Evil and Agony

[LordSquirrel 150]

I was originally writing this for the rpgmakermv.co resource staff, but seeing as I'm no longer participating with that group I figured I'd post this here. Hopefully you guys will find some use in this.

 

Evil and Agony

 

Part 1: The Evildoer

 

Antagonists; we love to hate ‘em.

 

From Donkey Kong all the way up to Fallout 4, we have been fighting villains in one form or another since the inception of gaming; Bowser, Doctor Wily, Slender Man, and more! These baddies have kept us coming back again and again to beat their sorry behind for decades.

 

 

But I feel like we often forget that there are two different types of antagonist. Not all of them are fire breathing Turtle-Dragons bent on domination, nor are they all completely insane monsters with no face and the ability to make all of your VCR tapes look like crap (Am I the only one who remembers VCRs?) and turn you into some unspeakable horror. Some are just… people. People with wants and desires like you and me, but they may just follow a different path, it may be the wrong path, filled with anger, death and violence, but to them it may seem like the ONLY path that they can take.

 

 

Either because of something they’ve done in the past that keeps them from believing that they can walk the same path as us, or they may believe that the other way is the best way of doing things.

 

 

So, I want to talk about antagonist. Mainly; the difference between two types of what I call “The Agony†and “The Evildoerâ€.

 

 

Let’s start with The Evildoer. What is it? Well, if you’ve ever seen a movie with the Joker in it, or read the Hobbit and got to the part with Smaug, or played a game with Bowser in it then you’ve already seen it. The Evildoer type of antagonist is one I’ve gone over before in another article that I wrote before joining the RT, but I’ll go back over it here.

 

 

The Evildoer is sometimes referred to as a “Force of Nature Villainâ€. It is either mindless and does what it does for little to no reason, or single minded in a goal to the point where nothing else matters to it. These are the Black Lanterns, the Darkness’s, and the Zombies, something powerful, or overwhelming and, generally, completely evil.

 

 

Not all Evildoers are just representations of evil. They can be representations of something else, a thought, a hope, a fear, an element, an object, an emotion, etc.

 

 

These types of Evildoers most commonly show up in horror stories. Example are: The A.I that goes berserk and destroys a hopeful future, the creeping shadowy figure that engulfs everything in darkness, an unstoppable red hulk of a creature that destroys everything in fits of inarticulate rage, that kind of thing.

 

 

One last note on Evildoers: They often are not humanoid, or if they are then they are disfigured, or strange in some way. You can make them normal looking, there are advantages to both ways, but the main thing to remember is that the normal looking Evildoer should still have something off about them, something that makes them seem unreal and real at the same time.

 

 

A normal looking detective who you thought was your friend, but turned out to be the demon you’ve been hunting and taunts you with this fact as his eyes turn pure black and a strange sickly glow starts radiating from his chest. Those type of things are pretty effective and memorable.

 

 

Basically, the Evildoer who looks like a normal person is most effective as a sort of “Gotcha!†twist. And if you do go that route, and then make sure to have some subtle hints to the true nature of the character.

 

 

The traditional Evildoer should not be a normal person, because by their very nature they lack any real personality. They are embodiments of something, which normal humans are not. There are other types of antagonist like the Evildoer that can be normal people, but that’s for the next part.

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Part 2: The Agony

 

 

The Agony on the other hand is something different, The Agony is a normal human; think a friend, colleague, or family member, who has had something just bad happen to them or someone they love. The Middle class father whose daughter has been diagnosed with an untreatable cancer, the former police officer who held their partner as they bled death, the king whose entire family was slaughtered right in front of him, the soldier who went off to war young and optimistic, but came back old and nihilistic.

 

 

These kinds of characters are the tragic antagonists, they are people who could very well be me and you if one thing had changed in our lives, and now they stand across from us on the other side of a line.

 

 

I would like to emphasis the ‘tragic antagonist’ part. While there are antagonists that are closer to being more of a rival, or the just the guy who happens to be on, say, the police task force that has been formed to stop your party’s crime spree, this is not the absolutely normal person antagonist. It is someone who has suffered something that has affected them deeply, to the point where they obsess over it.

