The Big Villains Thread

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
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Villain of the Day:  November 17 (Pastor Michael Ehrenreich)

Some people actively decry metahumans out of fear.  Others, anxiety or loss.  Still others from jealousy.  Pastor Michael Ehrenreich of the First United Church of Mankind follows a very different path: one of outright religious hatred. 

A student of the long-controversial St. Gabriel Seminary, Ehrenreich made his first major appearance while speaking at a charity event following the Oblivaeon crisis.  When asked to give a benediction before a meal for refugees and survivors, Ehrenreich elected rp use the time to launch into a diatribe against al things "unnatural and ungodly", particularly the metahumans of the world.  Ehrenreich seems to believe that metahumans are nothing short of a biblical trial, wrought from God, as a challenge to the faithful.  

Ehrenreich operates out of what is swiftly becoming the largest megachurch in the Megalopolis area, the True Faith Chapel and Sanctuary.   While the church does perform a number of charity outreach events in the area, it has also quickly become the most outspoken in religious pillars to actively decry superhymans and their affiliated organizations.  And, as Ehrenreich's flock grows, it seems that more and more of his followers begin to seek extreme measures against known metahumans in their area. 

Some have wondered whether Ehrenreich's sermons have some occult or arcane power behind them.  Unfortunately, this seems to not be the case.  Rather, it's only good old fashioned bigotry and paranoia that fuel his inflammatory speeches and, with them, the crowds clamoring at his doorstep. 

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Villain of the Day: November 18  (Stopwatch)

Jeri MacAlistair used to joke with her friends that her superpower was knowing exactly when the microwave was about to 'ding'.  As it turned out, while she didn't have any true superpowera, she wasn't that far off from the truth. 

Gifted from birth with an impeccable sense of time and timing, Jeri always able to walk right into the kitchen just as the microwave ticked off its final seconds.  She always arrived just in tume to any engagement, and could accomodate for traffic, weather, and countless other delays on the fly.  Friends joked that she was a Human Stopwatch , able to chart down to the millisecond by hand. 

In reality, time was simply something that fascinated Jeri.  While an analytics major in college, she went into event planning and logistics, working at a major convention center planning events. For years, she planned everything from major political rallies to gaming conventions, ensuring that everything went off without a hitch. 

Imagine then, her surprise when she was contacted by Sjambok, offering her a 6 figure sum to set up and arrange a gathering for mercenaries and hired assassins from around the world. Rather than be shocked, Jeri was thrilled at the opportunity (and the cash).  Summit Zero went off flawlessly and the assorted ne'er-do-wells couldn't speak more highly of Jeri's professionalism and precision. 

Within a matter of weeks, Jeri found her inbox jammed with new offers from villains the world around, seeking her aid as a consultant, planning heists, assaults, and other infiltrations. Submitting her resignation to the convention center, Jeri took up an office in Sjambok's building and took up a new role as logistics partner to the villainous community. 

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Villain of the Day:  November 19 (Luke 'The Pi-Yao Cyclone' Huang)

With MMA cage-fighting and its ilk rising to prominence throughout the years, the idea of metahuman fighting leagues has been bandied about more than once.  While only the mafia-affiliated Spartacus has managed to actually make supers-cage fighting a reality, at least one individual is chomping at the bit for their first opportunity to take down a known metahuman.

Luke Huang, a long-time mixed martial artist with a 28-1-3 record, has made his intentions known quite loudly in recent months, challenging any and all members of Dark Watch, the Sentinels of Freedom, and any known 'freelance' heroes to meet him in the steel octogon and test their might.  Known as the Pi-Yao Cyclone--so named for a devastating tornado that struck Huang's hometown in mainland China--Huang's style incorporates elements of Brazilian capoeria, traditional Wing Chun-style kung fu, Israeli krav maga, and Korean kickboxing techniques.  His signature move, a reaping series of roundhouse kicks delivered in quick succession, has resulted in five of his numerous victories, with few combatants able to stand behind such an intense assault.

What many have wondered, however, is why Huang is so dead-set on taking on metahuman challengers.  When questioned on this point, both Huang and his agent--Sonny Carlson--have merely resorted to restating Huang's desires, issuing challenge after challenge to any takers.  While numerous press personalities have attempted to get Huang to expand on these challenges, the reason behind Huang's bravado remains a mystery.

