Brutality: The Missing Element for Villains

Brutality: The missing element for the “ultimate” evil

In many video games, and some anime, that main antagonist claims to be the ultimate evil, or evil incarnate, or some variation of the phrase. It’s gotten to the point that this phrase can’t be taken seriously anymore. The antagonists are so laughably moronic in some cases, weaklings hiding behind a powerful or magical ability that the hero has except the heroes is more powerful, the anti-hero whos intentions are misunderstood but loved by women fans because he’s so brooding and they want to help him, or a rival in some way that ends up becoming posessed or crazy.

While I realize that the last two don’t apply to what I was referring to, all of the above are different archetypes of villains in anime and video games. There are more, but I wont really go into those, because these will serve our purpose. In today’s tip, I am going to walk you through an idea I have for a villain. His concept, his look, his background, and the inclusion of brutality that led to his creation, all the while comparing those to two other villains. Those villains are Kuja, from Final Fantasy IX, and Alexei, from Tales of Vesperia. (Which everyone NEEDS to play!) My villain is named Xedon.

Now then, we will start with the concept. By concept, I mean what he is about as a villain, his goals, and overall archetype.

Kuja:
Kuja is a villain searching for a greater power. He knows that he is weaker than the one he wants to kill, so he searches for something more. By gaining this power, he can destroy those he wishes to, and accomplish the goals of his creator much quicker. His archetype seems obvious, but it’s not. Kuja is actually a combination. He is the last archetype combined with the second. He’s a rival/sibling of the main protagonist that goes crazy with obsession for power, but is in truth rather weak and dependant on all powers he gains. In the game, it doesn’t seem like it, but his boss fight is rather pathetic in both cases.

Alexei:
Alexei is a villain that was once Commandant, wants power in order to unite all under his rule and destory the threat to the world of the ToV cast. It doesn’t sound so bad, but if you remember my first tip, he has a GIBE problem. Good Idea, Bad Execution. His archetype is interesting, because the one he fits the most is the final archetype, but he’s not really a rival either. He is the Commandant, which is like a general/king. He’s the very top. He is also very powerful.

Xedon:
Xedon is a villain that wants to just exist. He was once a Knight in the employ of a King, and achieved Paladin rank. He was a silent man, and ruthless on the battlefield. He was called Crimson Blade, because after battles, his sword and armor was often covered in the blood of his enemies. After years of faithful service, he left the King’s employ. The only one who really knows is Xedon. (PM me if you want to know why.) His archetype is not listed above in full. He is a brooding character, to be sure, but he’s far from an anti-hero.

Now we will continue with their looks/appearance.

Kuja:
Dude looks like a lady! *cough* In all seriousness, Kuja’s appearance, at first, is very feminine. Long white hair, armor that covers from the bottom of his chest up, long open sleeves, what appears to be some kinda of bikini bottom with a back/cloak thing on it, and thigh high boots. He looks like a hooker.

Alexei:
He has long-ish dirty white hair, and wears armor shoulder pads, boots, and gauntlets, and wears clothes on the rest of his body, and I’m guessing that he probably has chain mail under his clothes to block/weaken attacks on those parts of his body.

(Forgive me. I couldn’t find a decent pic of him)

Xedon:
Xedon is quite a simple design despite his character. His armor is a deep red with black trim, with a helm that completely covers his face, large shoulder pads, thick upper body armor, a “skirt” similar to what you’d see on Gundams, and spikes on his boots. He is meant to look intimidating.

(No picture. Aww, you think I can draw? That’s cute, lol)

Now we will continue on with their background. There are spoilers here.

Kuja:
Kuja was created on the planet Terra. He is a genome created by Garland meant to go down to Gaia and cause war and death, so that the souls will be recycled in the Iifa Tree and eventually those souls can come to Terra so that Terra and Gaia would eventually be as one. The Iifa tree is what teleports to souls to Terra. Kuja has a brother. The main protagonist Zidane. Zidane was created to eventually replace Kuja, but Kuja ditched Zidane on Gaia, where Zidane grew up and gained the power that Kuja eventually would come to want. Trance.

Alexei:
Alexei joined with the Knights when he was quite young, and began to excel very quickly. Through the years, he became a hero to the other Knights, being truely chivalrous, and a swordsman that no one else could ever defeat, the best Knight lasting only 3 minutes, if that. But somewhere along the line, his lust for power grew.

Xedon:
Xedon comes from a bloodline of knighthood and nobility. His father was a Grand Paladin, and his mother the princess of another kingdom. Both of his parents loved each other greatly, and Xedon grew up loved and taken care of. Upon first becoming a Knight, he came upon a woman being assaulted by a bunch of drunk thugs. Upon rescuing her, he helped her nurse her wounds, and eventually fell in love with her. She took sick shortly after he became a Paladin. No one knows what’s happened to her since he’s become evil.

Now Brutality. This is the main point of all this, and as you can see above, Xedon’s somewhat well developed. This is the concept that led to the fleshing out of Xedon:

A Knight enters a large circular room and sees a large Knight in red armor sitting across from his. The Knight says “Evil one, I have come to slay thee and rid our world of thine evil ways! Prepare thyself!” The evil knight stood, and disappeared. The knight felt a sudden pressure, and the knights heard the evil knight behind him. The evil knght slammed the knight face first into a stone wall, and the wall crumbles. The knight’s body goes limp, and then the evil knight lifts the knight up, and shoves his corpse face first into the stone floor, his limp body following his head. The evil knight lifts his foot, and slams it into the knight’s back, breaking it. When the knight’s party enters, they see the evil knight standing over him, and the evil knight says, “Hahah…I killed him because I needed too…” he then lifts the knight and tosses him tot he healer, who examine’s his body and when he died, the evil knight continues, “But…I broke him for the mere satisfaction of hearing his bones crunch and seeing his blood flow.”

Brutal, huh? I’ve not seen a villain say/do such things so seriously in a game ever, I think.
Anyway, Brutality is a highly lacking trait that villains need to be truely evil. The way I see it, evil is not just the opposite of good, it’s the joy of bringing pain to others not just because of a goal you have in mind, but because they enjoy it. If you want a brutal villain, here’s what to remember:

Make them:
+ Intelligent
+ Strong
+ With little regard to life other than their own
+ Courageous in the face of certain death
+ Intimidating

Do NOT make them:
- Laughably stupid
- Weak
- Give the good guys a chance to live
- Have them start crying for their life when death shows itself.

Now, that’s not to say you can’t have a brutally evil mage. You certainly can if you wish. Just follow the last quick tip. Make the mage intimidating.

Created by Guardian