Romantic Villians

[Super Squirrel]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

As for Foxbat as a romantic interest . . . ^ v ^

 

He actually has a little bit of a crush on a member of our party, and it's not the one with the highest COM. The player has no idea, and figures he was just puppydogging her to be annoying. That was a fun game.

 

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

 

What? You were the one who ran it. Silly squirrel.

[Hermit]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

Very helpful and useful thread so far. Special bows and thanks to Hermit, Owl wife, and David Blue. You've helped a lot.

Glad we could help.

 

So, some further questions.

 

How do you think Age would play into this, aka Golden, Silver, Bronze, Iron, or Stainless steel?

 

Hard call... folks definitions for such ages vary but...

Golden-If by Gold you mean the classic four color, slightly cheesy situation most folks equate with the Golden Age genre now adays (When, as others will tell you it weren't always so) then I think you have a problem. Things are even likely even more black and white. The villains are extremely bad, the heroes untarnished, etc, and rarely the two will meet. This means those redeeming features that are (IMO) Needed for true romance to really get anywhere just aren't likely there. The rogue is more a taunter than fun, the Wounded Warrior isn't honorable and wounded, he's just a egotistical bully who has his pride; and the Trapped guy seems very weakwilled indeed, and thus unappealing. I'm speaking generally, though.

 

What's more, if you're doing a World War 2 setting...the villain romantic interest is likely a war profiteer, or even a Nazi; Very unsympathetic characters, and thus hard to see a super heroine falling in love with. There could be exceptions, of course.

 

 

If we're talking pre comics code, well... let's just say the creator of Wonder Woman had an interesting life style and there are hints throughout his work that reflect that. The PC heroine being tied up to railroad tracks might take on whole new meanings.

 

Still, Golden age isn't my strong point, I'm sure others can give you a better view on it.

 

Silver- The heroes are still fairly pure, but more socially aware. This is where super heroes ask themselves if maybe the flaws in the system don't drive guys TO crime. Maybe society doesn't do enough...etc. The heroine might indeed feel storng atraction for the villain, and vice versa, but it would be the sort of angsty "As long as you're a criminal, I can't be with you..." And this being the Silver Age, she'd stick to her guns on that. Even if we got some thought clouds that lamented the situation.

 

Of course, the big thing here is secret identies. For example, while our super heroine KNOWS Ravenclaw is a notorious (if charming) flying thief who she must capture, she is dating Ted Ravensworth, the dashing socialite, who happens to BE the Talon's secret identity. Usually in the course of the plot, this comes out and either breaks the relationship, or the villain is so smitten he becomes a good guy and even joins her team.

 

 

Bronze- In the silver age, a superheroine pines for the villain, but holds strong. In the bronze, she's as likely to end up giving in (off panel for any intimacies, natch) and stare at the mirror the next day going "What the hell do you think you're doing? The man's a criminal!" as she has a quiet psuedo Coyote Ugly moment with herself. Team ups with the villain might become down right common, and the "taking down the greater evil" excuse will be dusted off... a lot.

 

The villain will no doubt cause the heroine to re-evaluate her own priorities. She'll either change her methods slightly, or recommit with renewed fervor.

 

Iron and Steel- I am very cynical towards Iron. It is hard to do well, and for a lot of folks it seems to mean "Everyone is bad ass, and there are no good guys" and the super heroes seem to all be jackasses. Now that's not a fair view of it, perhaps, but I just want you to know where my biases lay.

 

What's more, some Iron Age comics seem to undo all the hard work Silver and Bronze did when it came to women. It's as bad as the 4 color post code Golden age comics, but instead of Suze home maker with a cape, we get "Killer Bimbos from Hell" who exist only to flash T&A and kick everyone's ass, then sleep with anything that moves. Again, a gross exageration on my part. In a GOOD Iron Age game, you'd have a whole spectrum of people, some good, some bad, and some very confused interacting like real people in a crisis situation. I imagine a good iron age game might very well be like a game about being caught in a war... and as we all know, War makes strange bedfellows and all's fair in it and love, but the people still bleed inside when it all goes bust.

 

 

Please, remember all these are just my opinions.

 

Steel is kind of up for debate, and I think we're still IN that age (mostly). Take what you like from the other ages and make an alloy

 

 

Do you think the villian should ever "win" the girl? And if he does, what do you think would happen, gamewise?

 

Depends on the 'age' feel you're going for (see above), and if the villain stays a villain, then unless the GM wants to change the whole nature of the campaign, it better not last. Otherwise, essentially the super heroine BECOMES a criminal, or at least an accessory to his crimes. This might be fun short term, but the logical consequences (having a PC character go to jail for a decade, or at the least getting kicked off the team) would be pretty disruptive and ruin at least one person's fun if not everyones.

 

Of course, if the Player WANTS to retire the former superheroine, that's a heck of a way to do it.

 

 

YMMV

[Ghost who Walks]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

Some ideas I've used (that haven't already been said, better)

 

1) Those created or forced to be villains work best, or who are miss understood. The Hulk is an excellent example of this.

 

2) The ex-boyfriend, or former childhood firend, who is now secretly a villain. The romance will occur in their secret idea...villains can have them to!

