I’m not only an author, I’m also an avid consumer of certain types of fantasy stories in particular genre.
I was a Star Trek fan. I was a Star Wars fan. I am a rabid aficionado of Dr. Who, not to mention the Marvel universe (in both comic book and cinematic forms).
And like a great many such followers I went beyond merely avidly awaiting the release of the next official story, I even sought out the ancillary aspects of those universes in the form of other fans (or the controllers of the property themselves) who would pick apart the minutia of the stories and gather them together in various “compendiums” of various aspect.
I not only watched Star Trek shows and movies, I had a full color poster/map of the Star Trek galaxy which showed the spatial relationships of every location throughout the galaxy ever mentioned in any of their stories
I not only saw all the Star Wars movies multiple times, I bought several of the DK illustrated books filled with cutaway schematic views of the inner workings of all the space ships, ground transports and other tech, going into great detail about every part and how it functions.
As for my Dr. Who interest, I have a rather sizeable library of compendiums covering every aspect of every story from every media, outlining the entire history, technology, characters and other quantifiable aspects of the Dr. Who universe (or “Whoniverse”, if you want to be technical about it.)
And it recently struck me that I now have a series of my own (the “Class Fives”) that is sizeable enough that I could do a compendium of my own.
A detailed (to some extent) breakdown of the antagonists within that universe.
That is what follows here.
One reason I find this sort of thing interesting, as an author, is that you cannot effectively do such a breakdown of any multiple story universe unless that universe is defined enough so that it doesn’t have to arbitrarily be twisted or altered in order for any particular story to work.
In fact, I believe a major element of the downfall of the Star Wars universe was a direct result of the sequel trilogy being so wildly inconsistent in its “world building”. The universe that J. J. Abrams put together for “The Force Awakens”, from its beginning, had a number of glaring anomalies that didn’t mesh with either the original trilogy universe nor the prequel universe. Then Rian Johnson came in and almost literally rewrote many of the major elements of that universe just to serve the rather rickety story of “The Last Jedi”. And what seems to be some kind of animosity between Abrams and Johnson, when J. J. returned for “The Rise of Skywalker”, he openly dismantled a lot of what Rian had thrown together for his stab at a story he clearly didn’t know much about. (The single moment of “They fly now?” “They fly now.” exposes how careless and thoughtless they both were regarding that universe, considering Boba Fett had a jetpack way back in “Return of the Jedi”.)
So the very fact that I can actually put together a coherent breakdown of “facts” across the “Class Fives” universe is a moderate source of some pride for me. It lets me think I managed to take enough care with the work to see it was at least coherent across all the stories.
And since the single most important aspect of any story, particularly a multi-outing epic focused on continuing hero characters, is the quality and compelling nature of those character’s antagonists, I wanted to provide a little something anyone (like me) who would want to have some “outside the story” additional imagination fuel.
Hopefully I’ve managed to provide that here.
We shall see.
THE VILLIANS OF “CLASS FIVES”
“CLASS FIVES: ORIGINS”
Primary Antagonist: Dr. Alexander Kirillan (aka Dr. Walter Montgomery)
Age: 72
Birthplace: Moscow, U.S.S.R.
Skills/Powers: Hyper-intelligence
Russian physicist with almost savant-like intelligence whose thought processes cause him to see the entire physical universe as merely mathematical principles and formulae. When he looks at someone he is almost incapable of seeing them as a human being, let alone a ‘person’. He sees them as a collection of mass assembled in a particular configuration, composed of a list of atomic elements, essentially reducing them to merely another object within a universe he is forced to endure. As a result he has lost all touch with even the concept of “humanity” and had long since developed the delusion that the entire universe is simply a kind of nightmare in which he is trapped. His entire motivation is not “evil” in the conventional sense. Rather he simply wants to force himself to “wake up”, so he can get back to where he believes he actually exists.
