on the world, like Sephiroth and Liquid Snake. They're pissed off because they have no parents, and they were created to serve someone. Liquid Snake and Sephiroth have very much in common.
Well, now you've got the personality set up. That's just the beginning. Now, whenever your villain appears, or most of the times when he appears, the scene is going to need a change in mood. The music should change, the light should change, and the characters should prepare for a pretty hard battle. There doesn't necessarily need to be a battle, but you need to put the protagonists into the mood to fight. Everything needs to be tense, depending on the situation. There needs to be that feeling of evil.
Obviously, this article is more fqr the fantasy or science fiction villains who have, or are trying to achieve ultimate power. The traits you should consider are: sadistic, sexy, powerful, and darkness.
My next chapter will have more on forces and villains who lead powerful armies against the good guys.
Reasons for Villainy
II: Reasons for Villainy
The first chapter was about how to make your villain evil, but here's the next step: giving them reasons.
First, let's take a look at what evil is. You may think it's about killing and hurting, unless you think about both sides All right, take the wars against Iraq for example. Americans think Iraq is evil, but Iraq thinks America is evil. Now, do we know who truly is right? Well, as an American, we assume, because of what we've been taught, that we're the good guys. Iraq, however, is full of people who were taught that Americans were the bad guys.
In other words, your villain isn't necessarily evil. To him, her, or it, they are perfectly good, that is, if your villain is realistic. No villain thinks that he or she is doing the wrong thing. It thinks that what it's doing is right and must be done. Ways to do this are: making them sadistic (taking sexual pleasure from causing the pain of others), making them hate the world for whatever reason, or make them try to save something else at the cost of the a large population or something. However, to the protagonist, this villain is pure evil. The protagonist looks at this villain and finds what the antagonist is doing is "wrong."
So, is there a difference between good and evil? If you think of creating as good, and destruction as evil, then yes. But again, you're the creator in that case. You were raised to think that creating is good, and destroying is evil. In that case, there is no difference between good and evil. Forget heaven and hell for once and try to put yourself into the antagonist's shoes. They should have at least reason enough to themselves that what they are doing is for the good of themselves or the universe.
Here's one of the worst lines you can possibly use, from the movie Power Rangers "I oppose all that is good and decent" .. .Right Why? Why do you oppose all that is good and decent? Did it do something to you? I really doubt that.. I swear, if I ever see that line in a serious game, I'm never writing another article.
But back to the article.
You want to express these reasons for being "evil", right? Of course you do. One of my personal favorite reasons for being evil is vengeance. Sephiroth in FF7 was a somewhat decent man, until he discovered that he was created, and vowed to kill the world because of it He also lost his sanity and became a bit sadistic at one point or another, but the main reason he wanted the world gone was because he was pissed off. Kuja was very similar, as he tried to destroy the world because he was betrayed (I won't reveal this for you) by [people]. If the antagonist was created for the sale reason to destroy, make him or her pissed off that that's why they were born, which will give them even more reason to kill everyone.
Another way is to cause the villain to lose his or her's sanity. This could be by some failed science experiment (Spiderman's Green Goblin), or the extreme amount of stress put on them until they reach the point of insanity (not sure what that's from...). After they lose sanity, they have to lose control of themselves. To add a little drama at the end, make their sanity return, and have them beg for forgiveness... or something like that
Finally, one of the most boringest kinds is to make them begin as an evil person. This could be: summoned from hell, dropped off by an evil alien race, sent forward in time from a period of mass destruction, etc. These always suck. There is really no motivation for killing. It ruins the plot, unless you want to go a little deep into it. Here's how you can make this actually cool:
Remember in the beginning of this article when I said: "You were raised to think that creating is good, and destroying is evil. "? Well, here's how to use that in the case that they were born evil. The race in which this villain. comes from raised this being to become evil to the protagonist However, there needs to be motivation for the race to be evil. Remember that: Motivation. I'm sick of seeing games where there's just an evil guy from wherever who likes to kill stuff. It's incredibly dull and boring.
Well, this isn't the last of my Cruel Intentions chapters. The next one will be about evil forces. I hope this helps you because I spent a lot of time (about 45 minutes) working on it, and I don't like when my time is wasted.
The first chapter was about how to make your villain evil, but here's the next step: giving them reasons.
First, let's take a look at what evil is. You may think it's about killing and hurting, unless you think about both sides All right, take the wars against Iraq for example. Americans think Iraq is evil, but Iraq thinks America is evil. Now, do we know who truly is right? Well, as an American, we assume, because of what we've been taught, that we're the good guys. Iraq, however, is full of people who were taught that Americans were the bad guys.
In other words, your villain isn't necessarily evil. To him, her, or it, they are perfectly good, that is, if your villain is realistic. No villain thinks that he or she is doing the wrong thing. It thinks that what it's doing is right and must be done. Ways to do this are: making them sadistic (taking sexual pleasure from causing the pain of others), making them hate the world for whatever reason, or make them try to save something else at the cost of the a large population or something. However, to the protagonist, this villain is pure evil. The protagonist looks at this villain and finds what the antagonist is doing is "wrong."
So, is there a difference between good and evil? If you think of creating as good, and destruction as evil, then yes. But again, you're the creator in that case. You were raised to think that creating is good, and destroying is evil. In that case, there is no difference between good and evil. Forget heaven and hell for once and try to put yourself into the antagonist's shoes. They should have at least reason enough to themselves that what they are doing is for the good of themselves or the universe.
Here's one of the worst lines you can possibly use, from the movie Power Rangers "I oppose all that is good and decent" .. .Right Why? Why do you oppose all that is good and decent? Did it do something to you? I really doubt that.. I swear, if I ever see that line in a serious game, I'm never writing another article.
But back to the article.
You want to express these reasons for being "evil", right? Of course you do. One of my personal favorite reasons for being evil is vengeance. Sephiroth in FF7 was a somewhat decent man, until he discovered that he was created, and vowed to kill the world because of it He also lost his sanity and became a bit sadistic at one point or another, but the main reason he wanted the world gone was because he was pissed off. Kuja was very similar, as he tried to destroy the world because he was betrayed (I won't reveal this for you) by [people]. If the antagonist was created for the sale reason to destroy, make him or her pissed off that that's why they were born, which will give them even more reason to kill everyone.
Another way is to cause the villain to lose his or her's sanity. This could be by some failed science experiment (Spiderman's Green Goblin), or the extreme amount of stress put on them until they reach the point of insanity (not sure what that's from...). After they lose sanity, they have to lose control of themselves. To add a little drama at the end, make their sanity return, and have them beg for forgiveness... or something like that
Finally, one of the most boringest kinds is to make them begin as an evil person. This could be: summoned from hell, dropped off by an evil alien race, sent forward in time from a period of mass destruction, etc. These always suck. There is really no motivation for killing. It ruins the plot, unless you want to go a little deep into it. Here's how you can make this actually cool:
Remember in the beginning of this article when I said: "You were raised to think that creating is good, and destroying is evil. "? Well, here's how to use that in the case that they were born evil. The race in which this villain. comes from raised this being to become evil to the protagonist However, there needs to be motivation for the race to be evil. Remember that: Motivation. I'm sick of seeing games where there's just an evil guy from wherever who likes to kill stuff. It's incredibly dull and boring.
Well, this isn't the last of my Cruel Intentions chapters. The next one will be about evil forces. I hope this helps you because I spent a lot of time (about 45 minutes) working on it, and I don't like when my time is wasted.
Forces of Evil
III: Forces of Evil
So now we know how to create a villain and how to give him good reasons to be evil. But what is usually more powerful than a creature? A force. An evil force can be either things like racism, or god-like beings with no physical form. We only know they exist because we see the effects they have on us. These forces are not physical in any way, so you can't see them. In some movies/video games, the characters may smell or hear, or even sense these forces, but rarely do they ever see them.
We see evil forces every day in the news. The governments of countries (and if you must, then consider America's Government to be evil...) are one of the best examples. The government enforces unreasonable laws, starts meaningless wars, and controls the citizens in terrible ways. Governments can also lead to other evil forces, Which I will get into later in this article. The power of the government isn't quite as powerful as most people think. The only reason governments are capable of controlling so many people without a revolt starting is because of influence. The government is able to influence the public that their laws and wars are going to be for the better. If your game is about a revolt against the government, a very important thing to have is people who believe that the government is perfect and should not be messed with. Otherwise, it wouldn't be considered a government because no one would follow it.
