FF Villains

[slloyd14]

Hi all. Looking at the evil sorcerers in Titan, I was wondering who you thought was the most successful.  My case is for Zharradon Marr, and I'll explain why:

Zharradon Marr not only has a huge army etc., but he has the organisation and management thing down to a T.  He doesn't just have an army, he trains them (rather than let them sit around getting drunk on orc ale), he is excellent at recruitment (thanks to Vallaska Roue) and performance management (Hannicus was not a good addition to the organisation). He has an actual revenue stream (the gold mines) and is always involved in improving his skills (with his experiments). He is never too overconfident to engage you in combat and actually has excellent protection in the form of a flying ship a magic mirror and some unkillable servants (Quimmel Bone for example). He is so good, that even when you thwart him, he is not dead, but merely trapped in his other dimension.  

A close second would be Karam Gruul, who managed to keep a horde of fanatical followers of trained soldiers when everyone thought he was dead. He also developed his own magical style (self improvement is important, even when you are a powerful archmage) and also survives even when thwarted.

In terms of sheer power, Razaak would wipe the floor with everyone. His unmodified skill and stamina is 12 and 20 (Balthus Dire had a +2 ring and Zagor had a deck of cards to beef them up), he kills you with two consecutive hits and he has a series of lethal spells to throw at you (beats the 3 damage fire from Zagor - is there any evidence that Zagor is even that powerful?) and also, he can only be killed by one weapon that does not give any bonuses to attack strength (nice touch). I bet in a battle between Razaak and Marr, Marr would eventually win through his intelligence and adaptability, but Razaak would completely destroy his army before it happens.

Most other evil sorcerers just brood in lairs with hordes of ragtag monsters that aren't even that loyal to them (although Balthus Dire gets bonus points for being married) and if they have any plans at all (looking at you again, Zagor), they tend to just be - unleash my hordes upon this place or steal this magical item. Nothing a well organised army can't stop.

Anyway.  That's my two cents. Anyone got any other opinions?

[sylas]

hard to compare this one. Razaak is verging on unkillable. not only do you have to kill him with his own lost sword, you must also make sure he stays dead by stabbing him through the heart with a Gargantis horn, a feat nearly as dangerous without serious magic. Razaak has an army as well of Zombies which are easily replenished by the likes of a necromancer such as he.

Feior may be another worthy competitor though its not certain how powerful he actually is. in BVP he is considered more powerful than you, and you already start with dormant Godlike powers (the coffin lid you casually push open at the beginning goes flying and disintegrates upon hitting the ceiling!) i always considered your own army to not rival his in the slightest even with the help of Credas and the Sitting Prophet, and anyone who can tame the mighty Sturramak to their own ends is truly badass.

then there's Archmage Globus who again, being uncertain of how powerful he actually is, definitely wins on ambition, not settling for just one world, but all of them. and he is able to control the most dreaded hunters in the Macrocosmos. although Titan would technically be included for the part of ALL worlds, Globus himself is not Titan-based so may not count for the purposes of your query.

[vagsancho]

Razaak is the most amazing sorcerer. The most amazing soul.

[Jon]

Of all these, Zharradan Marr was the most impressive. Remember he ALLOWED the Creature of Havoc to get close to him because he was his creature. In the context of Creature of Havoc, no other character would have been given the chance. The player character in Crypt of the Sorcerer could get into Razaak's lair against Razaak's will, but it was necessary for them to evade the death traps in his lair and to find out six different numbers and to have acquired that time lock key. Really in Crypt, the player character should have been able to acquire one more magical item to empower them sufficiently to stand a good chance at defeating Razaak. Maybe if that sacrificial victim mask the Hellcat had was actually a magical mask like Bighead had. It would have been a cool twist if the player character could defeat Razaak, but had to go an irreversible transmogrification of a different kind to Khul's.

Mrs Dire is the most fearsome inhabitant of the Citadel of Chaos (the ganjees are afraid of an amulet, when Mrs Dire wants to kill, there is no salvation, but to placate her). But notice she doesn't share quarters with Dire, rather she sleeps in the main citadel where his minions are. If she had actually been protecting him at the top of the citadel the player character would certainly have failed their mission.

Zagor was pathetic. What a joke. He was nothing until he was fused with that bone demon.

[sylas]

Zagor was just an old rich man protecting his money. The people who label him as a villain as an excuse to off him and steal his money are the joke. Can anyone really blame him for returning just a little bit mad?

[Jon]

Yes, the player character of Warlock of Firetop Mountain is very much more unpleasant than Chadda Darkmane.

[kieran]

There's even a suggestion that he/she will just take over where Zagor left off.

[Jon]

Maybe they were the Zagor who returned undead.

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2014 19:56:51 GMT slloyd14 said:

(although Balthus Dire gets bonus points for being married) and if they have any plans at all (looking at you again, Zagor), they tend to just be - unleash my hordes upon this place or steal this magical item. Nothing a well organised army can't stop.

