also a bit silly of them to explain their plans in detail to the protagonist just before leaving then in a hopeless situation dangling over a pit of flame spiders to tend with the final details and sign off on the last few bits of their master plan of world domination giving the hero a chance to escape or be aided by a clever animal sidekick who has stolen the key that will insure the world is saved from dark domination
"It doesn’t matter how flawless the scheme was, how impregnable the fortress or powerful the magical weapon, it always ends with a band of adolescents shouting utter platitudes as they tear it all down. The game is rigged so that we lose, every single time. Half the world, turned into a prop for the glory of the other half." - Black Knight, Practical Guide to Evil
I recall a instance in that story where the main character refused the brutally pragmatic option of a preemptive rampage into the enemies backlines, i recommend this series where the main character does exactly that as his first action in restoring his civilization (available for free as ebook) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_series
@@watchermagic5325 I should warn you that the story while still pretty good in the beginning, is a bit roughly written at first and having reread some of the earlier parts, it's clear the author has gotten better over time.
Dude I agree, but have you actually played Raid Shadow Legends the most ambitious mobile rpg game? I already have a level 69 hero that looks amazing with these graphics that put console RPGs a run for their money. But yeah it can get annoying
Don't forget to redeem the villains by the end of the story, regardless of how many people they killed or property they damaged! They realize that what they did was wrong, and that's all that matters! I mean, we could just kill them, but everyone really likes the villains, and I can't just kill fan favorite characters!
That's easy! Just reveal that the villain wasn't the *real* villain, merely being controlled by another villain who was in turn being controlled by an evil nebulous cloud of hate.
The idea behind that move was “Destroy a planet to stop every rebellion on every planet ever: don’t step out of line or we’ll blow yo whole planet up, like we did with Not-Alderaan”. It backfired, but I can see the logic: why waste time with troop occupation when looming despair and crabbucket mentality can crush rebellions for you.
@@KrimzonFlygon1 Evil cause Evil is Boring; such a simple Thing to understand. Right, Hollywood? Chris Chibnal? ...Hello? Why is no one answering? Hello, Chris? Kennedy? All Jokes aside, if you like Channels like this, Krimson Rogue roasting Empress Theresa and Onision should be Fun for you; do with that what you will. And: Ever thought of becoming a Writer yourself?
Unironic advice here, you don’t have to give your villain a complex or sympathetic motivation(s) for them to be interesting. It’s absolutely okay to have your villain to just be evil so long as they’re developed and memorable.
@yukishiro3287 Sadly, that's the old jokers. The new jokers are all quite angst-personified. This comes from a need to delve into why he thinks the way he does. Old jokers didn't need backstories, full of pain, abuse, or dead loved ones. They were just strangely evil, and they made a joke out of everything, especially if it was somebody's life.
@@xavierthomas5835 I understand. I mean I feel like I still prefer the old Jokers not having backstories and they do what they do just for shits and giggles. But I'm guessing that the problem with fiction is that some stuff need to make sense and some villains doing evil for evil is kinda no longer compelling? I mean it probably seems more understandable if Joker has an actual angsty backstory for which kinda explains how Harley got easily brainwashed (unless Joker just made a sad backstory; then in that case, he'd be a really good storyteller). I don't remember though
While true that villians do need a motive its worth noting it doesn't have to be deep or complex. The only real requirement is the audiance really buys that the villian wants it.
I feel satisfied about how one of my main villain ended up being. It's a princess, piss-off about how limited the power of the monarchy has become, and when she see a big empire conquering and then "educating" it's colonies, she becames both obsess about the founder of the empire and about surpassing him. When she becomes queen, she slowly takes back the power and begins organizing her people into a massive army, with the goal to beat the empire she tries to model. It's basically a complex explanation for the basic "I want power", which I think is cool.
An example I read here in the comments somewhere compared it to a small kid stealing cookies from a cookie jar without permission, then lying about it. Their motive for bad (or "evil") behavior wasn't complicated at all- they were hungry, they like cookies, if they followed the rules they wouldn't get those cookies, then they lied because they didn't want to get in trouble- *but even an extremely simple motive like that **_makes perfect sense. It's still a motive,_* even if onlookers will argue over whether or not it's a good one.
Who else thinks J.P. let himself get captured as part of a nefarious plot to trick all three villains into doing the video for him? That would make him the greatest evil mastermind of them all.
Or a great puppet master hero. Think about it: would not the natural conclusion of them going through his notes be that they end up defeating themselves?
@Nick HB Good point, but if he's an anti-hero, I want him to end up in a love triangle where that brunette pony tail girl that keeps showing up has to choose between him and the Inner Critic
Reusing a comment I've seen earlier: A villain must have a motive, A good villain has a sympathetic motive, A great villain's motives are probably better than yours.
Villains don't need to be sympathetic to be good. Joker is a good example. He's a crazed lunatic who causes death and destruction with no actual backstory (most of the time) who wants to beat Batman ideologically. It's great to see what he'll do next to try to break Batman.
@@Abyzz_Knight I get that, you are right. I just mean in most circumstances if you can write a compelling complex villain, it'll immerse you way more. Writing another Joker like character is not exactly an easy task
Abyss Knight then again all villains are. At the same time though Joker is someone who is so... perfectly balanced. He’s difficult because if you even slightly mess up your writing he turns into a total Joke (sorry for being, punny) but if you try too hard he turns into a total edgelord (see Injustice 2). He is a very niche character, well balanced and fantastic, but he also wouldn’t work in a lot of stories, him being too excessive or unexplained.
Oh surprise, surprise. An excuse for a bunch of villains to talk at us about what they're all about. Monologuing about what they're doing. _How refreshing._
About as surprising as the heros crashing in t-minus 5 minutes and stopping the villains dead in their tracks. Even when they have millions working for them that would likely continue the plan no matter what, it all comes crashing down when the villain is shot dead. *Cut* before far reaching consequences of said death starts setting in.
*leaps back in horror then suddenly points over persons left shoulder and shouts "LOOK OUT!!! then says "FOOLED YOU!!! in Lord Helmets voice before whipping out his Force™ Card™*
6:10 I remember an English teacher making us read and discuss a printed article blaming Japan, and more directly Pokémon, for bringing "half-hour long commercials for toys that kids mistake for entertainment" to America. When the teacher asked for opinions about the article, I told her that the Pokémon _video games (which the author neglected to mention the existence of, let alone that they predated the show)_ were first released in Japan *long after the invention of My Little Pony and G.I. Joe,* and that I didn't approve of the author's lack of research.
