#unserious villain

[neon-kazoo]

A Very Special Lighting

The hero awoke with a groan. Their head was pounding, their body was freezing, and something was very, very wrong.

The first thing they noticed was an offensively loud countdown from what sounded like a cacophony of voices.

They(?) yelled excitedly, “THREE!…TWO!…”

The second thing that they noticed was that they were not horizontal—how one would typically wake up in the morning. Instead, they were vertical, and something was now insultingly bright for what they presumed to be dawn.

“ONE!!!”

Roaring cheers followed closely with the end of the suspicious countdown. Hero had barely had time to consider covering their ears before another one of their senses was assaulted, this time by the onslaught of light. They automatically blinked the blurs out of their eyes and were met with starbursts of twinkling yellow.

Were those…Christmas lights?

All their limbs were lost in the glow. They tried to move but found that they couldn’t. With what little sensation they held, they surmised there were some kind of restraints keeping their legs and arms spread like a starfish.

No, not a starfish.

A star.

Below them laid hundreds of green branches that stretched out to the edges of the square in the city’s center. Hundreds more dots (people?) lined around the ginormous skirt.

They were stuck on top of a giant Christmas tree.

And, if they weren’t mistaken,…they were the topper.

As if their day(…night?) couldn’t get any better, one aforementioned dot started to enlarge, making the flight up several stories to their level. They groaned in realization as the figure approached.

Hero only knew one dastardly mastermind who could fly.

Villain stopped to float only a few feet in front of them, greeting gleefully, “Hero! I’m so glad you could make it to the lighting ceremony! This is a very special day for lots of children, you know.”

Hero gaped, though they doubted their face could be seen with the intensity of the light source behind and around them.

Since when did Villain care about children?

And more importantly, since when did Villain have a beard?!

Fluffy white hair flowed down from their chin, and it took Hero a moment to connect the cherry red suit and matching floppy hat, not to mention the extra padding surrounding their midsection that looked far too impractical to be used as protection in a fight.

Villain was dressed as Santa.

Villain was dressed as Santa.

Their head pulsed again with pain. Feelings of confliction flooded their thoughts as they watched the joy swim below them.

They knew they should be focusing on taking down Villain but…would that…(and they couldn’t believe they were thinking this) ruin it?

They asked the only question they could think of, muttering the words through ridiculously chapped lips and chattering teeth, “What- what time is it?”

“Midnight, silly!”

Right. They were supposed to be watching this on TV right now, from the warmth of their heated blanket with a homemade mug of hot chocolate. As much as they would have loved to participate in the ceremony, this was…definitely not what they would have had in mind. A plan of their own would have involved a lot more marshmallows, and a lot less Villain.

“Are you…gonna let me down?”

“I’m afraid I don’t remember seeing that particular request on your Christmas list. Send me another letter, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Villain bellowed a rolling laugh that sounded suspiciously close to a classic ‘ho-ho-ho’. Before Hero could even begin to think of a retort to what they had suggested, Villain was already moving far enough away for them to deem the effort futile.

A bewildered Hero could only watch as they took off, having mounted a sled-looking contraption that they carried with them into the sky, led by several floating deer-looking animals, the nose of one of which was adorned with a small glowing red dot. The unmistakable sound of jingling bells followed.

Villain exclaimed merrily as they flew away into the night, “Merry Christmas, City!”

Apparently, even villains could enjoy the holidays.

Though, if you asked Hero, Villain was enjoying this one a little too much.

[distantkairi]

Zelda game where you play as Ganon or Ganondorf against a possessed Link and Zelda. And the reason he's the protagonist is it ruins the game for him if he has no opposition from a hero and princess anymore. But now he has to begrudgingly be a goody two shoes to the people of Hyrule until he gets their hero and princess back to normal.

[impalafullofbees]

[ohwrite]

Heroine grasps the attacking Villainess’ arm, she makes eye contact with her nemesis and, in a flurry of movements, restrains her with only her arms. Villainess squeaks, looking up at the heroine who caught her with rose tinted cheeks.

“Holy shit…” She whispers, daring not to breathe.

Heroine laughs, smiling down at her, satisfied. “‘Bout time someone put you in your place huh?”

Villainess’ face lights up even brighter. She stammers, attempting to get a sentence out before her nemesis places a finger to her lips, shushing her.

