Arch9CivilReactor
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- Joined
- Dec 24, 2021
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I usually have a main antagonist working with a more natural disaster in my works. An example is having Villain A constantly a threat to the main characters but unbeatable, but when Villain B is introduced someone either dies or gets injured.
Then once they stop having to run from Villain A and deal with him, they can finally stand on equal footing with Villain B. I know doing this too much in a story is basically the trap Xianxia writers fall into but it’s easiest for me to write.
Now onto the topic…
I have an immortal villain I was thinking of using like a “man behind the curtain”. Someone the characters don’t actually see do evil but their demonic acts are shown in full view of the readers. A devil in disguise of a trustworthy guy.
I based him off the Villainous Principal trope that Academy stories sometimes use. His powers are conditional but overpowering, but I ran into a problem every time I tried writing story drafts with him in it. That being… that it was hard to portray him as an evil they can’t touch while being in one place.
One of my other works had a similar villain character. A fallen hero who chased the main characters around the world. Portrayed as a guy who doesn’t really want to kill them, but will try to capture them by any means necessary.
If a villainous principal has any animosity towards a student, then wouldn’t they have too many means at their disposal to take down the hero group? Spies, politics, public opinion, bribed policeman, etc. He has too many options.
And if I tried to explain away why he can’t do those things, I get the feeling it’d sound more like a plot armour excuse and make him less threatening as a villain. Something that goes against my desire to have him be impactful.
But unlike my other work I can’t have them run to other cities. At most they can go into hiding within the city, but that would lead to the question of how many places they could hide and for how long before eventually being caught.
If he uses politics then ‘students’, whether they are college students or university level, would be at too much of a disadvantage. In a superpower world where he has numerous ability users, it wouldn’t make sense for him to not find them.
Not sure what I should erase or change to find a solution from this. Currently entertaining the idea of divine intervention by Gods or something to keep the stalemate, even if that’s literally Dues Ex Machina.
Now for the skippable details that don’t really need to be expressed to know the main dilemma.
The character’s name is Celest Vagabond. He is an undying entity that built the city the main characters live in from scratch. Orchestrated the deaths of his son and daughter-in-law after they found out his true nature and grew his granddaughter as a test subject to save the world. Ready to do any evil to save the world.
Janette V. Raymond is a girl with peak human physiology that joins the protagonist group and it’s her main story to deal with him. Having her strength taken away by him after he deemed her to be too uncontrollable an element in his plans.
Celest is widely known as the ‘Hero of the People’ and has a good public image. Known for protecting citizens in their time of need. His acts of human experimentation hidden away from their sight. Framed to be a necessary evil by him by pretending he uses humane practices to the public to create super soldiers (the failed experiments who died buried in secret).
He has his own secret agents who are on par if not more powerful than his granddaughter. With his greatest masterpiece being Alice Aegis, a spy he sent to monitor Janette who end up betraying him (changed after experiencing connection).
Celest Vagabond is usually the first villain I introduce since he is so close.
Then once they stop having to run from Villain A and deal with him, they can finally stand on equal footing with Villain B. I know doing this too much in a story is basically the trap Xianxia writers fall into but it’s easiest for me to write.
Now onto the topic…
I have an immortal villain I was thinking of using like a “man behind the curtain”. Someone the characters don’t actually see do evil but their demonic acts are shown in full view of the readers. A devil in disguise of a trustworthy guy.
I based him off the Villainous Principal trope that Academy stories sometimes use. His powers are conditional but overpowering, but I ran into a problem every time I tried writing story drafts with him in it. That being… that it was hard to portray him as an evil they can’t touch while being in one place.
One of my other works had a similar villain character. A fallen hero who chased the main characters around the world. Portrayed as a guy who doesn’t really want to kill them, but will try to capture them by any means necessary.
If a villainous principal has any animosity towards a student, then wouldn’t they have too many means at their disposal to take down the hero group? Spies, politics, public opinion, bribed policeman, etc. He has too many options.
And if I tried to explain away why he can’t do those things, I get the feeling it’d sound more like a plot armour excuse and make him less threatening as a villain. Something that goes against my desire to have him be impactful.
But unlike my other work I can’t have them run to other cities. At most they can go into hiding within the city, but that would lead to the question of how many places they could hide and for how long before eventually being caught.
If he uses politics then ‘students’, whether they are college students or university level, would be at too much of a disadvantage. In a superpower world where he has numerous ability users, it wouldn’t make sense for him to not find them.
Not sure what I should erase or change to find a solution from this. Currently entertaining the idea of divine intervention by Gods or something to keep the stalemate, even if that’s literally Dues Ex Machina.
Now for the skippable details that don’t really need to be expressed to know the main dilemma.
The character’s name is Celest Vagabond. He is an undying entity that built the city the main characters live in from scratch. Orchestrated the deaths of his son and daughter-in-law after they found out his true nature and grew his granddaughter as a test subject to save the world. Ready to do any evil to save the world.
Janette V. Raymond is a girl with peak human physiology that joins the protagonist group and it’s her main story to deal with him. Having her strength taken away by him after he deemed her to be too uncontrollable an element in his plans.
Celest is widely known as the ‘Hero of the People’ and has a good public image. Known for protecting citizens in their time of need. His acts of human experimentation hidden away from their sight. Framed to be a necessary evil by him by pretending he uses humane practices to the public to create super soldiers (the failed experiments who died buried in secret).
He has his own secret agents who are on par if not more powerful than his granddaughter. With his greatest masterpiece being Alice Aegis, a spy he sent to monitor Janette who end up betraying him (changed after experiencing connection).
Celest Vagabond is usually the first villain I introduce since he is so close.
