Azure Trance
First Post
More then just a plot motivation in a characters background (My name is Inningo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die), but truly 3 dimensional and evil characters.
Back on the UBB forum some of you might recall a forum-goers post on his newest evil creation, a necromancer who delighted in prolonging pain on his victims until he made them undead, and in how the PCs interacted with him in a way of 'criticizing' his 'art' of monstrosities so that the villian actually liked the PCs in that sense and was even a sort of demented guardian angel.
I was going to include Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho" - but that was before I read up more about the movie to really understand what he was about. In the beginning though, I thought he was (at the simplest) a very calm and meticulous man who had occasional wild outbursts of homocidal rage in a yuppie materialistic culture.
My favorite example which comes to my mind is Wille Jay Williams from "The Agency," a Top Cow comicbook. More below.
[[SpOiLeRs]]
[[SpOiLeRs]]
[[SpOiLeRs]]
One of my favorite comics currently out there, The Agency details a futuristic fractured America with a very dark cyberpunk bladerunner-esque theme.
The Agency is simply that, an Agency. Where the normal SWAT, let alone the police can barely handle a bank robbery - The Agency can simply send their team in for 20 million payment from the mayor to take out the bank robbers in less then a minute.
Think uberpowerful.
However, the same members of that team are soon called to Houston to solve a series of embarressing murders which the police can't solve. It starts out with a man killed nude, chained on his knees with a blindfold and a crown of barbed wire. Under his tongue is a silver piece.
A newly assigned pschologst fears that it fits the MO of Willie Jay. Copycat killer seems likely since WJW is in Prison serving sentance. To make sure, they go to contact him in his 'cell'
(A large psyhically shielded room which contained within is a large geiger-looking suit that he wears with many odd pipes and tubes to ensure even more protection)
It turns out that the man inside is not Wille Jay - instead it's one of the guards that went missing after he was released when he was up for parole (also killing all four parole officers and making one other guard commit suicide in the process - he's an extremely powerful -=powerful=- psychic).
So. To make a really cool and interesting story short - Willie Jay likes the Agency. For the first time, they provide a challenge to him and so, he toys with them (before he kills them, that is). For the first time the hunters become the hunted. There is no 'breaktime' when their not actively looking for him - it's different being the prey.
That's not all, though. Willie Jay also takes his time to do what he originally did to get himself into Prison - ritualistically murder people. You see, WJ is a very devout ... christian. In a demented sort of way, of course.
He believes he is the personal physical manifestation of God on Earth and does as God bids. (He also talks to God while sticking needles underneath his fingernails and praying to a crucified Mickey Mouse). Gods will seems to be clearing humanity of it's sins which it has commited so that they can live a happy and fulfilling life up in heaven. WJW accomplishes this by punishing people for past atrocities.
In each case he explains to them why they must die, and yes, it will be painful - most likely excruciatingly so, but it must be done. And don't worry, God will love you for taking this burden. So will humanity.
Example:
A drummer is tortured to death to clear the sins of the Pied Piper, who was real in the 15th century and once lured children away from a German town to take to his shack to torture and kill.
A 37 year old Japanese man dies a very gruesome death to clear the sins of a World War 2 Japanese POW camp doctor who conducted 'experiments' on American POWs and was subsequently never caught after the war was over.
And so on. And so on. And so on.
[[eNd SpOiLeRs]]
[[eNd SpOiLeRs]]
[[eNd SpOiLeRs]]
Monsters like these I think make me inherently curious. They seem to have such realistic motivations and actions that they don't seem like just classes, race and stats. Their more akin to being something alive. I spent too much time typing this. Argh.
Back on the UBB forum some of you might recall a forum-goers post on his newest evil creation, a necromancer who delighted in prolonging pain on his victims until he made them undead, and in how the PCs interacted with him in a way of 'criticizing' his 'art' of monstrosities so that the villian actually liked the PCs in that sense and was even a sort of demented guardian angel.
I was going to include Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho" - but that was before I read up more about the movie to really understand what he was about. In the beginning though, I thought he was (at the simplest) a very calm and meticulous man who had occasional wild outbursts of homocidal rage in a yuppie materialistic culture.
My favorite example which comes to my mind is Wille Jay Williams from "The Agency," a Top Cow comicbook. More below.
[[SpOiLeRs]]
[[SpOiLeRs]]
[[SpOiLeRs]]
One of my favorite comics currently out there, The Agency details a futuristic fractured America with a very dark cyberpunk bladerunner-esque theme.
The Agency is simply that, an Agency. Where the normal SWAT, let alone the police can barely handle a bank robbery - The Agency can simply send their team in for 20 million payment from the mayor to take out the bank robbers in less then a minute.
Think uberpowerful.
However, the same members of that team are soon called to Houston to solve a series of embarressing murders which the police can't solve. It starts out with a man killed nude, chained on his knees with a blindfold and a crown of barbed wire. Under his tongue is a silver piece.
A newly assigned pschologst fears that it fits the MO of Willie Jay. Copycat killer seems likely since WJW is in Prison serving sentance. To make sure, they go to contact him in his 'cell'
(A large psyhically shielded room which contained within is a large geiger-looking suit that he wears with many odd pipes and tubes to ensure even more protection)
It turns out that the man inside is not Wille Jay - instead it's one of the guards that went missing after he was released when he was up for parole (also killing all four parole officers and making one other guard commit suicide in the process - he's an extremely powerful -=powerful=- psychic).
So. To make a really cool and interesting story short - Willie Jay likes the Agency. For the first time, they provide a challenge to him and so, he toys with them (before he kills them, that is). For the first time the hunters become the hunted. There is no 'breaktime' when their not actively looking for him - it's different being the prey.
That's not all, though. Willie Jay also takes his time to do what he originally did to get himself into Prison - ritualistically murder people. You see, WJ is a very devout ... christian. In a demented sort of way, of course.
He believes he is the personal physical manifestation of God on Earth and does as God bids. (He also talks to God while sticking needles underneath his fingernails and praying to a crucified Mickey Mouse). Gods will seems to be clearing humanity of it's sins which it has commited so that they can live a happy and fulfilling life up in heaven. WJW accomplishes this by punishing people for past atrocities.
In each case he explains to them why they must die, and yes, it will be painful - most likely excruciatingly so, but it must be done. And don't worry, God will love you for taking this burden. So will humanity.
Example:
A drummer is tortured to death to clear the sins of the Pied Piper, who was real in the 15th century and once lured children away from a German town to take to his shack to torture and kill.
A 37 year old Japanese man dies a very gruesome death to clear the sins of a World War 2 Japanese POW camp doctor who conducted 'experiments' on American POWs and was subsequently never caught after the war was over.
And so on. And so on. And so on.
[[eNd SpOiLeRs]]
[[eNd SpOiLeRs]]
[[eNd SpOiLeRs]]
Monsters like these I think make me inherently curious. They seem to have such realistic motivations and actions that they don't seem like just classes, race and stats. Their more akin to being something alive. I spent too much time typing this. Argh.