I met JP at AWA (anime weekend atlanta) and asked him if he would do a villain episode and I'm glad he finally made this. He said that there are two types of villains, ones that do it too gain something, and ones who do it because it feels good to them. JP if your reading this, thanks for making this and giving me these "terrible" advice! and I hope you had a chance to read that Book me and my team made (boundless manga), I hope you liked it and also hope we did the villains right. I hope to make better villains in the future of the Boundless series! also I'm almost done reading your book. (What is Hans up too?....) I hope we can meet again so you can sigh it!
I should add that sadistic villains commonly are underlings, who basically use authority to torture people or simply show off. But in such case you still need someone with level head to give them actual excuse for the job, as otherwise minions would not fallow him.
I have to disagree somewhat on the “power isn’t a motivation” thing. A villain with an almost neurotic compulsion to aggregate power out of a deep-seated fear of powerlessness could be interesting. Plus, you know, the compulsion to aggregate political power and/or money has been the driving motivation behind nearly every major villain in the acclaimed series we call real life.
I actually have a good backstory tie-in for the powerlust of a villain, or any hubristic character: the forgotten child. They were ignored by society no matter the good or bad, forcing them to find notice be it good or bad.
@@Imperials3nate I have to disagree. That would probably leave them craving attention, and someone with way too much power desperately trying to make people like them is just Elon Musk.
@@Abyzz_Knight What I was trying to say it is that. Josephiln Stalin is a hyborcrite for saying that quote. Since he was a ruthless dictator whose kill count got into the millions.
love triangles are always good when the villain is involved. That way you can include a back story where the villain was once the best friend of the love interest and the protagonist but then mysteriously died and then then reveals that he has turned into the villain!
@@BlackCover95 But archetypes are hardly static, which is why they are always changing for the times and cultures that come into and out of prominence. I feel like that one gets overlooked when people complain about new stories.
@@BlackCover95 I **think** he meant that the "Dark Lord" stereotype is surprisingly new. That's a Lord of the Rings wannabe, nobody would recognize a Ming the Merciless these days
Remember all Villains must be as comically evil as possible, even if it completely breaks immersion and suspension of disbelief because no one is that ridiculous. The man sisterly betrays the hero, why did he need the money? To buy slaves so he could build a death ray that will ultimately destroy all life as we know it. Of course he will still try to steal the hero’s love interest for some obligatory reason and punt a puppy for good measure.
They must also have evil names, even if it makes no sense. For example, Magneto's group used to call themselves "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" even when they considered themselves the good ones.
There's a villain trope you totally went past but ruinned more than one story: having a "true antagonist" revealed too late and with too little development in the last arc, making it a worse villan than the one before. Talk about an anti-climax! EDIT: There seems to be a missconception about what I'm reffering to: I was actually talking about new villains that were previously unknown to the characters and the spectator, not twist villains which can be badly made, but are not as hard to nail as the former.
“B-b-but they showed no prior signs of being evil-” “That goes to show you how manipulative [third act plot twist villain] is! They even fooled the _audience_ !”
unpopular view: "relatable motivations" don't matter; character development of villains does. Those successful "villains with motivations" are those that already have good character developments.
The orks kill for fun because they where programed by the old ones The imperium has exterminated countless sentient spices and is trying to exterminate the rest because the emperor wants total control over the Galaxy
I will never forget how "Rocket Robin Hood" would have short narrated character bios surround commercials that would introduce the cast. Specifically the one for Prince John: "Arch enemy of Rocket Robin Hood is the cruel space tyrant Prince John, despot ruler of the National Outerspace Terrestrial Territories. With the help of the wicked Sheriff of N.O.T.T., the black prince plans for that terrible day when he will destroy and conquer the entire solar system." I like to think that when he says John will destroy AND conquer the solar system, the narrator implies he will do so in that order.
Don't forget about making the villains do all the things you personally hate in real life, even if it makes no sense for their character or the context of the situation. Because what everyone wants during a conflicting exchange between the hero and villain is a monologue about how abortion should be legal and how drink driving is totally fine!
Abortion is legal? In most of the developed world? I mean not for long in the US because the courts have been packed with hack judges, but for now its still legal pretty much everywhere that isnt a backwater
@@jonVNTG Abraham was actually killed cause Rick's group killed like 50 of Negan's men. Glen was killed because Daryl punched Negan. The later was pettier and hurt worse! (sorry Abe)
Often in real history the "villain" is a good guy from another perspective, a example would be the events that lead to the language you are currently reading in being so dominant and widespread
@@draconianwarking I'm not just talking about psychopaths and serial killers who happened to serve under other people, i'm talking about psychopaths and serial killers in general.
Psychopaths are not inherently violent, it's a much more common condition than you might realize. Some grow up to become violent, because empathy is the main reason we don't kill each other constantly (plus it's illegal). It's only these "bad ones" that you have to watch out for, and they usually snap because of some perceived slight to themselves. Serial killers all have different reasons, but the base line is usually that they had a harmful delusion left unchecked. They see themself as a god or a messiah, above normal humans, or whatever. The people they killed were either like livestock to them, or they believed they deserved it, or they thought they were saving them, etc etc. Sometimes it's as simple as them wanting their name to go down in history, in anyway possible. Those guys really make my skin crawl. "Why'd you kill all those people?!" "So you'd learn my name."
Now that we have villains covered, there is only thing that can take on our mighty non-generic villain... A super hero. Please cover super heroes next, JP.
No, they don't need a redemption arc, but if they're just evil for no reason, that just makes them boring and unbelievable, and takes the reader out of the story.
If you are going that route though you do need something to replace it the best is the emperor palpatine style just replace backstory with Ham, sheer enjoyment of their actions, and self confidence.
I am planning to write a story about vile villain protagonist who happens to be living in a Sugar Bowl while the saccharine heroes are the antagonist who tries to stop him. I just fleshed out the concept that supposed to be a deconstructive parody of a Sugar Bowl cartoons with the villain as the main protagonist so what do you think?
That's sounds like a good concept. We may see most of the Sugar Bowl villains like No Heart from Care Bears or Quellor from Teddy Ruxpin who I wanted to treat the same like Megamind.
How serious is your villain? 1-Completely serious, without any comedy moments. 2-Serious, but with small moments of comedy. 3-Comically serious, that is to say that his/her seriousness is played for laughter. 4-Just as funny as the world around him/her
@@CCLOSPINA Well, I could say that the villain protagonist has the same level of comedy as Deadpool. Just remember that he have self-awareness that he's written inside a fairy tale.
