#THE SUPERFICIALITY OF VILLAINY | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rythmicjea · 11 days

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Daddikins and The Slaughter

A bit of housekeeping first. I've been agonizing on what my second entry in this series would be. I wish that I could say that I had a whole bunch of these lined up ready to post. But, all of my ideas revolve around a central theme: Two Sides of the Same Coin. So, before I get into all of those, and my break down of their romance, I want to isolate the situations where they are on the same side. Also, I made a few of the gifs in this post. They're shit. I know they're shit. Just go with them lol. And this is long. Holy hell it's long. It's longer than some of the short stories I've written.

The Opening Game

Archie

Hiram is considered to be the "main villain" of the series up through, and including Season 5. In these five seasons, the show posits that Archie is Hiram's archnemesis. Here's the thing, Archie maybe Hiram's opposite, but he's also a reflection of all of Hiram's insecurities. The biggest question is why a middle aged man would do everything he could to destroy a teenager. Hiram wasn't necessarily trying to destroy Archie himself. He was trying to destroy everything that Archie represented in himself. Archie is the character that most represents Riverdale itself in the show. Everything that the town can be. And Archie isn't afraid of being who he is no matter if he may stumble or fail along the way. To Hiram, that is unacceptable. He can't afford failure. He can't afford to make any mistakes. Everything Hiram does is to capture and destroy Riverdale as a whole because it encapsulates everything he is not. It's also why he can't condone a relationship between Archie and Veronica; because, Veronica is an extension of Hiram and Hiram can't let someone like him be involved with a person who represents everything he is not.

Jughead

Unlike Archie, who can be molded into Hiram's image, Jughead cannot. Hiram knows from the get go that he can't control him. Jughead is Hiram's opposite. Where Hiram is wealthy, Jughead is poor. Where Jughead lets morality dictate, Hiram has no scruples. There is a spot for everyone at Jughead's table, but Hiram believes that the boy shouldn't even be breathing the rarefied air that surrounds him.

For all of their differences, it's not the superficial contradictions that make Jughead an adversary. Again, unlike Archie, it's their similarities that birth the true rivalry. Hiram isn't dumb. He's incredibly cunning. Unlike Jughead, whose intelligence doesn't come from his parents, Veronica's comes from her father's. But, Jughead is a teenager and for as smart as he is, he doesn't have the life experience that Hiram does. He still holds onto an optimism that his exterior doesn't always emulate. Hiram recognizes and respects Jughead's royalty (and yes, Royalty is going to be one of my next entries); and, to take down a royal opponent you have to play a game of politics and subterfuge. This is why the matchup between Hiram and Jughead is of The Game of Kings.

Veronica

Hiram's villainy against his daughter doesn't come out immediately. He still sees her as his "little girl", "princess", and "mija" for the first few seasons. He relies too heavily on the blood between them to extract what he wants out of her and to manipulate her onto his side. As he tells Archie "fathers are forever". This... this is pure hubris. When a child cuts ties with a parent it's all "But it's your mom/dad! You only have one!" and not "Wow, what did that parent do to make their child walk away from them? How bad was it that their own child left them?"

One of the persistent jabs at Veronica's character is that she insists on telling him her plans to defeat him and then is surprised when he listens and turns the tables on her. For all of her acumen, Veronica is still a child. The main characters are still only children. They are teenagers thrust into a world of adult problems. Then, they are expected to solve all of the town's issues when it was never their job to begin with. But, Veronica, as Mrs. Burble points out is obsessed. She is obsessed with making her father proud of her. She wants all of her accomplishments to be recognized on their own merit without his interference.

Even though it takes many years, Veronica ends up severing ties with him completely. Going so far as to hire a hitman who is successful. That should tell you just how villainous Hiram Lodge was that his own daughter took such extreme measures.

The Middle Game

Hiram's True Rival(s)

The true opposition to Hiram's town domination has always been Jughead and Veronica. Sometimes separately and sometimes together. Unlike Archie, Hiram can't control or manipulate Jughead onto his side. And to an extent, he can't do the same to his daughter. He tries his best and for a brief moment, he succeeds. But, she always finds a way out of his clutches.

The Prince

There's more than one way to execute your opponent. Jughead put Hiram in a position that he never expected. For all of his underhandedness and corrupted ways, Hiram wasn't ever able to bring Jughead down to his level. Hiram buys the Riverdale Register, Jughead publishes in the Blue and Gold. When the Register becomes the Lodge Ledger, Jughead creates the Riverdale Choice. Jughead helps lead the protests on Pickens Day and then Hiram retaliates by severing the statue blaming it on the Serpents. It's when Jughead refuses to kill the article on him that Veronica's vision of her father begins to become unrepairable.

The first time Jughead meets Hiram, they speak about family. But, before Jughead can continue any meaningful dialogue, Hiram cuts him off. Hiram employs these little mind games throughout the series. Jughead might have come off as dramatic when he said that Hiram was "trying to buy [his] silence again". But, he was right. And I believe the majority of viewers knew that, even if they didn't recognize how.

Hiram realizes that for every move he makes, Jughead successfully uses the high road against him. Hiram is not a shortsighted individual. In Chapter Twenty-Nine: Primary Colors we see the trap that's been laid coming to fruition. Now, Hiram never expected Jughead to go on a hunger strike or for anyone to follow him for that matter. He asks Archie about it and Archie (oh you lovable himbo), thinks he takes Hiram off the scent.

For all of Hiram's diabolical scheming, there is one thing that sets him apart from other villains. And that is, he keeps himself incredibly composed. In fact, the first time we ever see him get angry is in the second season when Jughead first starts writing about Hiram's exploits. I think every fan remembers where he slams his hand against his desk yelling "JUGHEAD JONES!" In fact, you can probably count on one hand the amount of times Hiram actually gets angry. And if it's not him lashing out about his own insecurities, he's lashing out about Jughead.

The Knight

Jughead discovers Hiram's plan for the Southside very early on. But, he has absolutely no support. Even when he proclaims he's going on a hunger strike, his best friend laughs. Then, to his surprise, Jughead has far more support than anyone expected. And, Jughead correctly knows that it's in no one's interest to take down "a bunch of teenagers trying to save their school". So, Hiram gets Archie to do his dirty work. He pits the best pals against each other.

The knight always gets romanticized in literature, history, and in this game of black and white. But simultaneously they remember and forget the knight always makes a turn. A change of course.

Season two isn't the best season for Archie's character. There's a lot of attempts at ambiguity. He thinks he's trying to play both sides, but he isn't. Archie is always categorized as someone who is steadfast and true. He is the moral compass for the town. But with this, he lets Hiram direct that turn and it puts everyone in danger.

But, there's something I find really interesting in the costuming that you can see in this scene in particular. Whenever Jughead needs to be The Leader/The Prince the prongs of his beanie are curled outward making the famous crown more prominent.

Jughead in the shot below is acknowledging that Archie, his once white knight, is gone. He doesn't know when or where he lost him, just that he's gone. But, he accepts the sacrifice of his own piece for what he hopes will be a win in the end.

The Rook Pawn

There are several times that Hiram throws Veronica to the wolves. Far too many for a father to do to his own daughter. But, it all starts with her rebellion. At first, she wants to be part of her parents enterprise. She doesn't realize just how deeply her family is committed to this life of crime. Like Jughead, there's an innate optimism that she can change her family's legacy.

In 2x16 we see the start of Hiram's plans to sacrifice his daughter. And it's this episode that Veronica starts to realize that she is unprotected and begs for help. She realizes that she's not a backrow piece. She's a pawn. She might be her father's favorite pawn, but she is still a pawn. A piece to be maneuvered for his own gain. She lists three names, Ethel, Betty, and Jughead. Betty is her best friend who just left her high and dry as her running mate because Veronica lied to her. She put her parents first and has realized that mistake. She's known for some time that her parents are the reason why Ethel's life is in shambles and she wants to make amends. But... why Jughead?

The deification of parents in Hollywood

Like I'm a criminal too...

Why is it so important to Veronica that Jughead doesn't see her in the same light as her parents? Because she, unlike Betty and Archie, and unlike the Serpents, can see the game the two are playing. She has been witness to Jughead's hunger strike, read his articles about her father, and arbitrated the negotiations between the two kings. And, yet, she's afraid. She's afraid that she brought this blight onto the town. In season five she says that it's her fault. It's her father and she needs to be the one to fix it. Children of narcissists learn from a very young age that it's their job to regulate the emotions and behaviors of their parents. Veronica never wanted her father home. She begged her mother to find a way out from under his thumb. Her actions of trying to impress him is a tactic to regulate her home life.

In the comics, it's well known that Veronica and Jughead are classified as "Frenemies". Do you want to know a secret? *beckons you over and whispers* They date several times in the comics and there are tons of panels where Jughead is lusting over Veronica unironically. In the second episode of season two Jughead is a friend to Veronica. He gives her cliche advice because it's what worked for him and his father. Children of addicts are special. They have to make their home safe for themselves. They put a burden on their shoulders to cure their parents. Because if they can do that then they don't have to carry the weight of the responsibility of surviving anymore. Trust me when I say, that all children of addicts blame themselves for what they went through at some point in their life.

Hollywood loves to deify parents. They can't do anything wrong. And if they did then they had a good reason for it. Play some sappy music in the background and they make you forget just how horrific their actions were. Jughead, when he gives this advice to Veronica, doesn't know Hiram. He says "I won't pretend to know what lies inside your father's heart". And when he says if there's a chance that her father is trying then it's only respectful to recognize that. He doesn't say she has to meet him halfway. How much effort she wants to put into it, is for her to decide.

But when Jughead realizes who Hiram is and the extent of his control he backpedals faster than a cyclist in the Tour de France. He does everything out in the open too. He does it so Veronica can see. He fucked up by giving her bad advice. If he had known what her father was truly like he never would have said such things! He would never tell her that she was at fault for his actions. He would never say that her father's mess was hers to clean up. Because he recognizes a traumatized person, because he's been traumatized. What he would say is that he was at fault for not knowing things sooner. (Oh you sweet summer child...)

When Jughead challenges Hiram to come to the trailer park, so that the two royal lines can broker an accord, she doesn't sit with her father. Jughead doesn't sit next to her because this is not a 'both sides made mistakes' issue. This is Hiram against the Jones'. So, Veronica sits between them - like a moderator or negotiator. She doesn't fully realize it yet, but this physical separation is the beginning of a crack. It's small. But it's enough.

That's why, when she announces her candidacy for Student Body President, Jughead perks up when he hears her parents are against it. Because that means she's thinking for herself. She's acting on her own. And Jughead presses on that crack making it deeper.

So, when she says that she doesn't want Jughead to see her as a criminal, her subconscious is coming to the surface and she is recognizing the truth around her. It's a truth she doesn't want to be apart of. So while Jughead has been trying to atone for his mistake, by exposing Hiram; Veronica changing course is her way of atoning to Jughead for what she believes is her fault.

One of the most beautiful things about their interactions is that Jughead never blamed Veronica. He might have been upset with her because outwardly she was so dedicated to her family, but he never once thought that she was responsible for Hiram's actions.

When they go low, we go high... Riot Night

The Bishop

Hiram has a Bishop - Penny Peabody. And he uses her to destroy the newly crowned Prince. And this is where Jughead realizes the real game he's been playing. The entire time he believed that it was two kingpins moving those under their leadership, using their own resources, to bring the other down. It's on Riot Night that he finally sees that he's never been on the offensive. Where he entertained the possibility of Hiram and FP playing the Kings on the board, he now understands that Hiram was never on the board to begin with. And Jughead was a pawn who made it to the back row. You see, in chess, a pawn can be elevated to "Prince" if they make it to the back row of the opposing side. Jughead was someone who begrudgingly took up his mantle in the Serpents (he moved from pawn to prince to king). And Hiram used this to his advantage.

Even at the last minute Jughead still didn't figure it all out. But he did realize the one thing no one else did. When confronted, Hiram tries to deflect; but, it's what Jughead says that is the most haunting. He notes how much Hiram is spending on all of this. But it's not the amount spent - it's the worth that those he bought represents. In business, the most valuable item is that which has not been obtained. Without Jughead, the Serpents would have rolled over. There was enough heat coming down on them to make them leave. So, when Jughead says "but you couldn't buy us", what he means to say is "you couldn't buy me."

