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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 Sidious - 10/12/2009 04:31:10 PM 1767 Views
Oh you are being unfair! darius_sedai - 10/12/2009 04:49:31 PM 875 Views
LOL. Are you implying Mesaana killed Asmodean? *NM* Logain - 10/12/2009 07:13:27 PM 347 Views
That would be a funny twist, but in reality I think we all know darius_sedai - 10/12/2009 08:10:16 PM 779 Views
Yes; this pretty much matched my expectations - esp. for Demandred. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 10/12/2009 04:56:32 PM 885 Views
Mesaana was motivated out of... Logain - 10/12/2009 07:16:43 PM 806 Views
Ah, then she would be more of an idiot than I thought. 2nd Rate indeed. *NM* RugbyPlayingAshaman - 10/12/2009 08:19:05 PM 328 Views
Re: Yes; this pretty much matched my expectations - esp. for Demandred. Sidious - 11/12/2009 06:47:43 AM 864 Views
But BS said that Shaidar Haran couldn't do things in the physical world without aid. RugbyPlayingAshaman - 11/12/2009 03:20:59 PM 759 Views
I think that just proves SH isn't gay! *NM* fionwe1987 - 11/12/2009 04:07:47 PM 326 Views
Or it could just prove darius_sedai - 11/12/2009 05:42:33 PM 706 Views
Re: Or it could just prove RugbyPlayingAshaman - 11/12/2009 07:00:57 PM 651 Views
I agree, but I think it's about the DO being totally random darius_sedai - 11/12/2009 07:07:17 PM 748 Views
Did he say he could not touch things, or that he just could not counter uber-channeling? Datakim - 12/12/2009 12:30:40 AM 699 Views
I don't ever want to find out who Demandred is Deadsy - 11/12/2009 02:47:58 PM 668 Views
Imagine how bad it would be if BlackAdder - 11/12/2009 11:22:56 PM 709 Views
I would say... Etzel - 10/12/2009 04:58:15 PM 791 Views
he hasn't really done anything lankyevilme - 10/12/2009 05:25:03 PM 782 Views
But the point is valid darius_sedai - 10/12/2009 05:32:12 PM 906 Views
I'm pretty sure he did something... Etzel - 10/12/2009 05:33:04 PM 773 Views
Re: I'm pretty sure he did something... darius_sedai - 10/12/2009 07:51:25 PM 665 Views
Yeah, but now Graendal is dead, while Demandred is still alive. *NM* Etzel - 10/12/2009 08:29:24 PM 657 Views
Re: Yeah, but now Graendal is dead, while Demandred is still alive. *NM* darius_sedai - 11/12/2009 12:17:54 AM 671 Views
I tend to agree Sidious - 11/12/2009 06:52:51 AM 826 Views
I think Demandred is pretty smart... Etzel - 11/12/2009 11:45:58 AM 707 Views
of course he's never set foot anywhere close to anything long enough darius_sedai - 11/12/2009 02:11:19 PM 678 Views
Is it smart to take a risk... Etzel - 11/12/2009 02:22:18 PM 645 Views
I think your making a lot of assumptions darius_sedai - 11/12/2009 05:40:47 PM 668 Views
Well... Etzel - 11/12/2009 06:04:47 PM 708 Views
Re: Well... darius_sedai - 11/12/2009 07:15:06 PM 826 Views
I agree that Demandred will fail in the end. Etzel - 12/12/2009 11:00:59 AM 664 Views
Either a Channeler or Mat darius_sedai - 12/12/2009 03:41:09 PM 603 Views
According to RJ... Sidious - 12/12/2009 12:32:12 PM 760 Views
makes you wonder darius_sedai - 12/12/2009 03:39:08 PM 706 Views
Re: makes you wonder Etzel - 12/12/2009 03:47:18 PM 663 Views
Thanks for the BS quote, that's new news to me! darius_sedai - 12/12/2009 03:55:37 PM 659 Views
Moridin didn't want to betrayal Sammael... Etzel - 12/12/2009 04:07:49 PM 628 Views
It amounts to the same thing darius_sedai - 12/12/2009 04:12:42 PM 696 Views
Then you could also say... Etzel - 12/12/2009 04:22:30 PM 622 Views
no actually you cannot darius_sedai - 12/12/2009 04:46:03 PM 645 Views
Ah, I give up... Etzel - 12/12/2009 04:50:07 PM 646 Views
thanks for your permission darius_sedai - 12/12/2009 04:53:01 PM 652 Views
To be fair, Mesaana's brood of channelers promise could still come to fruition. *NM* RandAllThor - 10/12/2009 04:58:28 PM 359 Views
Yup, especially if she is a higher-up AS in the tower. Lord Haart - 10/12/2009 05:57:12 PM 739 Views
Sanderson's first attempt at portraying the Forsaken based on character summaries in RJ's notes... Shannow - 10/12/2009 05:29:51 PM 881 Views
Well... Sidious - 11/12/2009 06:55:17 AM 703 Views
That was RJ's biggest flaw, IMO Deadsy - 11/12/2009 02:45:41 PM 703 Views
I'll respond to someone who wants to say that beetnemesis - 11/12/2009 05:19:52 PM 786 Views
Ya. Fain's a good exception. I still have hopes for him. And... Thereva was scary, but... Deadsy - 11/12/2009 08:32:38 PM 657 Views
Slayer/Luc/Isam is also pretty cool. Lord Haart - 12/12/2009 04:16:14 PM 688 Views
One theme of tGS was "The Forsaken are actually pretty lame" beetnemesis - 11/12/2009 05:12:55 PM 715 Views
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