Most concerning, however, has been the fact that Huang does not seem to be limiting his challenges to press conferences and MMA weigh-ins.  Recently, both Mister Fixer and The Wraith have been visited by Huang, who gave each of the heroes an elegantly-bound scroll.  Within the bundle was nothing short of an invitation to a small island in the Indian Ocean.  There, a kumite is brewing...

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It's about to get 80's martial arts B-movie in here. :D

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Villain of the Day:  November 20 (The Index)

Edgar Levi is no arcanist.  He is no magician, though he knows that magic exists.  He is no sorcerer, though he is as well-researched and well-read as any would-be mage.  He is, simply put, fixated.

The man known as The Index maintains the single largest independent, privately-owned occult library in the world.  Born to an old money family from Germany, Levi owns a massive mansion just outside of Rook City, which has served as his family's home for four generations.  Within its walls are shelves upon shelves, with books covering every conceivable surface.  These mouldering tomes range, of course, from New Age drivel to the ravings of dabblers to tomes laden with eldritch power and incantations.  Strewn across the mansion's numerous rooms are tomes and scrolls dating back hundreds, if not thousands of years, in some order that only Edgar himself seems to be able to navigate.  His books ranging from Ludovic Bouland's flesh-bound Des Destinees l'Ame to the 1834 transcription of the Eltdown Shards to the original sheet music from Stravinski's 1948 Firebird Suite, stolen from the estate of Warren Zevon following his death. 

Eschewing all manner of social interaction beyond his own walls, Levi's whole life has been fixated upon curating this collection of esoterica.  Within the occult community, though, Levi is something of an enigma.  He has never cast a spell, he has never used any incantation, though his estate is rife with them.  When asked why Levi collects these books, he merely provides a wistful smile, claiming that it's "his calling".  His vast wealth, prudently invested, has allowed him to pursue new tomes from across the world, offering up a massive ransom for a new entry to his archive.

While many would see Levi as a resource is fairly easy--Levi opens his doors to all practitioners of the arcane arts--the truth is something more complex.  As Levi himself will tell you, he is utterly impartial in who peruses his stacks.  While he gladly opens his doors to heroes seeking some hard-to-find counterspell, he just as easily opens his doors to the most vile of cultists and villains seeking occult power.  He warns all, however, that his books are not to leave the grounds of the Levi Estate.  While no one seems to know what would happen if one of his tomes were taken, even the most foolhardy and selfish of villains have not dared test the limits of Levi's generosity.

To date, only one person has been barred from entry into The Index's estate:  the fanatic ex-librarian known as Archive.

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Villain of the Day:  November 21 ('Blackball' Barry Church)

As the 21st Century marches on, it becomes easier and easier for anyone and everyone to get their opinion out into the public circle.  Web-based streaming video, hundreds of cable channels, and all manner of social media have made making one's opinion known easier than ever.  Barry Church, known on his cable 'news commentary' show as Blackball Barry banks on just that.

Born Bernard Lipinski, Barry was a standout journalism and political science student at Overbrook University who interned on a number of conservative political campaigns before taking up an increasingly critical set of appointed positions within Congress.  Serving as press spokesman for Senator Daniel Ellison for four years brought Barry into the most critical political circles.  However, Barry chose to move on towards his true passion:  editorializing.  Barry had a Tweeter following of over 150,000 followers, which burgeoned into the millions as he announced the debut of his premiere news commentary show:  The Truth with Barry Church.

The Truth served as a vessel for all manner of conspiracy theories, political fringe actors, and establishment conservatives to vent their opinions.  Typically, once a week, Barry would engage someone on the opposite side of the aisle, often under the headline of "Wrong-Way Wednesday".  No matter how well-reasoned or how vociforous, no matter how impassioned or understanding, these political rivals rarely got a word in, as Barry used them as the week's political whipping boy.  Barry would excoriate the poor sap, insinuating that they were at fault for everything from high gas prices to a national shortage of dill pickles.  For whatever reason, though, Barry's accusations always seemed to stick with a certain segment of the populace, who started to earn his nickname 'Blackball Barry' from his demoralized political foes.

