Villain

Chatterbox: Crowd Sorcery

Villain

Villain

Note: You have until Monday, July 7, to create a villain in time for voting. Go here to see the schedule.

 

One of the most effective ways to be sure a story will have conflict that keeps readers breathlessly turning pages is to introduce a villain—someone whose goals collide head-on with the main character’s goals. We fantasy readers can all think of unforgettable villains from our favorite stories, those scary or relentless opponents that make life so difficult for the hero or heroine.

Villains need more than special magical powers to become so memorable that they haunt our imaginations; they also need as much personality and feeling as the hero. In actual life, almost no one ever sets out to become a villain. Perhaps your villain is desperate to protect her homeland, or family, or dragon. Perhaps the villain’s very life is at stake. There must always be a why, a solid reason behind the evil the villain does so that it makes sense—at least to him or her. 

Usually the plot will unfold if you can figure out the relationship of the villain to the main character and what the villain wants. For instance, in thinking about Quill, my heroine who comes out only in moonlight, I might wonder who cast the original spell on her grandmother and why. I’ll imagine it was a monstrous spirit-witch, Gershardt, who lives in a cavern beneath a pool in the forest. Gershardt’s spells can steal someone’s daytime essence, enabling her to take on a human form, leave the pool, and walk about in the world of mortals. But her spell fades over time so she is trying to steal Quill’s nighttime essence, too—although that would make Quill vanish forever.

In my example the stakes are high: the villain wants to continue living in the physical world, and so does the main character—whichever of them loses will disappear!

I might write for my Crowd Sorcery Sentences: “Gnarled hands rose from the water and gripped a tree root, followed by bony arms and a streaming tangle of white hair. Old Gershardt crept from the pool and stood dripping and frosty in the moonlight, blinking into the shadows with her pale blue eyes, chuckling through her toothless mouth.”

When I write, I try to keep in mind that, from the villain’s point of view, he or she is the true main character of the story, and it is the hero or heroine that is in the way. 

  1. 1. Name
  2. 2. Physical appearance
  3. 3. Background
  4. 4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?)
  5. 5. What is the villain’s goal?
  6. 6. Attitude toward hero
  7. 7. How is the villain stronger than the hero?
  8. 8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable?
  9. 9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other?
  10. 10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s)

submitted by Fred Durbin
(April 23, 2014 - 11:54 am)
  1. 1. Name Fyre Queen ( formerly Corri Sassenburg )
  2. 2. Physical appearance 
  3.   Young, beautiful with blonde hair with purple streaks, emerald green eyes, tan skin, long lashes. She wears a denim vest, purple cloak, and tight trousers. She goes barefoot. 
  4. 3. Background Once a heroine in a war with the dragons, she was nearly captured. The dragons did many experiments on how fire effected humans on her. One of them gave her fire powers, which she used to escape.
  5. 4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?) 
  6.   A dragon's old cave, filled with trophy such as scales, claws, tails, and egg shells. It also has a place for her to do magic, the dragon's seeing pool, the dragon's hoard, and her bedroom.
  7. 5. What is the villain’s goal? To make all dragons extinct.
  8. 6. Attitude toward hero Thinks of the hero as a nuisance, a poor person who doesn't know the true Right thing to do, but later as a dragon , smeone who needs to be killed.
  9. 7. How is the villain stronger than the hero?
  10.      She has magic , and she is very pursuasive. Her voice is like honey and you believe everything she says is true. 
  11. 8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable?
  12.    She is crazy, and often does very strange, off-balanced things like eat jam on steak or poke herself with a knife. Spmetimes she's crazier than others.
  13. 9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? 
  14.   The main character loves dragons. The Fyre Queen hates them and wants to kill them.
  15. 10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s)                                                     The Fyre Queen poked the needle through the bit of dragon's skin, humming tunelessly. " You are dieing, I am not, you are dieing, I am not, " she chanted, as the nearby dragons died a painful death.
submitted by Indigo K., age 10, Here and There
(September 6, 2014 - 8:39 am)

How terrible of her to kill dragons ugh! I will hunt her down and stop her!

submitted by Dragon girl, is hunting Fyre
(October 4, 2014 - 10:50 pm)

Hello to all Villains! You are fantastic! I am thrilled and awed and full of shivers whenever I walk among your ranks here and behold your terrifying wonder!