“You’re much cuter flustered out of words, so be a dear and be quiet~”

The villain nods, and Heroine giggles. Dragging her away to her home rather than The Agency.

[gradelstuff]

League of Villains chibi designs by Asakusa Hanayashiki amusement park (2025)

[nucksaid]

it’s the way they cropped quinn out for me

[slightly-sad-sloth]

I’m sorry but I can’t take Tim and Ra’s rivalry seriously in Red Robin. Like how you gonna do a big villain monologue and then call your arch nemesis Timothy

[thegirlsarethriving]

just finished undertale. ok i see the vision. i now understand yall's Sans-to-Benrey obsession pipeline. and the Papyrus-to-Tommy Coolatta pipeline

[michi-chelle-draws]

studying 📚

[risetherivermoon]

a headcanon i find very funny is that willy absolutely fucking hates it when anyone calls him anything but willy- like you call him will or william and he loses his shit,

i jus think its hilarious because the name he prefers is fucking willy of all things,

[neon-kazoo]

Pump It (Concert Chase)

(Based loosely on the song “Pump It” by the Black Eyed Peas)

There wasn’t supposed to be any villains at the Black Eyed Peas concert. Hero certainly would not have attended if they knew there would be.

Unfortunately, they were positive they recognized the man dressed in black on the other side of the entrance gate.

Hero caught a short glimpse of the bolded letters of security written across his back before he turned around suddenly, reaching towards a woman obviously trying to smuggle a bag into the venue. She put up a short fight, but eventually must have decided whatever alcohol she probably had stashed in there wasn’t worth voiding the cost of her ticket. She reluctantly relinquished the strap she had previously held in an iron grip.

Purse successfully confiscated, Villain waved over another member of the event staff to escort the freshly-outraged woman outside. She left, but not without a few words Hero was glad they couldn’t hear from here.

Satisfied with his work, Villain raised his head in the direction of the crowd inside.

And immediately locked eyes with the hero.

Shit.

Of all the people—the hundreds in this section, not to mention the thousands in attendance—his eyes just had to land on them.

From the way the villain’s body stiffened and he took a step towards the entrance gate, Hero guessed they weren’t the only one with decent facial recognition skills.

They had to disappear. Now.

Classically, they had two options:

Run, or hide.

They cut a fast glance to the crowd in front of them.

Too many bodies pressed way too close to each other for Hero to even have a chance of breaking free once—or if—they found themselves inside. But there was something to be said about the camouflage of it, melting so easily into the crowd.

Regrettably, that idea involved giving up the one thing Hero couldn’t afford to lose:

Control.

Instead, they pumped their legs as fast as they could. Hero hurtled over the crowd control gate like the medal-winning track star they were, barely breaking their stride and clearing it easily. Music blasted from the nearby speakers—the opener, Hero presumed—, sending powerful thumps of bass straight through their chest.

Turn it up, Hero silently prayed to the sound managers. Hearing damage was the least of their worries right now.

With any luck, Villain had forgotten to bring an earplug to protect the ear not covered by his earpiece. Sound disorientation would definitely work heavily in their favor here.

They dodged several groups hanging out on the outskirts of the crowd, using the quick direction changes to confirm Villain was actually in pursuit.

Of course, he was.

Not only that, but he was gaining on them.

Come on, Hero spurred the crowd internally, Louder!

There was no place to go, at least, no where the villain couldn’t flash a badge and get their ten times faster than they could run, jump, or climb. Their legs burned but they continued at full speed, heavily wishing they could throw Villain straight into the center of a mosh pit.

Actually- maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea.

They veered sharply towards the backstage.

A completely ludicrous idea formed in their mind.

By the grace of a higher power the path to the front was relatively clear, if they ignored the gates and unsuspecting law enforcement they passed along the way.

They dashed past the stage-hand who may or may not have been trying to hand them a microphone. The rest of the route was clear, save for some miscellaneous cords taped down with bright duct tape.

So much for the star-studded security the venue had promised.

The crowd cheered as the hero burst into view.

Time to put on a show.

Hero didn’t bother to look towards the performers to gauge their reactions to their sudden appearance on stage. They simply waited for a lull in the lyrics before commandeering a mic stand and addressing the crowd with all the bravado they could muster.

“Front rows! Get ready!”