Barry's show ran for 3 seasons before an unscheduled hiatus; rumors swirled that Barry had been sighted in a San Alonzo area rehab facility, though no one could confirm Barry's attendance at such a facility.  However, 9 months to the day after The Truth shut down, Barry launched his first online streaming show:  Blackball.  Fully embracing his persona of Blackball Barry, he began to turn his attention on larger targets:  worldwide political operatives, groups that he referred to as "domestic insurrectionists" and the metahuman community.  Of particular ire for Barry was The Naturalist, whom he continues to lambast as a "tool of a foreign industrial arm, set to encroach on the American economy under the guise of environmentalism" and Tachyon, whom he decries as an "Immoral and indecent role model, corrupting America's youth with a heinous lifestyle."

Much of the news and metahuman communities have been flummoxed on how to deal with Blackball Barry, who hides behind a shield of 'free speech' even as he incites followers to political extremism.  Until there is some solution, however, Blackball Barry continues his tirade against anything reasonable and compassionate...

547

Villain of the Day: November 22 (The Gourmet)

When Megalopolis' first five star restaurant--Indulgence--announced their special Thanksgiving day menu, individuals citywide were up in arms.

Indulgence, owned and operated by former celebrity chef David Gray, had revealed a 9 course, invite-only menu featuring some of their most decadent items: Broiled anglerfish, caught by fishermen in the Ruins of Atlantis; beef Wellington made from finest wagyu beef and black truffles, and handmade chocolates served with Turkish coffee.

However,  the piece de resistance and the reason for so much outcry, was the appetizer course:  ortolan.

Banned in many countries, ortolan is a small game bird that would be slain just prior to preparation by causing the bird to breathe in cognac vapors.  Traditionally, the bird world be roasted and eaten whole, as the eater covered their face with their napkin to hide the affair from the eyes of God. Many animal rights groups took issue with ortolan and, while not banned in the States, it had long been considered distasteful. 

Imagine, then, the outcry when Indulgence's entire shipment of the birds was stolen,  apparently by a tuxedo-clad masked thief carrying himself The Gourmet. 

While animal rights groups took this as a victory, they were swiftly taken aback as The Gourmet struck the Megalopolis Farmers Market, stealing an entire truckload of durian.  Then again, at the Robokyo Japanese Steakhouse, an entire case of the rarest mushrooms, never having even seen daylight. 

None know why The Gourmet seems to be taking the items, but to be sure... he's eating like a king.  

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Ortolans! XD I was under the impression they were drowned in wine or spirits or something.

549

For reference: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/04/real-story-about-the-illegal-ortolan-delicacy-eaten-on-billions.html

550

Anthony Bourdain's description is honestly terrifying.

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Villain of the Day:  November 23 (Brigadier General Grant Makin)

The numerous enemies of the world's metahumans are numerous and varied.  Threats range from genocidal maniacs to alien threats from beyond the stars.  One man knows he can stand against the tide of madness:  Brigadier General Grant Makin, the new head of the U.S. Military's Bunker program.

Following the events of Termi-Nation, the Bunker program languished for several years as government inquests and military court-martials worked their way through the bureaucracy.  With General Armstrong having died, few individuals knew the truth of what had transpired at Fort Adamant.  Makin, though, was among those asking the questions  determined to get to the bottom of things.  A staunch ally of Senator Daniel Ellison, Makin brought formal military charges against nearly every commanding officer who survived the Termi-Nation event.  His reward for such diligence?  Being named head of the newly reformed Bunker program, of course. 

However, unbeknownst to any, Makin es already damaged goods.  Just the event, Highbrow actually confronted Makin at his Dallas-area apartment.  She proceeded to plant something of a psychic seed in Makin's mind, turning the devoted soldier into her very own inroad to the United States military's most delicate projects.  It was one thing entirely to be experimented upon by a rogue scientists.  It will be an entirely different scenario when Highbrow, through Makin, takes on the other side if the scalpel...

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Villain of the Day:  November 24 (The Snake Charmer)

As with many villains, Ulio Renata was among the most gifted in his field.  It just so happened that his field brough feat to the hearts of individuals across the world already, and Ulio had little to do to inspire terror in those he sought to conquer.

Ulio, as it turns out, was a Snake Charmer.  Or, more specifically, a zoological herpetologist.  Ever fascinated by all things reptile, Ulio worked at one of South Florida's premier reptile houses, milking venomous cobras and wrangling alligators for throngs of admiring (and often horrified) guests.  Ulio particularly liked showing off his left hand--after having been bitten by a king cobra during one of his acts, Ulio was forced to have the hand amputated as the antivenom was administered too late to prevent the toxicity from spreading throughout his palm.  In its place, Ulio wore a menacing hook, which he often used in his snake handling act to display animals to an adoring/astonished public.