I wanted to let you all know that I (who have the great joy and privilege of writing our official Crowd Sorcery story) have met Khaos in the pages of the story, and he is doing great. Great EVIL, that is! :-) He's wreaking havoc and being the villain we all know him to be. Just wanted you to know that he is representing you malefactors well, making you all  proud! He's not making things easy for Fable Thatcher and Araceli Lumine . . .

I can't wait until you can all meet him in the story, too, starting in the November CRICKET!

 

submitted by Fred D., Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
(September 16, 2014 - 2:22 pm)

Name: Augusta Emmett

Physical Appearance: Short, Thin,  Has reddish-brown hair, is around forty, wears an 1800s-era Navy Captain's outfit, minus the hat. She also wears knee-high dark brown boots and white gloves. Her hair is pulled back into a bun at all times. Has a bionic leg. Carries a bronze revolver with her at all times.

Background: Lives in a steampunk world. She was born into an upper-class family, but she hated the glitz and glamour. She loved the sea. So when she was eighteen, she ran off to join the Navy. Three years into her service, her brigade was locked in a battle with a ship manned by cyborgs, humans who have bionic parts. They fired a cannonball at her ship, and it hit its mark. The blast killed three of Augusta's men, injured eight, and took Augusta's right leg. She was honorably discharged from the Navy, after getting a bionic leg as a replacement for the real thing. Ever since, she has hated cyborgs, or anyone that even associates with them. She began studying politics, and eventually managed to become in charge of London. Ever since then, she has ruled with an iron fist, making all cyborgs and people who associate with them wolf's heads (which means anyone can kill them at any time, but in this case, it means they can be arrested and thrown in jail at anytime for no reason, without trial as well). 

Attitude Towards Hero: She at first only sees the hero as another roadblock, but as the story progresses she sees that this person is not just a spark that can be snuffed out so easily.

Why she's stronger than the hero: She has power, while the hero does not.

Weaknesses: She doesn't want anyone to find out she's a cyborg herself (you know, her bionic leg)

Lair: A large building in London.

Why she's in confilct with the main character: While the main character is not a cyborg himself, his best friend was a cyborg, and they got hauled off by Augusta's troops. He also doesn't think it's right of her to do this to seemingly innocent people. 

Sentences

"Lady Augusta!" The young messenger burst into her office, startling the readheaded woman. "Yes, Kai?" Augusta said, quite miffed that he'd made her scatter her papers and spill half her ink. "It- young man- in garden- says you need- to stop arresting- innocent people- or he'll do- something- about it!" Kai panted, trying to catch his breath. Augusta smiled wickedy. "A one-man army is trying to stop me," she thought out loud. "Oh, how cute. But of course I'll have to put a stop to him. It would be horribly embarrassing if I got overthrown by a little boy and his silly wish, now wouldn't it, Kai?"

submitted by Morgan B., age 12, Ohio
(October 4, 2014 - 12:46 pm)
  1. 1. Name                                                                            Warkin Princess Athkena Zeraka Sable 
  1. 2. Physical appearance                                                        Blue eyes, really dark ones, long lashes, tight ruby-red lips, thin, overly-pale face and skin, long(ish) black hair spun up in an elabrate hairdo. She wears a long violet tunic, simple tunic, and bejeweled boots
  2. 3. Background
  3.   She was the queen of a strange tribe of elves. To prove herself worthy, she sent herself into a NightWorld. She was threatened by a Night Lord that he would kill her family and then her. He killed her family anyways, but she killed him before he could kill her. 
  4. 4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?)
  5.    She lives in the ruins of her tribe's fortress.
  6. 5. What is the villain’s goal?
  7.   Her goal is to destroy all that is of the night.
  8. 6. Attitude toward hero
  9.    Veiws her as a deseised patient who must be destroyed for the greater good ( the heroine/hero is a nightling ), and later part of the diese itself.
  10. 7. How is the villain stronger than the hero?
  11.   She is immensly persusive, clever, and very fearsome-seeming. She is also a very good fighter.
  12. 8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable?
  13.    She crumples at the mention of her family.
  14. 9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other?
  15.    She wants to kill the hero, and he'd perfer not to die.
  16. 10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s)
  17.    The swirling blackness of the diamond-and-velvet sky hypnotized her. She stared at the starry moonless, sky, and then at the dead Night Lord. " Let all the things of the night die, " she vowed.
submitted by Indigo
(October 11, 2014 - 8:10 pm)

