What is your favorite villain personality?

[The_Warpact]

I know I'm often curious behind some personality types of various villains.

 

I have several, I have a "joker esque" type who is insane from the toxins that he uses.

A rogue military AI that is bent on saving the world from humanity, mad scientists, a power obsessed lich, assassins and warriors in service to that lich. A rogue army General who is reminiscent of Cobra Commander. 

 

I also have a VG entirely dedicated to aberrations, monsters, and cryptozoological creatures. One dedicated to global economic domination aka farmers, corporate stalkers, and masterminds.

 

But, my absolute favorite would be the villain who thinks his way is the correct way. Not necessarily evil but, not real nice either. An overlord who controls others to do his bidding and definitely not afraid to get his hands dirty if the need arises.

I have more masterminds than other other AT and I think it stems from that model above. Its all the years of Bond villains and comic books that got me hooked.

[A Cat]

Whatever Werner Von Grun is. That dude is hilarious. Doing the DA arcs has also really endeared me too Praetor Duncan. I especially liked her solo mission where she's basically like "UGHH, WHATEVER MOM" to the god of death. Though I guess I'm just turning this into "which villains you like" instead of "what type of personality you like". 

[On-Fire Dude]

The bio for my favorite villain (a bots/traps MM):

Zzztch is an intergalactic scumbag.

On the run from the "Space Law", he decided to hide out on Earth. Uses his knowledge of advanced technology to make life easy for himself, not caring that it's at the expense of others.

He's not like some other villains who delight in cruelty, or those who want to "rule the world", he's just greedy and lazy...

[The_Warpact]

1 hour ago, On-Fire Dude said:

The bio for my favorite villain (a bots/traps MM):

Zzztch is an intergalactic scumbag.

On the run from the "Space Law", he decided to hide out on Earth. Uses his knowledge of advanced technology to make life easy for himself, not caring that it's at the expense of others.

He's not like some other villains who delight in cruelty, or those who want to "rule the world", he's just greedy and lazy...

A space Bacchus!

[The_Warpact]

1 hour ago, A Cat said:

Whatever Werner Von Grun is. That dude is hilarious. Doing the DA arcs has also really endeared me too Praetor Duncan. I especially liked her solo mission where she's basically like "UGHH, WHATEVER MOM" to the god of death. Though I guess I'm just turning this into "which villains you like" instead of "what type of personality you like". 

Comedic type villains are great. I actually made a toon that was specifically designed just for his arc. Thats how much I like it.

[Xeres]

I have a character who isn't human - he is a construct created by Zeus sent to this realm.  He has no idea of morality - that it's a human concept and that in the grand scheme of things, doesn't apply.

[A Cat]

3 hours ago, The_Warpact said:

Comedic type villains are great. I actually made a toon that was specifically designed just for his arc. Thats how much I like it.

I like comedic characters in general. Forgot about another good one, but Master Midnight is also hilarious. He needs to leave my OTP alone though. 

[Techwright]

Insane and other mentally-compromised villains only mildly interest me.

 

Comedy villains only mildly interest me unless you're speaking of actor Stanley Tucci's hilariously slap-stick "Muerte" in the movie Undercover Blues.  Then you have my full attention.

 

Mustache-twirling villains are too one-dimensional for my tastes.

 

I like the villains who are very smart, incredibly cool under pressure, and who are so close in ideology to "normal" that you'd actually be persuaded to befriend them if it weren't for some extreme action they insist upon taking, even if they have something of a point.   I think that is why Magneto in X-Men: First Class, for example, was so interesting.  He could have been a best friend, strong ally, and noble leader if it wasn't for his drive for extreme violence against those he considers has wrong him and his.  (Magneto in X3 by comparison was sorely lacking in the ability to encourage sympathy.)