@@poweroffriendship2.0 try not to fuck it up. Most people that use Deadpool as a reference don't understand the character, even including a lot of people that have written comics and cartoons for the man himself. The comedy is partially a coping mechanism.
Make a supporting character who helps out the protagonist at first until the third act of the story, when it's revealed they were the villain all along!
See I don't necessarily think a villain needs an inherent backstory or reason for being evil to be compelling. Really think about what villains are the most memorable, not necessarily to yourself, but to the general media. I'm talking about Vegeta, Frieza, Umbridge; Jessie, James and Meowth from Pokemon; basically every single villain from the early Disney movies, with many more examples. All these villains have either incredibly light backstories, or basically no reason for being evil other than they want to be. I think what's more important to a villain than backstory or motivation, is that the reader gets an emotional response out of them. We need to find them compelling in some way. If you have a standard dark lord who is pretty much just bland from the start with no real personality or character, then the reader will just be bored and see him for the plot device he is. If you have a villain who has a clearly defined personality, even if that personality is that he is just evil because it's fun, then the reader will instantly be more invested in them.
Even the greatest villain of all time Dr. Heinz Doofensmirtz understood the importance of motivation and backstory, he almost never did an evil scheme unless he either profited from it or had a tragic backstory behind it.
One thing I would have added, a villain doesn't always need to be hateable. If you can justify why they should to lose other ways, an unhateable villain can be a good source of genuine emotional conflict.
"Themes are for eighth grade book reports, Themes are for eighth grade book reports,Themes are for eighth grade book reports...." Also JP: Makes thin lines between heroes and villains a *massive theme over the course of the series* You can't have your cake and eat it too, JP. How important are themes? are they for book reports, or every story??? Us writers need to know...
I love how "quadratic equation" is apparently right up there with "poison" and "financial ruin". Baron's probably going to screw up the poison _and_ run the company into the ground, if he doesn't have a high-school education.
I'd argue that you don't need to make your villians sympathetic, you just need to make them fun to hate, fun to watch them work. After all some of the best villains in stories are what folks would call 'flat characters', as in they don't need sympathy, they don't have some higher goal nor is that a prerequisite for making a good character, hero or villain. A flat villain, especially a proactive character is great because of how they seek to bring down others to their level, see just how far they can push people. For them it's getting others, especially seemingly decent people to commit atrocities themselves not even having to get their own hands dirty. They are able to get others to do the horrid tasks for them by threatening honest folk to do these things, instilling fear in even the stuanches of souls (a man that has something to love and lose) or even exploit the selfish (but understandable) desires of even the purest of champions for personal gain.
But sometimes it fun just to watch someone be evil like Hades (in the Disney movie, not the myths sorry I trust you all that's he complex there ) but I like complex villians too
"What's a Saturday morning cartoon?" -- "In the 80 that was just another name for product placement" Ouch. That was a deep cut. Just destroy my childhood why don't you.
Tying to align the 3 villains: Evil Barron = lawful evil, does evil for self gain within the bounds of law and traditions (like abusing loopholes, turning the laws against the hero’s or working within political intrigue) Evil Overlord = neutral evil, does evil for self gain whenever they feel is best and can get away with, not bound by laws or code but also not likely to do evil without reasion (destroying a village to gain access to a artefact, or torturing a character for information, or petty theft.) Evil Emperor = chaotic evil, does evil often out sheer impulse or even entertainment. Far more likely to strike an innocent unprovoked or take their evil far beyond what is nessiary for the situation just because they can (blowing up a plannet over a small threat or sight, torturing a character for info... then continuing to so after the character gives up the information. Destroying a village to test a new death weapon, when there are more effective ethical options available)
This video in general is probably his worst and is obviously biased. A good villain depends entirely on the interpretation your audience gave him but usually a good vilain is a well written villain. And well written doesn't mean he has to be complex, he just needs to be iconic and memorable. Bill cipher is still hailed as a great vilain even if his character is one dimensional
Ok but the bit about power for power's sake actually gave me a great idea for a villain: have a typical high fantasy adventure romp where the twist halfway through where it turns out that the unstoppable Dark Lord the heroes have been fighting this whole time isn't some primordial force of chaos but is actually a plucky goth teenager who endlessly seeks power as a way of coping with their own insecurities and had to fight tooth and nail to rise from their humble origins to the most powerful person in the world.
Kind of sounds like the Lord Ruler from Mistborn. At least, judging by the first book. Maybe informations learned later in that trilogy will change that.
I think that sometimes you don’t necessarily need a well developed villain. They just need to be intimidating and be an actual threat to our hero’s. Sauron makes a good villain because he’s practically unstoppable. You feel for the hero’s because there’s seemingly no hope. Sauron isn’t belittled or incompetent, say like General Hux. He may not be interesting, but he’s a huge obstacle for our heroes to overcome.
it's harder to pull off since it requires the writer to be confident to have the protagonist as the center of the story and even then it doesn't shield you from critism
So I've been working on this one story for a while; it's about a man who summons a demon to strike a deal for a tool to steal a soul. He then steals a demon's soul with this tool and incorporates it into his own. I really don't know where this one is going, since I write as a hobby for the most part, but I do enjoy the idea of the protagonist being the villain, and the conflict arising from his descent into madness and the slow skewing of his moral compass.
Bad writing is the greatest villain of all. No matter how mighty the franchise, bad writing can consume it.
Don't forget appealing to the lowest common denominator so its still popular despite it being shit
_All hail the omnipresent evil of the mighty _*_love triangle_*_ that never gets a conclusion! All hail the infinite will-they-or-won't-theys!_
Ehm Ehm Season 8
-Disney Star Wars-
Followed by its closest rival: Market Demand.
I want to point out that these villains, while talking about what they love, are standing in a triangle...
also a bit silly of them to explain their plans in detail to the protagonist just before leaving then in a hopeless situation dangling over a pit of flame spiders to tend with the final details and sign off on the last few bits of their master plan of world domination giving the hero a chance to escape or be aided by a clever animal sidekick who has stolen the key that will insure the world is saved from dark domination
I ship it
wait but that's symbolism
you can't do that
its the
LOVE TRIANGLE!!!
Dammit! Should've arranged those 3 individuals into some other shape!
"Sarcasm, Sarcasm, Self deprecating joke, Love Triangle!"
Are you the writer for this show?
"Hey, that's like, EVERY video!"
Somebody get JP a Burn heal, ASAP!!