It's in this moment, when he's cornered and in check, that he realizes he was Hiram's opposition all along. Jughead knew he was a thorn. But, he believed himself to be outside of the fight. An objective observer. This realization is what inspires the counteroffer to go to the slaughter for his gang, his town, and his father. Hiram knew the only way he could ever defeat Jughead was if Jughead sacrificed himself. He used Jughead's innate goodness against him. And Penny noted it all. "The sacrificial lamb arrives..." Jughead figured that no bloodshed would follow his sacrifice, but Hiram knew that without Jughead's leadership, the Serpents would implode. Getting Jughead out of the picture was Hiram's entire goal.

Deflection, Attack, Refute, Valve, Opposition

Like all villains, Hiram has a pattern. Surprisingly, Hiram's is well known in the psychology world: DARVO.

Deny

Attack

Reverse Victim

Offender

For those who are unfamiliar with this the titles are pretty self-explanatory. But, Hiram executes these with precision. Jughead says himself that Hiram is 10 steps ahead, because he is. Knowing when a teenager is going to zig instead of zag isn't that difficult; but, making that zig look like something it's not, is.

Deflection

Hiram likes to isolate his opponent first. But during that isolation he builds you up. He appreciates what you have to offer. He loves listening to your ideas. He makes you feel welcome in his world. That's how slimy he is and it makes the skin crawl once you know this. The diabolical part of this is the "Deny" aspect. He denies his involvement because he makes his victim come up with the idea. He gives them the authority to act out their deepest and darkest desires. This is how he keeps his hands clean.

Attack

Surprisingly, his attack, looks like denial, but it's really a withdrawal. Take the Dark Circle. Archie came up with it, Hiram facilitated it, but he maneuvered behind Archie's back to take it away from him. And he did all of this, so that at the debate, Hermione could truthfully say that Archie started it. Because he did. The nuance of the situation doesn't matter.

When it comes to Jughead, his actions are far more psychological. He calls Jughead "the other one" when he introduces Archie and Jughead to the new sheriff. He does this knowing it will diminish Jughead's efforts. But, Jughead, always knowing he's underestimated takes it in stride which just further upsets Hiram.

Refute

In Veronica's case, he serves his daughter up on a silver platter to be auctioned off to the highest bidder of 'The Families'. And when she puts in the work to get her idea off of the ground, he plays the victim. He makes it seem like she is the bad guy for thinking that her efforts could be successful. Because, if she fails, what would happen to Hiram? Later he throws out that she chooses others "over blood". No, she chooses others over him. He acts like she has made the ultimate betrayal when really, he has always been the betrayer. This is especially evident at the beginning of Season Three when Hiram refuses to withdraw his attack against Archie and says that it is her "punishment" for picking "that boy over blood".

Valve

Ultimately, his goal is to make those he is attacking into the offenders. "I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids". Sound familiar? Hiram is just a business man taking advantage of good land deals so he can elevate his project that will elevate the town. He doesn't understand why this petulant teenager is trying to stall progress! Why is he the one being vilified when everyone can prosper? His Mija is just a child! He's looking out for her and her well-being. Of course he would take the money she earned and put it in a trust. She's not old enough to understand the responsibility that comes with such a large sum. Ignoring the fact that when her would-be rapist kidnapped and tortured her boyfriend, Hiram did nothing. Instead, he's absolutely okay with Veronica selling herself for Archie's freedom.

Opposition

He doesn't send Jughead or Veronica to be slaughtered, it was done of their own volition. They decided to do that. Their choices lead them to that outcome. Except, his game of psychological warfare in the form of systematic torture and corruption of the town drove them to do it.

The End Game

Tick Tock, Daddy... Tick... Fucking... Tock...

Season five and six Jeronica is SO underrated. I know that it seems like their relationship in season seven came out of nowhere but if you don't think that they were coded from the pilot, then you have recognize that the groundwork was being laid since they all came back to Riverdale. But I argue this groundwork goes back even farther. As early as the season finale of season two.

It's Veronica who is the first to stand with Archie to save everyone from being bussed out. She wants to buy the Whyte Wyrm to save Jughead from Hiram. And when she finds out that Hiram fired FP from Pop's she realizes the "bigger, smarter play". Jughead really doesn't have that strong of a connection to the Wyrm. Yes, it's Serpents territory. Yes, it's the last piece of the southside that Hiram needs. But it's in this moment that Veronica realizes that Pop's is the Heart of Riverdale. In my analysis of Archie's dream, at the beginning of season five, I present that Jughead is Riverdale's conscience. And Veronica is the first to realize this fact. So, because her friend loves this diner, and this diner is everything to the town, she lovingly takes it over.

Hiram's deception of still owning Pop's is the first time he sacrifices Veronica. The second time is when he destroys her rum business because he can. He uses his position as Mayor to literally break the law because she beat him at his own game. So, he topples the game board. The third is when he sabotages her self-esteem by greasing her entrance into Harvard. He even tries to sacrifice her for his own good in season seven! He gets her to perjure herself with an affidavit by saying she was with him in Cuba. But, to me, what he does in Season 5 is the worst one and one he both succeeds and fails at, at the same time.

From his intro we all knew that Chad was a version of her father. The saying that "girls marry boys just like their father" exists because it's true. Chad is stalking her, harming her, defrauding her, and abusing her (love bombing is a form of abuse). Every trick that Chad employs is the same that Hiram did to Hermione. So, Veronica, innocently believing enough time had passed, goes to her father for help. And Hiram turns her away. Why does he do this? What could she have possibly done to deserve him turning his back on her? She set a boundary that she would not clean up his mess and save him when he willingly and stupidly put himself in danger because of his machismo. I repeat, as a teenager she refused to be a parent to her father. That's the reason why he won't help his daughter get out of an abusive marriage and he actively helps Chad hunt her down. This is when he succeeds at sacrificing her. Hiram fails when she successfully defends herself against Chad and eliminates the threat he poses.

Just like the end of sophomore year when Jughead almost gave his life to save everyone he loved, history repeats itself with Veronica fighting for hers against her husband and exiling Hiram.

Check...

The Heart and The Conscience...

The conscience is when the brain agrees with what the heart wants. Jughead and Veronica work separately to take her father down. They both almost die in the process. Hiram willingly sends his daughter and the rival prince to their own demise to keep his control. To quote Jess, that's some Shakespearean shit. If Veronica is Cordelia then Jughead is Hamlet. But, if they had worked together from the beginning? Archie never would have been arrested, they never would have been in danger, Veronica never would have put the hit out on her father, and Hiram would have been gone by the end of season two.

Season Three

In Season Three, Jughead investigates the Gargoyle King and he suspects it's Hiram. But he can't go after Hiram the way he did the previous year. He knows what will happen if he does. He still never comes down to Hiram's level but he's far more covert and direct than he once was. He was a pawn who elevated himself to Prince and then took up the mantle of King. This time, he knows he's on the board but instead of moving everyone else, he knows better now. He knows to make sure everyone's playing the same game.

That's why Hiram could never really affect Jughead the way he wanted. Jughead used his resources against him not wanting to get too close. But in their Junior Year, Jughead has to take a more personal approach. There's a discomfort and an anger when he does this. He can't obfuscate the fact Hiram has gotten to him, but it's far more complex than it once was.

This is the same with Veronica. The first episode has her disowning herself from her father. "You don't have a daughter anymore." She feels more inclined to manage the carnage but neither have the fortitude to do what they did the second half of their sophomore year. And they don't have the wherewithal to aid the other's help. It's why in season three we begin to see Jughead pick up the pieces from when Hiram shattered Veronica. Even when dating Archie, Veronica's only protector was Jughead. But that's for another post 😉.

...and Mate

If their dynamic with Hiram teaches us anything it's that together, Jughead and Veronica are absolutely unstoppable. For as cerebral as Jughead can be, he is the heart to Veronica's conscience. Jughead is emotional and prone to letting them cloud his judgement. It's a real and honest portrayal of the complexities of teenagerhood.

Where Jughead is emotional, Veronica is analytical. She's the embodiment of the sexism women face every day. Women can't be emotional or they won't be taken seriously. They have to work twice as hard to get half as much. Nothing, not even for a Princess, is handed to them. Veronica rarely lets her emotions get the best of her, and the first time she sheds a few tears it's Jughead's name on her lips. Not because he caused them but because she's not ready for him to see her vulnerable. She's not ready to confide in him. She's not ready to apologize for her parent's actions because she still believes it's her fault. That's why, after he's almost killed, Veronica vows to make things right. She still wants to atone.

I mean, when you break down the series finale you realize that the writers couldn't say it outright, but Jughead and Veronica became the most influential couple the world had ever seen. Name a more powerful couple than a studio president and a publishing mogul. I'll wait...

And, as always, I love feedback. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know your thoughts!

Bisous, Bisous... Votre Auteur.

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finniestoncrane · 11 months

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Arkham!Two Face x Female!Insert, word count: 4k commission: harvey x oc (changed to just a female insert character here) have a lilttle bit of switch fun 💙 commission me here! request info • prompt list • send me a request • kofi • masterlist minors DNI!! 🔞 cw: flirting, teasing, teensy bit of misogynistic language, sub/dom/switch dynamics, orgasm denial kinda

Another rainy night in Gotham, and another ridiculous hour to be outside in that weather. But she didn’t mind. She was used to being cold. She preferred it. And she was excited enough about her evening plans that she would have walked in the rain for hours to get to where she was going. Luckily though, Gotham’s nightlife was always thriving, despite the threat of villainy and criminals around every corner, even in the broad day light let alone the dark of the very late evening. Which meant that there were plenty of cabs driving on the roads, and she was quick to hail one over to her, telling him her destination. He blinked three times before unlocking the door. Everyone knew the address. It was Harvey’s place. Two Face’s domain.

She wondered if the cab driver had briefly considered warning her, playing the knight in shining armour. At least, had he thought of that before he took a long hard look at her, her neutral, if not slightly mischievous expression and her outfit, which screamed “typical Gotham criminal” and decided against it.

In the back of the cab, she finished the last of her business on her phone, final emails of the night before she switched it off and focused on herself for a while. It was rough business, constantly fighting to remain afloat, scrambling to get near the top. The planning, the organisation, the constant communications. If someone had told her villainy was this difficult, well, she would have still been drawn to it. But she might have considered a degree in administration or business management.

But there were always moments of reprieve. Times she could set aside to relax, when she needed it more than anything else. And as always, ever ready to satisfy that urge though he pretended it was begrudgingly, was Harvey.

Good old Dent would never let her down. Despite his efforts to convince her that he hated receiving her last minute demands for some time alone with him, he was yet to say no to her inviting herself into his home for their sordid little meetings. He liked to convince himself that he had the upper-hand in their relationship, but they both knew better. She had him wrapped around her finger, and she knew how to make the most of that.

As though on cue, her phone pinged, right as she made the move to turn it off. A text from Harvey himself.

“Listen, if you’re not here in the next five minutes, I’m locking the door.”

Rolling her eyes, she typed a reply back.

“Oh yeah? In that case I’ll be fifteen minutes, and we’ll see if big bad Dent can stick to his word, huh?”

Turning the phone off, happy to ignore his response in favour of winding him up further, she sat back against the seat in the darkened cab, watching the ever-present rain drip down the window. Sighing, she admitted to herself that she was looking forward to this as much as she knew Harvey was. There was an undeniable connection between them. Not love, more lust. It was as if he knew her, and that knowledge served her well. He could relieve her tensions, that was for damn sure.

But she didn’t want to get too deep. It was better that their relationship, if they could call it that, remained superficial. Surface level. It was hotter that way. There was a danger to it. She couldn’t really bring herself to admit it out loud, but thinking about it, there was something deeply arousing about the idea that while he was willing to tend to her every need in the bedroom, Harvey was capable of switching moods as quickly as he switched personalities. Where was the fun if your potential sexual encounter wasn’t likely to murder you as equally as they were likely to grab you and kiss you.

She knocked on the large, heavy front door and waited. The panel slid to the side and she looked in, making unamused eye contact with one of Harvey’s goons who closed it, the sounds o f several locks being opened before the door itself was finally ajar. Stepping into the warmth, she offered a polite smile to the three men who stood, armed to the teeth, in the hall of Harvey’s mansion. She made a conscious effort each time to only walk on the neat side, keeping her shoes clean from the dirt and grime on the other. By the time she had made it to his lounge, he was there at the door to greet her.

“You made it.”

“Of course.”

“You stopped answering my calls.”

“Yes.”

He looked at her, straight into her eyes, his brow furrowed in irritation.

“Why?”

“Harvey, I have limited time and limited patience. Do you want to question me or do you want to make a start on what we had planned for this evening?”

