Villains: With MiraKira of The Ace of the Spades

Hello MiraKira, creator of Ace of Spades! Thanks for agreeing to chat about your baddies!

Who is the villain or antagonist of your story? It can be a person, a group, or even a concept.

Of course and thank you for asking about my baddies.

There are two main villains in The Ace of The Spades: the draug Diablo and the crime syndicate the Werner Organization.

Excellent! Also don’t mention it! I’m happy to be trying this with you What exactly is a draug? Describe your villain/antagonist. What are they like? What do they want?

What exactly is a draug?

The draug of my universe are non-corporeal beings that come to inhabit humans or animals via a process known as infusion (a draug orb is melted down and injected into the veins). They have superhuman and even supernatural-like powers that can be used if their host gives them control of their body or if the host temporarily morphs into their physical form, which only happens if they receive mortal head injury. It's important to note that the host doesn't die in this case, they'll just morph back to their normal form after a few hours.

Describe your villain/antagonist. What are they like? What do they want?

Diablo is an egotistical maniac with the power of fire conjuration who wants nothing more than to experience the thrill-- and he gets no greater thrill than when he kills people or monsters, or psychologically tortures his host. He has almost zero inhibitions, doing and saying whatever twisted thing comes into his head.

The Werner Organization is an organized crime operation located in Glade City.

They want to find and kill Dio (the protagonist) for killing one of their lieutenants, although at this time they don't know he is the one responsible. The Organization is run by Bridget Werner who will stop at nothing to obtain and maintain as much power as possible.

I am absolutely loving how much thought you’ve put into this!! I love evil corporations, and creepy semi-human symbiotic villains are also a blast, I love your spin on this trope. (Poor Dio!!)

If you had to describe your villain by comparing them to a different fictional villain, who would that be?

Does anyone ever bring up Venom when talking about Diablo?

I don't think anyone has mentioned Venom when discussing Diablo, and I'm not super familiar with Venom either. I don't think there's any one villain that I'd compare Diablo to, but I took a lot of inspiration from all the humunculi in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Actually, I take that back. I would compare Diablo to Solf Kimbley from FMA: brotherhood. The pleasure and delight Kimbley got from massacreing is very much like Diablo

Oh okay, it just made me think of venom. Venom is a (usually evil) alien symbiote from the Spider Man lore who finds a human host, and it’s very hard to fight off his influence.

And OH MY GOD I love/HATE Kimblee with a passion!! I was booing and hissing whenever he was on screen, I have never cheered for a character’s death so much 😹

And it’s not even that he wasn’t a good character, he was just so evil he made me wanna spit!!!

Great comparison!

Villains or antagonists usually do something that forces the protagonist to act. Ie, in the show I’m currently watching—Monster—Dr. Tenma is forced to play detective/vigilante when he sees that he’s inadvertently saved the life of a terrifying serial killer who can now continue his killing spree. What action is this for your villain?

Oh, I've watched Monster! It really creeped me out, but in a good way haha it's a really good show

Don’t spoil monster I haven’t finished it haha 😂

Don't worry, I wasn't gonna say another word 😂

what action does the villain do to drive the hero forward?

Well, Diablo will antagonize and torment Dio until he lets him take control and kill someone. (This happens in chapter one, which is how the Werner Organization lieutenant, Curtis Bernard, ends up dead-- Dio let Diablo out specifically to kill the guy.)

The constant pressuring from Diablo to kill is ultimately what drives Dio to join the Spades, a group formed to fight monsters-- at least that way he can let his draug kill without killing people and actually use him for something good.

That’s awesome, I mean and it’s awful too oh 🥲

I can’t say I would do much better in that situation! I’m gonna keep saying “poor Dio” this interview aren’t I 😂

Is there any points where you, the author, and your villain/antagonist might agree with each other?

At this point in the story there aren’t any points where I would agree with my villains. That being said, there will be a point when I would take Diablo’s side over Dio’s, but that’s a little ways in the future so I can’t really talk about it

That’s intriguing!! Okay, final question, or more appropriately,

Final thoughts? On either your villains, or writing villains in general?

When writing Diablo, I wanted to make a villainous character that I personally would love and hate simultaneously-- make him so over the top, comically evil that you can barely take him seriously, but also so terrifying and malicious you have no choice but to take him seriously. However, the over the top villain is not my favorite kind to write (or read).

I really enjoy writing relatable villains that you feel sympathy for-- villains that make the reader question their views of good and evil, even if for only a moment. I find these sort of antagonists more difficult to write as they require more setup and backstory, in my opinion, than the more black and white evil, but also more rewarding. There is such a villain in the comic, but we haven't really come to that point in the story yet.

That first one sounds like a great recipe for compelling villain, and I totally agree that sympathetic villains can be hard to write effectively. That’s really exciting going forward!! Thank you so much for your time Mira, this was a juicy villain discussion!!

Thanks for the opportunity! I had a lot of fun.