Luke Haunreiter That one had me dead 😂😂
I felt that
"It doesn’t matter how flawless the scheme was, how impregnable the fortress or powerful the magical weapon, it always ends with a band of adolescents shouting utter platitudes as they tear it all down. The game is rigged so that we lose, every single time. Half the world, turned into a prop for the glory of the other half." - Black Knight, Practical Guide to Evil
I recall a instance in that story where the main character refused the brutally pragmatic option of a preemptive rampage into the enemies backlines, i recommend this series where the main character does exactly that as his first action in restoring his civilization (available for free as ebook) en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_General_series
Reminds me of this sketch ua-cam.com/video/CApIobs1oss/v-deo.html
I am so looking that up
@@watchermagic5325 I should warn you that the story while still pretty good in the beginning, is a bit roughly written at first and having reread some of the earlier parts, it's clear the author has gotten better over time.
This is why Tarquin from the Order of the Stick is top tier villain design.
No villain could ever top the dreaded love triangle!
Seconded, especially when the love triangle eclipses the far more compelling main plot!
Why tf did I think this was gonna be some jojo reference
Hatsune Memeku Who’s Jojo?
Jayton S. You *what now*
Hatsune Memeku Care to explain?
The evilest thing he could have done at the end would have to have the sponsor be RAID: SHADOW LEGENDS.
Dude I agree, but have you actually played Raid Shadow Legends the most ambitious mobile rpg game? I already have a level 69 hero that looks amazing with these graphics that put console RPGs a run for their money. But yeah it can get annoying
And then the three-minute ad with all the same lines that you know RSL tells them to say? Tell me about it.
@True Gopnik Or do something related to love triangles ;)
@@baddgerpaw i know right? And you can get 100,000 silver FOR FREE using the code "dumpy"
@@baddgerpaw I prefer darkness rises
okay but when the villains are developed better than the heros tho
Indeed, sometimes it's more fun to root for Johnny over Daniel-San, or Darth Vader over Luke!
Loki over Thor
and
Zuko of avatar
Then you’ve written The Dark Knight
Like the Joker. Or Black Panther.
Like Daredevil
"In the '80s, that was another word for 'product placement.'"
Ow, right in the childhood!
*giggles in 90s child*
*Stands idly in zoomer generation*
@@jaschabull2365
'90's Cartoon is just another word for Public Service Announcement.
@@BonaparteBardithion OOF
*smiles awkwardly as a 2000’s child*
Don't forget to redeem the villains by the end of the story, regardless of how many people they killed or property they damaged! They realize that what they did was wrong, and that's all that matters!
I mean, we could just kill them, but everyone really likes the villains, and I can't just kill fan favorite characters!
Kyle Wainwright xehanooooooort
Discord at the end of MLP.
That's easy! Just reveal that the villain wasn't the *real* villain, merely being controlled by another villain who was in turn being controlled by an evil nebulous cloud of hate.
Guys, I'm pretty sure redemption arks deserve a video of their own
Am not really a fan of the villain being reedemed at the end of the story. A lot of times it feels forced. And almost never works.
*"Yeah, we got this. This should be as easy as destroying an entire planet in order to stop a single rebel strike team"*
on point
The idea behind that move was “Destroy a planet to stop every rebellion on every planet ever: don’t step out of line or we’ll blow yo whole planet up, like we did with Not-Alderaan”.
It backfired, but I can see the logic: why waste time with troop occupation when looming despair and crabbucket mentality can crush rebellions for you.
@@KrimzonFlygon1 Evil cause Evil is Boring;
such a simple Thing to understand.
Right, Hollywood? Chris Chibnal?
...Hello?
Why is no one answering? Hello, Chris? Kennedy?
All Jokes aside, if you like Channels like this, Krimson Rogue roasting Empress Theresa and Onision
should be Fun for you; do with that what you will. And: Ever thought of becoming a Writer yourself?
I'm going to call J.P "love triangle man" now
It's *pathetic* love triangle man to you!!
He's in a live triangle with himself
You mean you weren't already calling him that?
@@Blackrain7070 His Id, Ego and Superego
J.P Lovecraft
Unironic advice here, you don’t have to give your villain a complex or sympathetic motivation(s) for them to be interesting. It’s absolutely okay to have your villain to just be evil so long as they’re developed and memorable.
Agreed
Agreed!
see : Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
@@lavenzavantas dio did have a sad backstory tho
Hades from Disneys Hercules is a great one
Villain: *destroys the world*
Comic Relief Character: *Z A P P E R S*
But what if my comic relief character is a villain?
I guess he destroys world for a joke
I just giggled. That's so true! The zapper is invincible!
@@platinumchromee3191 Not sure but isn't Joker also that type of guy though? Interesting idea though
@yukishiro3287 Sadly, that's the old jokers. The new jokers are all quite angst-personified. This comes from a need to delve into why he thinks the way he does. Old jokers didn't need backstories, full of pain, abuse, or dead loved ones. They were just strangely evil, and they made a joke out of everything, especially if it was somebody's life.
@@xavierthomas5835 I understand. I mean I feel like I still prefer the old Jokers not having backstories and they do what they do just for shits and giggles. But I'm guessing that the problem with fiction is that some stuff need to make sense and some villains doing evil for evil is kinda no longer compelling? I mean it probably seems more understandable if Joker has an actual angsty backstory for which kinda explains how Harley got easily brainwashed (unless Joker just made a sad backstory; then in that case, he'd be a really good storyteller). I don't remember though
Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm..
Self deprecating joke
*Love Triangle*
Comment section:
Stolen Comment, Stolen Comment, Stolen Comment
Origina- Got you! Stolen comment
Reddit meme reference.
Since I saw this comment earlier, how many HULU shows are you the head writer for anyway?
While true that villians do need a motive its worth noting it doesn't have to be deep or complex. The only real requirement is the audiance really buys that the villian wants it.
I feel satisfied about how one of my main villain ended up being. It's a princess, piss-off about how limited the power of the monarchy has become, and when she see a big empire conquering and then "educating" it's colonies, she becames both obsess about the founder of the empire and about surpassing him. When she becomes queen, she slowly takes back the power and begins organizing her people into a massive army, with the goal to beat the empire she tries to model.
It's basically a complex explanation for the basic "I want power", which I think is cool.
An example I read here in the comments somewhere compared it to a small kid stealing cookies from a cookie jar without permission, then lying about it.
Their motive for bad (or "evil") behavior wasn't complicated at all- they were hungry, they like cookies, if they followed the rules they wouldn't get those cookies, then they lied because they didn't want to get in trouble- *but even an extremely simple motive like that **_makes perfect sense. It's still a motive,_* even if onlookers will argue over whether or not it's a good one.