One thing I don't see much of in RPG Maker 2000 games is racism. Racism is a perfect evil force. However, this appeared in Final Fantasy X in the most perfect of ways. The citizens of Spira despised the Al-Bhed because they had different beliefs. Usually racism is part of a side story, but if a single man (or group of people) started it and is keeping it going because of their influential powers, they could make some interesting villains. Racism has been a part of life since the beginning of different races. Just look back through history, and in just about every era, there was some form of racism. So, needless to say, it's quite likely that your RPG world could easily suffer some racism. However, this should fit into the storyline in some way, otherwise it'll seem like you're just trying to prove a point that has been proven far too many times...
Finally, the type of force that we see most often is the kind that directly does something. We cannot see it, but we might be able to hear, smell, or sense it. If you've ever seen The Core, that's a good example. The core of the Earth is dying, causing the world to suffer great chaos. There was also the meteor in Final Fantasy VII that Sephiroth created to give him extreme power, but it would have killed off a hell of a lot of people had it collided. But forces like The Blob (an awful movie) can ruin a storyline. Giving a non-living thing a sadistic personality is LAME! Don't give this type of villain any personality whatsoever. It is NOT LIVING.
One type of villain that never needs to be used for a storyline anymore are those animals that grow to a massive size and decided to wreak havoc. I've seen alligators, bats, children, women, spiders, and get this, ants as the villains. Why do they have to automatically be evil when they grow big? And there's always that lame-ass ending when the protagonists think that it's all over, but the last second of the movie shows one of the monsters reviving or an egg of the monster hatching. The worst part about it is that THERE ISN'T EVEN A SEQUEL!
So bet are you decide to create an evil force in your game, make sure you plan it out. Racism is fairly easy to work with if you have another race of humans or whatever, but gigantic forces need a reason Tor pissing people off. These types of antagonists can be tied in with lesser-villains, which can very easily be used for an incredible storyline. But Godzilla and King Kong clones suck.
So now we know how to create a villain and how to give him good reasons to be evil. But what is usually more powerful than a creature? A force. An evil force can be either things like racism, or god-like beings with no physical form. We only know they exist because we see the effects they have on us. These forces are not physical in any way, so you can't see them. In some movies/video games, the characters may smell or hear, or even sense these forces, but rarely do they ever see them.
We see evil forces every day in the news. The governments of countries (and if you must, then consider America's Government to be evil...) are one of the best examples. The government enforces unreasonable laws, starts meaningless wars, and controls the citizens in terrible ways. Governments can also lead to other evil forces, Which I will get into later in this article. The power of the government isn't quite as powerful as most people think. The only reason governments are capable of controlling so many people without a revolt starting is because of influence. The government is able to influence the public that their laws and wars are going to be for the better. If your game is about a revolt against the government, a very important thing to have is people who believe that the government is perfect and should not be messed with. Otherwise, it wouldn't be considered a government because no one would follow it.
One thing I don't see much of in RPG Maker 2000 games is racism. Racism is a perfect evil force. However, this appeared in Final Fantasy X in the most perfect of ways. The citizens of Spira despised the Al-Bhed because they had different beliefs. Usually racism is part of a side story, but if a single man (or group of people) started it and is keeping it going because of their influential powers, they could make some interesting villains. Racism has been a part of life since the beginning of different races. Just look back through history, and in just about every era, there was some form of racism. So, needless to say, it's quite likely that your RPG world could easily suffer some racism. However, this should fit into the storyline in some way, otherwise it'll seem like you're just trying to prove a point that has been proven far too many times...
Finally, the type of force that we see most often is the kind that directly does something. We cannot see it, but we might be able to hear, smell, or sense it. If you've ever seen The Core, that's a good example. The core of the Earth is dying, causing the world to suffer great chaos. There was also the meteor in Final Fantasy VII that Sephiroth created to give him extreme power, but it would have killed off a hell of a lot of people had it collided. But forces like The Blob (an awful movie) can ruin a storyline. Giving a non-living thing a sadistic personality is LAME! Don't give this type of villain any personality whatsoever. It is NOT LIVING.
One type of villain that never needs to be used for a storyline anymore are those animals that grow to a massive size and decided to wreak havoc. I've seen alligators, bats, children, women, spiders, and get this, ants as the villains. Why do they have to automatically be evil when they grow big? And there's always that lame-ass ending when the protagonists think that it's all over, but the last second of the movie shows one of the monsters reviving or an egg of the monster hatching. The worst part about it is that THERE ISN'T EVEN A SEQUEL!
So bet are you decide to create an evil force in your game, make sure you plan it out. Racism is fairly easy to work with if you have another race of humans or whatever, but gigantic forces need a reason Tor pissing people off. These types of antagonists can be tied in with lesser-villains, which can very easily be used for an incredible storyline. But Godzilla and King Kong clones suck.
Introducing Evil
IV: Introducing Evil
There are all different types of evil characters, but introducing them can be a challenge. This article will explain some different ways of introducing your evil characters. Thus won't be like the other Cruel Intentions articles because it won't go into the details of how to make your character evil. I hope you enjoy it.
Opening Scene
Some games introduce the villain in the very beginning of the game, even before the player meets the main character. The villain could be standing in front of a burning village that he destroyed, or he could be in the process of creating some evil contraption that he plans to destroy the world with. This scene should take place before the opening credits if you want the right mood. From the end of this scene, you have one of many options. You could either go straight to the opening credits, go to the contraption destroying a part of the world and then to the opening credits, or go to the main character who does whatever and then go to the opening credits.
Near the beginning of the game
Many other games introduce the villain after the opening credits and after the player has met the protagonists. There are many different ways of introducing the villain now. You could have the villain appear in front of the protagonist and have a battle between them, and the villain runs away. If you want to show the villains true power here, make it to where the player cannot win the battle. Or you could have the character almost beat the villain., and the villain runs away.
Or you could cut to the villain in the process of destroying something or building that evil contraption.
The Villain is a Member of the Party
Here's where it gets interesting. Perhaps your villain was supposedly a protagonist, when in fact he was a member of the player's party all the time. But you don't want something lame like, "Oh, by the way, I'm a bad guy and I'm going to kill you." "That will ruin it. Instead, you could have the villain abandon the party when they need him the most. Or the villain could have set up a trap and when the trap catches them, the villain starts laughing. Dialogue is very important for something like this. Most importantly, the main character has to be shocked that he was betrayed. A very old cliche is "I knew you'd betray us!" If the character knew that he would betray him, why'd he bring him along in the first place?
Villain is Related to Main Character/Party Member
"Luke... I am your father!"
Ah, the best line in the history of movies, followed by "Yippee Kaiyay mother f-" erm, never mind. Whether the villain is related to the main character or another character, the shock factor should be the same. Of course, there are the exceptions of the character knowing about it all along. But we'll focus on the shock factor here. Make sure that the character's response to finding this out fits that character. Most of the time, a headstrong, bulky guy won't cry if he finds out that his sister was evil. Perhaps he would punch something, or take out his anger by yelling at everyone. But if the character is emotionally weak, then let they'll cry.
Villain Never Knew that he/she was Evil
This is a rare one. The villain turns out to be evil, but probably does the evil things while sleeping. The discovery of this must be found late in the game; after the player has become emotionally attached to the character for the ultimate effect. Dare I say it; "The Legend of Dragoon" did a great job of showing this.
[!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!] In the Legend of Dragoon, one of the characters turned out to be the "Black Monster" or whatever it was called, but the player doesn't find this out until late in the game. But this character was the coolest character in the game. ! [!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!]
This kind of revealing can be expressed in many different ways. Perhaps another villain explains it to the character, or the character finds some evidence that makes it clear to him or her. Or, like in the Legend of Dragoon, the character was afraid to reveal it to everyone else, and finally gave in and told everyone.
Well, that's all I have for this chapter, though it is longer than most of my other chapters. But before I end it, I do have to remind you that background is important, and should always be expressed for just about everything in your game.
