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I'll respond to someone who wants to say that beetnemesis Send a noteboard - 11/12/2009 05:19:52 PM
Pre-emptively, heh.

he had trouble writing realistic bad guys. Someone's going to reply to me saying "but the bad guys having flaws is realistic."


Everyone has flaws. However, an effective villain (or antagonist) should have flaws that don't negate the sense of dread/fear/whatever we get from him.

So, Darth Vader still remains a scary badass, even though he gave Luke a hug at the end. However, Anakin in the prequel trilogy is a joke, because all he does is whine about sand and his girlfriend.

For a WoT example, let's take Padan Fain. He is crazy. We've seen him at his worst, gibbering in a cell, and at his most powerful... and he's amazing in both. In the cell he's weak, but still threatening. When he's manipulating nobles, he's powerful and suave, but his POVs show us that he's still a crazy sonofabitch.

Now, I'm not saying Fain is a perfect villain, but he's definitely better than the Forsaken.



tl; dr: Flaws just have to make you human, not lame!
I amuse myself.
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Two idiot Forsaken in the Prologue - 10/12/2009 04:31:10 PM 1589 Views
Oh you are being unfair! - 10/12/2009 04:49:31 PM 725 Views
LOL. Are you implying Mesaana killed Asmodean? *NM* - 10/12/2009 07:13:27 PM 274 Views
That would be a funny twist, but in reality I think we all know - 10/12/2009 08:10:16 PM 588 Views
Yes; this pretty much matched my expectations - esp. for Demandred. - 10/12/2009 04:56:32 PM 728 Views
Mesaana was motivated out of... - 10/12/2009 07:16:43 PM 646 Views
Ah, then she would be more of an idiot than I thought. 2nd Rate indeed. *NM* - 10/12/2009 08:19:05 PM 246 Views
Re: Yes; this pretty much matched my expectations - esp. for Demandred. - 11/12/2009 06:47:43 AM 684 Views
But BS said that Shaidar Haran couldn't do things in the physical world without aid. - 11/12/2009 03:20:59 PM 585 Views
I think that just proves SH isn't gay! *NM* - 11/12/2009 04:07:47 PM 265 Views
Or it could just prove - 11/12/2009 05:42:33 PM 566 Views
Re: Or it could just prove - 11/12/2009 07:00:57 PM 495 Views
I agree, but I think it's about the DO being totally random - 11/12/2009 07:07:17 PM 581 Views
I don't ever want to find out who Demandred is - 11/12/2009 02:47:58 PM 521 Views
Imagine how bad it would be if - 11/12/2009 11:22:56 PM 517 Views
I would say... - 10/12/2009 04:58:15 PM 638 Views
he hasn't really done anything - 10/12/2009 05:25:03 PM 634 Views
But the point is valid - 10/12/2009 05:32:12 PM 768 Views
I'm pretty sure he did something... - 10/12/2009 05:33:04 PM 619 Views
Re: I'm pretty sure he did something... - 10/12/2009 07:51:25 PM 505 Views
Yeah, but now Graendal is dead, while Demandred is still alive. *NM* - 10/12/2009 08:29:24 PM 523 Views
Re: Yeah, but now Graendal is dead, while Demandred is still alive. *NM* - 11/12/2009 12:17:54 AM 469 Views
I tend to agree - 11/12/2009 06:52:51 AM 634 Views
I think Demandred is pretty smart... - 11/12/2009 11:45:58 AM 539 Views
of course he's never set foot anywhere close to anything long enough - 11/12/2009 02:11:19 PM 507 Views
Is it smart to take a risk... - 11/12/2009 02:22:18 PM 491 Views
I think your making a lot of assumptions - 11/12/2009 05:40:47 PM 523 Views
Well... - 11/12/2009 06:04:47 PM 530 Views
Re: Well... - 11/12/2009 07:15:06 PM 659 Views
I agree that Demandred will fail in the end. - 12/12/2009 11:00:59 AM 519 Views
Either a Channeler or Mat - 12/12/2009 03:41:09 PM 445 Views
According to RJ... - 12/12/2009 12:32:12 PM 613 Views
makes you wonder - 12/12/2009 03:39:08 PM 524 Views
Re: makes you wonder - 12/12/2009 03:47:18 PM 495 Views
Thanks for the BS quote, that's new news to me! - 12/12/2009 03:55:37 PM 496 Views
Moridin didn't want to betrayal Sammael... - 12/12/2009 04:07:49 PM 486 Views
It amounts to the same thing - 12/12/2009 04:12:42 PM 525 Views
Then you could also say... - 12/12/2009 04:22:30 PM 484 Views
no actually you cannot - 12/12/2009 04:46:03 PM 484 Views
Ah, I give up... - 12/12/2009 04:50:07 PM 486 Views
thanks for your permission - 12/12/2009 04:53:01 PM 496 Views
To be fair, Mesaana's brood of channelers promise could still come to fruition. *NM* - 10/12/2009 04:58:28 PM 284 Views
Yup, especially if she is a higher-up AS in the tower. - 10/12/2009 05:57:12 PM 562 Views
Sanderson's first attempt at portraying the Forsaken based on character summaries in RJ's notes... - 10/12/2009 05:29:51 PM 707 Views
Well... - 11/12/2009 06:55:17 AM 545 Views
That was RJ's biggest flaw, IMO - 11/12/2009 02:45:41 PM 552 Views
I'll respond to someone who wants to say that - 11/12/2009 05:19:52 PM 601 Views
Ya. Fain's a good exception. I still have hopes for him. And... Thereva was scary, but... - 11/12/2009 08:32:38 PM 499 Views
Slayer/Luc/Isam is also pretty cool. - 12/12/2009 04:16:14 PM 496 Views
One theme of tGS was "The Forsaken are actually pretty lame" - 11/12/2009 05:12:55 PM 540 Views

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