ChaosRayZero
The term they were probably looking for was a _defined_ motivation.
@@legrandliseurtri7495 Sounds like Edelgard from Fire Emblem: Three Houses
@@nicholasnelson8641 I never actually played fire emblem. What kind of game is it?
Three villains; that's a triangle, were is JP going with this, I'm scared?
Well, we weren't thinking it before. But now the ships have sailed. 😘
Edit: Also, Rule of Three.
I ship it.
Personnally I really like the relationship of the Dark Lord and the Baron.
Who else thinks J.P. let himself get captured as part of a nefarious plot to trick all three villains into doing the video for him?
That would make him the greatest evil mastermind of them all.
Or a great puppet master hero. Think about it: would not the natural conclusion of them going through his notes be that they end up defeating themselves?
@Nick HB Good point, but if he's an anti-hero, I want him to end up in a love triangle where that brunette pony tail girl that keeps showing up has to choose between him and the Inner Critic
@Nick HB No. I meant Mary Sue, although I think she's died multiple times.
He is lazy enough to do that.
@@EricHeidenAuthor Mary Sue doesn't die, she simply respawns using the power of authorial bias
The only villain here is me for wasting my own time watching videos instead of working on my story
Why you gotta' call me out like that?
I'm in this comment and I don't like it.
*how dare you call me out with your own words-*
Same brother
Instead of talking about it, just do it
Reusing a comment I've seen earlier:
A villain must have a motive,
A good villain has a sympathetic motive,
A great villain's motives are probably better than yours.
O_o
Oh that's a good one.
Villains don't need to be sympathetic to be good.
Joker is a good example. He's a crazed lunatic who causes death and destruction with no actual backstory (most of the time) who wants to beat Batman ideologically. It's great to see what he'll do next to try to break Batman.
@@Abyzz_Knight I get that, you are right. I just mean in most circumstances if you can write a compelling complex villain, it'll immerse you way more. Writing another Joker like character is not exactly an easy task
Abyss Knight then again all villains are. At the same time though Joker is someone who is so... perfectly balanced. He’s difficult because if you even slightly mess up your writing he turns into a total Joke (sorry for being, punny) but if you try too hard he turns into a total edgelord (see Injustice 2). He is a very niche character, well balanced and fantastic, but he also wouldn’t work in a lot of stories, him being too excessive or unexplained.
"What are Saturday morning cartoons?"
"In the 80's, it was another word for product placement."
I laughed so hard I started coughing uncontrollably
*i remember looking forward to saturday morning cartoons...sigh..yeah, i'm really that old*
Then what were SatAM cartoons in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 90s?
@@canaisyoung3601 An anomaly. 😎
Oh surprise, surprise. An excuse for a bunch of villains to talk at us about what they're all about. Monologuing about what they're doing. _How refreshing._
About as surprising as the heros crashing in t-minus 5 minutes and stopping the villains dead in their tracks. Even when they have millions working for them that would likely continue the plan no matter what, it all comes crashing down when the villain is shot dead. *Cut* before far reaching consequences of said death starts setting in.
Say, you ever gave that moustache a twirl?
"You expect me to monologue like a cheap RKO villain if I had any chance of failing? I did it 15 minutes ago."
Just Some Guy with a Mustache That was _savage_
It's you! It's been a while since I've seen you.
[Count Dooku voice] “I’ve been looking forward to this.”
Master Kenobi, you disappoint me.
Just wanted to say I heared The clone wars series voice. Not the films, not the 2d show one, the greatest one😁
Sylveon *I’ve been looking forward to this
Bilbo Swaggins I knew it felt a bit wrong , thanks
*leaps back in horror then suddenly points over persons left shoulder and shouts "LOOK OUT!!! then says "FOOLED YOU!!! in Lord Helmets voice before whipping out his Force™ Card™*
JP- "Alright, i can see, that i'll have to teach you, how to write villains!" *Epic sax*
Here’s a little lesson in Bad Writing!
This book is going down in history!
*Plays a Love Triangle*
Look at this cliche
Which I just found
When I say ‘ight
Get ready to write
@@dr.spaghetti1973 Write!
*Makes silly doodles.*
What are you doing!? Ugh! Let's try something else!
@@unicorninvader8783 If you want to write a villain number 1,
You have to chase the clichés on the run!
6:10 I remember an English teacher making us read and discuss a printed article blaming Japan, and more directly Pokémon, for bringing "half-hour long commercials for toys that kids mistake for entertainment" to America.
When the teacher asked for opinions about the article, I told her that the Pokémon _video games (which the author neglected to mention the existence of, let alone that they predated the show)_ were first released in Japan *long after the invention of My Little Pony and G.I. Joe,* and that I didn't approve of the author's lack of research.
Ha, yeah, Japan imported that idea from us!
Pokemon was clearly not originally a commercial. It was a video game first, then the merchandise came afterwards.
@@tompatterson1548 _I know, right?_ 😣
I met JP at AWA (anime weekend atlanta) and asked him if he would do a villain episode and I'm glad he finally made this. He said that there are two types of villains, ones that do it too gain something, and ones who do it because it feels good to them. JP if your reading this, thanks for making this and giving me these "terrible" advice! and I hope you had a chance to read that Book me and my team made (boundless manga), I hope you liked it and also hope we did the villains right. I hope to make better villains in the future of the Boundless series! also I'm almost done reading your book. (What is Hans up too?....) I hope we can meet again so you can sigh it!
I should add that sadistic villains commonly are underlings, who basically use authority to torture people or simply show off. But in such case you still need someone with level head to give them actual excuse for the job, as otherwise minions would not fallow him.
@@TheRezro thanks!
They are the best trio ever and are so funny together
They should do other videos.
Merritt Animation yeah it be so funny
Love triangle anyone?
KingsSpaghetti omg how did I not notice that before
It's a -love- hate triangle.
I have to disagree somewhat on the “power isn’t a motivation” thing. A villain with an almost neurotic compulsion to aggregate power out of a deep-seated fear of powerlessness could be interesting.
Plus, you know, the compulsion to aggregate political power and/or money has been the driving motivation behind nearly every major villain in the acclaimed series we call real life.
Thanks. I might use this.
I don't think DL thought that far ahead. X)
I actually have a good backstory tie-in for the powerlust of a villain, or any hubristic character: the forgotten child. They were ignored by society no matter the good or bad, forcing them to find notice be it good or bad.
