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by Ivan -Tears for Fears It should come as no surprise in this day and age that nobody is willing to accept being number two. Well, that is unless you count “Number 2” himself, who is actually a relic of an earlier era... (he’s like 52 years old.) But I digress. Nobody wants to be stuck playing second fiddle. Yep. That’s right, I’m talking about you. More specifically, I’m talking about your FPL character. Now unless your name happens to be Mediaman, the number of world shattering villains you can produce is limited. Even Marvel puts an eventual limit on the number of global or cosmic threats that are allowed to be running around at any given time. Heroes are the same way. Unfortunately this means there have to be some characters that aren’t as powerful as others. I was talking to Vina in chat about a new character she wanted to make. He had similar powers to Forge, of X-Men fame. We quickly realized that while he’s a great asset to any team, Forge would not fare very well in a one on one with most of Marvel’s big names. She scrapped the character idea after that, and who could blame her? Who here would knowingly create a character without some kind of practical fighting ability? Phil, put your hand down, that was a rhetorical question. Of course, heroes don’t have as much of a problem in this area because they have a tendency to accept pretty much anyone and everyone who wants to join their team. The likes of Jason Todd, Jubilee, Bucky Barnes and Aqualad will always be able to find work in the hero biz if they want it. (Well, maybe Jason and Bucky might have a hard time since they’re already dead, but that’s not the point.) Second-string villains are the ones who have the real problems. After all, they’re only there for one reason... to get smacked around by the REAL bad guys. Lets quickly look at some second string villains now, and see if they have any redeeming qualities to offer. If you’ve ever seen a Bond movie, there’s a 95% chance that the main villain had an underling who handled the dirty work. Think of Rosa Klebb or Jaws... seriously dangerous in their own right, yet they always played second fiddle to some rich idiot with a moonbase. I assume most of you have seen Return of the Jedi. You know those guys in the red robes, who follow the emperor around everywhere? They’re called the Imperial Guard. All we ever see them do is walk or stand still. Yet there is never a doubt in our minds about what would happen if someone attacked the emperor. Ra’s Al Ghul is a cool villain in his own right, but the true depths of his insanity and the true depths of his humanity are both only evident in his relationship with his daughter Talia. Henchmen are always going to be there to prove how “bad” the bad guy really is. But they can only do that by being seriously bad themselves. Now lets look at the FPL for a minute. There are a few notable characters, who are at the height of their game simply because they knew when to concede to a greater authority. Vadakhan’s character Blitzkrieg may have been the main baddy on his alternate Earth, but when he pursued Uberman to Khazan, he knew enough to take up under the tutelage of Marc Dollar. When the creator once known as Cthulhu wa Kawaikune created Forté, he could have easily made him into a reality warping evil overlord. However, in order to illustrate the truly devious, calculating, and sinister nature of another character, Hokuto Mishima, he chose to have Forté submit to her manipulation. Lastly, because I am a Shameless Bastard™, I will mention my own character, Voczyk. The only reason I am mentioning him is that he was created for the specific purpose of being a sidekick. Voczyk will never be a world shaker. He will never sit on the Fallen Council. His soul purpose is to see the destruction of this reality so a new one may be born, and he views Devyn Soyokaze and Zalrafel as prophets of that destruction. As such, he will blindly serve under them, sacrificing his own life when it becomes necessary. Had I submitted him as a Solo villain, I honestly believe he would be dead by now. Instead, at the time of this writing, he is winning his fourth match by a fatality margin. So if you’re next villainous character can crush galaxies with a thought, let him be his own villain. But if he can’t, well, I hope you might consider having him work for someone who can. Next Week’s Topic: The Dangers of Name Dropping! Previous Rants |