 

 

This is the antagonist closest to being an Evildoer without actually being one. They aren’t as pure evil as that type of antagonist, but they are the ones who are on the edge of becoming one, mostly due to their obsession.

 

 

The Agony tends to be an ally to an Evildoer in the story. When they are allies with Evildoers it is almost never because they like the Evildoer, or even want what he wants, but they want something he can give: Magic that can cure the sickness of a loved one, the power to let the character get away with murdering someone out of revenge, or the information that can lead the character to their long lost family.

 

 

As such, Agonies under the command of an Evildoer will often be apprehensive towards certain commands the Evildoer gives them, like beating up an old man, but will eventually acquiesce, or find some way out of performing the command without the Evildoer killing them.

 

 

They may secretly help the hero, warn those in danger that the Evildoer is coming, or even join the hero at some point. The Agony is a great type of antagonist for a sort of dark reflection theme, where they share a similar past to one of the heroes, but one event led them to a darker path than the hero.

 

 

This can result in the hero and the Agony having a unique relationship, maybe they are able to anticipate what the other will do, perhaps they share a friendship with a supporting character and are forced to set aside any differences to help said character, or perhaps as a reminder to each other of what they could have been.

 

 

LS: Excluding this section. I’ll be using it for another article. I realized that this more fits in with another antagonist type.

 

 

(The unknown quantity Agony is the mercenary who will do anything for the right price, the paladin who walks the line between light and dark, the spy who has split loyalties, ect. They work well as hirable party members in games, or as temporary party members that show up once in awhile.

 

 

And if they do decide to help the Evildoer, then consider having them be friendly with the party before hand, help them out, save them once or twice. This can lead to a memorable scene of betrayal when the Agony finally draws his sword on the heroes.)

 

 

Now this isn’t the only type of non-Evildoer antagonist, and I know that I’ll probably be doing another article on those some other time, but I just felt that this made a good article for the site.

 

 

Now, let’s have a quick overview before we sign off:

 

 

The Evildoer:

 

1.    Often mindless or single minded in its goal.

 

2. Usually strange, or monstrous in appearance.

 

3. Destructive, or embodying something.

 

4. Lack any real personality, other than what they embody.

 

5. Often have no morals.

 

6. Tend to cackle and rub their hands together in glee after destroying villages if they are dark wizards.

 

 

The Agony:

 

1. Usually a normal person who has had something terrible happen to themselves or a loved one.

 

2. Often an ally of an Evildoer, or an un-aligned character who may help either side.

 

3. If they are allies to and Evildoer, they are often apprehensive to carry out orders that go against their morality.

 

4. They have morals and ethics, unlike the Evildoer.

 

5. They may betray the Evildoer at some point, or they may stay with them until the end.

 

6. They tend to look good in leather.

 

 

I hope this helped many of you, and if you have questions, leave a comment and I will be happy to answer to the best of my abilities.

 

 

And now; a brief dialogue exchange between an Evildoer, and Agony.

 

 

Agony: You murdered all those people!

 

 

Evildoer: And what of it?

 

 

Agony: They had nothing to do with any of this!

 

 

Evildoer: Didn’t they? They refused to hand over the crystal.

 

 

Agony: You didn’t need to kill all of them!

 

 

Evildoer: And you would have done any differently?

 

 

Agony: Yes! I-

 

 

Evildoer: You have killed people before.

 

 

Agony: Never like that!

 

 

Evildoer: Truly? What of those farmers?

 

 

Agony: That was different.

 

 

Evildoer: Was it now? I distinctly remember you slaughtering them all for what happened to your sister.

 

 

Agony: …

 

 

Evildoer: Hahaha! You are pathetic.

 

 

Agony: No matter what she did… They deserved to die. It was justice.

 

 

Evildoer: Ever the arch hypocrite of the land!

 

 

Agony: ...Shut up.

 

- A game idea I once had, but I lacked the resources to make it.

