Everybody loves a supervillain, but what do you need to make a truly great one? Let's get our hands dirty and craft a supervillain worthy of the name. Just make sure you are ready for the carnage and devastation your supervillain will put forth on all around them.
Yield: 1 Terrible Supervillain
Ingredients:
- 1 part nastiness
- 10 parts megalomaniac
- 5 parts lust for power
- 1 distinguishing feature (IE: bald head, scarred face, white skin)
- 1 pinch of foolishness or oversight (so there is always a chance for your superhero)
- 1+ powers to be used for evil (IE: super intelligence, strength, laser beam eyes)
- 3 parts indifference to human life
- 1 or more superheroes to be an archenemy
- A tragic childhood
- 1 event that has turned said villain into pure evil
- An infinite amount of easily beaten lackeys
- 1 large lair (hopefully impressive, sterile, and monolithic)
- 1 impressive or maniacal laugh
- 1 obsessive or compulsive behavior (typically something that the superhero can use against the supervillain)
Preparation:
To create a perfect supervillain, you need to ensure the proper pressure, time, and enough bitter defeat to truly spoil them against the possibility of turning back to the forces of good. Make sure your supervillain is powerful enough to threaten your superhero, but be sure to not fill them with so much power as to be unbeatable. That will certainly spoil their taste to fans.
A supervillain needs to be treated with care and needs to age over time. Their first purpose in life will usually be the thing that sets them up as the archenemy for a superhero, but then usually needs to shift to some other undesirable concept or idea that makes them unpredictable to said superhero and therefore more interesting.
In the end, with the right nurturing, your supervillain will grow to be an undeniable force in your superhero's life and will be a constant thorn in their side. This will set up countless conflicts that makes for great stories and interested readers.