 

3) The person with similar powers, or invulnerability to the characters powers. A fire projector might be drawn to Firewing, for example.

 

4) The foreign villain, who a rogue and outlaw in his own land, is not considered one here.

 

5) mythology can be a good source for some, recreate a historical or godly character and have them strut around. The fun part with them is playing up their outdated notions of romance.

 

Agree on Shamrock...imbued with the mystical power of Ireland, he is often called to defend his people, wherever they may be. The Irish have settled in many lands, and there will always be a Shamrock to protect them...

 

Note: You don't want to know about the mystical defender of scotland...the english never should have given them back that stone.

[steriaca]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

What's wrong with Dr. Destroyer? You know he's got money, power, and check out the PRE (charisma)! What lady could resist the dulcet tones of... "Yield yourself to Destroyer or be annihilated!"

 

C'mon, he's DEAD SEXY!

 

I know your kidding, but what superheroien would be atracted to a 100+ year old black hearted old Nazie who easly kills without even a slightest tear, and who proably hasen't had sex since 1935 (by choice, mind you)?

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

Agree on Shamrock...imbued with the mystical power of Ireland, he is often called to defend his people, wherever they may be. The Irish have settled in many lands, and there will always be a Shamrock to protect them...

I ran a game where a female PC (played by a female) with Irish heritage ended up going off with Shamrock in the middle of a battle to have a little fun. The running gag was that, of course she'd go off with Shamrock -- he's a natural at getting lucky!

[Black Omega]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

Hey, I've used Destroyer before as a Dr. Doom style 'brilliant, utterly ruthless, believes only he can truly run the world and save humanity from itself' guy and one character in the group was definitely interested in him.

[Foxx!]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

BcAugust!

 

Here are a few ideas.

 

Cheshire Cat, Lodestone, Zig Zag. They are greedy but nice chaps, and they already have romantic interests.

Gargantua. Like a refined, serious version of the above 3. His philosophical character may be helpful.

Utility. Not really a villain. He just has a rivalry with super powered people, and in fiction many rivalries turn into friendships and romances.

Torment. His file doesn’t have any villain traits. He serves Psi because he is forced, and he tried escaping them several times. If the PCs knew…

Captain Chronos. He’s “a nutâ€, but not a villain. Imagine him acted by Robin Williams or Jim Carrey in a comedy movie.

 

Remember that it’s ok to edit some villains to make them more suitable or give them a change of heart. It might make the game interesting if the players aren’t sure what to believe: the book or the NPC.

 

Cheers!

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

Utility. Not really a villain. He just has a rivalry with super powered people' date=' and in fiction many rivalries turn into friendships and romances.[/quote']

 

Interesting. In one of our games (one that runs about once a month), we were fighting a supers group, and one of them was called Redstone, who's a pure brick. He apparently has a supers rivalry thing going on, and was fighting Dragonfly, a female character who transforms into a dragon. They beat on each other through several rounds of combat, and finally went out for a burger together. ^ v ^

[BcAugust]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

BcAugust!

Cheshire Cat, Lodestone, Zig Zag. They are greedy but nice chaps, and they already have romantic interests.

Gargantua. Like a refined, serious version of the above 3. His philosophical character may be helpful.

Utility. Not really a villain. He just has a rivalry with super powered people, and in fiction many rivalries turn into friendships and romances.

Torment. His file doesn’t have any villain traits. He serves Psi because he is forced, and he tried escaping them several times. If the PCs knew…

Captain Chronos. He’s “a nutâ€, but not a villain. Imagine him acted by Robin Williams or Jim Carrey in a comedy movie.

Cheers!

 

Interesting. Lodestone and Gargantua are sadly out(my team has already encountered them, and I think they're carrying major grudges, plus I think Lodestone is married). Chesire Cat is out, simply for in game continuty(we're playing in the past of another campaign, which is fun, actually) The rest sound like good ideas to run by my GM, though I don't know how viable they are.

[altamaros]

Re: Romantic Villians

 

Interesting. Lodestone and Gargantua are sadly out(my team has already encountered them' date=' and I think they're carrying major grudges, plus I think Lodestone is married). Chesire Cat is out, simply for in game continuty(we're playing in the past of another campaign, which is fun, actually) The rest sound like good ideas to run by my GM, though I don't know how viable they are.[/quote']

Outside of CKC maybe

Green Dragon : despite his bad temper, he has also good sides like not attacking women (first) or not to be sneaky or fight dirty. maybe a female martial artist could find him cute.

 

Tachyon : he's a scientific; his criminal career is motivated by thrillseeking as much as greed. He doesn't seem to be such a sociopath.

[MikeyMitchell]

Re: Romantic Villians

Outside of CKC maybe Green Dragon : despite his bad temper' date=' he has also good sides like not attacking women (first) or not to be sneaky or fight dirty. maybe a female martial artist could find him cute.[b']Tachyon[/b] : he's a scientific; his criminal career is motivated by thrillseeking as much as greed. He doesn't seem to be such a sociopath.

Only problem with Green Dragon is his attitude towards women. Most American women would likely not be able to deal with his 1,000-year-old "women are servants of men" attitude... :)And Tachyon's ego is so big there's barely room in his mask for his head. Assuming she can deal with that, it might work.