Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

[Metaphysician]

And by "play", I mean "As a character within a super hero campaign."

 

Obviously, gotta be a villain who could conceivably end up hanging around with, allying with extended-like, or such, a hero team.

 

Assume that the other PCs are all of about the same level as whatever villain you picked.

[OddHat]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Cosmo, but he seems to be gone in 5th.

 

Takofanes.

 

OK, maybe not.

 

Invictus, but in his old costume instead of the cosplay monstrosity he's wearing now. Still, he'd work out fine on a hero team in the short term.

 

Maybe one of the Sylvestris or Vandeleurs. Most could have a short term gig on a hero team while chasing their own goals.

 

Any member of GRAB.

 

Mostly, I'd want to play one of my own villains.

[assault]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

From present Champions material: none really, but Shrinker or Icicle at a pinch.

From past Champions material: Shamrock.

 

From weird published stuff: Nastyman! One of the arch-nemeses of Marvelman (http://www.toonopedia.com/marvlman.htm ). Like Black Adam, but cooler and with a name that becomes more interesting the more you think about it... Unfortunately I don't have any of the stories he appeared in, so I would be forced to re-imagine him.

 

From my own feverish mind: well, actually I would go with the re-imagined "Nastyman". And his supporting characters Nastygirl and Nancy Nasty (the punk supervillain equivalent of Mary Marvel, of course!).

 

I suppose I should write him up, shouldn't it? I need to sort his origin out first, though.

[Hermit]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Foxbat

 

 

[Barton]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

FOXBAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is foxbaterfic!!!

 

A loon, a total loon, loveable loon, sometimes dangerous loon, but still a loon.

 

FOXBAT !!!!!!!!!!!

 

(Foxbat theme song)

 

 

FOXBAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sketchpad]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

I'll jump on the Foxbatwagon ... I love playing that character From older material, I would also play Shamrock, Rainbow Archer or Mongoose

[Mightybec]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

I'd have to go with the Joker. After all, he has Harley

[Chimpira]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

I would probably go with Viper-X. He has a kind of nobility to himself but he is a tragic figure as well. Maybe the weight of his sins have finally taken their toll on him and he starts trying to balance the scale all the while knowing that he will never achieve that goal. I would be unable to play him in my game world as he killed The All-American on the orders of the Supreme Serpent.

 

Or

 

Bulldozer after an experience that finally made him take stock of his life and decide to strive for something of substance. (Maybe he discovers that he is going to be a father and realizes that the only audience he wants to impress is his future son/daughter)

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Invictus, but in his old costume instead of the cosplay monstrosity he's wearing now. Still, he'd work out fine on a hero team in the short term.

 

The flag t-shirt and jeans were much better.

 

Man that was a great enemies book - but with Scott Bennie writing it, how could it be anything else.

[Chimpira]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

I play up the House Representative side of Invictus in my game. He never wears the costume (suits and ties mostly) and only displays his powers when he has to, like when he fought Viperia over Washington, DC in an attempt to turn the tide at the Battle of Washington in my campaign. None of my players have a clue of his real evil intents.

[OddHat]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

I play up the House Representative side of Invictus in my game. He never wears the costume (suits and ties mostly) and only displays his powers when he has to' date=' like when he fought Viperia over Washington, DC in an attempt to turn the tide at the Battle of Washington in my campaign. None of my players have a clue of his real evil intents.[/quote']

 

In my last campaign he had a major role as a re-occuring NPC, first as a retired hero turned Congressman, later as a very well politically connected villain. He was always a favorite. In the current campaign, I'm still trying to decide if and how to use him.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

From Champions characters, I'd love to play Firewing. There is a streak of nobility in Ariax Thone that's eclipsed by his obsession with victory and glory, but I think that sufficiently dramatic events could cause him to reevaluate his purpose in life and turn his passion to a more positive cause.

 

On top of that, he has a classic origin, great visuals and SFX, and I enjoy playing powerhouse characters.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

In my last campaign he had a major role as a re-occuring NPC' date=' first as a retired hero turned Congressman, later as a very well politically connected villain. He was always a favorite. In the current campaign, I'm still trying to decide if and how to use him.[/quote']

 

I have an opening for him in Raven.

[OddHat]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

From Champions characters, I'd love to play Firewing. There is a streak of nobility in Ariax Thone that's eclipsed by his obsession with victory and glory, but I think that sufficiently dramatic events could cause him to reevaluate his purpose in life and turn his passion to a more positive cause.

 

On top of that, he has a classic origin, great visuals and SFX, and I enjoy playing powerhouse characters.

 

Agreed.