Ulio's unorthodox occupation, however, turned to villainy when he first caught word of the menacing Nightsnake--a fiendish metahuman with similar temperament and affinity for reptiles and amphibians.  Seeking to ally himself with Nightsnake, Ulio immediately gathered his workplaces' most venomous specimens and set out for the Phoenix area.  Unfortunately for him, Ulio was too late--Nightsnake had already been captured by the Southwest Sentinels and turned over to the 'proper authorities'.  Ulio, though, was undeterred.  Putting together a costume and equipping himself with all manner of toxic creatures and spray-bottles full of venom, Ulio took up the mantle of The Snake Charmer, preparing to orchestrate a breakout.

Needless to say, Nightsnake was astounded when this pudgy, one-handed man with squirt-bottles of cobra venom appeared in front of his cell and began deactivating the power dampeners that held the metahuman bound.  Since that day, Nightsnake has called upon Snake Charmer a number of times, anytime the creature needs a degree of backup.  As it turns out, Snake Charmer has something of an affinity for heists and is quite well-suited to incapacitating individual guards and taking down security systems.  A well-placed Vietnamese two-step viper has the propensity to do that, I suppose...

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Villain of the Day:  November 25 (Mack the Knife)

Just a jacknife has old MacHeath, babe / and he keeps it out of sight...

Four bodies washed up on the shore of the McKinley River over the course of six days.  Megalopolis police were dumbfounded.  No fingerprints, no evidence, not even a speck of blood or hair were to be found on any of the bodies outside of their own.  Four throats slit, their bodies weighed down with concrete blocks, and not a single lead.

That is, outside of an old song.  Mack the Knife was back in town.

An old swing hit from the 20s, made popular by a number of the Rat-Pack performers in the 60s, Mack the Knife tells the story of the highwayman MacHeath, from The Threepenny Opera, who made his way across the highlands on a rampage of rape, theft, and murder.  Known to use a switchblade knife, MacHeath was supposedly hung at the end of the opera, with his spirit consigned to the deepest underworld. 

Obviously, this couldn't be the original--and fictional--Mack.  Someone out there has been following MacHeath's lead in the underbelly of Megalopolis, leaving no trace of their crimes outside of a string of bodies in the McKinley River.  Until this crime is solved, no street may be safe from Mack.

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Villain of the Day:  November 26 (Captain Ernest Calhoun)

If you were to ask Captain Ernest Calhoun to describe himself, he'd gladly expound on his lineage and how he is latest in a long line of explorers who have circumnavigated the globe, dove into the deepest trenches of the ocean, and soared to the greatest heights.  

If you were to ask anyone else?  Ernest Calhoun may well be the dumbest billionaire alive.

It's true that Calhoun comes from a long line of explorers:  his father's side of the family comes from British aristocracy, with Calhoun able to trace his lineage to (and beyond) Captain Cook.  Calhoun claims that his forbearers dated back to the Vikings who traveled to Newfoundland in the early 1000s.  An elder cousin on Calhoun's mother's side was married to Don Walsh, one of the first individuals to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.  As such, Calhoun thinks it to be his birthright and destiny to find the hidden things in the world.

And, unfortunately, Calhoun himself is utterly inept as an explorer.  While he has taken countless courses in cartography, survival, and biology, Calhoun never seems to be able to translate his coursework--in which he excels, as he'll brag vociforously--into actual field experience.  This has, unfortunately, led to a number of accidental deaths:  two guides were trampled by a pack of rhinos during an African safari, while a sherpa guide died while Calhoun attempted to climb a mountain he *thought* was Everest (and turned out to be a totally different mountain entirely).  Calhoun has gotten lost countless times, misplaced critical equipment on nearly every expedition, and has emotionally broken down on a number of occasions, requiring critical evacuation and extraction.

Nevertheless, Calhoun perseveres.  His family fortune has allowed him to pursue any interest he could muster and, unfortunately, Calhoun is utterly convinced that he is destined to find some great new vista for mankind.  Lately, this has led to two-fold interests:  the exploration of the Solar System (especially a private expedition to Ganymede, courtesy of Nautilus Industries) and a complete mapping of Magmaria.  In both cases, Calhoun wants on board...