@@Imperials3nate I have to disagree. That would probably leave them craving attention, and someone with way too much power desperately trying to make people like them is just Elon Musk.
Vergil from the Special Edition™ series
"I see i have to teach you how to be... VILLAINS!"
pandabuluk Here’s a little lesson in trickery!
@@emblemblade9245 This is going down in history!
@@nobodys_winds6580 if you wanna be the villain number one!
@Stormgem Thunder
We are Number One!
Hey!
@@fabulous_wombat We are number one!
“One death is a tragedy. One million is a statistic” - Joseph Stalin
That as the most hyborcriteally qoute ever thing my a human being.
@@hunchoa2972 umm what?
@@hunchoa2972 Speak English, please.
@@FieryMeltman Excuse my bad grammar.
@@Abyzz_Knight What I was trying to say it is that. Josephiln Stalin is a hyborcrite for saying that quote. Since he was a ruthless dictator whose kill count got into the millions.
Me, 30s after upload, seeing 6 'first' comments: y'all are the real villains
Are the 6th comment I see. *So you must be the real villain here.*
@@hunchoa2972 6 always was my lucky number... Trust no one, not even yourself
Not villains just idiots
@@LordTalax they're both
"What's a 'Saturday Morning cartoon'?"
"In the '80s that was another word for 'product placement'."
I grew up in the '80s, and that is 100% accurate.
Now Saturday mornings are wall-to-wall news shows, which are even more farcical than the cartoons were...
I love that "Pathetic Love Triangle Man" is JP's unofficial title throughout this series.
What about a love triangle with the villain
Happens all the time. Especially when the villain is female, doubly so if they're a general or something working below a more evil old guy.
You basically would have an Alpha Hero story.
Pretty much all of the time. Then the villain turns good and teams up with the Fabio harem and fight the REAL villain.
love triangles are always good when the villain is involved. That way you can include a back story where the villain was once the best friend of the love interest and the protagonist but then mysteriously died and then then reveals that he has turned into the villain!
Hokuto no Ken did better: a love hexagon with the villains and the heroes being in love with one chick
Opens youtube
sees a new terrible writing advice
"Ooh looks like the pathetic love triangle man has uploaded again"
Even though everyone of these characters are clearly parodies of aged and outdated tropes, I still like the Dark Lord guy :v
The benefit of archetypes is that they are familiar, and thus require less introduction.
@@BlackCover95 But archetypes are hardly static, which is why they are always changing for the times and cultures that come into and out of prominence. I feel like that one gets overlooked when people complain about new stories.
Johnathon Haney
I understood the first half of that. I don’t understand the second sentence. WDYM?
I like Baron most, but yes I agree
@@BlackCover95 I **think** he meant that the "Dark Lord" stereotype is surprisingly new. That's a Lord of the Rings wannabe, nobody would recognize a Ming the Merciless these days
“Come to the dark side, we have cookies!”
Ninjazzy hearthstone
On my way
Yay, anything for cookies!😋🍪
With one notable exception. In RWBY fandom, the light side is the one with cookies. The dark side has ice cream.
Come to the dark side, we have Pop Tarts.
Remember all Villains must be as comically evil as possible, even if it completely breaks immersion and suspension of disbelief because no one is that ridiculous.
The man sisterly betrays the hero, why did he need the money? To buy slaves so he could build a death ray that will ultimately destroy all life as we know it. Of course he will still try to steal the hero’s love interest for some obligatory reason and punt a puppy for good measure.
But I love over the top evil for the shake of evil assholes
"Okay, we need to take over the world, so we can destroy the world, then we RULE THE WORLD!"
"Why though?"
"Because... EVIL."
They must also have evil names, even if it makes no sense.
For example, Magneto's group used to call themselves "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" even when they considered themselves the good ones.
Dio: write that down, write that down
"There is nothing wrong with wanting to steal all of the creme cheese in Japan. And no, I'm not going to tell you why I'm doing it." Baron Von Blimp.
There's a villain trope you totally went past but ruinned more than one story: having a "true antagonist" revealed too late and with too little development in the last arc, making it a worse villan than the one before. Talk about an anti-climax!
EDIT: There seems to be a missconception about what I'm reffering to: I was actually talking about new villains that were previously unknown to the characters and the spectator, not twist villains which can be badly made, but are not as hard to nail as the former.
“B-b-but they showed no prior signs of being evil-”
“That goes to show you how manipulative [third act plot twist villain] is! They even fooled the _audience_ !”
If I'm not mistaken that is defined as "popup vaillain".
@@BlackCover95 Yeh... but it is amazing when movie actually foreshadow that :D
What if the villain turns out to be one of the main characters? With enough foreshadowing, that should give him enough characterization.
@@Nethan2000 And about what we taking here? Hell! There are stories where even lead character was actually a villain, so it isn't nothing new.
Not going to lie, the Baron's design is what makes him the best cause cane+musclegut+balding+that coat=amazing
ngl he really rocks that coat
He reminds me of Prime Minister Honest from Akame ga Kill!
Look at me, I'm J.P! "Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm, self-deprecating joke, love triangle"
unpopular view: "relatable motivations" don't matter; character development of villains does. Those successful "villains with motivations" are those that already have good character developments.
7:21
"AHG-"
"Mary Sue, NO!"
*"King Baron sends his regards."*
Mini Moustache
“I put my best gear on you!”
"Wow, we actually hit something."
-every disposable soldier for an evil empire ever
"People like the villains more than the heroes?"
Warhammer 40K Orks: Allow us to introduce ourselves
well to be fair everyone in 40k is a villain
The Orks are the Heroes though, basically the Galaxy's immune system
@Chase Moore the imperium is 50% preserving humanity and 50% fucking with then
The orks kill for fun because they where programed by the old ones
The imperium has exterminated countless sentient spices and is trying to exterminate the rest because the emperor wants total control over the Galaxy
Waaaagh
I will never forget how "Rocket Robin Hood" would have short narrated character bios surround commercials that would introduce the cast. Specifically the one for Prince John:
"Arch enemy of Rocket Robin Hood is the cruel space tyrant Prince John, despot ruler of the National Outerspace Terrestrial Territories. With the help of the wicked Sheriff of N.O.T.T., the black prince plans for that terrible day when he will destroy and conquer the entire solar system."
I like to think that when he says John will destroy AND conquer the solar system, the narrator implies he will do so in that order.
Well of course, it's a lot easier to conquer the empty space where a solar system used to be than an entire populated solar system.
