Exploring the Depths of Villainy - Which Groups Are the Most Evil?

[Octogoat]

50 minutes ago, Andreah said:

Within the context of the game, absolutely.  I'm not sure there's a supernatural force of Evil in the game, but there may well be. Certainly if someone has it in their background I'm not going to tell them they're wrong.

 

 

 

Unless someone is deliberately countermanding established lore I welcome all backgrounds. It really is easy enough to make almost anything from any background. But generally I don't elevate faction reputation based on PC's.

[Luminara]

17 hours ago, Andreah said:

They do, and you can see them recruiting all around the city. In the back of my mind, I imagine they're using mind-control and a lot of their recruits aren't voluntary. (Otherwise it just doesn't make sense to me.)

 

Fascists use the same tactics militaries, governments and religions have used for millennia, appealing to peoples' need to belong to something greater than themselves, and accusing someone else of being responsible for the bad things in the world.  It happens every day, all over the world, with no crazy mind control gadgets, or weird chemicals, or telepaths or anything but a basic understanding of how to manipulate others.

 

How did you think the Nazi party gained power in Germany?  Micro-chips in peoples' brains?  Magic?  Hypnosis?  No, they used basic psychology.  There are fascist organizations doing exactly the same thing today, even I've seen mention of them and I'm about as disconnected from society as one can be without going feral.

[Go0gleplex]

Evil, in a simplistic definition, is the depraved indifference to the very existence, well-being, opinions, and freedoms of any other living being than one's self.  That lack of empathy with anything else is one of the key psychological factors brought up in almost every criminal case involving a capital crime...and why some political systems, and dare I say religions, are considered in extremely negative context by a large percentage of the global population...well...at least that portion that is concerned with anything outside of their own small corner of the world and day to day existence.   

 

It's that depraved indifference that really elevates one faction over another in terms of how evil they are and why I made mention that while the faction may be a great evil, they may not actually be the most dangerous. In that respect, I would agree that the 5th/Council, Nemesis, and Malta Group are likely the greater threats not because they lack empathy but that they have enough to actually use to play to the emotions of the ignorant masses and make their indoctrination that much more effective. 

 

A former uncle-in-law from the early 90's was an PhD Psychologist with a focus on anthropology and we'd spend hours at the family holiday gatherings talking about stuff like this and the general rot observed in everyday life around us with comparisons to the decline of various empires and societies throughout history.

[Andreah]

I won't get into current politics other than to say I disagree, and I find the council's recruiters to be comical and ridiculous to the point of being jarring, even in City of Heroes.

 

How about the other low-end gang-like groups; like, say the Hellions, Skulls, and Outcasts?

 

Hellions use satanic imagery, but are basically just pentagram-themed arsonists.

 

Outcasts are just low-end Superdyne fueled thugs.

 

But Skulls actually seem to be a nihilistic death cult, so I put them as more villainous than the other two.  

 

 

[Octogoat]

1 minute ago, Andreah said:

I won't get into current politics other than to say I disagree, and I find the council's recruiters to be comical and ridiculous to the point of being jarring, even in City of Heroes.

 

How about the other low-end gang-like groups; like, say the Hellions, Skulls, and Outcasts?

 

Hellions use satanic imagery, but are basically just pentagram-themed arsonists.

 

Outcasts are just low-end Superdyne fueled thugs.

 

But Skulls actually seem to be a nihilistic death cult, so I put them as more villainous than the other two.  

 

 

 

I don't find the hellions scary aside from their girlfriends. 

 

Outcasts do seem to be after school special villains.

 

Skulls have lore wise supplied superadyne to trolls, taken hostages, shot up a rave...

[Andreah]

4 minutes ago, Go0gleplex said:

Evil, in a simplistic definition, is the depraved indifference to the very existence, well-being, opinions, and freedoms of any other living being than one's self.  That lack of empathy with anything else is one of the key psychological factors brought up in almost every criminal case involving a capital crime...and why some political systems, and dare I say religions, are considered in extremely negative context by a large percentage of the global population...well...at least that portion that is concerned with anything outside of their own small corner of the world and day to day existence.   

 

It's that depraved indifference that really elevates one faction over another in terms of how evil they are and why I made mention that while the faction may be a great evil, they may not actually be the most dangerous. In that respect, I would agree that the 5th/Council, Nemesis, and Malta Group are likely the greater threats not because they lack empathy but that they have enough to actually use to play to the emotions of the ignorant masses and make their indoctrination that much more effective. 

 

A former uncle-in-law from the early 90's was an PhD Psychologist with a focus on anthropology and we'd spend hours at the family holiday gatherings talking about stuff like this and the general rot observed in everyday life around us with comparisons to the decline of various empires and societies throughout history.

To me, a bit part of it is also the strength of the group, not just its number, but it's organization, access to potent capabilities, and vision of an end the rest of us would consider to be apocalyptic.  This sets the big-league threats above the ones like the hellions, outcasts, and skulls.

[Andreah]

2 minutes ago, Octogoat said:

I don't find the hellions scary aside from their girlfriends. 

 

I'm currently writing a somewhat comedic story about the Hellions and my main character. It's because they're not a seriously villainous threat that I feel comfortable doing that. Choosing a much more villainous group wouldn't feel right, even if it is possible to write such stories with them. I wouldn't want to cheapen their reps like that for my story-benefit.