His wife should have a gamebook of her own the unsympathetic witch.

[hynreck]

What do you mean? She's a warm person. You can feel the warm coming from her eyes. She'll warm your heart -er, you get it, I guess. I'm done now.

[Jon]

The nearest one could ever get with her is first base, that is "eye contact."

[daredevil123]

I was trying to decide who the most cruel, despicable and generally evil FF character is. Lord Carnuss is shockingly willing to sacrifice innocent lives simply to embarrass his brother while Cinnabar/Bloodbones and Unthank are both callous, underhand cowards. Which characters do you find the most detestable?

[sylas]

Zharradan Marr, Xakhaz and Karan Gruul come to mind.

[kieran]

The dwarf trialmaster from Deathtrap Dungeon definitely scores highly in the Utter Bastard stakes.

The mercenary captain from The Crimson Tide gives you a more personal reason to hate him than any other villain.

Lord Carnuss as mentioned is a right nasty piece of work.

[Paul Mc]

Lord Kelnor has to be up there. Most baddies are trying to rule the world or atleast conquer something. He is just a twisted person who likes to torture and abuse people as part of a cult.

[unknown]

I'd say that shop keeper in Eye of the Dragon. Now there's evil if you haven't seen it!

[bloodbeasthandler]

I found Darramouss in Creature of Havoc to be a sinister and unpleasant character.

The dwarf trialmaster from Deathtrap Dungeon definitely scores highly in the Utter Bastard stakes.

That dwarf gets killed on principle every time I play the book nowadays.

[jmisbest]

I was wondering if  people would like to say something nice about their least favorite Fighting Fantasy Villain

For me it is that Lord Mortiss from Keep of The Liche Lord reminds me of what my favorite Movie Villain would be like if he where A Fighting Fantasy Villain. Also my favorite Movie Villain is Harry Potters Voldemort

[sylas]

I don't like any main Boss Villains that don't have accompanying art like Shanzikuul (Master of Chaos) and Arachnos (Deathmoor). That's how unimportant they are. On the plus side, the sub-Bosses in those books are really good (Vardrath the Necromancer and Fang-Zen).

[kieran]

Arachnos is definitely one of the worst - it's never even stated if he's human or not, so little effort was put into describing him.

As for saying something nice about him, well at least his scheme was a bit different than most: taking a hostage in order to get a hold of a major source of Arion's wealth in order to destabilise the kingdom is a bit different from the usual evil wizard thing.

I actually think Shanzikuul is interesting though (yes, I know it sucks that he has no illustration). I like that it's never made clear whether he is actually the original Shanzikuul and his connection with the Dark Elves is never fully spelt out. Villains with an air of mystery are always fun - Arachnos just takes it to the extreme!

[schlendrian]

Speaking of unimportant boss villains - can anyone even name the bad guy from Armies of Death without looking him up? Couldn't even say something nice about him, as I remember nothing concerning him...

[daredevil123]

His name's Agglax. Can't think of anything I like about him though.

[vagsancho]

I would say arachnos... Dont even remember that guy...

[schlendrian]

Jul 25, 2019 20:46:49 GMT daredevil123 said:

His name's Agglax. Can't think of anything I like about him though.

I'll try. 'What I like about Agglax, is, that contrary to most of the good guys in his vicinity, he's straightforward. Kill him before he kills you. No stories about his fishing trip or "The price is right" show with him.'

Actually, I do like the battle at the end of Armies. I just seldomly get there, playing fairly.

[kieran]

Jul 26, 2019 17:42:39 GMT schlendrian said:

, I do like the battle at the end of Armies. I just seldomly get there, playing fairly

I actually think Island of the Lizard King did the "big battle at the end" thing better.

[schlendrian]

You're right about that

[vastariner]

Jul 26, 2019 17:42:39 GMT schlendrian said:

Jul 25, 2019 20:46:49 GMT daredevil123 said:

His name's Agglax. Can't think of anything I like about him though.

I'll try. 'What I like about Agglax, is, that contrary to most of the good guys in his vicinity, he's straightforward. Kill him before he kills you. No stories about his fishing trip or "The price is right" show with him.'

Actually, I do like the battle at the end of Armies. I just seldomly get there, playing fairly.

Useful for FF Scrabble.

[vagsancho]

The most Mysterious villain - RAZAAK (pretty obvious why).

The most Spectacular villain - HELL DEMON & XAKHAAZ (i pretty much had the exact same overwhelming feeling as i watched them both for the first time).

[Wilf]

The most mysterious must surely be Arachnos. Can anybody actually tell me a single thing about him?

[kieran]

Sept 15, 2020 8:59:18 GMT Wilf said:

The most mysterious must surely be Arachnos. Can anybody actually tell me a single thing about him?

He's apparently a "Life-Stealer" - not sure whether that means he's one of the monsters of that name described in Out of the Pit though.