Deciding it was easier to give in than to argue, and desperate to be allowed to put his plans into motion, he growled and turned, heading into the lounge and holding the door open behind him for her.

She took a seat on the throne in the room, watching as Harvey stood by the liquor cabinet, pouring two glasses out for himself, and another two for her.

“Old habits die hard, huh?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he swallowed down one glass, then another, and brought one over to her where she sat. Standing still, he watched her sip, blushing when she realised he was staring.

“Penny for your thoughts, Harv? Or a silver dollar, anyway?”

He smiled, an incredulous scoff with notes of unamused sarcasm echoing in the room before he spoke.

“I was actually thinking… you look pretty good up there.”

“Better than you do anyway.”

She smirked, teasing him. And though he scowled, she knew he liked it. Taking her by surprise, Harvey leaned in, taking her chin in his hand and kissing her. It was deep, surprisingly warm. Tender, too. Different from the way he usually felt, there was something to it, something new, but still familiar. His lips, the good side, were firm on her. But the weaker side of his face added the attributes she longed for. Messy, sloppy. It felt carefree, careless when he kissed her, his drool falling from the corner of his mouth, coating her as he moaned. His tongue, running along hers as the vibrations tingled through her throat. But as quickly as he started, he pulled back, awkwardly scratching at his neck. Clearly not his usual self, he shuffled from foot to foot, staring at the ground as he found the confidence to speak.

“So… Did you have time to consider my proposition on your journey over here?”

“I did, and I refuse to just automatically let you take charge, Dent. I don’t know why you would think otherwise.”

He sighed, reaching into his pocket and producing his coin.

“Ok then. Standard rules apply. I’ll flip, we’ll see who gets to go first.”

“Oh, the suspense is killing me.”

She rolled her eyes, a slight smile crossing her lips as she watched Harvey’s coin spin in the air on it’s way up and back down. He caught it perfectly in his palm, slapped it onto the back of his other hand, and revealed it.

“Ha! Ok, Harvey. Let’s get you trussed up like the good little slut you are.”

With a groan, he tossed his head back and began to shuffle behind her as she led him to his throne in the middle of the room.

“Sit down, big boy. Let’s get going, I think we’ve wasted enough time.”

Surprisingly obedient, Harvey took his seat on his ridiculously opulent throne as she stood up and looked straight into her eyes as she opened her purse up, producing several strands of deep red silk.

“You planned ahead.”

“You didn’t?”

He sneered at her, but the soft, red glow on his cheeks betrayed his confident and callous exterior. This was getting to him, it was pleasurable. And she could keep it up all night if she had to. The playful back and forth, the never-ending disagreements. It was the backbone of their ‘relationship’ and it fed them both what they needed and more. Chaos, an escape route if things got too emotional, toeing the fine line between lust and hate.

Harvey sighed at the result of the coin as he faced his throne, pulling his shirt out from his pants and lifting it up over his taut abdomen, revealing his muscles, scarred on one side, smooth on the other. Turning, he caught her eye and smirked a little, pleased that his body could still draw her attention that way after however many times she had seen it before. Sitting in his chair, finally, he slid his pants and underwear off, his cock, soft still, resting between his open thighs, completely on display for her, which she appreciated sincerely.

Taking the silk, she tied his ankles to the legs of his throne first, noting to herself that he put up no fight, happy to submit it seemed, despite his insistence that he was always the dominant one in any scenario. She moved to his arms next, bringing the silk around his muscular forearms and sliding it down, pulling the ends to bring his arms tightly together.

With his hands tied together at the wrists, she raised them above his head, using another length to keep them up by connecting them to the back of the throne. She let her eyes wander down his body, shirtless and exposed, his cock beginning to stiffen, twitching at the sensations of her touch and the silk on his skin. The longer she looked at it, licking her lips without even realising, the harder he seemed to be getting. Snapping out of the trance, she returned to her usual witty self and smiled warmly, but mischievously.

“Already, Harv? I’m just tying you up. You really like being subby for me, huh?”

“I really don’t. I just know what’s coming. If I grit my teeth and take it then I get my just rewards.”

“Who said anything about a reward?”

He narrowed his eyes as he waited for her to explain, already concerned about what she could be suggesting.

“Would an orgasm be the reward you expected, Harv?”

“I would have assumed so, yeah.”

“Well… it’s too bad that bad boys who are all trussed up like little sluts don’t get to cum.”

She sank to the floor, kneeling in front of him, dragging her soft hands up his thighs. Her fingers reached the top, close to the base of his cock, skirting around it, briefly grazing it on either side, before she pulled them away. Harvey threw his head back in desperate irritation.

“If you can behave, Harvey, I’ll consider letting you cum. But you have to be very, very obedient. Can you do that?”

“I’m sure I can handle it.”

He rolled his eyes, but he felt a pang of nerves rising in his chest. The only reason he’d called her over, practically begging, was because he was desperate. The urge, the need for release, had been overwhelming. And now he was being asked to supress it. No, in fact, it was being demanded of him.

Before he could adjust himself to the situation at hand, he felt her touch, her fist closing around his length. He gritted his teeth, trying not to make a sound, but his breath hissed out as he relaxed into her grip. She watched him, eyes never leaving his face, as she stroked his cock, feeling it pulsing under her touch, watching his face contort as he got closer to the pleasure. As he struggled against the restraints, he bucked his hips up, thrusting his cock through her closed fist. Sensing his desperation she jerked harder, faster, listening to him as he whimpered her name under his breath. He rarely did that, only when he was deeply aroused, so close to orgasm that his mind was stifled and his efforts to pretend he didn’t care who was making him cum lapsed, letting her know he was thinking of her, transfixed on her alone. When she felt his muscles tensing, she let go quickly with no warning, and Harvey snapped at her.

“Oh, fuck- … really?”

“Yep. I told you, rules are rules. You sure you can handle it?”

“Listen, I can handle anything.”

“Let’s test that theory then.”

She stood up from the floor, her hands moving to her back, a sultry move of her hips as she unzipped her dress and pulled it down her body onto the floor. Basking in his gaze, his pupils blown, she let him take her in. Completely naked, no underwear, because what was the point, in her heels only. Either instinctively or stupidly, Harvey pulled against the restraints, trying to reach out and grab her.

Lifting her leg up, she rested her foot on Harv’s chest, the toe of her shoe pressed into his chest and the stiletto heel digging into the skin just below. She increased the pressure, pushing him back into the seat.

“I really don’t think you’re going to be able to do this, Harvey. I think you’re going to give in, which is a shame, because you would make the nicest little fuck toy.”

“I’m really not going to give in, or back down. The coin decided. I can play fair.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Before he had finished his sentence, she had lowered her leg and was straddling him, holding his cock at the base as she lowered herself on to it. His whole body tensed as she clenched around him, her walls stretching to accommodate his entire cock as she balanced on his lap. She rolled her hips forward once, a quick thrust, and Harvey’s fingers gripped the arms of his chair. With a sly giggle, she began grinding herself on him, using him to fuck herself.

Under her, she could feel his body shifting and writhing, at least as much as he could manage while he was restrained. His desperate bids to try and take control of the situation, to at least fuck her instead of being fucked, but he couldn’t get the angle right, and she was grinding down hard on him, limiting his movements.

The more she rocked against him, her fingers clawing at his chest and broad shoulders, moaning in pleasure with each stroke of his cock against her sensitive insides, the more Harvey could feel himself reaching his own climax. But it was telling, his face, the way his breathing became ragged. And each time he seemed to be reaching the point of no return, she kept her body still, his cock twitching inside of her, pulsing as she raised herself off it, waiting until he had calmed down before she began rocking herself on it again.

“You are a complete pain in the ass, you know that?”

“Oh, Harv. Careful what you wish for. I brought more than just the silk ties, you know.”

Something unfamiliar inside of him stirred. He was usually never complacent in being dominated, but the way she commanded control over his body, the suggestion of her possibly taking him and penetrating him gave him butterflies. He’d never admit to it though. Their relationship was unsteady, not based in trust. He couldn’t imagine confessing that to her. he had to maintain at least equality, even if it meant denying himself a pleasure he was suddenly deeply curious about.

She began groaning as she picked up the pace of her thrusts, her slick coating Harvey’s thighs and her own, arousal flooding her as she could feel the heat of orgasm spreading from her stomach through her body. But, much to her own disappointment as his own, as she began to feel herself closing in on her own orgasm, she was thrown off by the sudden shifting below her, and Harvey’s frantic pleas.

“Ok… you have to stop, I can’t… I can’t hold it this time, I swear…”

Swiftly, and without much ceremony, she stood up, his cock freed from her as he sighed in relief, bobbing before settling, the flushed red member settling against his abdomen. He was so hard, so aroused, and she knew he was enjoying himself, but the pain of being denied the pleasure was still etched on his face.

“You need to give me a second… I can’t… I have to…”

“Can’t handle it as well as you thought, huh big guy?”

“Shut up.”

A little irritated by his attitude, she decided to keep pressing him. Bending at the waist, she leaned in to him, her breasts in front of his face, tantalisingly close but just out of reach of his mouth. She stroked her thumb over the head of his cock, wet with her own slick, picking up the small drops of precum which formed at the slit, spreading it over the sensitive skin with the gentle motions. His hips jerked, hitching up in desperation, trying to cling to the modicum of joyous friction and touch she offered. But she pulled her hand away again.

“Oh you… little bitch…”

“Tut, tut, Harvey. That’s not very gentlemanly of you. Even he wouldn’t be so rude to me.”

“That’s because he enjoys watching you torture me.”

“Torture is such a severe word. It’s… teasing.”

“Yeah, Harv!”

He growled at his own response, irritated by how much Two Face enjoyed the suspense, the withholding of pleasure.

“Shut up, don’t make this any worse.”

“Ah, the inner turmoil. One of you loves it, letting me be in charge. The other hates it. And let’s be honest, even more than he loves being brought to the edge and cruelly pushed back again, Two Face definitely likes to see you suffer more.”

He whined, his voice breaking, throat closing as he tensed against her, the way she seemed to have complete control over him.

“Ok, enough now, come on!”

She ignored his pleas, his desperate begging to be let loose. He wasn’t playing by the rules, after all, and he would be mad at himself and her if she gave into his demands so easily.

“Hey, seriously.”

“Oh, Harvey. You’re forgetting the rules, sweet boy.”

He looked to her, confused, eyebrow cocked and mouth open as he thought.

“You’ll have to use your safe word if you want me to stop, silly.”

“Oh…”

Quicker than she expected, Harvey uttered the word in an unamused tone, and the atmosphere shifted. With the confusion now on her end, she untied the silk restraints from Harvey’s ankles and then his wrists, freeing him from his ridiculously egomaniacal throne with a desperately disappointed feeling settling in her stomach. She was worried that she had taken it too far. Worried that she might have ruined things between them. And more than that, she was annoyed that she wasn’t going to get to fuck him now. But, before she had too long to let the dismal feeling fester in her chest, Harvey had his hands on her arms, gripping her tight and turning her around before he dropped her into the seat he had just left.

Swift, surprisingly so, he tied one of her wrists up, and she realised what was happening.

“Harvey Dent!”

“Guess again, baby.”

He grinned wide, self-satisfied and mischievous as he winked at her, tying the other wrist and moving to her ankles.

“Oh. You. I might have known.”

As he smiled, he continued to tie her ankles up, and she put up a little bit of a fight, just for him. She didn’t want him to think he wasn’t getting the full show. He liked a bit of a struggle, after all. At least, Two Face did. And she was more than happy to perform for him.

When he had finally secured her to the seat, mimicking the way he himself had been tied up, he stood back to admire his work. As she stared back at him, her chest heaved, breathing heavily as she waited patiently to be ravaged by him. And she didn’t have to wait long.

He sank to his knees and slowly shuffled towards her, his hands on her knees, trailing up her thighs, spreading them as far as they would go past the arms of the chair without straining her ankles, before he buried his face between them.

She screamed out instantly, the sudden fervour of his touch, the passion and hunger behind it, driving her to the edge as he pressed his tongue into her cunt, shaking his head from side to side as he growled into her. Her wrists were bashed against the ties and the arms of the throne as she tried to reach out for him, desperate to grip his hair, to push him closer to her, further into her. Straining, she screamed and groaned, as Harvey’s muffled laughter only served to tease her more.

She whined when Harvey knelt back, resting on his ankles, away from her body.

“Don’t worry, I’m not as cruel as you.”

He undid the ties, freeing her. Sitting still, she looked at him, waiting cautiously.