 

 

 

Viel Glück und auf Wiedersehen! (Good luck and goodbye. (Hope I got that right))

 

 

-C.D. Cerda (LordSquirrel).

 

[Ragnos 122]

I make my "bad guys" in games exactly like the main characters except their goals interfere with each other, just normal people with their own emotions driving them who think logically besides the "I WILL BURN THE WORLD!" Routine Which makes no sense unless there is a good reason the world needs to be destroyed.

On another note: I remember VCRs even Betas. Watched toy soldiers as a kid like crazy.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Ragnos

[lonequeso 1,921]

I always liked the tragic villain. The best games, movies, etc make you emphasize with them despite the horrible things they do. Those stories usually have a bittersweet ending. I think the evildoer works best when the game isn't as story driven. With Mario, it's always about innovative gameplay. As technology improved more story has been present in the games, but it takes a back seat to gameplay. The hero vs. villain is just a medium to keep the game moving forward.

 

P.S. I also remember VCRs. Never had betas, but I am aware of them. 

[Kayzee 4,033]

Well, I think I have talked about this before, but I really don't think fitting all villains into particular abstract formulas is a good idea. Heck, maybe the whole role of having a "villain" in the first place should be rethought. But I guess that's kind of besides the point. If I had to define a formula though, I think I would do it differently. Actually, maybe the point isn't to fit characters into formulas as much as it is coming up with interesting abstract formulas and seeing how they work. I can get behind that.
 
As long as we are going to be doing that, I might as well try... How about this for an abstraction: Let's see what traits we like in villains and map them to values. Maybe we can use, say, Psychopathy, Ruthlessness, Emotivness, Focus, Intelligence, Direct Power, and Indirect Power. We can also define in addition a Catalyst and a Theme.

 

Psychopathy is a general lack of empathy. Ones who score high here generally don't care about others at all. Low scoring ones do care, even if they don't admit it or don't care enough to stop them.

 

Ruthlessness is the tendency for one to put goals over ideals, ones who score high here will plow though anything to do something. Low scoring ones will restrain themselves a lot more.

 

Emotivness is how much emotion comes in to play. High scoring ones are always letting their emotions take over and determine their actions. Low scoring ones never do.

 

Focus is how much they are set on particular goals. Ones with high focus have their who life revolve around a handful of goals or maybe only one single one. Ones with low focus hardly seem to have any real long term goals at all.

 

Intelligence is how smart they are at going after their goals and/or how much they use their brain. High scoring ones will be a chessmaster type and tend to be good at manipulating things or setting up traps. Low scoring ones are more direct and use more brute force.

 

Direct Power is how much power they can wield in direct confrontation. High scoring ones will be able to use their strength, technology, magic, weapons, or whatever to fight any hero that might stand in their way. Low scoring ones are easily overcome when directly confronted.

 

Indirect Power is how much power they have that can be used through channels. High scoring ones can use politics, allies, technology, magic, or whatever to manipulate things from afar. Low scoring ones basically have to do everything directly.

 

A Catalyst is something that pushes a villain into their role. I could be thought of as a bit of their backstory like seeking revenge from some wrong or their childhood making them hate humanity, or it could be thought of as an act that causes them to come into conflict with the hero. Ether way, a Catalyst is something that, for all practical purposes, all the villain's later actions and maybe their personality should be based around.

 

A Theme is the trappings or ideas that the villain will embody or identify with, sort of like the idea of a crazy clown to villains like The Joker or Kefka. A theme is mostly optional and isn't very deep characterization really, but it offers a convenient way of holistically letting the audience know a bit about the villain and their role in the work as a complete art form.

 

Now do I think what I just said should be allied to every villain from every story? No way! But I hope it's an interesting idea that might help some people think about villains differently. Also nobody said these aspects can't change as the character goes though character development either. Take Kefka for example. At the start of the game his direct power was a joke and he had no real focus. As the game went on he gained more and more power and became more and more focused on his goal of destroying everything. I think that sort of arc is great for a villain.