The Villain



''Evil... EVIIIIL !''

The bad boy of the story. Said he was going to destroy or take over the world or something like that, but he actually won't in the end thanks to the Hero or someone on their side beating him in their final conflict. The Villain is likely either the reason the Hero goes on their journey or is the cause of that reason. The story mainly surrounds the Hero getting ready to fight the Villain by adventuring and getting stronger, but the Villain, apparently already as powerful as they have to be, just kinda sits back as the Hero makes more progress to the evil lair. The Villain's part of this is mostly them checking in on the Hero and sending out baddies whenever they are in need of a temporary roadblock. There are many reasons why the Villain fights the Hero. Some include it being prophesied the two are supposed to fight each other, the Hero inadvertently angered the Villain by screwing up with them, the Hero is the only one who can fight the Villain, or S.

It's the Villain's job to be the second most important (with their arch-nemesis being the most important) and intimidating character in the story. They may even look the part to let the audience know that they're the bad guy. They might actively work towards their own cause or alternatively have their underlings do all the dirty work, like fight or slow the Hero and their friends down or attack a city important to their boss's scheme. There exist many reasons why the Villain is who they are. For one, they could've been hurt by society long ago and filled with hatred for it that made them develop their scheme out of the revenge they wished to seize on society. Another similar possible reason is they were the victim of someone's wrongdoing when they were younger and was driven by this painful experience to right the wrong with their own wrongdoings.

As they control every aspect of their franchise, the creators can choose how they build the Villain to their story. Those who aim for a Villain who resonates with their audience will go farther than an antagonist who is evil for the sake of being someone the Hero and their team must fight. These Villains stray from not just the traditional definition of a "villain", but from being "evil" as well. Villains like this might disregard the well-being of others but only to please one of their peers such as a family member or group leader. They might also become the main antagonist of the story after their beliefs change at some point during their character arc, such as in a situation when a Terrible Truth is revealed to them about someone they trusted or the world itself. This divergence from being the standard bad guy can lead to the character being remembered as a more unique and noteworthy individual, which can add to the overall quality of the franchise they star in.

Though the Villain is one of the most important characters in the story, they might not always be on the top of the hierarchy. A Villain who is part of an organization has a chance of being an under the head of that organization. Because the Super Villain is so important, they can't afford to directly confront the Good Guys and put themselves at risk of defeat. They instead act through their subordinates and may have a heavy focus on the Villain, the one who most frequently faces the Hero. In addition, the Villain is also not always the most knowing of the antagonists. Masterminds working for their own ends can fake a helpful relationship with the Villain and the Bad Guys either since they're unable to do much on their own or have the intelligence to discretely manipulate a mass of people. These Masterminds often have mental superpowers such as Divination or tools that grant them such abilities like a Crystal Ball or Magic Mirror.

The standard Villain will be a mustachioed man wearing a top hat, cape, the optional monocle, and wielding a staff. Although well-built Villains in stories tend to stray away from being this kind of Copy-Paste Role, makeshift Villains fall under this description more times than any single person could ever hope to count. Common titles for these Villains are Dr., Prof., and Count, with the former two titles uncommonly being explained by the Villain having a medical or scientific background. Copy-Paste Villains can also currently be Scientists and double as the Evil Scientists whose creations are what cause the main issues of the story. The Saturday Morning Cartoon Edition Villain may have a wide-scale scheme that affects many people, something like Ruining The World or World Domination. Regardless of if the Villain is the most stereotypical or original antagonist, they'll typically use High Speak in their regular speech to make their above-average Intelligence UnStat apparent to the Good Guys and audience.

= The Villain's Mirrors = Nutshell: The main antagonist of the story who the Hero sets out to defeat.

Enhanced: The main antagonist who bests the Hero during most of their encounters. Shift: Successful Villain.

Cruel: The main antagonist who will stop at nothing to get their way, even abusing their own henchmen when they fail their tasks. Shift: Cruel Villain.

Inverse: The Hero.

Atypical: The main antagonist who constantly directly fights the Hero and/or terrorizes the Innocent for a reason beyond Evil's Gotta Evil.

Up: The Villain wins the Big Fight with the Hero and begins to truly put their scheme into action. Shift: Unhappy Ending

Down: The Hero gets the upper hand in the Big Fight and rids the world of the Villain for good. Shift: Happy Ending

Back: The most common reason as to why the Villain is who they are, Evil's Gotta Evil. If this isn't the case, then the Hero might've Broken The Vase with the Villain some time ago and now they're back for revenge. Or maybe the Villain believes the World Is Flawed and must cleanse it by destroying everyone and everything in it.

Forth: Long after the story of the original Villain came to an end, their legacy continued and breathed life into a New Generation of malice. This new Villain could be the original Villain's child, student, or follower in an Insane Cult.

Wrong: The main antagonist who is a weakling that tries to look like a big boy by building a "badass" lair to hide in while his henchmen do all the work for him.

UnRec
The Villain is the driving force of the story's Conflict. On the character priorities list, they place second behind the Hero. As such, they need to be developed well to the point the audience doesn't discard them the moment they show up. The fix here is the same as it is for any other leading role: relatability and novelty. When approaching your Villain's motive, ask yourself this: "What would make me want to act against society?" Reflect your answer onto your head antagonist and twist it into the fuel of their Evil Scheme. It's better if the Villain isn't out against the world at large and has it for the Hero to make their relationship all the more personal. It may be that the Hero wronged who would later become their foremost adversary and spends their journey essentially defending themselves from the Villain's wrath. Maybe the Hero has done or is on the brink of doing something that the Villain considers improper and aims to rectify. This makes each role part hero and part villain, an excellent intertwining of their connection that deepens their motives beyond basic cause and effect. It's a backstory that grays the line between right and wrong, displaying that anyone can be capable of either. Outside of the thought process, you have to take some other factors into consideration. Too many creators like to blatantly paint their Villains to unmistakably be the role. They do this by outfitting their supreme antagonist with any combination of dark cloak, pale skin, crooked nose and fingers, eyepatch, facial scar, black sclerae (the eyeball part of the eye), red pupils, imposing body build, and gruff voice. You can do yourself a real favor by avoiding all this. Just as the Hero might look like your average Joe, so too must the Villain for subtlety's sake. With an understandable goal and appearance to boot, this is one Villain who has a much better chance a standing out in the crowd than one who prefers to rely on established clichés.

UnStats
Strength ●●●●●●●●○○

Skill ●●●●●●●●●○

Intelligence ●●●●●●●○○○

Influence ●●●●●●●○○○

Reputation ●●●●●●●●●○

Repeat ●●●●○

UnStat Avg. 7.76 (S)

''Being the most dangerous character to the Good Guys in the story, the Villain must have high UnStats to boast if they plan on completing their scheme. With overall stunning power (both physical and magical) and considerable control over a probable legion of diehard loyal baddies, the Villain's Strength, Skill, Intelligence, and Reputation all score high. As a result, just about all other antagonists have no choice but to respect the main bad guy, which further boost the Villain's Reputation nearly to the maximum. What doesn't play out well for the Villain, however, is their Repeat, being rated higher than the Hero's by two points. This is because more Villains are similar to each other than Heroes in Character Building with many having schemes along the lines of a World Domination plot, which is known by us to be the #1 go-to for Villains without any better plans. As such, the Villain Average of 7.76 places on S tier, being the first role to achieve the tier. If more Villains dared to be different, the Villain role as a whole could've had an even more broken Average than they do now.''