“Turn around and get on your knees.”

Obediently, she did as she was told, her knees on the soft cushion of the chair, her arms holding onto the back of the throne. She braced herself, waiting for Harvey, jumping when his hands made contact. His palms, smoothing over her hips around to her rear, grabbing at her cheeks as he held himself against her. Gripping his cock, he ran the head of his cock along her lips, teasing her before he slid himself inside of her.

“F… fuck…”

“Yeah, I thought so. You like that?”

“Mmm… oh god…”

“You can pretend all you want. You’re a little slut who likes getting fucked.”

Harvey held onto her waist with one hand, the other reaching up to grip her hair, pulling it and arching her back against him and onto him. With the angle he had her at, he thrust up, striking her inside, his abdomen slapping against her ass.

“You like being fucked rough? Think you deserve it?”

Unable to speak past the moans and gasps, the pleasure overwhelming, she could only mumble incoherently against his punishing thrusts.

“I’m in control.”

There was a guttural groan as he thrust himself in, his fingernails digging into her skin, a change in his tone, in his voice.

“I’m in control. Not you. Not him. Just me.”

Her heart fluttered in her chest, excitement growing at Two Face’s words, the way he held her, the way he forced more of himself into her than she thought she could take, surprised by her body’s willingness to have his entire length inside of her.

“That’s it, take it. Take everything, you’re such a dirty whore, huh?”

She nodded, but it was imperceptible given the force at which her body was being pounded into, and the quivering of her every muscle as she tried to steady herself in the wake of her climax. Body ready, weakened by arousal and pleasure, she could feel herself slipping, losing strength. And as she came, screaming at the top of her lungs and clenching around him, she was steadied only by his hands, one on her hip, the other on her chest.

Quickly, without giving herself much time to revel in the aftermath, she steadied her own body again, oddly keen to serve his needs in that moment.

“Where do you want it? You wanna be filthy? Want me to cum inside you?”

“Please, Harv… anything… anything…”

“So obedient. You’ll remember this next time you think you’re in control, hm?”

She bit her lip, trying to remain stoic, but as he withdrew himself, she shouted out.

“No don’t, Harvey, please. I swear, I’ll remember.”

Slamming himself back in with a cruel smile, he rutted a few more times before he grunted loud, a low groan following it as he spilled himself inside of her. Pulling out, he watched his cum trickle down the inside of her thighs, settling on the seat of his throne. He leaned in, kissing the back of her neck and bringing his palm sharply to her rear.

“You should know me better by now.”

Knowing he couldn’t see her, she smiled at the sentiment. She did, and she had known exactly what she was getting in for. Always had.

#harvey dent #two face #two face fanfic #finnie writes #arkham!two face #two face x reader #harvey dent x reader

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keybladespirit · 11 months

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If you are any kind of minority, you NEED to read Astro Boy.

This might, at first glance, look like me pointing at a protest and superficially comparing it to a Pride protest. But the context of this panel is that cops have introduced a bill that would make it illegal to make the specific robot parts that allow robots to exist as people.

This was kicked off by a crime committed by a robot whose self-defined purpose was to entertain people as a magician. Supposedly, he committed a crime using his magic tricks, which to cops petitioning for the bill was proof enough that robots shouldn't be allowed to do anything not useful to humans.

This started as a fun story about Astro Boy fighting an evil human magician who wanted to steal the robot magician's tricks.

Another story, The Hot Dog Corps, starts as a mystery involving an army of robot soldiers who are somehow able to harm humans something robots are not able to do in this world and turns into like, one of the top ten intentional trans allegories of all time when one of them defects and starts helping Astro Boy.

And it does all of this while perfectly walking the impossibly thin line between real commentary on systemic issues and kid-friendly Saturday morning cartoon villainy. Like yes, Deadcross is cartoonishly evil in his desire to mind control the world's first robot president into abolishing robot rights in his country and then leaving office, but his anti-robot bigotry is exactly the same as a lot of racism and transphobia and other bigotry that I've seen and experienced in the world.

Like honestly I feel like this is so good that it should be taught in schools. Like, third grade or so.

Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy. Read Astro Boy.

#astro boy #queer #osamu tezuka #manga #anime #did i mention #that this was written in the 1960s by someone who grew up in WWII Japan?

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crisiscutie · 6 months

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It's actually quite sad some people are so superficial they really believe Hojo isn't his dad. Sephiroth has so many personality traits from Hojo. Genetics don't require beauty, for a person to come out looking nice.

Yep, anon! They've also shared some physical similarity in Remake too. Like I said before, the cruelty Sephiroth inflicts on Cloud and his party is rooted in the cruelty he experienced from his own father. It is so tragic that Sephiroth never experienced the full measure of love and support he deserved during his formative years and early adulthood. It's only natural that he eventually resorted to villainy when he reached his breaking point...

He deserved so much better, but the truth is that our Crisis Cutie has unfortunately become just as awful, if not worse, than his father.

I think the most potent traits that Hojo and Sephiroth share are their extreme ruthlessness and determination. If relevant to his plans, Sephiroth would do the same awful things as Hojo.

#sephiroth #final fantasy 7 #crisis cutie #ff7 sephiroth #ff7 #c.c rambles #professor hojo #yandere sephiroth #sephiroth crescent #final fantasy vii #ffvii #ffviir #ffvii ever crisis #ffvii crisis core

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ultraericthered · 2 months

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BEST DRAGON BALL BIG BADS

1. Cell and Freeza - Eternally the greatest villains that the Dragon Ball franchise has ever had and will ever have. They both just work so well, as characters and as villains, but on different levels. Both are completely and utterly evil to their cores, both are uber powerful, both are superbly designed, both have iconic voices, both serves as ultimate enemies to a generation of Saiyan (Freeza to Goku and Vegeta, and Cell to their sons Gohan and Trunks), both have fun and hilarious TFS Abridged Series incarnations that do them justice, and both have the demeanor of charismatic, sophisticated gentleman whose faux affability is used to punctuate their horrible evilness and conceal even uglier evilness within, giving the reader/viewer a strong desire to see them get dealt a comeuppance, but it’s expressed somewhat differently - with Freeza, his superficial politeness is blatantly false, you can read in his tone that it’s a front he puts on to patronize everyone of lesser power than he, even his own minions, and his inner spoiled brat and brutish sadism seeps through with every line…but those lines are normally courteous and gentlemanly. With Cell, his affability seems much more sincere and there’s much less obvious fakeness and condescension to it, but the things he actually says even with that attitude are so cruel, demeaning and dickish (he’s not known as a Savage Roast King for nothing!) and he just excudes confidence in what he is and all that he is capable of achieving. Their places in the story and what they represent is also great. Freeza was literally the instigator of the entire series, the reason Goku was raised on Earth to start with - he is the dark past that must be conquered in the present day where his reign of terror still spreads. Whereas Cell is literally made up of the cells of the greatest fighters seen across the series, including the previous villains, Freeza among them, who traveled back in time from a future timeline - he is the series’ past amalgamated into a grand present day crescendo and is reflective of a dark future that must not come to pass. While Cell's my preference between the two of them in terms of villainy (character-wise, he’s not quite as developed as Freeza has been), Freeza’s easily my second favorite, and both of them are equally the best Big Bads with the best sagas in all of Dragon Ball.

2. Zamasu/Goku Black and Demon God Demigra - Or as I like to call them, the Lucifer-Satan Duo. As I’ve said before, they’re sort of like the Freeza and Cell of the franchise’s new age - not quite as good but still easily the best major villains we've seen since them. Demigra came first and while he’s not much to write home about in terms of characterization, he’s got an awesome design, an incredibly strong malevolent presence, a flamboyant personality and a particularly sick, cruel, creepy style of villainy that makes him unforgettable. He’s a former Shinjin who fell from grace and became a demon who then rose to such a high state of power that he’s deemed a Demon God, and as such he now possesses a proud, smarmy, mightier-than-thou attitude and believes the entire multiverse should revolve entirely around him and his whims, and that all of existence is his to play with in any way he pleases. At first his villainy seems rather typical of a Big Bad Satan figure, but by the time he puts Piccolo under demonic mind control to get him to kill the kids he’s looked after, it gets more personal and you really want to take the smug bastard down. My two quibbles with him would be his original final form was terrible, being just a recolored, redesigned version of Babidi’s henchman Yakon (thankfully, this got amended later on in Dragon Ball Heroes), and that his backstory comes off as a little too generic and JRPG-esque, which is a big no-no for Dragon Ball. Otherwise he’s a great villain, though unfortunately locked out from mainline DB canon beyond the game universes. Zamasu in Super is sort of like a substitution for Demigra, as he’s a similar character (a fallen Shinjin with a massive ego and divine Messiah Complex) with a similar set-up (a saga that heavily involves time travel, Future Trunks, and a threat to the entire multiverse), but he manages to be his own unique character despite this, more youthful than Demigra and even more insufferably pompous and self-important. And unlike the unashamedly evil Demigra, Zamasu is firmly convinced in his own righteousness and that every action he takes is in the name of divine justice and the creation of a pure universe, even though the actions themselves and his frequent behavior towards others, other deities included, show him as anything but - he’s a cruel, petty, and narcissistic sociopath with delusions of grandeur. Think Light Yagami if he actually had become a god! His other self, Goku Black, is even scarier given how he inhabits a god-tier Saiyan’s body and even melds his own divine power into it’s own to create new techniques and even a new Super Saiyan form, and is a complete badass throughout. And the voice actor performances (both Shinichiro Miki and Masako Nozawa in the original, and James Marsters and Sean Schemmel in the dub) are fantastic. My two quibbles with him would be the explanation for Black’s coming into being was a little convoluted and goofy, and that the Black Hole Eldrich Abomination that melds itself into the entire universe that his consciousness becomes after his defeat/death was just complete nonsense, pushing Zamasu firmly into Villain Sue territory and making him a living Diablos Ex Machina to instigate a horribly bleak end to his saga. Oh well. Can’t all be perfect like Cell.

3. Vegeta - Nowadays with Vegeta being a much better person and one of the most heroic characters in the series (which is great) and also the main deuteragonist/Lancer to Goku in all sagas (which is not so great), it could be easy to forget just what a truly, wonderfully evil bastard, and one of the top greatest villains, he used to be. As the surviving prince of the Saiyan race, even sharing the same name as his late father and now obliterated planet, Vegeta’s pride is monumental and he believes he has, from birth, deserved to be most powerful warrior of all time and space, and supreme ruler of the universe despite him being basically enslaved to serve under Freeza, who also has those ambitions. Before we found out that part about Freeza, though, Vegeta was the Big Bad for the prior saga and by being such a sinister, meticulous, cunning warrior who could back up his arrogance with sheer awesome might, he was more imposing a threat than even Piccolo, the so-called Demon King! Despite his short stature, his ability to keep his composure until he lets out his feral rage made him fearsome to his larger and more brutal partner, Nappa. Toriyama hadn’t initially intended to keep him alive past his saga, but he proved so popular with both readers and his editors that he had his life be spared and it cannot be overstated what a terrific move it was to keep him alive for the next saga, as he received some of the best parts of that saga with his magnificent bastardry, even ending up in an unexpected alliance with the good guys in its latter half that lay the seeds for his eventual redemption arc. In retrospect it’s rather odd that Vegeta got as far as he did since his character was originally written to be nothing but a completely evil prick. I think his success is owed to him being the greatest candidate for an archrival to Goku that Toriyama ever came up with, being of the same race as him and even sharing some similar characteristics, yet being his polar opposite based on how and where the two were raised and thus what they value most. Oddly enough, their development courses have gone in reverse too - Vegeta’s grown more human while Goku has grown more detached from humanity and more in touch with his Saiyan nature. I could go on about what an interesting and fun character Vegeta is, but I’ll spare you all and just mention one minor gripe I have with him (aside from his role in the franchise post-Buu Saga, which remains a major gripe): what the heck happened to his personality after he got revived on Namek by the wish on Earth’s Dragon Balls? Piccolo was one thing, but Vegeta’s more grouchy, aggressive, hot-tempered and bombastic characterization is almost downright irreconcilable with his earlier characterization. Did he come back wrong? Did Freeza’s brutal torture of him before his death do permanent mental and emotional damage? I love the character either way, but it's shaky writing.

