Back when the Deep Space Nine series was developing into a more serialized kind of story, the writers wanted to define the major threat from the distant Gamma Quadrant. Who was going to be the big villain for the series?
The stakes were pretty high, here - what if the villains didn't work? It could undercut the entire series.
To help make sure it worked, the writers decided that it wouldn't be one villainous race - it would be THREE.
The J'em Hadar would be the muscle. Bred for battle, designed to be killers. Incredibly tough and capable warriors.
The Vorta were the negotiators. They would do the diplomatic relations and negotiations with various civilizations. They represented a different kind of evil - the “company man” types: deceptive weasels who were good with words and contracts, but conniving and deceptive.
The Founders were the masterminds, the puppetmasters pulling the strings from the shadows.
It was a good way to give the enemy a more full-bodied identity, and give the Protagonists different types of challenges to face.
This kind of villain combo platter can be seen in the Indiana Jones movies:
In Raiders of the Lost Ark, you have
Toht - the black-coated, creepy torturer who does the field work
Dietrich - the company man (the company being the Nazis), and
Belloq - the mastermind who had a prior conflict and connection to Indiana Jones.
This combo platter can be seen to some degree in all the classic Indy movies.
Not every story will need every kind of Antagonist/Villain, of course. There might just be one type, and one villain in your story. Or you might have a villain who encompasses two or three of these types threats in one person.
There is room for flexibility with these villainous types, too. The “muscle” one might not be physically strong, but have a brutality to their personality. Depends on what kind of story you're telling, and what kinds of conflict are playing out within it.
I'm not sure how common this is, but as I develop the villains for one of my comics, I'm using this idea of multiple “types”. I think it'll be interesting for the readers and fun as the writer.
What do you think? Are villains divided into “types” a worthwhile approach?
See you next time!
- Banes
The Villain Combo Platter
Banes at 12:00AM, April 21, 2022
4 likes!
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Corruption at 10:46PM, April 21, 2022
People often underestimate the "Company Man". They fear what the muscle can do to them, and what the Mastermind can arrange, but they forget one important thing: it is often the Company Man who arranges for the Mastermind's plans to work, and who directs the Muscle. They also operate with the authority of their organization, even if they are acting unofficially, and breaking their own group's rules. An example of the "Company Man (or Woman)" is Dolores Umbridge. She needs no thugs, great abilities or elaborate schemes. She doesn't care about anything other than the Ministry, as she believes it should be run (and being alive and fit enough to serve it). That makes her all the more terrifying. The scariest part is that they are also the most common (often in much watered down version) and they seek to make others just like them serving their organization. They are not all evil, like many missionaries and similar people.
Banes at 8:06AM, April 21, 2022
@PaulEberhardt - yeah, it could prevent things from being too repetitive. Oh, yeah - I think the alliance between the Dominion with the Cardassians is what made them so memorable. For a stretch of time watching the villains deal with each other was the most interesting stuff on the show. That sounds like a good topic for another Newspost!
Banes at 8:02AM, April 21, 2022
@usedbooks - I don't know how much of a thing it is... I mean, it exists but endless examples didn't come to my mind. And that sounds good - it seems a good way to go with a longer series and larger cast. Many permutations of conflict to create.
Banes at 8:00AM, April 21, 2022
@ozoneocean - yeah! And in Last Crusade, there was the tough Nazi soldier (tickets, please!), a wily manipulator type (spoiler alert) and a mastermind (spoiler alert again) as well.
PaulEberhardt at 6:06AM, April 21, 2022
I haven't given this much thought way before, but it's a great approach. It also allows the protagonists to encounter a progression from bad to worse in a manner that's quite distinct from fighting their way through hundreds of cannon fodder stooges to meet the end boss (as in a classic James Bond plot - although I seem to remember Bond movies with interesting villain combos as well). As far as DS9 is concerned I would also include the alliance with the Cardassians that allowed them to return from the status of defeated former baddies to being actively bad again, as well as adding some more depth to the villain side with more complex interrelations.
usedbooks at 5:13AM, April 21, 2022
Interesting. I have a "three villain combo" planned for the finale of Used Books. I didn't know that was a thing. Lol. (It just works for my story.) Mastermind, adept henchman, and a chaotic villain. I have an ensemble cast, so multiple threats are important, imo.
Ozoneocean at 2:45AM, April 21, 2022
You DO see that approach in Indiana Jones! I thought of it more like subbosses, mainbosses etc from videogames, but your way is clever. The last Indie movie I watched was the Crystal Skull film. Dovchenko was the extremely tough and brutal underboss, Irina Splako was the mainboss, who was clever and wiley, and used fencing as her main attack... can't recall if there were more villains. I think it's a god idea to have divided villains.