Every villain is the hero of their own story, even yours.
Don't forget about making the villains do all the things you personally hate in real life, even if it makes no sense for their character or the context of the situation. Because what everyone wants during a conflicting exchange between the hero and villain is a monologue about how abortion should be legal and how drink driving is totally fine!
Tbh thats a hard itch to not scratch, but for me its protagonists dissing stuff I don't like
Abortion is legal? In most of the developed world?
I mean not for long in the US because the courts have been packed with hack judges, but for now its still legal pretty much everywhere that isnt a backwater
@@charlx8979 I wasn't making a statement smoothbrain, keep that politics shit outta here.
@@charlx8979 his point went way over ylur head
A villan who wants to turn the world into chaotic anarchy after destroying global infasructure will definetly care about making people vote Democrat.
"I hunger for power. For power's sake!" keep it in your pants, Vergil.
"Why obliterate when you can delegate?!"
Villain kills thousands of innocents and then forgets why he did it two years later. That's 10/10 writing there.
Even when JP isn’t in the video, the Love Triangle still always manages to come up!
"Kills developed characters over petty reasons"
**Glen gurgling sounds**
Abraham bodie cramping
@@jonVNTG Abraham was actually killed cause Rick's group killed like 50 of Negan's men. Glen was killed because Daryl punched Negan. The later was pettier and hurt worse! (sorry Abe)
Do you know what these 3 villains need?
_A Love Triangle!_
Look at how they're standing.
Often in real history the "villain" is a good guy from another perspective, a example would be the events that lead to the language you are currently reading in being so dominant and widespread
what about all the psychopaths and serial killers?
@@billtenth5805 only a small percentage of soldiers do most of the killing in wars
Agreed - which makes villains written that way in stories all the more interesting.
@@draconianwarking I'm not just talking about psychopaths and serial killers who happened to serve under other people, i'm talking about psychopaths and serial killers in general.
Psychopaths are not inherently violent, it's a much more common condition than you might realize. Some grow up to become violent, because empathy is the main reason we don't kill each other constantly (plus it's illegal). It's only these "bad ones" that you have to watch out for, and they usually snap because of some perceived slight to themselves.
Serial killers all have different reasons, but the base line is usually that they had a harmful delusion left unchecked. They see themself as a god or a messiah, above normal humans, or whatever. The people they killed were either like livestock to them, or they believed they deserved it, or they thought they were saving them, etc etc.
Sometimes it's as simple as them wanting their name to go down in history, in anyway possible. Those guys really make my skin crawl. "Why'd you kill all those people?!" "So you'd learn my name."
"Sarcasm, sarcasm, love triangle"
that should be on a t shirt
@@estellariley5334 well, it's almost Christmas. We're waiting
And self-depricating jokes
Now that we have villains covered, there is only thing that can take on our mighty non-generic villain...
A super hero.
Please cover super heroes next, JP.
Not every villain needs a redemption arc, or a reason behind their descent into villainy!😈
No, they don't need a redemption arc, but if they're just evil for no reason, that just makes them boring and unbelievable, and takes the reader out of the story.
This is a story without villains, only victims
- from the Korean Webtoon Kubera
If you are going that route though you do need something to replace it the best is the emperor palpatine style just replace backstory with Ham, sheer enjoyment of their actions, and self confidence.
Yeah, sometimes people are just evil, and they don't have a sad backstory or a morally complex motive.
@@littlemoth4956 How is it unbelievable? Do children need a deep complex reason to steal from cookie jars and lie about it?
Could you maybe do one on Revolutions and Freedom Fighters?
Don’t you mean, “The Rebellion/Resistance”?
Hoàng Nguyên
Looks interesting. I’ll check it out. Thanks!
I am planning to write a story about vile villain protagonist who happens to be living in a Sugar Bowl while the saccharine heroes are the antagonist who tries to stop him. I just fleshed out the concept that supposed to be a deconstructive parody of a Sugar Bowl cartoons with the villain as the main protagonist so what do you think?
That's sounds like a good concept. We may see most of the Sugar Bowl villains like No Heart from Care Bears or Quellor from Teddy Ruxpin who I wanted to treat the same like Megamind.
Bold italics
How serious is your villain?
1-Completely serious, without any comedy moments.
2-Serious, but with small moments of comedy.
3-Comically serious, that is to say that his/her seriousness is played for laughter.
4-Just as funny as the world around him/her
@@CCLOSPINA Well, I could say that the villain protagonist has the same level of comedy as Deadpool. Just remember that he have self-awareness that he's written inside a fairy tale.
@@poweroffriendship2.0 try not to fuck it up. Most people that use Deadpool as a reference don't understand the character, even including a lot of people that have written comics and cartoons for the man himself. The comedy is partially a coping mechanism.
Make a supporting character who helps out the protagonist at first until the third act of the story, when it's revealed they were the villain all along!
I’ve been waiting for someone to lampoon that. I was starting to think I was the only one to notice this new cliché.
@@BlackCover95 It isn't new. Just it usually is decently executed.
See I don't necessarily think a villain needs an inherent backstory or reason for being evil to be compelling. Really think about what villains are the most memorable, not necessarily to yourself, but to the general media. I'm talking about Vegeta, Frieza, Umbridge; Jessie, James and Meowth from Pokemon; basically every single villain from the early Disney movies, with many more examples. All these villains have either incredibly light backstories, or basically no reason for being evil other than they want to be. I think what's more important to a villain than backstory or motivation, is that the reader gets an emotional response out of them. We need to find them compelling in some way. If you have a standard dark lord who is pretty much just bland from the start with no real personality or character, then the reader will just be bored and see him for the plot device he is. If you have a villain who has a clearly defined personality, even if that personality is that he is just evil because it's fun, then the reader will instantly be more invested in them.
So Heath Ledger's Joker or Hans Landa?
I don't really remember any of those ... I do remember Zorg from Fifth Element. Despite limited facetime he had excellent motive and characterization.
The entire sponsorship segment is just the "People's Front of Judea" scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian.
MPLoB pointed out the reality of resistance cells.
What about the Judean People's Front?
Louis Duarte
Splitters!
You'd be amazed how most popular holywood movies have bad writing when it comes to villians.
This video does several things.
It shakes up the usual formula, gives us an insight into how J.P writes episodes and tells a story.
I’d love to see an episode on heroes turning to villains or just twist villains in general. They can be their own kind of magical.
the 3 villains rambling like some seniors in an old folks home is the best thing
"wow we actually hit something"
I kek'd
Was it top, by any conceivable description?
