SHAROSE: Hello PassionPhantom! Thanks for letting me talk about your baddies! Who is the villain or antagonist of your story? It can be a person, a group, or even a concept.
PASSIONPHANTOM: Hello! Thank you for including me on the interview!
There are a plethora of villains in my comic, Tears Of Iscariot, so I am leaning towards the vibe for a Main Antagonist being a group! A cult actually that has been mentioned in throughout the first chapter and they are called: The Alighieri.
SHAROSE: Ooh, no way, that’s sick!! This kinda brings me into the next question—
Describe your villain/antagonist. What are they like? What do they want? Who are the Alighieri?
PASSIONPHANTOM: The Alighieri cult is basically a secret society/cult similar to the "illuminati or Freemasons" (lol very 2011 conspiracy theory-ish i know)
Alighieri members are like the Elites of elites meaning they only allow in truly a select few. like, people who are extremely vain/or considered highly attractive, powerful, and wiling to do truly evil deeds, are chosen to join.
Now it's about to get into Spoiler land!, so i'll do my best here!
The Alighieri wants everything except world domination they already have that. This particular cult has a new goal for obtaining Eternal Life vs Immortality
The higher ups/top brass are technically 'immortal' think like Lord of the Rings' elves you can live forever long as you're not killed. this is all linked to a Demon Lord the cult worships, simply known as The Beast.
SHAROSE: That’s insane!! The beast makes me think of Revelation, which is so cryptic that it gives us all kinds of ideas that are great for villains!
If you had to describe your villain by comparing them to a different fictional villain, who would that be?
PASSIONPHANTOM: Hmmm 🤔, Its honestly a 3-way tie with who I would compare them to. The Alighieri is like the Nazgûl wraiths in Lord Of The Rings, or The Akatsuki in Naruto, and The Arrancar’s in Bleach.
Honorable mention for the Band of The Hawk in Berserk, because The Alighieri leader (Augustus Finch) is basically worse than Griffith.
SHAROSE: Oh that is so cool!! My brothers would love the Nazgûl comparison 👌
Villains or antagonists usually do something that forces the protagonist to act. Ie, in Mutant Mayhem, after he found humans still violent towards his family (even when given a second chance), Superfly decides to mutate every animal on earth to dominate humanity
What action is this for your villain?
PASSIONPHANTOM: Hmm 🤔
I’ll like to turn my focus to the leader of the Alighieri, Augustus Finch and his actions to dominate the protagonist of the story. His need to control and keep everything and everyone he technically owns stems from a strong sense of responsibility and want for power, and spoiler: Augustus does everything for the love of The Beast he worships.
Tbh I struggled with answer lol 😂
SHAROSE: That’s okay, sometimes talking and thinking about it helps us to grasp what happens or why it happens more clearly!
And YIKES that sounds ominous!! 😯
Are there any points where you, the author, and your villain/antagonist might agree with each other?
PASSIONPHANTOM: OMG thats a really good question! and I want to say yes to only one thing about both Augustus and The Alighieri and it's that some people don't believe in anything at all and some people just want to watch the world burn. did I take that from the dark knight movie...yes
SHAROSE: BRILLIANT line I approve!! I guess the final question is just:
what are your final thoughts? On your villains or writing villains in general?
PASSIONPHANTOM: For writing villains I’d like to say that there isn’t always a need for a truly redemptive arc for their characters. I personally like to make villains as horrible and vile as they can be. Doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of doing good things. It’s like… they know they’re capable and chose not to do “good deeds” or rescue a victim etc unless it is for their own benefit/gain. And I find that is what makes a cut clean + dynamic antagonist. Which I find to be a breath of fresh air lol 😂 ♥️♥️♥️♥️
SHAROSE: Those are interesting thoughts and I agree I think. A truly evil villain is a ton of fun so long as they’re still human in some way or make sense. At least that’s what popped into my head.
PASSIONPHANTOM: Hehehe, I tried my best lol everything for me is still somewhat fuzzy and obscure with the writing portions. I have my villains and the art of them but they’re still developing.
SHAROSE: So are mine, I think we all have to just try our best with what we have! Keep it up!
And thank you for the interview, I appreciate your time ☺️
PASSIONPHANTOM: 💙 Thank youuuu 😭 💙 this has been enlightening
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