[Mezmera]

If we're talking in CoH then I'd have to go with Aeon.  Everything about him comes off as a plucky malicious Tony Stark.  I can vividly see RDJ as Aeon but in this character he can be even more uninhibited to be a truly formidable baddie than the Iron Man quasi-evil that some in these forums have pontificated him actually being.  

 

As far as comic lore I don't know how to narrow it down, DC's villains gallery is quite good especially the ones Batman interacts with.  I'd go with a fun loving unscrupulous bad guy but it's real hard to beat how fetching Catwoman is as a nemesis if she's still considered to be on that side.  

 

Yeah Catwoman, but I reserve the right to wander if she starts getting fickle.  

[Chrono-Bot]

I like practical ones. They have a goal, they're going to do that goal, and whatever happens in-between happens. They aren't particularly malicious but they aren't precious about it either.

[Tailcoat]

20 hours ago, A Cat said:

Whatever Werner Von Grun is. That dude is hilarious. 

 

YES! I also like Doc Buzzsaw-- she's so excitable. Also, the guy trying to get you to infect people in Mercy so he can build an army. I like mad scientists like that for comedy purposes where character depth doesn't matter. Ooh! Can't forget Television! I remember Television referencing "The Prisoner" and I was surprised because I never would've heard of that show if not for "The Simpsons" referencing it, which I believe Television also referenced!

 

For drama, I like villains with an understandable and/or sympathetic motivations, like Walter White or Light Yagami. I also like villains that present a likeable image that conceals the evil they do in secret, which makes them unpredictable and exciting to watch (ex. wondering what monstrous thing Omniman or Homelander might do next or who, when, and how others who trust them will find out and react).  

 

I don't usually put too much backstory or personality into my toons beyond a general idea, tho I spend a lot of time making costumes. ErasyerHead is a villain for the lulz and money. Itsie Bitsie is a lil old lady/Arachnos Crab Spider who has something to prove. Blanche Havisham was a horrible perfectionist who turned into Bridezilla after taste-testing yellow cake and now she's a giant lizard who stomps around setting people on fire. Echeveriah wants revenge for her people because they were chased off as "demons" long ago. Slaybraham Lincoln is a cyborg zombie who was reanimated and mind-controlled by a mad scientist as a joke.

[cranebump]

Movers & shakers behind the scenes, with vast resources, who are smart and calculating. But, oh that Achilles Heel-they have a blind spot, because it’s personal. Basically, Kingpin when he set out to bring down Murdoch, had him shattered, but then:

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by cranebump

[Optimum_Man]

Ever since first playing CoV, I’ve been enamored with the idea of villains who want to take over not because they’re cruel or they want to destroy everything but because they truly believe themselves to be the better alternative. Villains trying to be government.

[The_Warpact]

3 hours ago, Tailcoat said:

 

 Light Yagami

My and your opinion of Villains are vastly different. 

[TheOtherTed]

My "villains" pretty much fall under two personality types - 1) former professionals (enforcers, troubleshooters, thieves, etc.) formerly associated with some intelligence agency or crime syndicate, or 2) beings not of this earth (e.g., extraterrestrials or supernatural entities) who seem amoral, but who really have a moral code that's about 90 degrees to our "normal" conception of morality.  Coming in at a distant third are those who were trained or bred for villainy, but who broke away for one reason or another and now have to fend for themselves with the skills and abilities that they have.

 

I put "villains" in quote above because about half the characters I consider to be villainous actually make more sense as heroes in my brain.

[The_Warpact]

45 minutes ago, TheOtherTed said:

I put "villains" in quote above because about half the characters I consider to be villainous actually make more sense as heroes in my brain.

"I am the villain to you but, to me I am the hero".

 

Can totally relate. 

[Panache]

Give me C and D list working class villains all day long. Superior Foes of Spider-Man and the Secret Six are probably my favorite versions of this.

[Bill Z Bubba]

Throw me in the "just want to watch it all burn" group. Not so much setting the fires but definitely enjoying the smores.

