Young Writers Society

Another villain

In my book I have a group of Villains known as the Covenant. I have decided there will be nine members to reflect the nine members of the good Board members, but I don't have enough good ideas.


1. Witch
2.Wizard
3. Sorceress( they use wands and potions witches and wizards do not)
4. Rakashas ( Magiacal creatre that looks like an upright tiger and is a master at illusions. )\
5.Medusas sister Eurale
6. A lyche( an undead wizard)
7.
8.
9.

seven eight and nine are still open. I played with the idea of vampires and werewolves, but I didn't like it.

Please if you know of any magical creatures with great power can you tell me.

It did help, your first suggestion reminded me that I forgot a character. Drake is a half wizard half dragon. So I only have to find two spots.

I've totally been where you are so I think I can help you a bit; lucky for you I just happen to have the The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols( srsly it exists ) and there is a section of mythical creatures. Fate? I think so for your consideration:

1) Harpies
2) Incubus (male) / Succubus (female)
3) Satyr

I agree that you should check out the groups that are dedicated to creating fantastical animals and such. Also maybe you should see if you can tweak the concepts of the vampire/werewolf. I do that sometimes, keep the things I like about a creature and then add things that will make them fit in my story. Anyway! Hope you find your villians soon! Good luck!

Good to see another writer cranking the underused Gorgon/Rakshasa villains.

Have you considered the old ogre/troll/giant/Minotaur types? Obviousl you've gone for mystique over muscle with your little crew, but that might jsut be a good reason to throw in a brawny member of the group (not to say that he/she would be unintelligent of course.)

If you want to stay with mystique>muscle, I'd consider Centaurs, Satyrs, Nymphs, Dryads, Wights (less likely as you already have a Liche), or

Then there's the options of much bigger creatures like Wyverns, Cockatrices, Giants and of course dragons (less likely again because you have a half dragon character).

So yes, there's some ideas.

It might be a good idea to look at what kind of villains you've got already and see if there are any gaps you're missing -- if you've got a lot of flashy magic users, perhaps you want some other villains with brute strength, or some who are simply very knowledgeable. You could also look at the good guys you're setting them up in opposition to and see if there are any easy parallels.

No one's mentioned djinn (or genies, as the English call them) yet. If you want a sort of vampiric feel, but not the traditional European vampire, here are some other options:

-- the penanggalan (from Malaysia): female creature who can detach her head from her body, and at night her head flies around, trailing her internal organs behind her. The organs drip bloody juice, and if a person is spattered by them they develop horrible open sores. She drinks the blood of babies and women giving birth.

-- the asasabonsam (from Cote D'Ivoire): has iron teeth and hooks on its legs instead of feet. It sits up in trees and waits for people to pass underneath, then grabs them with the hooks and pulls them up to eat them.

-- the jaracaca (from Brazil): takes the form of a huge snake and feeds on the blood of nursing mothers, shoving the baby aside and sticking its tail in the baby's mouth to keep it quiet.


(Source: Welch, R.C. The Vampire Almanac (1995). New YorK: Random House.)

...why don't you come up with a different kind of villain instead of using a type that's been used before so much?

if they're meant to mirror the nine good characters, it might help to look at the good guys as well. That way you can set up each villain as a mirror or foil to their good counterpart.

I'm not so hot with the mythical creatures. Used to watch Hercules a lot, but other than that...

What about a villain who was purely human, without magical powers or snakes for hair. I think that in the context of your fantastical villains, that could be powerful.

remember that, in choosing a villain, their physical scariness is not as important as their other character traits. The most important thing, in my opinion, is actually a closeness to your main character, the idea that the villain knows the character inside out. If you know anything about Final Fantasay, try considering Sephiroth for inspiration.

Does anything about this make sense? I've been thinking about it a lot for my own story, although it's not fantasy, so I feel my baddies are dull now.

hope this helps

Well a satyr tends to be good, but you could use Scylla or Charybdis. Maybe a Cyclops? Perhaps minotaur? Hydra? If you need on them, PM me.

I agree; a pure human would be nice. Maybe like a warrior/human.

There's a lot you could use to fill up those spots.

Hope I helped, even though this is an old thread. I just felt like posting something.