Name: Helen ( last name is Nightmist)

Physical Appearance:  She loves dragons and just can't stand being around cute things. Also, she's loyal, a bit stubborn, brave, and just really really hates people who are very rude and just not so nice. Sometimes, she can't really tell which side to be on, so she is more like neutral. Her left eye is slited like a dragon's and her other eye is dark filling her full eye. About 19 years old.

Background: the only princess in the kingdom she goes off to explore, beating all the hostile wild groups of people.

Lair: travels around and camps for two to three weeks in the same area. 

What is the villain's goal?  Helen's goal is to get her revenge on all the heroes and heroines who had betrayed her and hostile to her.

Additude Toward The Hero: she's fine at some points and rarely hostile, unless a conflict happens. Sometimes, she's just jealous.

How Is The Villain Stronger Than The Hero? Helen can mysteriously shape shift into almost any feared beast. (Dragon mostly) Also she makes lots of potions and very skilled at sword fighting.

How is the villain weak? Helen is weak when you're nice to her or trying to befriend her. She soon gets revenge after you have betraded her. For one thing she hates is going underground.

Why are the main charcter and the villain inconflict  with each other? The main charcter threatend her with a very dangerous poison. Also the sidekicks too.

Your Crowd Sorcery sentences: She ran through the woods at night, keeping close to her a small pendant glowing. Muttering she stretched out her arms and ran toward a deep chasm in the earth. Racing after her were the king's horsemen, some holding bows. Suddenly, Helen jumped, turning in to mist for a whole heartbeat. Then came a great thundering as a huge wave of fire washed over the men. 

submitted by Natalie C., age 10, California
(October 19, 2014 - 12:33 am)

He has ice in his soul from an ice arrow that impaled him when he was young. A strong fighter, Jano knows how to deal with any animal. After being betrayed by his brother, he felt he should do the same. He tries to acquire a lost winter sprite to serve him.

JANO

submitted by Lee Z, age 10, Orange County
(October 19, 2014 - 10:02 pm)
1)Name 
Civet  ( pronounced shivet) 
2)Physical Appearance  
She has long black hair and dark green eyes (that can sometimes turn red when she is angry). 
She wears a black velvet dress with pearls embroidered on it and black satin shoes.She often has a raven on her shoulder. 
3) Background 
she was born in a mannor and lived in it till she was ten then her parents got killed on a hunt for a white stag. Overcome by grief and rage she went to a magician and apprenticed her self to him. Five years later she left him she magicked herself a manor and piles of money. But the people of the town but the people began to murmur. The next day they forced her out of the town. She ran away to the Aja forest and started to make herself stronger.  
4) Lair
she lives in a magic castil in the middle of the Aja Forest. With an army of trolls under her command and a moat of fire.
5)The villains goal
Her top goal is to take revenge on the villagers that forced her out of the town. Her second goal is to become queen. 
6) Attitude towards the heroine
She is enraged at the hero of the story because she first had the idea to drive her out of the town.  
7)How she is stronger then the heroine 
She has magic on her side plus she is strong a cunning. 
8) How she is weak
When ever she sees a stag she has to kill it. She wants to make the stag extinct. 
9) Why she is in conflict with the main character
Because she led the mob that kicked her out of her home and divided her gold and manor between the mob.
10)Civet was looking out of her window at the drad sky when a messenger burst  in the door. " don't I always tell you to knock?"Civet snapped.  " sorry mam I was just excited "he said " the wolves have arrived and there leader would like to speak to you". 
submitted by Cassandra Day, age 11where, Lubbock TX
(November 4, 2014 - 9:27 am)

Well, here goes....