[Optimum_Man]

3 hours ago, Panache said:

Give me C and D list working class villains all day long. Superior Foes of Spider-Man and the Secret Six are probably my favorite versions of this.

OMG I love the Secret Six! I feel like The Flash's Rogues probably fall into this category too.

[DoctorDitko]

I came up with a villain group called EarthFIST! who are basically more moral than the governments and corporations, and devoted to saving the world from the govs & corps.

 

Kind of like GreenPeace if they had respect for Science. And better morals. And some common sense.

 

They'd be out there darting idiots with COVID vaccines, pumping the contents of pipelines back where they came from, and secretly building the newest generation nuclear power plants that can run on the radioactive waste from the old nuclear power plants.

 

(Which are real, btw.  We could be using the waste with half-lives in the hundreds of thousands of years to make power, eliminating the millenia-long risk such waste presents.)

 

That's my kind of "villain!"

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by DoctorDitko
cititations

[Panache]

2 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

I came up with a villain group called EarthFIST! who are basically more moral than the governments and corporations, and devoted to saving the world from the govs & corps.

 

Kind of like GreenPeace if they had respect for Science. And better morals. And some common sense.

 

They'd be out there darting idiots with COVID vaccines, pumping the contents of pipelines back where they came from, and secretly building the newest generation nuclear power plants that can run on the radioactive waste from the old nuclear power plants.

 

(Which are real, btw.  We could be using the waste with half-lives in the hundreds of thousands of years to make power, eliminating the millenia-long risk such waste presents.)

 

That's my kind of "villain!"

 

 

 

 

 

I’m still working on a…villain(?) based on this equally true and batshit concept.

 

http://www.theatomicpriesthoodproject.org

 

tl;dr: how do you warn future civilizations about the dangers of stored radioactive waste? Create a religion. (There’s also some stuff about genetically modifying cats to change colors near radiation, and inserting these Nuclear Cats into the cultural memory via folk songs and whatnot)

[Ukase]

My preferred characters are typically not truly villains. They tend to have come about their morality, or lack of it, organically - but they aren't evil, just pragmatic and opportunistic. Scratching and clawing their way from level 1 with nothing to as much influence as they can earn by level 50 t-4 in all 6 slots. 

[Mezmera]

6 hours ago, Ukase said:

My preferred characters are typically not truly villains. They tend to have come about their morality, or lack of it, organically - but they aren't evil, just pragmatic and opportunistic. Scratching and clawing their way from level 1 with nothing to as much influence as they can earn by level 50 t-4 in all 6 slots. 

 

Sounds a lot like a second vote for Catwoman.  

[Tailcoat]

On 10/23/2021 at 8:54 AM, The_Warpact said:

My and your opinion of Villains are vastly different. 

 

By relatable motivations, I wasn't talking about the superiority-complex, power-hungry, playing-god part, but the idea of putting a stop to bad guys when the justice system has failed to. At least that's what I thought some of his initial motivation was... or at least what he claimed it to be as a cover/justification for wanting to bend the world to his will. It's been years since I watched the show so my memory isn't perfect.

 

I want to echo the other posters in favor of "villains" trying to make the world a better place, villains who enjoy chaos (since chaos and uncertainty are so scary in real life, it's cathartic to see a character ride atop that wave, sort of controlling chaos instead of being helpless to it), pragmatic ones that are trying to make a good life in an unfair world, and entities with alien morality ("Blue and Orange Morality" as TVTropes called it).

 

Some other types I've enjoyed:

• Charming thieves and rogues (Lupin III)
• Bumbling cartoon henchmen (Scratch and Grounder were hilariously stupid)
• Villains capable of intimidating other villains (Giancarlo Esposito did well with this playing Gus in "Breaking Bad" and Edgar in "The Boys" )

[Oginth]

As mentioned before, I like villains who think (too) big, those who thinks the means justify the ends. The perfect world at the cost of all/most humanity, a small price to pay.