 

One of the things I liked most about 3rdEd (?) was the alternate Heroic write up that many Villains were given. It gave a real feeling that the character had the potential to be redeemed. I sometimes think I should include a Path to Redemption plot seed in more of my Villain write ups.

[Chimpira]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Agreed.

 

One of the things I liked most about 3rdEd (?) was the alternate Heroic write up that many Villains were given. It gave a real feeling that the character had the potential to be redeemed. I sometimes think I should include a Path to Redemption plot seed in more of my Villain write ups.

 

Redemption is always a strong element in any hero game I run. I will always have at least one or two villians change their ways because of interaction with the PC's and they usually become very popular NPC's.

[OddHat]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Redemption is always a strong element in any hero game I run. I will always have at least one or two villians change their ways because of interaction with the PC's and they usually become very popular NPC's.

 

Yup. Very few things make a player feel like his character is a Hero quite so much as helping a Villain to reform and redeem himself. They also tend to have a much better feeling for the personalities of ex-Villains; screen time alone often makes bad guys more "real" to the players than other NPCs.

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Since Hermit already claimed Foxbat ...

 

I'll take everybody's skirt-chasing teleporter, Cheshire Cat.

[Mr. R]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

I would probably go with Viper-X. He has a kind of nobility to himself but he is a tragic figure as well. Maybe the weight of his sins have finally taken their toll on him and he starts trying to balance the scale all the while knowing that he will never achieve that goal. I would be unable to play him in my game world as he killed The All-American on the orders of the Supreme Serpent.

 

Or

 

Bulldozer after an experience that finally made him take stock of his life and decide to strive for something of substance. (Maybe he discovers that he is going to be a father and realizes that the only audience he wants to impress is his future son/daughter)

 

I had an idea a while back for a way to redeem Bulldozer that involved a total rewrite of the guy as a result of finding out he is the inheritor of the mantle of the Scarlet Scarab (from Freedom City). He would get a suite of mental pwoers and an expanded moral consciousness. I'd love to run it just to see the PC expressions as he reddemed himself.

 

Jerome

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

As tempting as it would be to play Foxbat, I think I would like to play The Idiot King from The Asylum in the 4th Ed. Dark Champions universe. I especially want to try out the scenario where he tries to make murder a fad in Hudson City...

 

Matt "Doesn't-play-well-with-others-outside-of-role-playing-games" Frisbee

[Haven Walkur]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Oh, that's an easy one: Lightning Lord Mekt Ranzz, villanous older sibling of Legion of Superheroes members Lightning Lad and Light(ning) Lass, the twins Garth and Ayla Ranzz. Mekt's a psychopath, but he does have his own invariant code of honor...and he has a noble streak to go with his assumed aristocratic title. Both of those might be exploited to start him on the path to -- if not redemption, then at least working for the common good. Especially if his little sister Ayla gets involved....

 

But if it has to be Champions specific, well, that's still easy: the swashbuckling thief of Monaco, that mischievous lord of luck, Blackjack! He's got more of a naughty boy mentality than a truely criminal attitude, in any case, and the right influences (friends or lovers or both) could probably convince him to at least limit his criminal activities to those who deserve it, if not stop them altogether.

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

No official Champions characters spring to mind.

 

But from the comics, I'd have to say Taskmaster. Cool power, functioning brain, varied arsenal, and he even briefly considered being a hero until he figured out there's no money in it (though if he were created today, that would change). I actually got to play him once masquerading as a hero (different name, costume change) and I had a blast. He is definitly in my top three villains.

[Patriot]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

MerryAndrew from Clown!

 

 

Or a homebrewed hero Called the Iron Major(Drain and dispel based)

Or The Lord of Vermin( His armor is made of WHAT:shock: )

[Blue]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

The ones I'd want to play are all ones I've made for my campaign. Though I wouldn't mind playing Ogre.

 

I'd play him as the villain who gets no respect; The guy everyone recognizes and that all the heroes want their pictures taken with because he's a "legend", but he hates that because he feels he gets no villainous respect. He'd be a henchman, scheming for a way to be feared again.

 

Playing someone like Dr. D. is too easy

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

Foxbat's fun.

 

I like some of the Champions powered armor guys, like Anklyosaur and Armadillo. Either redeemed or with someone else in the suit, would be fun.

 

Binder.

 

Blackstar. Desolid brick? Sure!

 

Some of the guys from Deathstroke. They'd be hard to redeem, but could be fun short-term. Frost, Stinger, Arrowhead.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Which Villain Do You Want to Play?

 

From comics - Taskmaster. Love the power concept, and playing his personality could be blast.

 

Champs villians - probably Hitsusatsu or Banzai from 3rd ed.