Oh, and if you think that my articles about evil are good, please tell me. I love to write about villains, and I have a lot more to say about them. The articles probably won't be called Cruel Intentions, nor will they relate to the intentions of the villains. But I've yet to get into characterization of villains.
There are all different types of evil characters, but introducing them can be a challenge. This article will explain some different ways of introducing your evil characters. Thus won't be like the other Cruel Intentions articles because it won't go into the details of how to make your character evil. I hope you enjoy it.
Opening Scene
Some games introduce the villain in the very beginning of the game, even before the player meets the main character. The villain could be standing in front of a burning village that he destroyed, or he could be in the process of creating some evil contraption that he plans to destroy the world with. This scene should take place before the opening credits if you want the right mood. From the end of this scene, you have one of many options. You could either go straight to the opening credits, go to the contraption destroying a part of the world and then to the opening credits, or go to the main character who does whatever and then go to the opening credits.
Near the beginning of the game
Many other games introduce the villain after the opening credits and after the player has met the protagonists. There are many different ways of introducing the villain now. You could have the villain appear in front of the protagonist and have a battle between them, and the villain runs away. If you want to show the villains true power here, make it to where the player cannot win the battle. Or you could have the character almost beat the villain., and the villain runs away.
Or you could cut to the villain in the process of destroying something or building that evil contraption.
The Villain is a Member of the Party
Here's where it gets interesting. Perhaps your villain was supposedly a protagonist, when in fact he was a member of the player's party all the time. But you don't want something lame like, "Oh, by the way, I'm a bad guy and I'm going to kill you." "That will ruin it. Instead, you could have the villain abandon the party when they need him the most. Or the villain could have set up a trap and when the trap catches them, the villain starts laughing. Dialogue is very important for something like this. Most importantly, the main character has to be shocked that he was betrayed. A very old cliche is "I knew you'd betray us!" If the character knew that he would betray him, why'd he bring him along in the first place?
Villain is Related to Main Character/Party Member
"Luke... I am your father!"
Ah, the best line in the history of movies, followed by "Yippee Kaiyay mother f-" erm, never mind. Whether the villain is related to the main character or another character, the shock factor should be the same. Of course, there are the exceptions of the character knowing about it all along. But we'll focus on the shock factor here. Make sure that the character's response to finding this out fits that character. Most of the time, a headstrong, bulky guy won't cry if he finds out that his sister was evil. Perhaps he would punch something, or take out his anger by yelling at everyone. But if the character is emotionally weak, then let they'll cry.
Villain Never Knew that he/she was Evil
This is a rare one. The villain turns out to be evil, but probably does the evil things while sleeping. The discovery of this must be found late in the game; after the player has become emotionally attached to the character for the ultimate effect. Dare I say it; "The Legend of Dragoon" did a great job of showing this.
[!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!] In the Legend of Dragoon, one of the characters turned out to be the "Black Monster" or whatever it was called, but the player doesn't find this out until late in the game. But this character was the coolest character in the game. ! [!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!]
This kind of revealing can be expressed in many different ways. Perhaps another villain explains it to the character, or the character finds some evidence that makes it clear to him or her. Or, like in the Legend of Dragoon, the character was afraid to reveal it to everyone else, and finally gave in and told everyone.
Well, that's all I have for this chapter, though it is longer than most of my other chapters. But before I end it, I do have to remind you that background is important, and should always be expressed for just about everything in your game.
Oh, and if you think that my articles about evil are good, please tell me. I love to write about villains, and I have a lot more to say about them. The articles probably won't be called Cruel Intentions, nor will they relate to the intentions of the villains. But I've yet to get into characterization of villains.
With Power Comes Destruction
V: With Power Comes Destruction
Just as evil people inevitably come back for a sequel, I've inevitably come back with a continuation of the Cruel Intentions series. Can you believe that this is the FIFTH one? The first few were what made me staff in the first place! So, if they really were that good, then why not, I thought to myself, write another? Anyway, onto the important stuff!
If you've been around long enough, you've probably had the chance to read the old Cruel Intentions articles I wrote nearly a year ago. If not, then click on the text box thingy on the upper-left side of the screen and type in the word "Cruel". Then click "okay". It will bring up all of the old ones. I don't feel like providing links
Now, if you've already read them, then you would know by now that most evil villains are evil for a purpose.. They are striving for a goal of some sort This could be complete destruction, total rule, or simply ending the lives of thousands. The possibilities are endless. But what about the villains who start out as the good guys? Characters such as Cipher from the Matrix, that guy from the movie SWAT, and even Bill Gates were once good people, but eventually transformed into viscous bastards.
But what do all three of them have in common? They all became evil when they knew they had power. Simply having power can turn even the nicest of people into the most terrible. Ancient rulers with good policies and morals realize that, as soon as they have total control over their people, and all of the wealth in the land, they can do whatever they wish.
Let's look at the king from the old tale of Robin Hood. Not much in terms of background on him is mentioned in the stories, but he was indeed an evil man. He stole from the poor to give to the rich. But let's say he didn't become king because his father was. Let's say he became king because he was full of morals and excellent. policies. But. at the moment the crown was placed on his head, and the gold poured into the vaults, he realized "I want everything." So he took everything.
However, Robin Hood posed as a threat to his power. So what would any evil person do when his gold is threatened? He would fight back, of course. Basically, there's a formula for these evil bastards:
A lot of people liked Hitler "When he was younger. He was handsome, loyal, and a war hero. But when WWI ended, Germany was thrown into a major depression. Someone had to do something about it. Anyone. Hitler wanted to restore Germany's national power, but when he realized that he was coming closer and closer to total control of the country as dictator, he decided to go all out and kill the Jewish people and attempt to make Germany the ruler of the world. Of course, other countries fought back, and we eventually won.
While I may have been mistaken in a few parts of that, for the purposes of explaining the formula, let's just pretend for this moment that what I said was true.
But let's take it to a smaller, more personal scale. Cipher from The Matrix is a great example for this. Cipher was part of Morpheus's crew originally because he had good intentions. He wanted to fight for the human race. But as time passed by, he grew sick of the crappy ship and food, and wanted to return to the reality that he preferred. His power came in when he had the deal with Agent Smith. But he refused to lose that power, which resulted in the deaths of several innocent people. It was like a small revolution, almost. When his goals were threatened, he killed.
Did you catch that last sentence? "When his goals were threatened, he killed" Perhaps villains aren't quite as evil as you or I thought. The villain simply wants to achieve a goal. However, with this immense power, of course, comes destruction. The more power a villain gains, the greater the destruction to himself: as well as innocent lives is caused.
Now let's change the formula around a bit. Not all people with power are evil. "But how," you ask, "can you write about the good guys in a Cruel Intentions article?!" Well, it's easier than writing an entire other article. Firstly, here's the new formula:
It's very difficult to have a highly-populated city with low taxes and plenty of recreational centers, as well as a subway system. At least, it is for me. But for me, I realize that I can do whatever I wish with the city, and no one can do anything about it. So I enjoy smashing buildings, raising taxes, and lowering payments towards road maintenance. I might even throw in a disaster or two. Why? Because it's fun.
But another player, on the other hand, decided to be patient with the game. He'll try to keep the taxes steady, and increase the size of the city slowly, because if he does it too fast, the city will eventually collapse. This requires a sacrifice of time and effort, as well as income. But in the end, the player will receive plenty of money to build the fun stuff later on.
So in the end, it's the good guys who get the most power. The evil leaders will inevitably fail eventually, but will do so at a great cost.
While intentions may be evil in the end, many intentions start out as good. But with the realization of the immense power, intentions can become quite cruel...
Just as evil people inevitably come back for a sequel, I've inevitably come back with a continuation of the Cruel Intentions series. Can you believe that this is the FIFTH one? The first few were what made me staff in the first place! So, if they really were that good, then why not, I thought to myself, write another? Anyway, onto the important stuff!