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Villain of the Day:  November 27 (William)

William is always a gentleman.  Regardless of the situation.

Select few people are among those who know the identity of The Chairman.  Fewer still are ever granted an audience with the man himself.  Those managed to work their way up through the ranks of The Organization often find themselves receiving their orders from William.

No one knows William's last name.  Officially, he sits on the C-suite of Pike Industrial, though unofficially, he is Chairman Pike's personal valet and 'handler'.  All meetings with The Chairman move through William.  All orders from The Chairman come down through William.  All reports of profits and loss are directed specifically to William.  Any amount of news, good or bad, gets filtered through William.  Details down to The Chairman's preferred tie brand and what goes into his coffee rest upon William's head.

No one seems to know how The Chairman met up with William or how William came into the Organization's fold.  Many have conjectured that, like The Operative, William may have been groomed for this position since childhood.  Still others believe that The Chairman holds some deep secret over William, effectively blackmailing him into perpetual service.  However, one source has related a lengthy store involving the crime families that once held sway over Rook City before The Organization, a masked vigilante subjected to years of psychotropic conditioning, and a mob wedding gone horribly wrong.  This rumor, however, is completely unsubstantiated.

William's role in The Organization has been well-known to the members of Dark Watch for years, though they have yet to capture or even to approach William at any level.  The reasons for this, however, are as unknown as William's last name.

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Villain of the Day:  November 28 (Nurse Stitch)

Student loan debt is no joke, as Hope Birtles quickly found out.  

From her earliest days of middle school, Hope wanted to be a doctor.  While she studied her heart out through high school and college, Hope was never at the top of the class, never among the most elite prospects.  Nevertheless, she forged through, following her dream all the way into medical school at a state college not far from her home.  However, as she entered the first year of her residency, the reality of her financial predicament had finally started to catch up with her.  Despite working numerous jobs to pay for her apartment, books, and other necessary items, Hope often found herself pinching pennies and ending up late on bills, even suffering through the worst winter Rook City had seen in decades with no heat in her apartment.

After a long shift in the Overbrook Medical Center ER, Hope hit the brick wall.  Heading off to the nearest bar, she held her head in her hands as the bartender of the Wretched Hive poured her a double whiskey sour.  As she took her very first sip, the doors swung open, with an openly bleeding thug being carried in by two compatriots, who splayed the wounded man out over a table, yelling for towels and trying to calm the victim into quiet.  

"Call a doctor!" the call rang out.  And, as if on cue, Hope set down her drink and went to work.

After five hours in The Wretched Hive's back room, Hope managed to extract all of the bullet fragments from the thug's abdomen, had managed to keep the wound from going septic, and had stitched him up fairly cleanly.  As she cleaned up in the bar's kitchen sink, the adrenaline finally wore off, as a group of well-dressed men walked into the back door.

"Hey, Stitches.  Nice job on Tommy.  Here..."  The smiling man reached into the pocket of his white suit and tossed her a bundled wad of cash--$5,000 in total.  "You got a number, if one of my buddies slips and falls again?"

Since that day, Hope Birtles--now known as Nurse Stitch--operates a cash-only clinic out of the back of The Wretched Hive.  When henchmen are wounded, when villains need a broken leg set or a wound cleaned up, they need only look no further than their local watering hole to find one of the best doctors in the business, ready to serve.  Hope, in truth, has taken to this new lifestyle with aplomb.  Her undergraduate loans are already paid down, and Hope's sights are clearly set on finishing off her medical school loans well before she turns forty.  Every day brings new challenges and another way to make her medical degree matter.  What more could one ask for?

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Villain of the Day:  November 29 (Alvie Adcox)

Never play dice with the universe.  Especially if you can play the odds instead.

Alvie Adcox grew up in the Vegas area, surrounded by the bright lights of the strip and the whirl of roulette wheels and slot machine tumblers.  He knew he was destined for a life in the casinos, so as an undergrad statistics major, he was quick to look for work as a croupier, a blackjack dealer, and eventually a floor manager at the Grand Stampede Hotel and Casino.  There, as he watched the news footage of the carnage in Megalopolis during the climactic Vengeance event, Alvie had a brilliant moneymaking idea.