Behind them, Villain stormed onto stage aggressively, purpose fueling his every step. He wasted no time getting over to Hero and grabbing a hold of their shirt, intending to drag them off to who-knows-where, right in front of an audience.

“Always someone trying to ruin the fun,” Hero stage-whispered into the microphone they now held with a mischievous glint in their eyes.

“Don’t worry, folks. All part of the show.”

Hero twisted out of the grip, placing the villain between the edge of stage and themselves.

Pure anger covered his features as he reached forward even more aggressively. Hero ducked under his arm and smiled.

The band—bless them—just kept playing.

For the sake of timing, the hero engaged in a short scuffle while the song progressed.

Finally, when the beat dropped, they shoved.

Hard.

He fell, and dozens of hands reached up to catch him, supporting the unsuspecting villain in a horizontal position. Hero waved down at him with a smile.

The crowd roared infinitely louder.

Villain was carried away by the sea of bodies, and Hero wasted no time taking their leave from temporary stardom and slipping off backstage and into the city beyond.

[eregar]

Raphael's character class potentially being bard is so fun. casting his tendency to use charm and illusion as not necessarily a devilish trait but instead as a bardic trait being used for devilish ends and suggesting that his cunning is possibly something that was learned rather than something that was innate. and it means he gets to be a bit of a loser <3

[deadlyrival]

oh the queercoded villain is problematic representation? they play into homophobic and transmisogynistic stereotypes? that’s so crazy i can’t believe you’re the first person to ever realise this. pack it up everyone we all have to go home. can’t believe it turns out they’re not actually queer because the intention behind writing them like that was homophobia instead of making good proper representation for the community 💔 so you’re not allowed to read them that way anymore. yeah if you like them you’re homophobic too. sorry

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

At some point, we've got to hang up the idea that the 'Grisha are an oppressed group comparable to real life, and the Darkling is a misunderstood hero of the story." The allegory is always going to fall apart before it can hit the ground running. It's a very unserious argument. What are we even arguing at this point? The person with very spooky, unlimited power, who is immortal, and can very well live a normal life if they wanted to is comparable to being discriminated against for very real, very obvious things such as skin color, features, gender and sex. Like if someone wanted to kill me for being black or being gay, or anything of the matter-- the fear is not founded in anything tangible. It is just a justification for violence which I am powerless to stop.

Being afraid of an immortal, shadow dude with the ability to live beyond normal years, can kill me in an instant, can create shadow creatures are a valid fear??? Being afraid of someone with natural superhuman abilities is a...valid fear.

The allegory is going to always fall apart, same with properties like X-Men (to an extent: I do think Magneto is well-written allegory at points in his run) . It doesn't work so please stop trying to make it work. Darkling is a good character in an otherwise mediocre world, its totally fine to like him without having to play the mind games here.

But also--I think this is why a character who represents a true villainous revolutionary will always be Erik Killmonger, my beloved. There are so many layers to his ideologies, that even the muted nature of Disney does not smear it. A revolutionary for the people can still be an agent of oppression. I found myself agreeing with Killmonger all the way throughout the movie, on an ideological level. I empathized and understood his visceral rage, I felt that. But I also think that at a personal level, he (1) wasn't the person fit to lead that change (2) he had a power problem. On the surface level, it's very obvious that Erik feels the plight of his people, that is a very real emotion. On a deeper level, we can argue that he has an ego problem and he doesn't see his own people as well...people (see: his casual disposal of his loyal girlfriend, his killing of his personal guard, admitting that he's killed even his own people--the people he supposedly wants to free). I think many WOC can attest to the intricacies of oppression within our communities - especially where the cis men in our communities lie. (also see: the intricacies within Black Panther Party; Ron Karenga torturing black women; many more black men-led revolutionaries throwing black women and black lgbtq+ under the bus in these movements, etcs)

Anywho - I suggest you guys read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison if you are interested in such complexities. It is one of my favorite books ever and I think it deals with oppression within oppression very well.

[the-casbah-way]

i am ALWAYS saying how criminally underrated comedy actors are. i feel like because comedy isn't taken seriously as a genre a lot of people don't fully appreciate just how talented you have to be to give a solid, convincing performance in a comedy. it's why so many actors who gain popularity through comedy then go on to give a 'serious' performance, and everyone acts surprised by how good it was because they though they were 'just a comedy actor'

[ikram1909]

The way an 18 year old kid has "the greatest football club of all time" on actual strings