If you've been around long enough, you've probably had the chance to read the old Cruel Intentions articles I wrote nearly a year ago. If not, then click on the text box thingy on the upper-left side of the screen and type in the word "Cruel". Then click "okay". It will bring up all of the old ones. I don't feel like providing links
Now, if you've already read them, then you would know by now that most evil villains are evil for a purpose.. They are striving for a goal of some sort This could be complete destruction, total rule, or simply ending the lives of thousands. The possibilities are endless. But what about the villains who start out as the good guys? Characters such as Cipher from the Matrix, that guy from the movie SWAT, and even Bill Gates were once good people, but eventually transformed into viscous bastards.
But what do all three of them have in common? They all became evil when they knew they had power. Simply having power can turn even the nicest of people into the most terrible. Ancient rulers with good policies and morals realize that, as soon as they have total control over their people, and all of the wealth in the land, they can do whatever they wish.
Let's look at the king from the old tale of Robin Hood. Not much in terms of background on him is mentioned in the stories, but he was indeed an evil man. He stole from the poor to give to the rich. But let's say he didn't become king because his father was. Let's say he became king because he was full of morals and excellent. policies. But. at the moment the crown was placed on his head, and the gold poured into the vaults, he realized "I want everything." So he took everything.
However, Robin Hood posed as a threat to his power. So what would any evil person do when his gold is threatened? He would fight back, of course. Basically, there's a formula for these evil bastards:
- Guy is nice
- Guy becomes well-liked
- Guy gets wealth and power, because people think he will take care of them
- Guy realizes he has total control
- Guy uses control for his evil purposes that he just suddenly had
- Other Guy poses a threat
- Guy fights back
- Other Guy fights too
- Other Guy wins
A lot of people liked Hitler "When he was younger. He was handsome, loyal, and a war hero. But when WWI ended, Germany was thrown into a major depression. Someone had to do something about it. Anyone. Hitler wanted to restore Germany's national power, but when he realized that he was coming closer and closer to total control of the country as dictator, he decided to go all out and kill the Jewish people and attempt to make Germany the ruler of the world. Of course, other countries fought back, and we eventually won.
While I may have been mistaken in a few parts of that, for the purposes of explaining the formula, let's just pretend for this moment that what I said was true.
But let's take it to a smaller, more personal scale. Cipher from The Matrix is a great example for this. Cipher was part of Morpheus's crew originally because he had good intentions. He wanted to fight for the human race. But as time passed by, he grew sick of the crappy ship and food, and wanted to return to the reality that he preferred. His power came in when he had the deal with Agent Smith. But he refused to lose that power, which resulted in the deaths of several innocent people. It was like a small revolution, almost. When his goals were threatened, he killed.
Did you catch that last sentence? "When his goals were threatened, he killed" Perhaps villains aren't quite as evil as you or I thought. The villain simply wants to achieve a goal. However, with this immense power, of course, comes destruction. The more power a villain gains, the greater the destruction to himself: as well as innocent lives is caused.
Now let's change the formula around a bit. Not all people with power are evil. "But how," you ask, "can you write about the good guys in a Cruel Intentions article?!" Well, it's easier than writing an entire other article. Firstly, here's the new formula:
- Guy is nice
- Guy becomes well-liked
- Guy gets wealth and power, because people think he will take care of them
- Guy realizes he has total control
- Guy and everyone else live happily ever after
It's very difficult to have a highly-populated city with low taxes and plenty of recreational centers, as well as a subway system. At least, it is for me. But for me, I realize that I can do whatever I wish with the city, and no one can do anything about it. So I enjoy smashing buildings, raising taxes, and lowering payments towards road maintenance. I might even throw in a disaster or two. Why? Because it's fun.
But another player, on the other hand, decided to be patient with the game. He'll try to keep the taxes steady, and increase the size of the city slowly, because if he does it too fast, the city will eventually collapse. This requires a sacrifice of time and effort, as well as income. But in the end, the player will receive plenty of money to build the fun stuff later on.
So in the end, it's the good guys who get the most power. The evil leaders will inevitably fail eventually, but will do so at a great cost.
While intentions may be evil in the end, many intentions start out as good. But with the realization of the immense power, intentions can become quite cruel...
The Techniques of the Villain
VI: The Techniques of the Villain
Holy crap! This is the sixth article in the Cruel Intentions series, which started almost an entire year ago! While the previous Cruel Intentions article wasn't so much about characterization, I've decided to bring back the old formula, which seems to work. Now that GW5 is up and running, the new layout allows you to easily find the articles series, such as this one. lf you look at the top of this page, in the blue box, it says in it "Series", and provides links to the other Cruel Intentions articles.
I know I said that this series would end, but there's so much to talk about regarding the villains! The first article went into the personality, the second went into motivation, the third into non-physical villains, the fourth into how to create an introduction for your villain, and the fifth showed the steps towards villainy. But I've never really focused on the techniques of the villains.
There are some common cliches in storylines regarding villains. These cliches, however, are not the cliches that you are thinking of. These are cliches are common like a handshake between two buddies, or saying "yo" upon meeting tor the nth time. Some of these are good, but some are bad. I'll be sure to point these out.
But before I get into that, I would like to go into a little detail regarding originality. Let's face it, your villain isn't original (or cool for that matter) if he's just trying to destroy the world. 'The Austin Powers series should have given everyone the realization that destroying the entire world was stupid, and is a pathetic method of being "evil".
Evil people tend to want things. When they realize that getting these things can only be done through evil methods, they do it. If this means destroying something, or killing millions of people, then it's understandable. But the last thing an evil person should ever do is kill himself in the process. That's where Dr. Evil's mistake lie. He wanted one hundred billion dollars, and if he didn't get it, he was going to destroy the world. What would that accomplish?
So here are some methods of getting what you want, without the risk of killing yourself in the process:
Hostages
Hostages are a popular way of getting what you want. But in order to get a hostage, you must perform another evil action. Usually this involves killing a few people, raiding a mansion of some sort, or grabbing the hostage off the street and tying him/her up. But these require intense planning. So the real question is: how do you take the hostage?
The Raid is a common method. This involves the villain forming a small army, armed with weapons, and sending them into the place in which the potential hostage resides 'They usually end up killing a few people, but make sure not to harm the hostage. The villain, during this time, is probably waiting in his secret lair. The army, consisting of men wearing all black, and black masks, tie up the hostage and throw her into either a van or a limousine. They then drive the hostage back to the base, where the hostage is kept protected in a small, cramped room.
Picking Off the Street is a cool way to do it, but isn't as common as the other methods. The unsuspecting potential hostage is casually walking down the street, when suddenly, a van with a sliding door opens up, and several men dressed in black clothes throw a bag over the hostage, pull the hostage back into the van, and quickly speed away. The hostage is then injected with sleeping stuff, or is knocked unconscious.
The Unsuspecting Villain is generally used in comedies, such as the movie The Chase. While the villain is casually minding his own business, something happens that startles him, and he quickly reaches for his gun and sticks it into the back of the nearest potential hostage. Panicked, the villain takes the hostage to his car, or someone else's, and drives away as fast as possible, not quite sure where he should go.
Bank Robberies can be found in great movies such as Point Break. Villains who are probably inexperienced, and quite frightened, dress in whatever they can find to hide their identity, and rush into a bank, armed with guns. Here, they do one of two things:
A. Ask for the key to the vault.
B. Have the cashiers fill some bags with as much money as possible.
There is a vital mistake in the first and second option. If they ask for the key to the vault, the cashier usually plays dumb and says that the key is in another building, and cannot be reached. At this point, the robbers become confused and scared, and either end up killing a hostage, or do nothing until the police show up.
Choice B is even worse. The cashiers aren't stupid, and know how to deal with this. They fill bags that are marked, or have a contraption inside of them that cause a type of paint that can't be washed off for a week to spray in the robbers' faces.
Xanqui 's Advice to BankRobbers: Demand everyone's wallet or purse, especially those who are leaving the bank. It won't get you as much as the vault, but at least you can leave quickly with some cash.
Pretending to be a Friend is in most movies that start out as love stories, but lead to murder mysteries, such as The Watcher. The villain will meet a girl somewhere, and they will get to know each other. They may fall in love, or it could be a one-time meeting. The villain gathers up as much information as possible about the girl, who is the daughter of some-rich or powerful guy, and when the villain knows exactly where the girl will be every day, he makes his move. He can then use any of the previous methods (except Bank Robbery) to do the actual kidnapping. Or he could kill her on the spot. It' s up to you.