Speaking with the oddsmakers on the floor below, the Grand Stampede posted the first ever registered Las Vegas odds on a metahuman event:  Legacy over Baron Blade as a 3:2 payout.  For the next twenty minutes, the oddsmakers' office went beserk, with a near-record day of wagers made on both sides.  When Legacy eventually prevailed, Alvie Adcox's idea hit its true payoff:  a net profit of nearly $1.2 million to the Grand Stampede on just that evening.  Needless to say, his efforts met with phenomenal accolades from the Grand Stampede's executives and a promotion came in short order.  Within the next 6 years, Alvie made his way all the way to the role of Chief Financial Officer for the casino and Lead Oddsmaker at SportsBook Stampede.  Today, Alvie employs a legion of researchers and computational analysts, assessing everything from in-combat performances to training regimens to what's being served at the Freedom Plaza for breakfast.

When the first residual check arrived, though, the Freedom Five were left in a conundrum.  While refusing the check was easy, getting the Grand Stampede to stop their morbid oddsmaking practice was much more difficult.  While the group filed a cease-and-desist order through their attorney, Brianna Hawke, a Las Vegas area court ruled that there was no violation of intellectual property or personage through the Grand Stampede's oddsmaking practices.  While the casino was banned from using any official Freedom Five logos or imprints, the prescedent for oddsmaking on celebrity activities had been well-established:  even Punxatawney Phil has odds each year, on whether the little rodent sees his shadow.  There was little more recourse that the Freedom Five could take.

To date, nearly every hero to rise to any degree of public prominence has been paid a visit by representatives of the Grand Stampede; while the Freedom Five have exhorted anyone in the new Sentinels of Freedom to refuse any sort of outside compensation for their heroics, it may only be a matter of time where a funds-starved hero cashes that check.  And from there, it may just be a matter of time before a hero takes a dive during a critical conflict, which could lead to all manner of chaos and carnage...and a huge payout for that hero.

After all, the house always wins.

558

I'm stunned by how possible that final pronouncement could be.

559

Villain of the Day:  November 30  (Donald Harvey Palmer)

You'd never figure him to be a criminal mastermind to look at him.

Donald Harvey Palmer--Harv, to his friends--stands all of 5'7", a slightly pudgy 265 lbs, with a set of wire-framed glasses and a likely-stained polo shirt that's seen better days.  Each day, he walks into his office at the Reno branch of Sportsbook Stampede, boots up his computer and goes to get his first cup of coffee for the day.  He often stops to talk to some of his coworkers, chatting idly about recent movies and tv shows:  Harv has a well-known love of the Game of Swords series, with a picture of himself with star Krystin Klein (the Stiletto Queen) sitting on his desk in a decorated fame.  He likes watching football on the weekends, cooks a mean lamb curry, and is generally an affable fellow.

He's about the least likely person anyone would figure to be a TALOS operative.  And that's just the way Harv likes it.

At the behest of his TALOS handlers, Harv compiles and analyzes countless terabytes of data, ensuring that all manner of information compiled by Sportsbook Stampede reaches the ears of his superiors.  As a representative of Sportsbook, Harv often meets with would-be heroes, introducing them to the wider world of oddsmaking, even as he plants the seeds of converting those very heroes into TALOS operatives.  And worse yet, he serves as a primary point of contact for a new team of unpowered TALOS special operatives:  he's even got Sjambok and Riposte on speed dial.

If the best place to hide is in plain sight, Harv will be camoflaged for the rest of his long, profitable life...

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

With that, we come to an end of No-Powers November!  After 30 days of unpowered menaces, it's time we flipped the script.  Starting tomorrow, we enter Decimation December--31 days of villains with plans of ultimate destruction, world-ending cataclysm, and multiverse-shaking power.  

For those curious, Decimation December will be the last month (at least for the foreseeable future) for my Villain of the Day project.  All told, we'll be looking at a total in excess of 350 new villains, ready for that imminent Sentinels Comics rpg kickstarter.  I'll likely drop in now and again with a new villain or other NPC, but a full year of villains should tide yinz over for a while... 

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I think this month had the highest ratio of "how is this a villain?" A lot of people whose motivations were sympathetic and means relatable.

That said, I love the idea that yon TV show focuses around trying to secure a sword made out of thrones. :V