4. King Piccolo / Piccolo Jr. - Here’s the guy who was the originally intended Ultimate Evil of the Dragon Ball universe. Oh how times have changed. This spot is both for the original King Piccolo, born of all the inner demons that the nameless Namekian who became Kami Sama exorcised from his consciousness, and Piccolo Jr., who was born from an egg like all Namekian offsprings but imbued with his father’s spirit, making him the Demon King reincarnated. With his appealingly alien design, intimidating voice acting, epic theme music and majestic presence whenever he shows up, Piccolo stands as one of Toriyama’s best villains even to this day. He’s also one of the smartest Dragon Ball villains, one of the few who never succumbed to Bond Villain Stupidity, thinking meticulously and acting with competence from start to finish, damn nearly defeating Goku and all his heroic allies who stand against his reign of terror. The guy even make a successful bid for world domination, holding all governments on the planet hostage with the threat of his power, even planning on making a national holiday in which he destroys one major location in the four corners of the Earth annually, just for kicks! Even after his death, his wickedness endured through Piccolo Jr., who went undercover at the 23rd Budokai just to take revenge on Goku and claim the title of world’s strongest warrior in order to assert his supremacy and put the world under his green thumb once again. Piccolo is very much the same case as Vegeta when it comes to how his character development progressed - for someone who was created and written to be nothing but pure evil, he ended up growing a conscience and caring about someone else, the son of his hated enemy no less, and from there he grew more noble and good-hearted until he was finally willing to re-merge with Kami in order to have the power needed to protect the things and people on Earth that he’d grown to cherish, which was unexpected but beautiful development for his character. Also like Vegeta his characterization had a slight shift before his redemption truly started, but this one was more believable since he’d gotten older and more mellow between the end of pre-Z DB and DBZ, having never been the pure evil beast his father had been and still showing signs in the early Vegeta Saga that the devilish, maniacal Piccolo hadn’t fully gone away yet. As a bad guy and as a good guy, Piccolo is just plain awesome, and one of the most endearing and respectable DB characters for that.

5. Beerus and Whis - After years of the DB franchise recycling ideas, characters and concepts usually from DBZ for all of its content, these two were such a breath of fresh air. Beerus, the God of Destruction for Universe 7, has an immediately appealing design, being clearly inspired by the Egyptian God of death, Anubis, having both canine and feline characteristics in his look and mannerisms. His concept is also great - he’s like a dark counterpart to a universe’s Supreme Kaioshin with destructive power so immense and seemingly limitless that they need a guardian angel to keep them in check, which is where Whis comes in. The personalities of these two and how they play off each other is the best part. Beerus is callous, egocentric, and apathetic to a fault, but also frequently lazy, childish, quirky and eccentric, possessing a strong appetite, and is subject to wild mood swings that effect the way his power is let out. He’s, to put it plainly, an immature psychopath, but being a deity who exists far above mortal beings, he lives by his own code and his thinking is far beyond the morality that mortals or other deities tend to possess, so it's hard to call him truly evil. He’s as great an ally to have on your side as he is as terrifying an enemy to have against you. His growing bond of friendship with Goku and the Z Warriors all while he still stays true to his character but slowly comes to soften up and learn to act in more reasonable ways has been one of the best parts of DBS. Oh, and Whis - he’s cool. And nice. And scary powerful. And both he and Beerus, together or apart, are super hilarious. Some of the best characters to be iconic fixtures of the franchise for years to come.

6. Android 21 - A secret 21st android created by Dr. Gero who got loaded with energy from a super computer that gave her more power than she knew how to handle, driving her batshit insane, spiteful, and destructive as a result, having a very attractive design and an equally sexy Majin form, being pretty much an android version of Launch who ends up going through a literal personality split similar to Majin Buu, is a glutton for delectable treats who has a tragic character arc, a personality like Zero Two from Darling in the Franxx, and the dub voice actress of Riko Sakarauchi from Love Live Sunshine!!? How could you not fall for this bitch? Easily one of the coolest, most creative and most enjoyable DB villains in recent years to be sure.

7. Fu - Another really fun villain to enter the franchise in recent years. The son of Mira and Towa, and the nephew of Demon Lord Dabura, Fu could care less about the ramifactions of his heritage or the dull politics of the demon realm, as he's set his sights on bigger things. Inquisitive and experimental by nature, he's made his M.O messing with the stream of time and intervening in different worlds branched off from different timelines so that he can create any wild and wacky scenario he wants to enjoy. Yeah, he's a DB fanboy surrogate, and it shows in the joyfully eccentric, geeky personality he expresses. Fu goes so meta with his canon-defiling, reality-bending passion projects and with his brand of humor, he's like DB's own Deadpool! But he is absolutely not one to be underestimated just for his silly behavior, for he's one of the most cunning, meticulous and unpredictable adversaries in the franchise. In the Xenoverse canon, he's become the recurring arch nemesis to the Time Patrol who's yet to be brought to justice, and in the Heroes canon, he steals from varying alternate timelines and uses what he attains to devastating effect, gaining more power for himself as he does to the point where he's eventually made the Dark King of the demon realm and seeks to create his own universe that'd play to his ideal rules. Wherever or wherever Fu shows up, disasters are always guaranteed to follow.

8. Emperor Pilaf - Putting this guy up so high seems ridiculous, especially since he wasn’t ever a Big Bad in the original manga, only getting that status from the anime adaptation beefing up his role and giving him more screen time in the series’ first saga. Three things score him this spot - he’s just plain hilarious, he was actually a legit danger to our heroes (and possibly the entire world had his wish been granted) in his earliest appearances despite having no power, and he’s been brought back to the franchise and received a good deal of character growth to the point of becoming a friend/ally to the heroes just as Tien, Piccolo, Vegeta, Buu, and Beerus have. His chemistry with his two agents, Mai and Shu, is always a delight to watch, and his VAs tend to make him immensely entertaining, especially Chuck Huber in the Funimation dub, whose voice and delivery for him has not changed in the slightest in all these years.

9. Tao Pai Pai - I'm kind of cheating here as well since he’s technically not a Big Bad in any saga he appeared in, but he was the source of the most tension and peril in the Red Ribbon Saga in how an act of evil committed by him changed the trajectory of Goku's quest for Dragon Balls, and he had a part in the entire drama of the 22nd Budokai Saga’s plot, so he deserves a spot here. Introduced as a mercenary killer hired by Commander Red to kill Goku, Tao became the Heavy for the saga during this period. Up to that point Goku had faced enemies who could nearly take him in a fight before (General Blue, who Tao kills with his tongue) but hadn’t ever seemed in any real danger from an enemy who could kill him. Tao changed that. He was very dangerous, very formidable at fighting, and very murderous, with there being a very real possibility of him actually killing Goku because he's the first character to kill others on-screen. His character was also a notable change of pace in how villains before him were all light-hearted and comical, or at the very least generic., but Tao, by contrast, was a stone cold professional killer with seemingly only two looks to give: serious poker face or psychotic evil smirk. He doesn’t just kill because it’s profitable, he relishes the hunt and the sensation of bringing other living creatures down before he takes their life. He’s a true villain played straight, which makes his eventual ass kicking at Goku’s hands and the comical reactions he starts giving all the more satisfying and hilarious. While he’s nowadays not as notable or cool as other villains and even seems rather dated, one thing to consider is that with his greed, sadism and fondness for killing, pink and purple color scheme, courtesy and formality when speaking and conducting business with others, attempting to kill Goku after being granted the mercy he’d pleaded for only to have Goku knock his attack right back at him so that it blows him up instead, and then coming back as a cyborg, working alongside an evil family member in the name of revenge…yes, Tao seems to have been Toriyama’s prototype for Freeza.

10. Majin Buu - While his saga was notoriously poorly done on the whole, his character and effectiveness got messed up in its last stretch, and he nowadays almost reads like a prototype for what would later be perfected by Beerus, Majin Buu was still a fine villain(s) for what he was, as well as a fairly unique and memorable one even if he didn’t make for the best Big Bad. Brought into Universe 7 by the dark wizard Bibidi to match and even surpass the Kaioshins, Buu got more powerful the more Kaioshins he slayed and devoured the energy of, and by the time he was sealed away he’d become the most powerful mortal being in existence. Which is an asset to him but also a fault: Freeza had declared himself the most powerful mortal being in the universe, but now we learn that there’d once been a being even more powerful (and later learn that Freeza knew that)? Cell being more powerful than Freeza was justifiable because his literal creation happened only after Freeza’s time and he was made to be the most powerful fighter ever from the cells of the most powerful fighters, Freeza included. Pulling out this random ancient demonic djinn as the next most powaful evul threat evah!!! just felt cheap. But back on his character, I like Fat Buu and the initial Super Buu the best out of all his forms, the former for being the most unexpectedly silly and endearing of all the Buus and the one who actually reforms and sticks around after the saga’s over, and the latter for impressively balancing being ridiculous and humorous with being sinister and menacing, and much smarter than his brutish demeanor suggests, plus he got some wicked awesome theme music in the original dub. Kid Buu’s in the middle, as he’s alright and a well done example of a Generic Doomsday Villain with no personality, goal, or motive for living other than to kill and destroy…but he’s still a Generic Doomsday Villain, so he lacks a character and can’t hold my interest for very long. I don’t care for the briefly seen Evil Buu that ate up Fat Buu to make Super Buu, and I completely abhor Super Buucalotenkshan or whatever we call that long headed abomination - yeah, Super Buu is one of my favorites AND my least favorites among the Buu forms! Go figure. All in all, Buu was a good idea for a worthy foe to be faced by Gohan and pals, but horribly marred by poor execution of his character, his powers, and his saga as a whole. So he’s pretty above average to me.

11. Janemba - The Majin Buu substitute of Movie 12, Fusion Reborn, created when some slacker custodian of Hell got infected with the accidental leak of an unstable dark substance made from dark souls that began tearing at the fabric of life and death, letting the denizens of Hell loose onto Earth. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of him in his initial large, chubby yellow form, when he changed into that smaller, red Satan looking motherf**ker up there, he immediately caught my attention. He’s just so menacing, so psychotic, and so diabolically evil in even the way he fights that I think I like him better than Kid Buu, the canon villain he was emulating. He’s a pretty unique DBZ movie villain, and his big face-off with Gogeta is simply unforgettable.

12. Dr. Wheelo - The main villain of the second movie, The World's Strongest. Two things score him a spot here - his creepiness factor and his motivation. His mind was wished back into the world by his old associate, Dr. Kochin, but his body was not, meaning that the only physical part of him to be seen is his brain, which is placed in a special tube that just happens to connect with a large mechanical body, and he always speaks in a low, calm, sinister voice that’s slightly modulated by a robotic filter. That’s just nightmarish. And unlike many later DBZ movie villains, Wheelo actually has a clearly stated goal and motive - he wants to weed out the world’s strongest fighter so that his brain can be put inside of that fighter’s body, and he can then wield awesome power and test his new body’s fighting capabilities for science in order to become the greatest and the strongest scientist to ever live. It’s sick, weird, and a little bit B-Movie mad science plot, but it works and helps make Wheelo stand out as one of Goku’s most unsettling foes. In fact, it could be argued that he even beat Dr. Gero to it with the whole "mad scientist creating androids to go after Goku" thing. We later got to see Dr. Wheelo's original body when he partnered up with Fu in Dragon Ball Heroes, and he even gained a sleeker metallic form that he could control.

13. Coola - No, I refuse to call him Cooler. That only works if Freeza is named Freezer, but he’s not, so it’s just silly. Anyway, Coola is the older brother of Freeza and the villain of two movies in a row, Movies 5 and 6. If there’s any movie villain who seems like he could fit right into Toriyama’s canon, it’s Coola. He leads his own section of his clan’s Planet Trade business empire and while he’s a notably better boss than his brother, that doesn’t make him any better an individual. Coola is actually a lot more level headed, mature, and pragmatic than Freeza, which is why he’s always been envious of how far ahead Freeza got in terms of power since birth, and how their father blatantly favored Freeza despite all the errors he made that seemed obvious to Coola. But when Freeza seemingly died by Goku’s hand, Coola’s loyalty to the notion of clan supremacy meant that he had to seek vengeance for his brother’s death, which is when he also showed off that he mastered an additional transformation of his final form that makes him even more powerful than Freeza! So let’s see, older brother of the series’ most iconic villain who is smarter and more competent than he, a better boss who inspires the actual loyalty of his minions, and has mastery over a fifth, even more powerful transformation that not even Freeza, the “most powerful being in the universe”, had or knew of? If you’re getting “fanfiction OC Villain Sue” vibes, I wouldn’t blame you, but that actually brings up the most brilliant part of Coola’s character - he’s actually a deconstructive subversion of a Villain Sue. For all his dismissal of Freeza’s overconfidence and being blinded by hatred of his Saiyan enemies, he falls prey to the exact same things during his battle with Goku, and then as he’s dying he realizes that Goku only lived to get as strong as he is because he’d seen his space pod shooting off into space but made the colossally stupid mistake of just letting him go while at the same time he was chiding Freeza for making the stupid mistake of overlooking the escaping pod! Seeing this hit Coola as he burns up in the sun is an immensely satisfying payoff. He kinda-sorta makes a comeback for the following movie, and has appeared in The Plan To Eradicate The Saiyans and a handful of video games, but nothing beats the memorability of his big debut.

