/svidya/ - Strict /v/

I really like antagonists who were there with the player all along, manipulating the player to do the antagonists bidding. Its always interesting and quite surprising whenever an antagonist suddenly and slowly reveals to the player that he's been fooling him all along and you get to see the antagonists true colours as well.

The villain must be Machiavellian.

>>15744

Those are good too, but a few years ago, I started turning away from those types of characters. When they're done right, they're excellent. But a lot of the time, they aren't and I hate those. The characters that just seem to have every little thing planned out to a tee, and it basically removes all agency from the protagonists or other characters. That's a reason I really despise the Song of Ice and Fire series, it's full of those types.

Machiavellian characters can be great, but as long as you maintain human qualities and make them fallible. It's boring when things go right for them all the damn time.

>>15723

I actually prefer a villain that is both ends of the spectrum but with extra ham

>I'm not killing this world; I'm saving it! I AM A GOD!

and

>Yes yes, I killed your father; what is it with you women and revenge? I KILLED MY FATHER TOO AND YOU DON'T HEAR ME WHINING ABOUT IT!

>>15747

For LISA: The Painful RPG

It is hard to say who exactly is "the villain" in this game, but there are three main subjects: Brad, Buzzo and Rando. Brad is the player character. An ex-karate teacher who is wrecked by the loss of his sister (the titular "Lisa") and adopts "Buddy" the last female alive as to repent for Lisa. Buzzo is a drugsdealer and (supposedly) sadomasochist, who enjoys toying with people and forcing experimental drugs on them. Buzzo blames Brad for the death of Lisa and therefore seeks to torment Brad. Rando is a mysterious, red masked figure who heads the biggest, known army of goons in the game, similar to Rei from Fist of the North Star. The events of the game are kicked off when Buddy is brought to Rando for safe keeping, causing Brad to chase after Buddy.

My focus will be on Brad, as I feel they are most prominently oppose the goals of, ironically, the player character: Brad. This is also because Rando is left purposely vague, as they are, seemingly, meant to be sympathetic and only caught up in the situation, while Buzzo is left vague to add an air of mystique to his character (and hopefully expand on in the expansion).

Throughout the game Brad seeks to return Buddy to "safety", under the assumption that Buddy was taken away. At the mid-point of the game it is revealed that Buddy wanted to join Rando from her free will, so she could see the world. Brad refuses to believe this and continues to chase after Buddy. As the story progress, Brad continuously increases his body count in more and more gruesome ways, until Buddy refuses to recognize him as a human. In the end, Buddy feels that the person who hurt her the most was Brad.

Tragic (in the classical sense) characters like Brad fascinate me. Brad seeks to atone for the death of his sister, Lisa. This is his ideal. However, exactly by following this ideal he ultimately undoes it. In his fervor to protect Buddy, he first locks her up and then hides her identity, causing her to flee. This fervor is further made palpable when Brad travels cross state, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, further alienating him from Buddy (and so his ideal). When Brad finally realizes his error, it is too late - he hast lost his grasp on Buddy. No pain in the world is more overbearing than this reality: it is Brad who kills Brad.

There are several recurring elements, which I admittedly am very fond of: irony, nothingness, the de(con)struction of Ideals and self-made misery/powerlessness, though most prominently: existential dread.

It is not merely these elements, however, but also their presentation and position in the narrative:

Genie regularly talks to us, relaying anecdotes or asking for our opinion on existential matters. Their motives are right in front of us, but we accept them. Arrogantly, we assume a position of superiority, which ultimately costs us the most primal reason to experience the game: the experience itself.

Brads motivation to keep Buddy safe is likely to overlap with the interest of the player to return Buddy to safety to achieve a "happy end". By following our own goal, we ultimately destroy it, just as Brad undoes his ideal by following it.

Characters who pose a danger to the heroes fundamental understanding of existence and, in turn, to the audience.

I really like the ones that aren't exactly evil, but aren't necessarily good either, doing awful things that will in theory benefit their world in the end (or simply the hard things that have to be done even if no one else likes them for doing it), and blurring the line between if they're ultimately a hero or villain for their actions, if not something in between (though the player character/party will still ultimately wind up opposing them, be it that they disagree with them or because a battle is the only way things can work out for the best). Or perhaps for all their well intended goals they ultimately fall prey to the very thing they're fighting against, through their own fault or not. I feel that Wild Arms 2 is a decent example of the former and Tales of the Abyss the latter.

>>15723

>I always love the villains that only reveal themselves as the real big bad halfway through the game, and only lurked around as either small characters or NPC-like. Kefka is a good example of this, but Kuja in IX was fantastic example of this too.

You'd probably like Wild Arms 3. While there are multiple antagonists throughout the game's arcs (usually one leads to another and they generally still feel connected), there is one manipulating events to their own ends that is merely seen in passing until finally revealing themself for what they are when the time suits them to.

>>15779

I like Sarevok in Throne of Bhaal tho. Gotta give some credit that he was a cool party member

As much as I love Kefka, it was pretty fucking obvious that he was going to be the main villain. Same with Kuja. I mean, come on, they had their own sinister theme music. If that doesn't scream "big bad" I don't know what does.

Ironically, despite Kefka being my favorite FF villain I think most of the time I prefer villains who believe they're doing what's right. Very few people in real life will openly acknowledge that they're evil and will instead do all kinds of mental gymnastics to convince themselves that they're the hero. Sometimes they really do have noble intentions, but because they are willing to hurt and kill people for the greater good they end up as the villain.