Thanks for using closed captioning! It's really useful and frankly refreshing to find a UA-camr I like who uses them
3:33 did J.P. really predict that meme with the smurf cat and "we live, we love, we lie" multiple years before it blew up
The last time I was this late terrible writing advice was actually not sponsered
Even the greatest villain of all time Dr. Heinz Doofensmirtz understood the importance of motivation and backstory, he almost never did an evil scheme unless he either profited from it or had a tragic backstory behind it.
This and Rivals are my favorite TWA episodes. I love it when JP switches up the formula.
They need a series on their own
One thing I would have added, a villain doesn't always need to be hateable. If you can justify why they should to lose other ways, an unhateable villain can be a good source of genuine emotional conflict.
Well said.
"Themes are for eighth grade book reports, Themes are for eighth grade book reports,Themes are for eighth grade book reports...."
Also JP: Makes thin lines between heroes and villains a *massive theme over the course of the series*
You can't have your cake and eat it too, JP. How important are themes? are they for book reports, or every story??? Us writers need to know...
I love how "quadratic equation" is apparently right up there with "poison" and "financial ruin".
Baron's probably going to screw up the poison _and_ run the company into the ground, if he doesn't have a high-school education.
LMAO the over convoluted villain plot is literally from DUNE 😂
Wait...maybe Baron is literally the Baron?
@@TheRezro harkonen. Classic XD
Been so long since I've watched one of these, and it starts in the best way possible.
Practical guide to evil is the ultimate deconstruction of villainous tropes and good vs evil stories
I was expecting JP to get up and say: "I made the villains make video about villains for me! Everything according to the plan".
I’ve never been late to a TWA video in my life.
Man makes seriously good satire.
Now insert a villain quote.
I'd argue that you don't need to make your villians sympathetic, you just need to make them fun to hate, fun to watch them work. After all some of the best villains in stories are what folks would call 'flat characters', as in they don't need sympathy, they don't have some higher goal nor is that a prerequisite for making a good character, hero or villain. A flat villain, especially a proactive character is great because of how they seek to bring down others to their level, see just how far they can push people. For them it's getting others, especially seemingly decent people to commit atrocities themselves not even having to get their own hands dirty. They are able to get others to do the horrid tasks for them by threatening honest folk to do these things, instilling fear in even the stuanches of souls (a man that has something to love and lose) or even exploit the selfish (but understandable) desires of even the purest of champions for personal gain.
Are you sure that the bad guys didn’t kidnap the inner critic instead of J.P? Those notes seem to complicated for J.P himself.
I don't like it when villains are generics psychopaths i like characters who are morally complex
But sometimes it fun just to watch someone be evil like Hades (in the Disney movie, not the myths sorry I trust you all that's he complex there ) but I like complex villians too
@@SoulSlugArts But, Hades is complex.
@@CCLOSPINA in the Disney movie, no he's really not but I'm sure you talk about something else
He's much more complex in the actual myths. As well as in the popular Percy Jackson series.
This is a story without villains, only victims
- from the Korean Webtoon Kubera
nooo, JP is in danger!! what a good start for a "damsel in distress" episode... just is plan ;)
Apparently House Badguy is the voice of reason now.
Wait, House Badguy has villains? Since when?!?!?!?
"What's a Saturday morning cartoon?" -- "In the 80 that was just another name for product placement"
Ouch. That was a deep cut. Just destroy my childhood why don't you.
Tying to align the 3 villains:
Evil Barron = lawful evil, does evil for self gain within the bounds of law and traditions (like abusing loopholes, turning the laws against the hero’s or working within political intrigue)
Evil Overlord = neutral evil, does evil for self gain whenever they feel is best and can get away with, not bound by laws or code but also not likely to do evil without reasion (destroying a village to gain access to a artefact, or torturing a character for information, or petty theft.)
Evil Emperor = chaotic evil, does evil often out sheer impulse or even entertainment. Far more likely to strike an innocent unprovoked or take their evil far beyond what is nessiary for the situation just because they can (blowing up a plannet over a small threat or sight, torturing a character for info... then continuing to so after the character gives up the information. Destroying a village to test a new death weapon, when there are more effective ethical options available)
I like this analysis.
Gotta love how the point of killing off main character was mentioned.
That's the spoiler for my story :p
The worst writing advice I ever heard was villains need to be sympathetic
This video in general is probably his worst and is obviously biased. A good villain depends entirely on the interpretation your audience gave him but usually a good vilain is a well written villain. And well written doesn't mean he has to be complex, he just needs to be iconic and memorable. Bill cipher is still hailed as a great vilain even if his character is one dimensional
This video had the greatest villains of all time- the Evil Overlord, the Evil Emperor, and the Evil Baron, all together!!
«Power is an end in of itself»
The entire human history: YES
Next episode: * “no more love triangles: how writers ruin everything by getting tired of their own successful running gags” *
Ok but the bit about power for power's sake actually gave me a great idea for a villain: have a typical high fantasy adventure romp where the twist halfway through where it turns out that the unstoppable Dark Lord the heroes have been fighting this whole time isn't some primordial force of chaos but is actually a plucky goth teenager who endlessly seeks power as a way of coping with their own insecurities and had to fight tooth and nail to rise from their humble origins to the most powerful person in the world.
Kind of sounds like the Lord Ruler from Mistborn. At least, judging by the first book. Maybe informations learned later in that trilogy will change that.
It's like this was actually supposed to be a Serious Thought video before those three hijacked it.
I think that sometimes you don’t necessarily need a well developed villain. They just need to be intimidating and be an actual threat to our hero’s. Sauron makes a good villain because he’s practically unstoppable. You feel for the hero’s because there’s seemingly no hope. Sauron isn’t belittled or incompetent, say like General Hux. He may not be interesting, but he’s a huge obstacle for our heroes to overcome.
it's harder to pull off since it requires the writer to be confident to have the protagonist as the center of the story and even then it doesn't shield you from critism
I continue to love every installment of the TWA cinematic universe.
So I've been working on this one story for a while; it's about a man who summons a demon to strike a deal for a tool to steal a soul. He then steals a demon's soul with this tool and incorporates it into his own. I really don't know where this one is going, since I write as a hobby for the most part, but I do enjoy the idea of the protagonist being the villain, and the conflict arising from his descent into madness and the slow skewing of his moral compass.
the amount of self-roasting JP did in this video had me dead
Did you see that there in a triangle
*you know what that means*
I study math and I have not seen 3 points which arent on same line to not create a triangle.