14. Turles - The main villain of the third DBZ movie, Tree of Might. If Turles' appearance looks familiar to you, it's because he's sort of the OG Goku Black years before Black was a thing. In the movie he's depicted as a surviving Saiyan who swayed a handful of Freeza forces to defect from the Empire with him and form a competitor business, the Turles Crusher Corps, and there's literally no reason for him to share a face and hairstyle with Goku other than for symoblic purposes, as he represents with Kakarot might've grown up to be like had he never landed on Earth, gotten adopted by Gohan, and got a concussion, as the movie spells out towards the end. This setup seems pretty lazy, but Turles somehow manages to be an interesting, enjoyably fiendish and clever villain with a unique plan for sucking the life out of Earth so that he can lay claim to it and all its resources. My only lament with him is that the thrilling fight between him and Goku is for whatever reason continously interrupted by shots of the Earth as it's being effected by the Tree of Might, which weighs down the pace of the movie. But at least he goes out with a bang!

15. Garlic Jr. - The first DBZ anime movie villain and one of the good ones. The reasons for this is twofold - how he actually succeeds at what both Vegeta and Freeza wanted to do, wishing on the Dragon Balls for eternal life. But rather than making him too broken, this actually became a drawback for him in the end, as he’s stuck with a fate worse than death that he’s unable to escape. And also just how freaking dark and devilishly wicked he is. Seriously, here’s a dialogue sample from him: “The people of the universe better hear my voice now! From this day forward, I, Garlic Jr., will rule over all. I command all evil spirits to come forward and take on their physical forms once again. You are free to walk! A new dark age has finally begun! Let this world be drenched in the blood of the righteous. Now that I’m immortal, I will rule the universe forever! All creatures will obey me or perish. With every power I posses, my reign of terror will be everlasting!” Gives me chills, especially Don Brown’s rendition. Unfortunately, he also has two serious drawbacks. Not only is his entire evil plot that gains him immortality founded upon a massive plot hole (he tries to have Kami and Piccolo killed even though that would erase the Dragon Balls too, and he has Gohan abducted for no reason rather than simply take his Dragon Ball), but he was also recycled as the Big Bad of a godawful filler saga between the Freeza and Cell sagas of the anime that sort of suffered the Return Of Jafar syndrome - he himself wasn’t awful, he just didn’t show us much that we didn’t already see before and done better in his movie, wasn’t well serviced by the plot, and in general it just wasn’t a smart move to bring him into the anime’s narrative, as he and the events of his movie are incompatible with the canon story. His saga’s not quite Noah Kaiba level bad, but it’s close. That might’ve forever tarnished his image with fans, but he was a great villain in his debut movie.

16. Broly and Paragus - The evil Saiyans of Movie 8, The Legendary Super Saiyan. While the concept of two other surviving Saiyans of Planet Vegeta’s destruction seemed hard to swallow at first, they’re given some backstory that actually makes it plausible and even damn interesting, so they’re not merely another Turles situation. Paragus is fascinating due to how you can sympathize with him and understand why he’s bitter and yearns for a world to claim as his own and start up a new Saiyan race. However, he’s not only evil, deceptive, and a cold-blooded bastard, he is wildly, theatrically villainous, always flailing around with excitement and energy that makes him fun to watch. But its his young son Broly who’s the true theat. While he seems timid and quiet at first, it’s revealed that he’s the first known Saiyan to transform into a Super Saiyan outside of legend…and he’s also completely off his rocker. Broly is a psychotic monster, a sadist and a bully who relishes the opportunity to flaunt his power and destroy the lives of others for his own sick pleasure and amusement, and once a rampage starts for him, it will not stop until everyone and everything in his path is dead. His power is also very out of control, which is why Paragus does his best efforts to control his son and contain that power, which proves to be in vain when Goku becomes a factor, as Broly is 100% single-mindedly obsessed with killing Goku, or “KAKAROOOOTT!” as he's known to call him. There’s actually a reason for Broly’s madness, and while it's notoriously petty, it's not entirely nonsensical - when he was a newborn infant, his power rose to an abnormal level, as did that of the baby born on the same day who was right next to him: Kakarott. When Kakarott started crying, Broly eventually started crying too, with both babies shut in tubes unable to budge anywhere….and then King Vegeta ordered for baby Broly to be killed for his abnormal power level. Both he and his father barely survived…and Planet Vegeta got blown up soon after. So Goku isn’t really a reason for any of Broly’s insanity, he’s a trigger for it. His warped mind forever associates Kakarott and his crying with that trauma, so naturally he wants to silence Kakarott for good. Which still doesn’t even begin to excuse the level of cruelty Broly displays, though - as Gohan put it, he’s pure evil. Even Broly himself proudly proclaims to be a freak, a monster, even a DEVIL! He really was a solid villain in his debut movie, who unfortunately became an utterly awful one in his two later comebacks and it turned him into an oversaturated mess of a character, which kills a lot of goodwill that some could have for him. Alas, another victim of his own popularity. Thank Kami for Super!

17. Mira and Towa - A demonic duo known as the Time Breakers. Mira is the muscle of the team, preferring to take on enemies with his special powers and enhanced physical capabilities, whereas Towa is both the brains and the true power behind things, possessing both powerful sorcery skills and advanced scientific knowledge that she uses for her sick little experiments. It turns out that Towa is actually the sister of Dabura himself, and Mira is a warrior that she created through alchemy. First appearing in the MMORPG, Dragon Ball Online, and reappearing in the Xenoverse games, Heroes, Fusions, Kakarot and more, these two fiends have been relentless, formidable, and devious in all of their appearances to date.

18. Sealas and Aeos - Two of the most notable exclusive villains to come out of Super Dragon Ball Heroes, owing a lot to their designs and how they're both fallen heroes connected to time and space. Sealas is the founding operative of the Time Patrol and a strict believer in cosmic justice and in the greater good of necessary evils, wishing to do what's righteous even if he has to break natural laws and alter history to do so. Taking "with great power there must come great responsibility" to its most extreme, unhealthy level, Sealas broke with the Time Patrol and concluded that evil itself must be eradicated, and that this can only be truly done if history is rewritten to exclude all evil. It's a bit familiar and akin to Zamasu's motives, but much more "puritan" and semi-heroic in style and substance. Aeos, meanwhile, is the former Supreme Kai of Time who predates the Time Patrol and she cares nothing for any moralistic ideals such as justice: she is concerned only with balance and natural order, believing the existence of multiple timelines to be a threat to that. Personality-wise, she's one of the most fascinating antagonists in the franchise, seeming haughty, cold, and disdainful towards mortal beings and dismissive of her successor, yet she also showcases softer, kinder qualities, does deeds that seem good and fair, and isn't always so above it all when it comes to tactful reactions and behavior. She's hard to peg down, but after joining up with Chronoa and the rest for the final battle with Demigra, she has a change of heart regarding the multiverse and makes peace with her successor.

19. Hearts - Also hailing from the Dragon Ball Heroes canon is this dude. Hearts is a pale elven man who leads the Core Area Warriors and is known as the God Hater for his acts of revolt against the cosmic divine pantheon of the multiverse, as he seeks to liberate all mortal beings from the gods' grip. In this sense, he's like a Reverse Zamasu, cursing the existence of deities and wanting to kill them all in order to achieve a truly "free" multiverse. While arrogant, brash, hypocritical and self-righteous, Hearts is one of the more principled and values-believing baddies. He believes strongly in the multiverse's "nourishment" but has no qualms with launching terrorist attacks on planets and killing countless people in order to free only the surviving remainers, and it's a hypocritical contradiction he openly admits to and welcomes with grace. He's a rare good boss for this franchise who values his mortal comrades, and he appreciates a good fight with strong opponents just as much as the likes of Goku. Fittingly, he makes a Heel Turn later on and becomes as cool an ally as he was an enemy. My one huge issue with him is in his design - I think the hair he had during his initial appearance as a villain is way too similar to that of Fu, which makes looking at him a bit confusing. Thankfully he got a longer, more spiked out, better hair style later on.

20. Jiren the Gray - In what’s almost a reverse of Majin Buu, I didn’t care for this guy at all when he first came on the scene but he had a fairly strong finish to his run. He was this cookie cutter big, strong, silent, uber powerful warrior whose character was flat, archetype was done to death, and he just there to be what you were made to think Hit was going to be back in the Universe 6 Saga. In fact, I wouldn’t have classified him as a villain and put him here at all had the final round of the Tournament of Power not gone the way it did. We gradually came to learn that Jiren did have a single belief he followed in addition to his conviction to being the strongest fighter for the sake of his universe - that trust in others only ends in pain and disappointment, and that friendship need not exist among allies and teammates. He’s here for alliances, never for bonds. We even get his dark and troubled backstory that informs why he thinks and acts the way he does, which made him a lot more interesting in retrospect. And finally there’s his show of power in the final battle of the tournament. Holy crap, this is like what Majin Buu should have been in terms of how his full power was expressed. Jiren just feels like a nigh unstoppable engine of raw power and destructive fury. He exudes pure stamina, and for fighters with the power that the likes of Goku, Vegeta, Freeza, and even Android 17 have, there could be no worthier opponent. And if his “villain” status was in doubt, he fucking throws an attack straight at Goku’s friends in a spiteful act that forces Goku to jump in the way and ultimately de-powers him, which does effectively ensure that it was then impossible to root for Jiren and we wanted to see him get his ass handed to him even more! But despite this, he also displayed some honor and displeasure in having to take Goku out in a dirty way as suggested by Belmond, making him hard to outright hate either. The final leg of the fight with him is nothing short of amazing and the way he goes down is incredibly satisfying to see. He even gets a very touching sendoff with his teammates and then when brought back into existence, shows signs of possibly rethinking things and starting to grow and change for the better, and his hope to have a rematch with Goku and the rest of Universe 7′s fighters might be a sign of more things in times yet to come.

21. Lord Slug - The main villain of Movie 4. While he's a flat character with little motivation beyond warfare and conquest of worlds, Slug mainly works for the twist that was pulled with his character, as well known as it is now. Him blatantly ripping off King Piccolo's shtick of being old and wishing for his youth restored should give it away, but the fact that Slug is Namekian is a big reveal in the film, because he actually went to lengths to hide that about himself, wearing a helmet that covers his antennaes and ears, and coverings around his arms and legs. This is what makes him stand out, the fact that he is an actual, genuinely, by choice evil Namekian, who in a brazen act of betrayal of his people has become an invading warlord who makes conflicts and kills others, going directly against the Namekian's peace-loving ways. He also happens to be a Super Namekian, one who can expand his size to even larger heights than even Piccolo could! His big fight with Goku was overall nothing to write home about save for that and the moment Goku becomes a False Super Saiyan, but how he gets defeated, I could never forget.

22. Bojack - The main villain of Movie 9, Bojack Unbound. As hard as it is to hear his name and not think of a certain Horse Man, Bojack was quite the credible threat with a slick design and a charismatic presence. The strongest, most ruthless and fearsome space pirate in the universe, he rought havock across all four galaxies before getting imprisoned by the Kais. He's also a flat character who just exists to provide this movie with a villain, and how he and his crew come into the plot is absolutely ludicrous - turns out he was imprisoned inside of King Kai's planet, somehow even surviving what Beerus did to it, but got released when it got blown up by self-destructing Cell. And then they go on to partake in a beat by beat repeat of the Cell Games. In a movie where the Cell Games were established to have occurred. That's the one thing that takes me out about him, but otherwise he gets the job done well enough and was badass enough to make repeat appearances in Fusion Reborn and games, most notably Dragon Ball Heroes, which fleshed out his character better.

