How evil should a super villain be?

[The Overlord]

Should there be a limit on how evil a super villain should be? Is there such a thing as a villain being too evil? I mean I lot of people were upset when Dr. Light became a rapist, but people seemed to be okay with Purple Man being one.

 

[Ultimate Houde]

Are you planning on taking over the world?

 

[The Overlord]

Are you planning on taking over the world?

Maybe, but if I tell you, I would have to kill you. :wink:

 

[TwilightEL]

I read the Dr. Light rape story a while ago, so I don't remember how good it was, but I think the idea is sound. What do you do when a supervillain goes that far? Unfortunately, judging by my vague recollections and the complaints of others, the execution was flawed.

Typically, I think the supervillain should be evil in a way that makes for the most interesting story. A mercenary like most of the USM villains is okay every now and then, but frankly I don't even count them as villains. They're just plot devices with no personality. A villain who mass-murders or rapes puppies has their place in a story, but I think the best villains are either A: the kind who are tactically evil, who does incredibly twisted things that are precisely calculated to hurt the hero the most, or B: the kind whose brand of evil challenges the hero's own ethics.

To conclude this post, I leave you with a ****ing awesome quote on the nature of evil from one of the Order of the Stick prequels:

It's not just about raw power, it's also about how far you're willing to debase yourself before feeling bad. And me? I ripped off my own living flesh so that I wouldn't have to admit weakness. You're strictly little league compared to that. That right there? That's the difference between bonafide true Evil with a capital "E" and your whiny "evil, but for a good cause," crap. One gets to be the butch, and one gets to be the *****--*****.

 

[Gemini]

a villain should be as evil as a hero can be heroic

 

[The Overlord]

a villain should be as evil as a hero can be heroic

Even if it leads to this: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralEventHorizon?from=Main.RapeTheDog

 

[McCheese]

I swear we've had this thread before. And I'm pretty sure you started that one too, Overlord. And I'll give the same answer I gave last time.

As Bad As They Wanna Be.

 

[moonmaster]

I distinctly remember this thread as well, and I barely even post in the comics forums anymore.

 

[McCheese]

I distinctly remember this thread as well, and I barely even post in the comics forums anymore.

See!? I knew I remembered this thread.

 

[Zombipanda]

VERY but not too much

 

[E]

This thread wins the internets.

 

[Zombipanda]

I read the Dr. Light rape story a while ago, so I don't remember how good it was, but I think the idea is sound. What do you do when a supervillain goes that far? Unfortunately, judging by my vague recollections and the complaints of others, the execution was flawed.

Typically, I think the supervillain should be evil in a way that makes for the most interesting story. A mercenary like most of the USM villains is okay every now and then, but frankly I don't even count them as villains. They're just plot devices with no personality. A villain who mass-murders or rapes puppies has their place in a story, but I think the best villains are either A: the kind who are tactically evil, who does incredibly twisted things that are precisely calculated to hurt the hero the most, or B: the kind whose brand of evil challenges the hero's own ethics.

To conclude this post, I leave you with a ****ing awesome quote on the nature of evil from one of the Order of the Stick prequels:

Whatever happened to Twi?

 

[Gemini]

she got stuffed into a fridge

Gail Simone would have wrote a letter, but since Twi didn't have a boyfriend that was a super-hero she didn't care

 

[Zombipanda]

she got stuffed into a fridge

Gail Simone would have wrote a letter, but since Twi didn't have a boyfriend that was a super-hero she didn't care

:shock:



:lol:

:roll:

Should there be a limit on how evil a super villain should be? Is there such a thing as a villain being too evil? I mean I lot of people were upset when Dr. Light became a rapist, but people seemed to be okay with Purple Man being one.

hm.... If only there were some sort of authority out there, to enforce a code for these kinds of things. Some sort of Comics Code Authority who would tell us how evil characters can be, and whether or not they can wear vampire fangs, and what drugs they can use and within what context.

Oh right!

That is the universally appropriate level of evil. Imported bier for thirty five cents? Where can I find that bar??

 

[Planet-man]

They should be as evil as is believable for what they are trying to accomplish. A lot of stories try to make their villains unjustifiably evil, like by having them just inexplicably okay with murder or deciding halfway through that they're also a rapist. That always stands out to me as kind of a cheat.

 

[Iceshadow]

To conclude this post, I leave you with a ****ing awesome quote on the nature of evil from one of the Order of the Stick prequels:

That Xykon quote sums everything up perfectly.

Whatever happened to Twi?

I always feel sad when members disappear without explanation.

 

[Captain Canuck]

Should there be a limit on how evil a super villain should be? Is there such a thing as a villain being too evil? I mean I lot of people were upset when Dr. Light became a rapist, but people seemed to be okay with Purple Man being one.

It really just depends on the story you want to tell.

Identity Crisis (the story in which Dr Light is retconned to be a rapist) is one of my favourite graphic novels.

It was the first DC story I had ever read, so i had NO idea what was going on or who any of the characters were (except the well known ones, but even them, i didn't know who Tim Drake was, I didn't know that Wally West was the second Flash, I didn't know why Green Lantern wasn't around). But it was such a great story that I spent hours on wikipedia looking everyone up.

So, for me at least, as a DC n00b with no previous connection to the character, making Dr Light into a really crazy evil guy was an awesome plot point. The story wasn't even about him, it was about the Justice League, but making him that evil is what launches the story. It worked.

 

[bluebeast]

It really just depends on the story you want to tell.

Identity Crisis (the story in which Dr Light is retconned to be a rapist) is one of my favourite graphic novels.

It was the first DC story I had ever read, so i had NO idea what was going on or who any of the characters were (except the well known ones, but even them, i didn't know who Tim Drake was, I didn't know that Wally West was the second Flash, I didn't know why Green Lantern wasn't around). But it was such a great story that I spent hours on wikipedia looking everyone up.

So, for me at least, as a DC n00b with no previous connection to the character, making Dr Light into a really crazy evil guy was an awesome plot point. The story wasn't even about him, it was about the Justice League, but making him that evil is what launches the story. It worked.

Agreed. A lot of people don't agree with the new Dr. Light but I think Meltzer salvaged the character with Identity Crisis.