 

Name: Lord Joffren Forn (King Forn)

Physical Appearance: Tall, black hair and black eyes, shows signs of being highborn (his bearing, speech, etc)

Background: Born as Lord of Seafury, a castle on the Western Coast, House Forn is the House Paramount of the Western Coast, giving Lord Forn the allegiance of all the noble houses all along the Western Coast.

Lair: Seafury, a castle above the major port of Forn's Glory, a major trading center, since it also is n a river as well as the Sea. This trade makes House Forn incredibly wealthy. Seafury is on a ridge of land, making it very defensible. Seafury's location on the sea makes House forn a major sea power.

Villain's Goal: To become the King of the Western Kingdoms, and he will do anything he has to, to get his goal.

Attitude Towards Hero: King Forn treats King Blacktree as an equal, and respects him, this makes him a dangerous enemy, because he does not under estimate his foes

How is the Villian Stronger Than the Hero?: The Western Coast is larger than the Southern Woodlands, so King Forn has more Houses sworn to him, which means more soldiers. Also, because Seafury is on the Sea, the Western Coast has a powerful navy. lord Forn is an experienced generel compared to young King Blacktree

How is the Villian Weak or Vulnerable?: Many of Lord Forns lords are proud, but poor, so they can be bought for gold, this is his only major weakness.

Why Are the Main Character and the Villain in conflict with each other?: King Blacktree only wants to be the"Southern King", whereas King Forn says "What is a King, with a broken Kingdom?". King Blacktree is in Forns way.

Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): "M'lord!" The messenger called as he ran. "M'lord! Lord Blacktree is in the Greenway wit- "Must I remind you to say Your Grace when you're speaking to me, Sir Illings?" King Forn drawled, his voice filled with contempt. "Now finish your message, fool." "The king-the lord Blacktree ha-has terms, for you" Sir Illings stammered. "He says that you must give him elligibility of the Southern Woodlands as well as the Bloodlands, around the Blackblood river. You must also send 50 hostages of high birth to him to show goodwill. He says that if you refuse, he will pass through the Greenway and put Forn's Glory to the torch!" "Those are good terms, but what is a king with a broken kingdom? Why, no king at all. He shall have his war, but in his bllod, not mine." 

submitted by Eli S, age 12, Philadelphia
(November 6, 2014 - 9:10 pm)

Name- Arsa Divana (in elven it means clever one ).

Physical Appearance- flaming red hair ( the color of her temper) green eyes and very pale skin. She dresses in a green velvet dress embroidered with perls sown on the hem. She has a dagger hidden in her black cloak which she wears to cover her red hair. She is very cruel. 

Background - She was a mermaid but she caused trouble and rebellion so the king sentenced her to thirty years in the human world. As soon as she got out of the water she vowed to get revenge on the king and his family. She spent her first three years as a begger before she apprenticed herself to a baker. She ran away after one and a half years and moved ( see below). 

Lair - she lives in a series of caves in the mountains ( they have no name) two of the biggest rooms are where she keeps evry kind of animal in small cages( I told you she was cruel). The biggest room is wear she plans her evil plans for revenge for the royal family of the mermaids and mermen. 

What her goal is - She wants revenge on the merpeople (as is obvious) and become the queen of the merpeople.

Additude toword the hero - I think the hero in this story is the merprince Prince Malanj. She is mad at him the most because he was the one who dragged her befor the king.

How she is stronger the the hero - She studed the art of underwater magic and she has learned some very handy spells.  

How she is weak - She think she dosn't have a weakness but she does. After all the years out of water  (twelve in all) she has forgotten how to swim quickly and quietly.

Why she is in conflict with the prince Malanj - He was in the fighting band that defeated her and her rebels and dragged her in front of the king who sent her out of the water to live on land. 

Crowd Sorcery Sentences - The servant came in silently and lit the lamps; a few minutes later Arsa woke up and dressed from her bedroom. From there she went straight to her planning room; she had had a dream about the perfect way to sneak into the castle. After she had drawn and written her plans she rang a bell that summoned a servant. When he came in she snapped at him, "What took you so long?" "Sorry ma'm, it won't happen again," he said. "It had better not," she said to him, glaring. "Bring me breakfast  and feed the animals except for the polkmio*", "he chatterd when I came by yesterday". 