Hostages have been a tool for villains for years. They're an effective way to force someone to give you whatever you need. According to storylines, if a father loves his daughter, he'll do anything to get her back alive. But keep in mind that it includes sending an army of his own to save her... So that brings you to the following options:
Cut Off the Hostage's Ear or another part of his or her body. You then mail it to the father. This will make him realize that if he doesn't get the cash to you soon, then another part of the body is coming off next...
Provide a Time Limit such as 24 hours or 72 hours, depending on the distance between you and the father. Keep in mind, you want something he has, so you'd rather have it than kill his daughter. Be sure to provide at least enough time for him to get you what you want, but only enough time to get it. A week is too long, as it would give them plenty of time to form an army. Oh, and it sounds cooler if you give them the time limit in hours.
The Phone Call is a good way to prove that you not only have the daughter, but she is safe as well. Let her say one or two words like "Daddy save me!", then immediately take the phone away from her. Or, if your story is in the future, send a video over the Internet or something.
But in the end, the hero usually ends up winning, except for in the movie Suicide Kings. I won't reveal the end for any of you, but if you're interested in the hostage stuff, SEE THAT MOVIE! It has Christopher Walken in it, as well as Dennis Leary. Of all the hostage movies that I would recommend, that one is by far the best.
Anyway, here are some ways the hero will probably end up ruining your plans:
You Revealed the Location. Boy, that was stupid. Always, ALWAYS make a place where the father can drop the "package" off and his daughter can be returned to him at the same time. Make this place several miles away from your secret lair, such as at a subway station at midnight, or in an alleyway that is too dark for them-to see.
You Changes the 'plans. This is probably the leading mistake villains make. They get greedy, then end up wanting more after they get what they want. This usually causes the hero to get super pissed off and either go in himself and save the hostage, or forms a team to go in and save the hostage. One way or another, since you're the villain, you're going to lose.
Your Demands Were Too High. Let's face it, if the guy isn't rich enough to ensure his daughter's safety, he's probably not rich enough to afford an escape submarine, a jet, and passports to France. If you leave the hero with demands so high that he has no choice but to attack, he's going to win, since he's the good guy. Really, it's not fair that heroes win with only minimal expenses while you spend billions of dollars to build the secret lair and the army you use to fight.
That about wraps it up for hostages, but don't go yet! This article isn't over! Hostages are only ONE of the ways a villain can attempt to achieve his or her goals.
Destruction
Destruction or threat of destruction is a great way to be a villain. It could be blowing up some important building or perhaps even the world! But the true goal of a villain in either case is a bit different. I'll describe the examples in detail.
Some Important Building, while it sounds good, may not be the best way for a villain to cause destruction, and may not be a good idea for you as a story writer. When a villain blows up a building, he's doing it not to kill people, but to show his power, and that he's capable of causing even more damage. The problem with this is: this is known as terrorism. We have seen this in real life, and it's disturbing to see it portrayed in. a story for some people. Your best bet here is to have the hero catch the villain just before he has a chance to blow the building up. Or, if you like taking risks, BLOW IT UP!
Nukular Bombs, also known by their correct term, nuclear bombs, are exactly what a villain would want his hands on to get what he wants. Of course, you could make it some other type of bomb, like something futuristic. Either way, the bomb is capable of a massive explosion, which will kill thousands, millions, billions, etc. Villains use these because they're evil. If it's a fantasy story, the villain isn't going to detonate a massive explosion because they want to, they're going to do it just for the hell of it. In other cases, however, such as movies about terrorists, they do use nuclear bombs to scare people, and to get money. For example: Austin Powers.
Total Destruction is generally used simply for evil. It's not about money, it's not about objects, it's about evil. This is something that I want to get across to you. No person in the right mind is going to threaten the world or the universe with total destruction. They won't get what they want, because the good guys are going to send in the biggest army ever, because they have nothing to lose! And if you have a villain who can take on the biggest army of whatever with only himself and his stupid henchmen, you're sadly mistaken. Villains aren't about being invincible, they're about power. And unless the villain is a total moron, he's not going to threaten the universe with total destruction.
Now, I've seen cases where the villain wants to destroy the universe simply tor his hatred of everyone. At least he has motivation there. Or maybe he really is pure evil, and was born to end everything. That's fine too. But at least make sure you make it clear.
I'm not going to bother with the details of the many ways you can destroy the planet or the universe. If you're really interested in learning some ways, check out VillainSupply at www.villainsupply.com.
Oh right, and a villain will 0tVY use a mass-destruction thing as a last resort, enerally.
War
You rarely see a war in a game that is started or caused directly by the main villain. It's usually an organization that goes against society or freedom or whatever. But as I stated in Cruel Intentions III: Forces of Evil, as the name implies, there can be evil forces as well. Since there are countless reasons for a war, I'll just give a little bit of details as to how the villain may go about handling the war. The villain, in this case, being the opposing army.
Wars in video games are very badly portrayed. They usually show a few shots fired, then focus on the lead heroes, who fight in an area nowhere near the actual war. They find some sort of secret route to fight the villain who may be leading the war. You don't see the suffering, the killing, and the thousands of bodies lying on the fields. You see three or four characters trying to kill the villain.
This is probably due to the thought that the heroes are all anyone cares about. But sometimes we want to see what the villain created, such as his secret weapons, or his amazing strategies. We never get to see the lead villain as the LEADER! He is always alone in the final battle, and you rarely see him giving speeches to his army.
Perhaps this villain is leading zombies, who just fight for him, with no actual reason. Or maybe they were raised to be evil. Sure, we'll see the leaders allied to the hero in action, but how often do we get to see the villain?
So what do I have to say about wars started by villains? They SUCK! We only ever get just a mere glimpse of action from the villain. This would be a great opportunity for you to make a change to that.
Miscellaneous
This topic will go into the little things that you'd see often. Since these things are little, they don't require big letters, except for the big "miscellaneous" word.
Henchmen are a common tool for villains. These are like the lead villain., but not quite as strong. They are often portrayed in groups of three: one smart, short one, a big fat dumb one, and the leader who gets pissed off all the time. This, my friends, is what I would call a BAD cliche. They rarely ever have background, and we have no idea how these idiots ended up working together, especially under an ambitious villain. They often end up joining the hero's side towards the end, too. These are villains that we see and fight all the time, but for some reason, they never die, even though you beat the lead villain once, and the game is over.
Secret Lairs are where the villains reside. These can be mansions, space stations, caves, or really tall noticeable buildings. While they look innocent enough from the outside, every nook and cranny visible by cameras, and there are hundreds of men armed to the teeth guarding it. So it only makes sense why the heroes would make it through to find the villain. They usually find some unguarded area in which they can sneak in. Since the guards are dumber than rocks, they'll think that a twig that lands in front of them isn't just a distraction, but some sort of sign saying "hey, let's go elsewhere!"
Revealing the plans is a pretty bad mistake on a story writer's part as well. Do you people not realize that your audience is LAUGHlNG at the stupidity of this? The villain will get the hero in a position in which it is "impossible" to escape, and at that point, reveals all of the plans. The hero then escapes, exploits the information the villain just told him, and wins the day yet again.
Pointing Out the Mistakes of the hero, or some other character, is a common thing for villains to do. They'll start it out with "you should have been more careful," or "you shouldn't have trusted-". That's pretty dumb, considering you're giving your enemy advice in case there's another chance.
Self-Destruct Buttons seem to be everywhere these days. In space ships, moon bases, and even the villain's secret lair. And if there isn't a simple button to press, the heroes usually have a hacker on their side to easily access the database and blow up the nuclear core. Rather than ending the story with a cool fight scene, or battle against the foes, the hero decides to be lazy and just blow everything up. Tip to villains: Make your base not explody.
Well, that's about it. I could probably find more to write about, but that's for Cruel Intentions VII. This is the longest yet, and possibly the best? Well, since Bart removed the yes/no rating system, we'll never know!
I hope you found this article useful. I put a lot of time into it, and this is actually the first hint of something corning soon to GW, which I call: Evil Idol.
