Overlooked villains

[Asmor]

Lately I've been having a strong desire to have some villains who are not quite what they appear. There was an episode of Slayers (the original series, I think, possibly Next) in which the group heard about a tower where a demon turned innocent people into dolls. So they go there, yadda yadda yadda, and are quite surprised when, after killing the baddie, his enchantments are not broken. Then the puppet he'd been holding attacks them. The puppet was in fact the demon, and the "puppeteer" really just a puppet.

What are some ideas for villains your players might overlook? This can be in any genre, not just fantasy. One idea I've had is a slave master who always keeps a beautiful, exotic slave by his side. Of course, the slave is in fact a powerful sorcerer and the one pulling all the strings and the slave master is just a dupe.

I also like the idea of a humanoid and a cloaker (the humanoid 'wearing' the cloaker). That's nice because it could be the humanoid dominating the cloaker, the cloaker dominating the humanoid, or it could even be a mutual arrangement. Some time in the future when my PCs are of the right level I fully intend them to fight a duo consisting of a rogue and his/her cloaker paramour (stranger things have happened, especially since this is gonna be in a Planescape campaign).

 

[Saeviomagy]

Igor. That's all you really need to know.

The toadying manservant and the weak-willed, slightly touched scientist. "Yes master, I could go get a brain for you to use" "yes master, you could show them all!"

etc.

Or for any other breed of servant or slave.

You have a cult leader, he runs the cult, but he's really following someone or something else. Naturally, he takes the fall for his master - but then the same cult crops up somewhere else...

 

[Alzrius]

I loved the fact that the last adventure in The Great Modron March had this villain who was all decked out in huge, spikey armor covering him and wielding a big-ass sword. The trick to it was that

Spoiler

he was really the sword, a sentient magic item, using animate object on an empty suit of armor.

 

[Stone Angel]

In 2nd addition I had a villian that had a symbiotic suit of armor. The armor is what corrupted the wearer. My players sold this armor about four times. It was comical because they thought I had some evil artificer making all these suits of armor and really it was the same one.

The Seraph of Earth and Stone

 

[Taneel BrightBlade]

It was slayers Next. I just stick an NPC in that is always around but never fights.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Succubus or Erinyes are perfect for these...they're the demure wives of corrupt politicans and savages....

But I like the idea of a Power Behind the Villain that isn't actually that powerful....like, maybe Igor controls Frankenstien, but Igor really isn't powerful at all -- just very very very very evil....he's easy to destroy, but pinpointing him is tough. He just sort of dissappears when the mage he's set up to take the fall does so.....

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Stone Angel - that's really funny. They must have been truely gutted when they worked out who they'd really been fighting

Kamikaze Midget - villans like that are great! I particularly like the idea of untouchable villans in that mold. Ex: A weak but incredibly evil noble who has the favour of the king (tm). You won't get away with killing them and they'll probably just get raised anyway.

A BBEG I want to use sometime - A death knight that really wanted to be a lich. So he pretends to be one. UMD, perhaps a single wizard level, a bunch of spell completion items. Glammered full plate, glove of storing, big sword.

Court Jesters. As a player, I'd routinely kill an evil kings jester first - too many bad experiences. The worst was a polymorphed red dragon.

A published adventure I ran had a curious Vrock who masquaraded as a rather poor bard. He was very cool... got recycled into a recurring bad guy.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I have used a castle as a villian, it killed people for life force.

I have used a character's mother as the villian. She just wanted the best for her son and thought the people he was hanging around were no good!