* thanks Lyra T and Quickslver for the word. I hope you don't mind my using it. 

submitted by Mysterious Stranger , age 1 to 101 , You don't need know
(November 16, 2014 - 9:47 pm)

Name Asraf the Queen of Oylana 

Physical Appearance She has black hair that goes down to her shoulders and piercing green eyes and blood-red lips. She wears a sky-blue dress with an ermine cape (poor ermine) and a golden crown studded with emeralds and sapphires.The most important thing is a diamond-shaped moonstone on a small silver chain.She uses it to do magic. She is very beautiful to look at but very evil. 

Background She was born in a small town and lived normally until she was fifteen and found the moonstone neckless in a field. She found writing on the back and it said: "Whoever welds this neckles can alter the form of themselves and anything and also create anything out of air." She ran away from home and to the castle. She changed the guards into worms and marched into the castle like a princess.The king and queen who were childless proclaimed her their heir. A week later the king and queen died mysteriously on the same day and Asraf was proclaimed the queen, then people say her evil nature and revolted but she created an army and the rebels shrank back into their farms. She made them build her an awesome castle and she is living there. 

Lair She lives in an awsome marble castle with over five hundred rooms. 

What is her goal She wants to take over the world and with her stone she can (except a girl called Fable  Asraf couldn't change her (she didn't know that Fable's power was protecting her) into anything). She also wants complete obedience from her subjects.

Attitude towards the hero She hates her and wishes to turn her into a donkey or a fly. 

How is the villain stronger then the hero She cannot be changed into anything or killed but she can be enslaved or injure her*.

How is the villain weak The neakles can chose its owners. It gets tired of its owners and leaves them. When it has left all the evil it has done with that owners is undone. 

Why are the villain and the main character in conflict with each other because Asraf wants to take over the world and Fable is in her way. 

Crowed sorcery sentence ? What is that ? 

* like in the wizard of oz  

submitted by Elven maiden, age dont know , The forest
(November 23, 2014 - 7:34 pm)

1. Name:  Aethera ( say it it sounds like a whisper!)

2. Physical apperance:  She is a whisper ( see dictionary)  

3. Background: She was banished from the ground and, since she can fly, is restless.

4. Lair: Nowhere. She cannot stay anywhere for long

5.What is the villians goal: To capture Fable, steal the book , write the future of her being given earth and change her appearance to that of Fable Thatcher.

6.Attitude toward hero:Yell

7. How is the villian stronger than the hero?: She is stronger because she can fly.

8. How is the villian weak or vulnerable?:She is weaker because she cannot walk or run.

9.Why are the main character and villian in conflict with each other?: Because Fable does not want to lose her life and neither does Aethra(she would lose it by exaustion)

10. Crowd sorcery sentence:

" From the sky came a breeze and a distant glow. Aethra hovered above the ground, her rustling silk breathing in her own wind. Her blue eyes pierced right through Fable's fixedly, and she never took them off of her." 

 

 

 

 

submitted by Isabella, age 11, Southern California
(January 12, 2015 - 10:00 am)

1. Name:  Aethera ( say it it sounds like a whisper!)

2. Physical apperance:  She is a whisper ( see dictionary)  

3. Background: She was banished from the ground and, since she can fly, is restless.

4. Lair: Nowhere. She cannot stay anywhere for long

5.What is the villians goal: To capture Fable, steal the book , write the future of her being given earth and change her appearance to that of Fable Thatcher.

6.Attitude toward hero:Yell

7. How is the villian stronger than the hero?: She is stronger because she can fly.

8. How is the villian weak or vulnerable?:She is weaker because she cannot walk or run.

9.Why are the main character and villian in conflict with each other?: Because Fable does not want to lose her life and neither does Aethra(she would lose it by exaustion)

10. Crowd sorcery sentence:

" From the sky came a breeze and a distant glow. Aethra hovered above the ground, her rustling silk breathing in her own wind. Her blue eyes pierced right through Fable's fixedly, and she never took them off of her." 

 

 

 

 

submitted by Isabella, age 11, Southern California
(January 12, 2015 - 10:01 am)