Holy crap! This is the sixth article in the Cruel Intentions series, which started almost an entire year ago! While the previous Cruel Intentions article wasn't so much about characterization, I've decided to bring back the old formula, which seems to work. Now that GW5 is up and running, the new layout allows you to easily find the articles series, such as this one. lf you look at the top of this page, in the blue box, it says in it "Series", and provides links to the other Cruel Intentions articles.
I know I said that this series would end, but there's so much to talk about regarding the villains! The first article went into the personality, the second went into motivation, the third into non-physical villains, the fourth into how to create an introduction for your villain, and the fifth showed the steps towards villainy. But I've never really focused on the techniques of the villains.
There are some common cliches in storylines regarding villains. These cliches, however, are not the cliches that you are thinking of. These are cliches are common like a handshake between two buddies, or saying "yo" upon meeting tor the nth time. Some of these are good, but some are bad. I'll be sure to point these out.
But before I get into that, I would like to go into a little detail regarding originality. Let's face it, your villain isn't original (or cool for that matter) if he's just trying to destroy the world. 'The Austin Powers series should have given everyone the realization that destroying the entire world was stupid, and is a pathetic method of being "evil".
Evil people tend to want things. When they realize that getting these things can only be done through evil methods, they do it. If this means destroying something, or killing millions of people, then it's understandable. But the last thing an evil person should ever do is kill himself in the process. That's where Dr. Evil's mistake lie. He wanted one hundred billion dollars, and if he didn't get it, he was going to destroy the world. What would that accomplish?
So here are some methods of getting what you want, without the risk of killing yourself in the process:
Hostages
Hostages are a popular way of getting what you want. But in order to get a hostage, you must perform another evil action. Usually this involves killing a few people, raiding a mansion of some sort, or grabbing the hostage off the street and tying him/her up. But these require intense planning. So the real question is: how do you take the hostage?
The Raid is a common method. This involves the villain forming a small army, armed with weapons, and sending them into the place in which the potential hostage resides 'They usually end up killing a few people, but make sure not to harm the hostage. The villain, during this time, is probably waiting in his secret lair. The army, consisting of men wearing all black, and black masks, tie up the hostage and throw her into either a van or a limousine. They then drive the hostage back to the base, where the hostage is kept protected in a small, cramped room.
Picking Off the Street is a cool way to do it, but isn't as common as the other methods. The unsuspecting potential hostage is casually walking down the street, when suddenly, a van with a sliding door opens up, and several men dressed in black clothes throw a bag over the hostage, pull the hostage back into the van, and quickly speed away. The hostage is then injected with sleeping stuff, or is knocked unconscious.
The Unsuspecting Villain is generally used in comedies, such as the movie The Chase. While the villain is casually minding his own business, something happens that startles him, and he quickly reaches for his gun and sticks it into the back of the nearest potential hostage. Panicked, the villain takes the hostage to his car, or someone else's, and drives away as fast as possible, not quite sure where he should go.
Bank Robberies can be found in great movies such as Point Break. Villains who are probably inexperienced, and quite frightened, dress in whatever they can find to hide their identity, and rush into a bank, armed with guns. Here, they do one of two things:
A. Ask for the key to the vault.
B. Have the cashiers fill some bags with as much money as possible.
There is a vital mistake in the first and second option. If they ask for the key to the vault, the cashier usually plays dumb and says that the key is in another building, and cannot be reached. At this point, the robbers become confused and scared, and either end up killing a hostage, or do nothing until the police show up.
Choice B is even worse. The cashiers aren't stupid, and know how to deal with this. They fill bags that are marked, or have a contraption inside of them that cause a type of paint that can't be washed off for a week to spray in the robbers' faces.
Xanqui 's Advice to BankRobbers: Demand everyone's wallet or purse, especially those who are leaving the bank. It won't get you as much as the vault, but at least you can leave quickly with some cash.
Pretending to be a Friend is in most movies that start out as love stories, but lead to murder mysteries, such as The Watcher. The villain will meet a girl somewhere, and they will get to know each other. They may fall in love, or it could be a one-time meeting. The villain gathers up as much information as possible about the girl, who is the daughter of some-rich or powerful guy, and when the villain knows exactly where the girl will be every day, he makes his move. He can then use any of the previous methods (except Bank Robbery) to do the actual kidnapping. Or he could kill her on the spot. It' s up to you.
Hostages have been a tool for villains for years. They're an effective way to force someone to give you whatever you need. According to storylines, if a father loves his daughter, he'll do anything to get her back alive. But keep in mind that it includes sending an army of his own to save her... So that brings you to the following options:
Cut Off the Hostage's Ear or another part of his or her body. You then mail it to the father. This will make him realize that if he doesn't get the cash to you soon, then another part of the body is coming off next...
Provide a Time Limit such as 24 hours or 72 hours, depending on the distance between you and the father. Keep in mind, you want something he has, so you'd rather have it than kill his daughter. Be sure to provide at least enough time for him to get you what you want, but only enough time to get it. A week is too long, as it would give them plenty of time to form an army. Oh, and it sounds cooler if you give them the time limit in hours.
The Phone Call is a good way to prove that you not only have the daughter, but she is safe as well. Let her say one or two words like "Daddy save me!", then immediately take the phone away from her. Or, if your story is in the future, send a video over the Internet or something.
But in the end, the hero usually ends up winning, except for in the movie Suicide Kings. I won't reveal the end for any of you, but if you're interested in the hostage stuff, SEE THAT MOVIE! It has Christopher Walken in it, as well as Dennis Leary. Of all the hostage movies that I would recommend, that one is by far the best.
Anyway, here are some ways the hero will probably end up ruining your plans:
You Revealed the Location. Boy, that was stupid. Always, ALWAYS make a place where the father can drop the "package" off and his daughter can be returned to him at the same time. Make this place several miles away from your secret lair, such as at a subway station at midnight, or in an alleyway that is too dark for them-to see.
You Changes the 'plans. This is probably the leading mistake villains make. They get greedy, then end up wanting more after they get what they want. This usually causes the hero to get super pissed off and either go in himself and save the hostage, or forms a team to go in and save the hostage. One way or another, since you're the villain, you're going to lose.
Your Demands Were Too High. Let's face it, if the guy isn't rich enough to ensure his daughter's safety, he's probably not rich enough to afford an escape submarine, a jet, and passports to France. If you leave the hero with demands so high that he has no choice but to attack, he's going to win, since he's the good guy. Really, it's not fair that heroes win with only minimal expenses while you spend billions of dollars to build the secret lair and the army you use to fight.
That about wraps it up for hostages, but don't go yet! This article isn't over! Hostages are only ONE of the ways a villain can attempt to achieve his or her goals.
Destruction
Destruction or threat of destruction is a great way to be a villain. It could be blowing up some important building or perhaps even the world! But the true goal of a villain in either case is a bit different. I'll describe the examples in detail.
Some Important Building, while it sounds good, may not be the best way for a villain to cause destruction, and may not be a good idea for you as a story writer. When a villain blows up a building, he's doing it not to kill people, but to show his power, and that he's capable of causing even more damage. The problem with this is: this is known as terrorism. We have seen this in real life, and it's disturbing to see it portrayed in. a story for some people. Your best bet here is to have the hero catch the villain just before he has a chance to blow the building up. Or, if you like taking risks, BLOW IT UP!
Nukular Bombs, also known by their correct term, nuclear bombs, are exactly what a villain would want his hands on to get what he wants. Of course, you could make it some other type of bomb, like something futuristic. Either way, the bomb is capable of a massive explosion, which will kill thousands, millions, billions, etc. Villains use these because they're evil. If it's a fantasy story, the villain isn't going to detonate a massive explosion because they want to, they're going to do it just for the hell of it. In other cases, however, such as movies about terrorists, they do use nuclear bombs to scare people, and to get money. For example: Austin Powers.
Total Destruction is generally used simply for evil. It's not about money, it's not about objects, it's about evil. This is something that I want to get across to you. No person in the right mind is going to threaten the world or the universe with total destruction. They won't get what they want, because the good guys are going to send in the biggest army ever, because they have nothing to lose! And if you have a villain who can take on the biggest army of whatever with only himself and his stupid henchmen, you're sadly mistaken. Villains aren't about being invincible, they're about power. And unless the villain is a total moron, he's not going to threaten the universe with total destruction.