23. Dr. Lychee/Hatchiyack - Technically Dr. Lychee is an old alien scientist and Hatchiyack is his creation that carries on his hateful mind and spirit after he's passed away, but they’re connected in that way so they’ve both got this spot here. Originating from The Plan To Erradicate The Saiyans, the first DBZ video game to actually have a plot and two different OVA adaptations to accompany it, Lychee actually has understandable reason to hate the Saiyans and want them wiped out because, well, the Saiyans when working under the Freeza Planet Trade Empire were horrible and he’s one of their many victims. Thus Hatchiyack was created to be the ultimate anti-Saiyan weapon. And clearly the idea behind this caught on with fans and creators alike, as both Dr. Myuu with Baby in GT and Dr. Paparoni with Aniraza in Super were clearly inspired by Dr. Lychee and Hatchiyack. In that way, this mad space doctor’s spirit still lives on.

24. Dr. Myuu - Speaking of ol’ Dr. Myuu, he’s one of the beter villains from the poorly done turd pile that was Dragon Ball GT. Being one part alien and one part machine, possessing a keen scientific mind and a feverish passion for his experiments, and having ambitions to control the universe and convert all of its denizens into his machines, Myuu was a cruel and treacherous villain who raised the stakes and darkened up the scene in a show that had begun as a stupid wacky throwback to DB’s roots but Recycled IN SPACE! From his very design, you can tell he's essentially Dr. Gero Recycled IN SPACE! He masterminded much of what went on in that initial saga by directing the Cult of Ludd from behind the curtian, had many intimidating robotic and cyborg henchman like General Rilldo (himself a decent antagonist too), even had Giru working with Goku, Pan and Trunks as a spy for him (or so he’d hoped), and the set of episodes on Planet M-2 where the heroes faced him down really was the high point of the GT series, especially when it reached it’s downright terrifying finale. Myuu himself was also the best part of the otherwise abysmal Super 17 saga, where he got to work with his counterpart Dr. Gero, and stab him in the back to try and rule Hell and Earth,

25. Baby - OK, his character is uninspired and derived from other, better villains, his arrival on Earth marked when GT took a turn for the increasingly worse and more boring, and his name is Baby: there is no fucking way I can take that as a serious villain. Yet despite all that, he's objectively the strongest GT-exclusive Big Bad. The idea behind his character arc is actually brimming with potential, how he's a living conduit of wrath against the Saiyans for all the victims they'd claimed as well as seeking a new planet to settle and populate, but in his fervor to achieve his goals he ends up becoming every bit as cruel, self-interested and power-mad as the Saiyans. He's also the source of some genuine horror and Paranoia Fuel with how he can extend his mind and possess anyone he chooses. The execution just fails him like it failed many others, including a needless extended takeover of Vegeta's body, a transformation into a giant golden gorilla, and getting killed while trying to flee rather than engaging in one final fight. Good for him that he's not the worst, but he still could've been much better than a weird pale Hatchiyack imitation.

Honorable Mentions:

Dr. Gero - This guy played Greater Scope Villain for the Red Ribbon Saga, the Androids/Cell Saga, and Dragon Ball Super: Superhero, not to mention had a part in other stuff like (ugh) the Super 17 Saga in GT and the storyline of FighterZ. Gero is unique in that he never really got to play the Big Bad role at any point despite having been the originally intended Big Bad for the Androids Saga, yet stands responsible for as much widespread damage as any Big Bad all due to the bitterness, hatred, malice and stubborn pride within him that refused to die even as he aged and lost all the family he had. While he thus couldn't make the list, it is commendable all the same.

Tienshinhan - Tien played the role of Big Bad for the 22nd Budokai Saga, fighting in the tournament under the guidance of his mentor, Master Shen the Hermit Crane. A good old fashioned martial arts antagonist in the vein of the Cobra Kai jerks in The Karate Kid, Tien played the role with exquisite disdain, cockiness, and cold blooded cruelty while also being the most interesting character who recieves great character development before his explosive bout with Goku and embarking on a compelling redemption arc for the next Sagas. Far from the franchise's best baddie, but servicable for what he was.

Babidi - Initially the primary antagonist of the Majin Buu arc before Buu himself killed him and went rouge to do his own shit, the dark wizard Babidi is completely vile and reprehensible, not to mention absolutely hideous, but managed to retain a certain charm and whimsy about him that is typical in Toriyama antagonists. The terror of Buu would not have been possible without him and his deceased father Bibidi, nor would the good stuff that came with it like the sacrificial redemption of Vegeta, the fusions of Goten and Trunks, and the character development of Mr. Satan! Oh, and the debut of...

Dabura - While introduced to the franchise as a cultist working with Babidi to revive Majin Buu, Dabura was also stated to be among the most powerful of lords from the demon realm, someone who even the Supreme Kai feared, and carried about him quite the fiendish, sinister presence, making how he got done in by Buu to feel like quite a waste. Thankfully, he's made a resurgance in video game canons like Xenoverse and Heroes, expanding upon him as a Big Bad devil!

Black Smoke Shenron - I actually don’t like this one - I just like the idea behind him. The concept that the great dragon diety of the Dragon Balls turns into a dark, evil creature as consequence of the Dragon Balls being overused for selfish wishes was a very inspired one, and that’s…actually an even better idea for a franchise final boss than Freeza, Cell, Buu, or Beerus, as it hearkens back to the very start of the story. So it's a damn shame that this concept had to be utterly wasted with the underwhelming, unitelligable usage of the 7 Shadow Dragons, even the cool looking Omega Shenron! Just give me the initial cigar chomping evil smoke dragon and I’m good!

#Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball GT #Dragon Ball Super #Dragon Ball Heroes #Xenoverse #villains #opinion #analysis

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nightfurmoon · 11 months

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Many seem to miss it but Miss Heed is also kinda smart. She was given the vaporization which imo one of the worst superpowers that a hero can get. Like how do you fight villainy with turning water into steam? But she combined her powers with Flug's part of the project and made a brainwashing machine! Mostly used it for selfish reasons tho, but she eradicated all the crime in the city which I think not every hero can manage to do.

My point is, aside from the fact that she strives for attention and looks superficial, she's also an evil scientist who once studied along with Flug and can be pretty dangerous even without her superpowers.

Exaaactly :D I really like her because of this

#villainous #nightfur talks

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goblins-riddles-or-frocks · 6 months

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Lmao don't tell the show darklinas this coz they're all OBSESSED with dad darkling 😭 at one point show Darkling and Alina (or how show fans write them) look completely different characters when compared to their book counterparts.

Re: this ask

Oh yeah, I think they’re fully different characters beyond the most superficial similarities in plot important choices and motivations.

First of all the show made everything so generically and stereotypically gendered? Alina is sanded down dramatically. She’s meek and quiet, we see her primarily spending her time sketching or reading in the library for fun. Those are traits book!Alina has too, but the show makes them more prominent and we never see her be mean, grumpy or snarky. They try to make her more superficially active in the story, but she delicately faints away during the climactic sequence of season one and has Mal fight her battle. It frankly drives me insane that the show runners (and JML…) talk about book Alina not having a personality and that they had to fabricate one for her when her characterization in the show is the blandest and most generic thing possible.

Meanwhile the Darkling is just a completely different guy yeah. He’s also stereotypically gruffer and angrier? We see him raise his voice a lot. The kefta design is a glorified coat. I don’t know they just put so much effort into make him look and seem rougher around the edges in a distinctly masculine coded way. Which is not what I signed up for! I’m here for a melodramatic vampire twink who announces his presence anywhere with a smoke machine and billows of glitter.

He’s also just… more normal and in touch with his feelings. I’ve complained about this a lot but him telling her to call him Aleksander on like day two is such a perfect microcosm for the differences of the character. Show!Darkling has no reason to hide his name, he’s not a shriveled enough husk of a person for that to feel like a vulnerability. He’s in touch with his feelings! He’s Just Some Guy.

I’m in the minority where I reasonably liked both their characterizations in season two. Alina.. just… barely got anything. But her scenes were fun. The Darkling finally got some cartoon villainy going on, and giving him victorian wasting disease was truly an inspired choice! I didn’t enjoy the nichevo’ya being out of his control, it felt like part of a general move to woobify him. But eh I think it was better than season one, like at least it was entertaining and making choices vs leaning on generic traits.

But yeah that is all to say, they’re both completely different. And I have a chip on my shoulder about it because the book characterizations are so much better!

TLDR show people are wrong!

#I just don’t bother checking anything in the tags anymore bc it’s all show content #grishaverse #shadow and bone #i ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared

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crusherthedoctor · 5 months

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Say what you will about any villain in the series. At least they DID something that had SOME kind of effect on the cast, and history of the world. Meanwhile Surge is so pathetic and worthless that if you erased her literally nothing changes. She only exists for lazy drama and to serve as a cheap strawman for people who criticize IDW Sonic's morality. Surge doesn't even fulfill the most basic and superficial parameters of Sonic villainy. What a waste of time.

Vagina Scourge VS Vagina Face, place your bets now.

#Crusher's Asks #Black Doom #Anti-Surge the Tenrec

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theweeklydiscourse · 10 months

Text

The Darkling, Villain coding and Shadow and Bone’s abuse narrative

The abuse narrative is Shadow and Bone is actually a pretty reassuring one. It imagines a world where the “evil” people are easily identifiable and possess visual indicators of their wickedness. The narrative doesn’t feel the need to recreate any true-to-life instance of covert manipulation because it already conveys that by way of coding Aleksander as villainous.

While Leigh Bardugo has spoken about the way Aleksander’s good looks aid him in his evil pursuits, we are never actually shown significant evidence of that idea in the text. Although Alina is certainly affected by his good looks in terms of her physical attraction to him, we seldom see this in other characters throughout the trilogy. That being said, even when Alina IS very much attracted to him, that attraction is still swayed by her underlying prejudice and suspicions of him due to his role as the Darkling. Aleksander’s beauty is used superficially if we are to understand that it helps him covertly manipulate people, because how does it give him any tangible power?

It certainly doesn’t seem to help him convince the King to care about Grisha and it doesn’t seem to have much influence over the Grisha of the little palace as well (considering that a portion of them defect to Alina’s side after S&B). So my question is, what purpose does his beauty serve in the story? How does it build up the trilogy as an abuse narrative?

My answer to those questions would be that Leigh Bardugo relied too heavily on superficial indicators of villainy to create a more surprising twist and in the process, conveyed a shallow view of a supposedly abusive character. To supplement this, she claimed that it was Aleksander’s beauty that allowed him to manipulate and abuse others but also fails at communicating that through the actions of her characters. At best, the abuse narrative is perfunctory.

Any reader could gather upon first reading Shadow and Bone that Aleksander was a sketchy dude. Hot, but sketchy nonetheless because of how obvious it was that he was a villain. A dark cloak? Black hair? Shadow powers? Next you’ll tell me that his name has the word “dark” in it! But the story constantly tries to convince the readers that they have “cracked the case” and found the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Except this time, the wolf was just a wolf that the writer pretended was more disguised than he actually was. It’s more reassuring that way.

#shadow and bone #alina starkov #lb critical #s&b critical #the darkling #s&b salt #s&b netflix #aleksander morovoza #anti leigh bardugo #darklina #shadow and bone season 2 #shadow and bone meta

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heroes-villains-side-blog · 1 year

Text

“Welcome to the team, Mr Henchman. You start Monday.”

Pairing: Oblivious x Smitten tried for Sassy!Villain x Adorable!Henchperson but idk how to do sassy on purpose :/

Dialogue: Villainy begins at home I admit it's a stretch OR it could be the theme and so it's not a stretch in that case

Finishing touch: I'm rotten to the core, who could ever ask for more? I get bonus points! 🤩

A/N:

Inspired by @world-of-fire-and-flight-admin, this post, and this post.

Written for #Villaintine’s Day 2023 by @black-rose-events :)

Just realized it's Monday today lol 😎 The title fits!

—

“Good morning, everyone!”

“Good morning,” replied the two villains.

“I hope you don’t mind that I made breakfast for everyone!” The newly hired henchman had a legitimate picnic basket in one hand and a thin vase with a few flowers in the other.

“Oh, Henchman, you didn’t have to do that,” Codex said, but then also immediately cleared space on the common desk. “I wouldn’t mind some food though. And poor Spectre was just telling me how she couldn't eat breakfast today.”

“Oh dear, why ever not?” His smile had turned into a pout and Spectre’s stomach butterflies had ample room to fly around. She was going to have a word with those butterflies, this was all part of their scheme, she knew it.

“Oh…just…nerves.”

“Oh, I get it. I was a nervous wreck all weekend and this morning. My first job in a while, y’know?”

Codex nodded in understanding; Spectre moved her head in a way which could be considered a nod by 18th century metallic fortune teller standards.