Now, I've seen cases where the villain wants to destroy the universe simply tor his hatred of everyone. At least he has motivation there. Or maybe he really is pure evil, and was born to end everything. That's fine too. But at least make sure you make it clear.
I'm not going to bother with the details of the many ways you can destroy the planet or the universe. If you're really interested in learning some ways, check out VillainSupply at www.villainsupply.com.
Oh right, and a villain will 0tVY use a mass-destruction thing as a last resort, enerally.
War
You rarely see a war in a game that is started or caused directly by the main villain. It's usually an organization that goes against society or freedom or whatever. But as I stated in Cruel Intentions III: Forces of Evil, as the name implies, there can be evil forces as well. Since there are countless reasons for a war, I'll just give a little bit of details as to how the villain may go about handling the war. The villain, in this case, being the opposing army.
Wars in video games are very badly portrayed. They usually show a few shots fired, then focus on the lead heroes, who fight in an area nowhere near the actual war. They find some sort of secret route to fight the villain who may be leading the war. You don't see the suffering, the killing, and the thousands of bodies lying on the fields. You see three or four characters trying to kill the villain.
This is probably due to the thought that the heroes are all anyone cares about. But sometimes we want to see what the villain created, such as his secret weapons, or his amazing strategies. We never get to see the lead villain as the LEADER! He is always alone in the final battle, and you rarely see him giving speeches to his army.
Perhaps this villain is leading zombies, who just fight for him, with no actual reason. Or maybe they were raised to be evil. Sure, we'll see the leaders allied to the hero in action, but how often do we get to see the villain?
So what do I have to say about wars started by villains? They SUCK! We only ever get just a mere glimpse of action from the villain. This would be a great opportunity for you to make a change to that.
Miscellaneous
This topic will go into the little things that you'd see often. Since these things are little, they don't require big letters, except for the big "miscellaneous" word.
Henchmen are a common tool for villains. These are like the lead villain., but not quite as strong. They are often portrayed in groups of three: one smart, short one, a big fat dumb one, and the leader who gets pissed off all the time. This, my friends, is what I would call a BAD cliche. They rarely ever have background, and we have no idea how these idiots ended up working together, especially under an ambitious villain. They often end up joining the hero's side towards the end, too. These are villains that we see and fight all the time, but for some reason, they never die, even though you beat the lead villain once, and the game is over.
Secret Lairs are where the villains reside. These can be mansions, space stations, caves, or really tall noticeable buildings. While they look innocent enough from the outside, every nook and cranny visible by cameras, and there are hundreds of men armed to the teeth guarding it. So it only makes sense why the heroes would make it through to find the villain. They usually find some unguarded area in which they can sneak in. Since the guards are dumber than rocks, they'll think that a twig that lands in front of them isn't just a distraction, but some sort of sign saying "hey, let's go elsewhere!"
Revealing the plans is a pretty bad mistake on a story writer's part as well. Do you people not realize that your audience is LAUGHlNG at the stupidity of this? The villain will get the hero in a position in which it is "impossible" to escape, and at that point, reveals all of the plans. The hero then escapes, exploits the information the villain just told him, and wins the day yet again.
Pointing Out the Mistakes of the hero, or some other character, is a common thing for villains to do. They'll start it out with "you should have been more careful," or "you shouldn't have trusted-". That's pretty dumb, considering you're giving your enemy advice in case there's another chance.
Self-Destruct Buttons seem to be everywhere these days. In space ships, moon bases, and even the villain's secret lair. And if there isn't a simple button to press, the heroes usually have a hacker on their side to easily access the database and blow up the nuclear core. Rather than ending the story with a cool fight scene, or battle against the foes, the hero decides to be lazy and just blow everything up. Tip to villains: Make your base not explody.
Well, that's about it. I could probably find more to write about, but that's for Cruel Intentions VII. This is the longest yet, and possibly the best? Well, since Bart removed the yes/no rating system, we'll never know!
I hope you found this article useful. I put a lot of time into it, and this is actually the first hint of something corning soon to GW, which I call: Evil Idol.
Guide to the Single Villain
VII: Guide to the Single Villain
Alright, there's a lot to cover in this article, so I'll give you a brief idea as to what this one's about There are a lot of different types of villains. We can't really compare a villain such as Sephiroth to the common bank robber or a virus, as they are entirely different versions of evil. This article is basically a list of different types of villains, and will aid you in deciding what form of evil your foe wishes to take. Your foe may be more than one type, as this is only a general list. Try out different combinations, and see if you can make something truly unique!
I'll start with the weakest form of villain, then work up to the most powerful. Starting with..
Personal Flaw
While this could hardly be classified as evil, a flaw is considered an antagonist. This flaw could be something like a broken back, a hatred towards another race, or anything that a character must overcome through character development. There are plenty of articles in GW about character development regarding flaws, so I won't bother going any further than this simple description.
Intention: Prevent the protagonist from achieving his or her goals.
Personal Antagonist
Again, the antagonist here may not be evil, but is more of a rival. This could be a character who always gets better grades, or picks on the main character. The story generally revolves around this, ending with a situation in which the main character surpasses the antagonist. A good example of this would be the brother of the main character in Gattaca (Don't ask me the names). While his brother was always smarter, stronger, and faster than him, he strove to finally swim further than him. He spends years working out, studying, and becoming a "perfect" human being, not just because he wanted to beat his brother, but also because of a personal flaw.
This is a great way to add a bit of depth to your story. It doesn't need to be a significant part, but could be used to show the reasons the main character left to go on an adventure in the first place: to prove he is worth something.
Intention: Surpass the protagonist.
Criminal
Here's probably the weakest form of evil. A common criminal may not rob a gas station simply because he's evil; he's probably doing it because he can't support himself or his family. A criminal may also be doing it for personal greed, which is in every human being, so that still doesn't necessarily make him evil.
Criminals are generally used as one-shot characters when portrayed as the villains. Like in the movie Spiderman, or any other superhero comic, a man might be holding up an innocent person at gunpoint, but is suddenly stopped by the hero, and you never see or hear from the criminal again. But they have been used for other roles, such as the character who causes the hero to go on an adventure. Perhaps he accidentally kills a guy's wife, and the guy wants to avenge her. There are a lot of different directions to go with these antagonists.
Intention: Gain wealth from crime.
Political Antagonist
This is a rather difficult antagonist to decide just how powerful of a villain he is. If this is simply the leader with ideas that the main characters oppose, then there isn't really any evil involved. In movies about Presidential elections, where the audience is for some reason supposed to side with one of the candidates, there is a "fight" between the two candidates in a big debate or something. While this could be considered a form of rivalry, it's a bit more significant than that.
A side note: I don't like to watch these movies where it focuses on one particular candidate and puts down the other. It's like they're forcing their opinions down the audiences' throats.
Another form of political antagonist would be someone like Lex Luthor, from Superman. Lex, while not nearly strong enough to defeat Superman, attempts to expose him whenever possible. These types of antagonists could be considered evil, but at the same time, may be doing it to protect a secret of their own...
Intention: Surpass the protagonist in political fame.
Henchmen
Henchmen are like the crappy versions of the lead villain. These guys start out rather evil, and cause a lot of fuss to the main character, bul are otherwise fairly useless in a storyline. In games, these characters have weak attacks and are obviously used to teach the player how to play the game. Solt and Peppor from Chrono Cross, for example, were nearly impossible to lose against. In nearly every battle, they always forgot something vital, and they explain why you need these things in battle.
In other forms of stories, such, as books or movies, henchmen should be avoided. They're generally used to make jokes that aren't funny and you never really know why the hell the lead villain hired them in the first place. Unless they play vital role in which they cause a major change in the story, just leave them out. Trust me, your audience will be better off that way.
Intention: Serve a more powerful antagonist.
The Unknowing Villain
These are the villains that the main character doesn't realize is the villain. This character could be a spy or someone who doesn't realize that they are a spy. These characters usually don't turn out to be the lead villain of the game, but they make for an interesting plot twist. There are many different directions you could go with this type of villain, such as the villain turning against his kind and joining with the hero.
Intention: None (Generally).
The Powerful Leader
Similar to the political antagonist, but rather than having opposing beliefs, is simply evil. Guys like Sauron from Lord of the Rings could be under this classification, since he lead the massive armies of orcs against the humans. This is usually the guy leading the armies, or the nation that is the antagonist of the storyline. A villain in this category is likely to be in another as well. I don't want to get too specific with this type of villain, since it's too broad of a classification.
Intention: Gain more and more power until antagonist can take over as much as possible.
The Insane Villain
When you hear the words "insane" and "villain", the first name likely to come to your mind is Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. However, any villain with no real motivation other than the fact that he wants everything dead, without any particular reason, would probably be considered insane. A brutal past and a generally awful life can, lead to an extremely powerful foe such as this. Or it could be a mental instability.
Lack of motivation can hurt your story. No villain should ever seek total destruction, because there is simply not benefit for it. Unless a villain is truly insane, he's probably not going to be dumb enough to end even his own existence.
Intention: Variable.
The Unseen Antagonist
In many stories, the hero is on a quest to save the world from some hidden force. Usually we don't know anything about a living villain controlling the force until near the end, where the hero discovers it. These villains lack in character development and personality, and once killed, no one really cares. Often times, people will gives really long in-depth background to a character we know hardly anything about (or care about).
Let's use Lord of the Rings again, for example. Shelob, tbe spider from Retum of the King, had been preventing anyone from getting past the walls of Mordor. No one actually knew it was a spider, or her name, until Frodo finally bad to deal with her.
Intention: Variable.
The "Boss"
These villains are seen in games mostly. These are creatures, robots, or even people who more powerful villains summon to use against the heroes. They have little to do with the story, and are used as a distraction while the more powerful enemy deals with more important matters. Sometimes these villains go on to have more to do with the story later on.
Intention: Defeat the Protagonist.
That's it for now I didn't have time to go into the evil forces. But that at least gives me an idea for Cruel Intentions VIII, I'm sorry for the lateness of this article, but being so busy slowed it down quite a bit.
Alright, there's a lot to cover in this article, so I'll give you a brief idea as to what this one's about There are a lot of different types of villains. We can't really compare a villain such as Sephiroth to the common bank robber or a virus, as they are entirely different versions of evil. This article is basically a list of different types of villains, and will aid you in deciding what form of evil your foe wishes to take. Your foe may be more than one type, as this is only a general list. Try out different combinations, and see if you can make something truly unique!
I'll start with the weakest form of villain, then work up to the most powerful. Starting with..
Personal Flaw
While this could hardly be classified as evil, a flaw is considered an antagonist. This flaw could be something like a broken back, a hatred towards another race, or anything that a character must overcome through character development. There are plenty of articles in GW about character development regarding flaws, so I won't bother going any further than this simple description.
Intention: Prevent the protagonist from achieving his or her goals.
Personal Antagonist
Again, the antagonist here may not be evil, but is more of a rival. This could be a character who always gets better grades, or picks on the main character. The story generally revolves around this, ending with a situation in which the main character surpasses the antagonist. A good example of this would be the brother of the main character in Gattaca (Don't ask me the names). While his brother was always smarter, stronger, and faster than him, he strove to finally swim further than him. He spends years working out, studying, and becoming a "perfect" human being, not just because he wanted to beat his brother, but also because of a personal flaw.
This is a great way to add a bit of depth to your story. It doesn't need to be a significant part, but could be used to show the reasons the main character left to go on an adventure in the first place: to prove he is worth something.
Intention: Surpass the protagonist.
Criminal
Here's probably the weakest form of evil. A common criminal may not rob a gas station simply because he's evil; he's probably doing it because he can't support himself or his family. A criminal may also be doing it for personal greed, which is in every human being, so that still doesn't necessarily make him evil.
Criminals are generally used as one-shot characters when portrayed as the villains. Like in the movie Spiderman, or any other superhero comic, a man might be holding up an innocent person at gunpoint, but is suddenly stopped by the hero, and you never see or hear from the criminal again. But they have been used for other roles, such as the character who causes the hero to go on an adventure. Perhaps he accidentally kills a guy's wife, and the guy wants to avenge her. There are a lot of different directions to go with these antagonists.
Intention: Gain wealth from crime.
Political Antagonist
This is a rather difficult antagonist to decide just how powerful of a villain he is. If this is simply the leader with ideas that the main characters oppose, then there isn't really any evil involved. In movies about Presidential elections, where the audience is for some reason supposed to side with one of the candidates, there is a "fight" between the two candidates in a big debate or something. While this could be considered a form of rivalry, it's a bit more significant than that.
A side note: I don't like to watch these movies where it focuses on one particular candidate and puts down the other. It's like they're forcing their opinions down the audiences' throats.
Another form of political antagonist would be someone like Lex Luthor, from Superman. Lex, while not nearly strong enough to defeat Superman, attempts to expose him whenever possible. These types of antagonists could be considered evil, but at the same time, may be doing it to protect a secret of their own...
Intention: Surpass the protagonist in political fame.
Henchmen
Henchmen are like the crappy versions of the lead villain. These guys start out rather evil, and cause a lot of fuss to the main character, bul are otherwise fairly useless in a storyline. In games, these characters have weak attacks and are obviously used to teach the player how to play the game. Solt and Peppor from Chrono Cross, for example, were nearly impossible to lose against. In nearly every battle, they always forgot something vital, and they explain why you need these things in battle.
In other forms of stories, such, as books or movies, henchmen should be avoided. They're generally used to make jokes that aren't funny and you never really know why the hell the lead villain hired them in the first place. Unless they play vital role in which they cause a major change in the story, just leave them out. Trust me, your audience will be better off that way.
Intention: Serve a more powerful antagonist.
The Unknowing Villain
These are the villains that the main character doesn't realize is the villain. This character could be a spy or someone who doesn't realize that they are a spy. These characters usually don't turn out to be the lead villain of the game, but they make for an interesting plot twist. There are many different directions you could go with this type of villain, such as the villain turning against his kind and joining with the hero.
Intention: None (Generally).
The Powerful Leader
Similar to the political antagonist, but rather than having opposing beliefs, is simply evil. Guys like Sauron from Lord of the Rings could be under this classification, since he lead the massive armies of orcs against the humans. This is usually the guy leading the armies, or the nation that is the antagonist of the storyline. A villain in this category is likely to be in another as well. I don't want to get too specific with this type of villain, since it's too broad of a classification.
Intention: Gain more and more power until antagonist can take over as much as possible.
The Insane Villain
When you hear the words "insane" and "villain", the first name likely to come to your mind is Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. However, any villain with no real motivation other than the fact that he wants everything dead, without any particular reason, would probably be considered insane. A brutal past and a generally awful life can, lead to an extremely powerful foe such as this. Or it could be a mental instability.
Lack of motivation can hurt your story. No villain should ever seek total destruction, because there is simply not benefit for it. Unless a villain is truly insane, he's probably not going to be dumb enough to end even his own existence.
Intention: Variable.
The Unseen Antagonist
In many stories, the hero is on a quest to save the world from some hidden force. Usually we don't know anything about a living villain controlling the force until near the end, where the hero discovers it. These villains lack in character development and personality, and once killed, no one really cares. Often times, people will gives really long in-depth background to a character we know hardly anything about (or care about).
Let's use Lord of the Rings again, for example. Shelob, tbe spider from Retum of the King, had been preventing anyone from getting past the walls of Mordor. No one actually knew it was a spider, or her name, until Frodo finally bad to deal with her.
Intention: Variable.
The "Boss"
These villains are seen in games mostly. These are creatures, robots, or even people who more powerful villains summon to use against the heroes. They have little to do with the story, and are used as a distraction while the more powerful enemy deals with more important matters. Sometimes these villains go on to have more to do with the story later on.
Intention: Defeat the Protagonist.
That's it for now I didn't have time to go into the evil forces. But that at least gives me an idea for Cruel Intentions VIII, I'm sorry for the lateness of this article, but being so busy slowed it down quite a bit.