Henchman hadn’t had a job in a WHILE, and not for a lack of trying. He was the longest resident of the goon shelter, he had seen goons come and go, all while he stayed and hoped to find his own loving evil lair some day.

Alas, it had been years.

Villains were too discriminatory when hiring henchpeople. He could hench just as well as the next guy, if only he was given a chance BUT it didn’t matter because he was always passed over based on superficial standards.

‘He’s got a better evil laugh than me, what would the heroes think?’

‘He’s better looking than me, I can’t have that!’

'He looks cooler than me, that's like the first rule of henching!'

‘I don’t trust him’ was the consensus. Everyone just assumed he was out to steal their job, or worse, their hero.

It was sad. Another tragic backstory in the villain community.

But hopefully not anymore!

Two up-and-coming co-conspirators had given him a chance! They had just started a small evil base in the local community and had invited him for an interview! They both seemed really villainous and nice. One of them seemed quieter than the other as the interview went on, though. He talked about his interests, his time at the shelter and his flair for the dramatic. He thought he had said something wrong but he had been hired so it must not have been that bad. Oh, he hoped he got to fix his relationship and get to know her, they’d become the best of friends and he’d have a great evil lair for life.

He was so grateful these two weren’t meanies like all the rest of the villains. He really hoped all their schemes were successful.

He had been so excited for his first day that he barely got any sleep! So he made everyone breakfast. You know what they say, the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, and Henchman had learnt so many dishes from all the henchpeople he had seen come and go from the shelter.

But he wanted to ease them slowly into his culinary prowess, so he went simple today.

“Here you go,” he said while serving eggs, sunny-side-up, in everyone’s plates, topping them off with homemade brown bread and mango juice.

“Ooh, I forgot you said you cooked. Do you like to bake? Spectre loves baking, don’t ya, Specs?” She nudged her co-conspirator who was acting out of it today, just like at the interview. “Spectre. Are you okay?”

“Yeah! Never better!" she almost shouted. "The food looks delicious, Henchman!”

Codex and Henchman winced at her volume but ignored it, “Why, thank you! I do hope you like it. Now, eat up! You can’t have a productive heist without a good hearty breakfast, Ms Spectre.”

Spectre gulped at the formality but nodded.

—

Ms? Oh gosh, that was so polite of him! Oh gosh, she was going to faint right there! Oh gosh, she had got to get higher standards for people her brain decided to crush on!

It had all started the day of the interview when this absolute sweetheart helped her out with her anxiety. Yes, she was holding the interview, but it was still scary! And Codex was running late and had the only room key — note to self: make a duplicate.

But anyway, she had maybe gotten a tad too nervous and this sweetheart thought she was another candidate and had tried to calm her down. Sure, it wasn’t anything crush-worthy, but one of the hazards of the heroes and villains business is that you tend to think you’re in love with the first person who shows you basic human decency. It might have something to do with tragic backstories but it was a fact and, try as she might, she couldn’t logic her way out of it.

Then, the interview.

Oh, that interview where he talked about his interests and how he liked cooking and how he was good with little villain sidekicks and animal minions. And he may have got a dramatic evil laugh and was so goofy and adorable.

Okay, maybe thinking about her crush was making it worse.

She was going to stop now.

—

“So,” Codex looked over her to-do list for the big event, “We need to install a big red button in our villain lair.”

This was her chance! “I can do that!” Yes! Keeping herself busy with work was exactly what Spectre needed to get over her not-crush!

“Excellent! Now, remember. The big red button isn’t a self-destruct button…this time. It’s for friends and fans to send a message or a ‘worst regards’ to us, got it?”

“Yes, can do, Dex!”

“And I can help!” The two turned. Henchman was standing in the doorway, holding a box he had brought to decorate his side of the office. It had little ‘best of luck’ and ‘congrats on your new job’ written on the sides. Gosh, that was so adorable; his friends at the goon shelter were so sweet.

But he looked nervous.

He had tried to be proactive and assertive but the blog posts don't tell you what to do after all the attention is on you. He wanted to hide inside his sweater.

“Oh, that’s great, Henchman. But I think I can handle it.” Spectre sounded nervous too. Codex furrowed her eyebrows at her friend.

“Oh, I understand. Yes, of course." He sheepishly went to his desk, wishing the lights would go out and no one could see his sure-to-be red face.

Spectre, with a suspicious blush, turned back to her co-conspirator. "R-right. Where were we?"

"Y'know. Stuff like this is why we hired a henchperson in the first place."

"What?"

"Yeah! We need to hand over some of the tasks eventually. Let's start with this. You can teach him the ropes!"

She was speechless. Codex was right but gosh, why. But Spectre muttered some form of affirmation anyway.

"Great! Henchman, there you go! You and Spectre will be working together today."

"Sounds great!"

Spectre didn’t match his enthusiasm. "Yay," she muttered.

—-

Spectre was fine before Henchman volunteered to install the big red button. Was she really looking forward to installing a button so much? Or was there something else going on?

Codex recounted the facts.

Fact: Spectre was fine till Henchman showed up.

Fact: Spectre wasn't acting normal at breakfast either. Henchman was also present.

Fact: She was nervous in the morning. Before Henchman brought breakfast. So much so that she didn’t eat breakfast at home.

Had this been going on longer than just today?

When was the last time she was fine? The day before the interview, it seemed like. Spectre had been okay, nervous, yes, but she had been happily knitting matching company scarves for the two of them and the new hire for Villaintine's Day.

The interview was where it all started. Before the interview actually, when Codex had been late. Spectre was waiting outside. With Henchman.

Hmmm.

Codex frowned. That couldn't be it, could it?

But Spectre was a villain and it happened to villains first, usually. Hazard of the job, unfortunately.

Oh, poor Specs.

Well, let's get this over with.

She went over her list of tasks and was able to find one that would make Henchman leave the two of them alone. She needed to have a talk with her friend about what was bothering her.

Her friend was not going to be happy.

—--

"I am not in love with him!"

"I never said 'love'. I just said 'crush'."

"I don't have a 'crush' on him either!"

"You sure? He seems like a sweet person."

"No!"

"At least tell me what happened the day of the interview. While you two were waiting for me."

"Nothing happened! I was just nervous. He helped. That's it!"

Codex clicked her tongue. Showing basic human decency to a villain. You might as well confess your love to them. She knew of many villains who had fallen for heroes after they patched them up when they were bleeding out.

Then there were the stats of course, research courtesy of Codex herself.

Stat: Villain patch-ups become more frequent the closer it gets to Villaintine's Day.

Stat: There's an increase in falling for fire- and ice-themed heroes and villains in winter and summer respectively, moderated by how much the "fallees" like hugs.

And, of course,

Stat: Most villains report falling in love after the very first act of kindness, especially if there was a smile involved, while heroes generally took longer.

But back to her co-conspirator who had turned around to face the window dramatically now.

"I'm evil! I'm bad!"

Then she turned around and her gaze darkened.

"I'm rotten to the core."

"Yeah, I get it — oh no —"

"They say I'm trouble.

They say I'm bad."

Oh no.

They say I'm evil

That makes me glad

Well. I'm...happy for you?

A dirty no-good

Down to the bone

Of course.

Your worst nightmare

Can't take me home

So you're not coming for game night?

Ugh, so I've got some mischief

In my blood

Your family are civilians, Spectre.

Can you blame me?

I never got no love

Aww, sweetie :(

They think I'm callous

A low-life hood

I realize I don't know what callous means

I feel so useless

Misunderstood!

Aww, no :(((

💃

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Who's the baddest of them all?

Do you regularly ask the tablet on the wall this?

Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world!

Umm…

🚪*Henchman enters*

What's going on, boss?

…

Sorry, what is she doing?

She's just having one of her episodes. Best to just wait it out.

Oh, how did it start?

I accused her of having a crush on someone and she's in denial. Or she doesn't haven't a crush, I dunno. She started before the conversation ended.

Oh. yeah, I get it. Love is the scariest evil of all.

…sure.

But it's nice to be in the loop this time. At the shelter, this really sweet girl, her name was Jessica, she'd always stand in front of the TV when I was watching but she'd always share her food with me when it would go missing from the fridge, so anyway, everyone said she had a crush on someone but no one would ever tell me who.

So, it's nice to know this time 🥰

I'm rotten to the core, core

💃💃

Rotten to the core

So, I've got this list of tasks I need you to do around the lair. I'll walk you through them.

Cool!

I'm rotten to the core, core

Who could ask for more?

I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door

Interesting that your standard for bad is your next door neighbor who's NINE.

I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the

I'm rotten to the core

Who could ask for more?

I'm nothing like the kid next door

I'm rotten to the core

⌚

Call me a schemer

Call me a freak

How can you say that?

I'm just...unique!

Freak Du Unique!

What, me? A traitor?

Ain't got your back?

You've got my back.

Oh, we're not friends

What's up with that?

We're friends, we're friends!

So I'm a misfit

So I'm a flirt

*sputters* You flirt?

I'm sorry, isn't flirting Villain 101?

Yeah, but still. I've never seen her flirt.

Maybe she never found the right hero?

Or villain — um, yeah — hero, what you said.

I broke your heart?

I made you hurt?

Dude, don't break hearts! That's not okay!

I have to agree there

The past is past

Forgive, forget

What about our tragic backstories then?

The truth is

You ain't seen nothing yet!

You're gonna break his — someone's heart? Please don't.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Who's the baddest of them all?

Welcome to my wicked world, wicked world!

Is it over?

I'm rotten to the core, core

💃💃💃

Rotten to the core

Sigh, not yet

I'm rotten to the core, core

Who could ask for more?

I'm nothing like the kid next, like the kid next door

I'm rotten to the, I'm rotten to the

I'm rotten to the core.

"..."

"…okay, now that you've got that out of your system. I apologize for earlier. I won't bring it up again. Now, you two need to work on getting the button from the superstore and installing it. See ya!"

So Codex left the two alone, eager to get some work done before another monologue or song started.

“Hey, Ms Spectre.”

“Y-yeah?”

“There’s something I need to confess.”

“Confess?”

“Yes. the thing is…”

“Yes?” she leaned in, fists clenched, a smile just on the edge of her lips.

“I- I- I don’t know where the superstore is.”

“...Oh.” Spectre let out a sigh and her heartbeat relaxed. “I know where it is. Come on, I'll take you.”

"Thanks!"

—

"Hey, Henchman."

"Yes?"

"You don't need to call use Ms. You can just call us by our villain names. Just Spectre works."

"Oh. In that case, I'm Henchman. Nice to officially re-meet you." he had a goofy grin before getting into Spectre's car.

Those dang butterflies were back. But she willed them down long enough to shake herself back to work.

They drove in silence, but Henchman had a question on his mind and was just waiting to ask it.

"Ms, er, Spectre."

"Yes?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Well, you see. I couldn't help but overhear that wonderful monologue you were doing. The apple core one?"

"Ye-es?"

"May I ask why you hate your neighbours so much?"

"Not neighbours. Just…him."

"Why? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Because he's the absolute WORST, Henchman."

"Why, exactly?"

"He keeps stealing the pies off my windowsill, for one."

"How do you know it was him?"

"Because he leaves his calling card." She opened the glove compartment and handed him a paper with a cute smiling cartoon racoon drawn on it.

"Then! I baked the entire family cookies for the holidays and he didn't bake any for me back. His parents did, but not him!"

"Uh-huh."

"AND he and his friends keep stealing my cat and returning her in cat clothes that they've knitted!"

"The…nerve?"

"Exactly! Codex thinks he could make a nice villain apprentice, villainy begins at home and all that, but I refuse to — oh, we're here."

They got out of the car, bought a button, drove back to the base, and installed the button all while Spectre ranted about her neighbourhood nemesis’s diabolical misdeeds.

Henchman didn't mind. All that mattered was she was happy and enjoying herself, and she definitely was because she was currently laughing manically at the thought of knitting her nemesis neighbor itchy gloves for his birthday. She even asked him to help her bake an evil chocolate cake for the occasion. Yup, he was definitely on her good side now and he could be sure he was going to love working here.

It seemed like he had found his forever lair at last.

—

Bonus:

Codex: "Guys...this button is green."

Spectre: 😁😀😮😯😶😅 "Uhhhh…it's so hard to find good henchmen these days?"

#villain x villain #heroes and villains #Villaintine’s Day 2023 #black rose events #heroes villains side blog #my writing #adorable villain #villain has a crush #oblivious x smitten #oblivious villain #good villain #heroics/villainy as a job #snippet #big red button #evil lair #me messing with people #henchman #Domestic

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