Henchman: Peter Lupus
Age: 32
Birthplace: Germantown, MD, USA
Skills/Powers: Assassination, physical combat, weapons expertise
Amoral psychopath and sexual predator with elevated intelligence and almost autistic-like focus, which allows him to commit the most brutal and heartless atrocities without hesitation or guilt. He was recruited by Dr. Montgomery through a web posting in which Montgomery was recording his delusion about the unreality of the universe and his plans to escape it by tearing a hole in its basic fabric. As this view aligned somewhat with Lupus’ own, he sought the scientist out and offered his services. The only thing in his life which allows him to feel any emotion at all is when he is torturing young women to death, which he has done for most of his life, successfully concealing his crimes. He has never been arrested, let along charged or convicted of any crime.
Minion: Constantine Gvorshin
Age: 42
Birthplace: Kiev, Ukraine
Skills/Powers: Explosives, weapons expertise, leadership, physical combat
Former Spetsnaz Special Forces soldier, now operating as a mercenary for hire. Recruited by Dr. Walter Montgomery to oversee the construction and security of the primary experimental station at the foot of the Ural mountains in Russia.
“CLASS FIVES: DEVELOPMENT”
Primary Antagonist: Unknown (aka Grau Haifisch)
Age: 57
Birthplace: unknown
Skills/Powers: Social engineering, psychological manipulation
Advocate of pure chaos and anarchy. Very little is known about his life before his encounters with the Class Fives and the Department, since he lives and operates under a variety of alias’s, most of which are derivations of the label “gray shark”, drawn from various languages (Grau Haifisch is a form of that label in German). It is known his psychosis existed in childhood as he admits to wanting to burn his house down in order to kill his own parents when he was a child. As he has possession of computer programs that allow him to create bank accounts in any amount he desires, he now spends his time attempting to destroy or collapse major organizations and various control systems (utilities, political organizations, etc.) for his own entertainment.
Henchman: Jean Paul Galiani
Age: 36
Birthplace: a farm outside Bagneres-des-Lougon, France
Skills/Powers: infinite strength, total invulnerability to injury
A previously unknown Class Five who shares the same “powers” as Roger Malloy. Illiterate, raised in almost complete isolation by his parents on a small farm at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains near the border with Spain, he has almost no experience with the world beyond the small local village of Bagneres-de-Lougon. Came to the notice of the Department when he was almost hit by a car and effortlessly destroyed it with barely a motion. By hacking into the Department’s computers Haifisch reaches him first and recruits him as ‘muscle’. Eventually he is unleashed upon the Department and is subsequently killed by Roger Malloy.
Minion: Arnie Greenberg
Age: 31
Birthplace: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Skills/Powers: computer genius/hacker, video game champion
An amoral genius computer hacker/programmer who lives in what was his parent’s house before their questionable death. Provides computer hacking services to various criminal clients, including Grau Haifisch. Supplied Haifisch with the hacking tools to create bank accounts as well as break into the Department’s A.I. computer system. Recruited by Haifisch to operate the new assassination drone system taken from a disgruntled former arms manufacturing corporation after it was rejected by the U.S. military due to international treaty violation issues. His skill with video games turns the attacks into an exciting new amusement.
“CLASS FIVES: REBELLION”
Antagonist: Administration of the United States Federal Government
Age: N/A
Birthplace: N/A
Skills/Powers: ultimate political/military national authority
Not definitively evil, the U.S. government is charged with the protection and support of the American people, which occasionally means having to perform certain actions in contradiction to generally accepted moral and ethical principles in order to prevent catastrophic outcomes, sometimes known as the “Greater good doctrine”.
Henchman: Colonel William (Bill) Phillips
Age: 47
Birthplace: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Skills/Powers: none
Fanatic mid-level military leader who masks a personal ambition and psychological fixation on authority behind the protection of the “chain of command”. He is willing to manipulate and even disobey direct orders in order to demonstrate his power and authority as commander of what he considers his personal military force.
Minion: Sgt. Christopher Armstrong
Age: 29
Birthplace: Manassa, Georgia, USA
Skills/Powers: Expert marksman, fanatic obedience to authority
“Uber patriot” member of a secret, special forces military unit which acts as security for the research facility located at Groom Lake, Nevada, commonly known as “Area 51”. While committed to the fulfillment of his duties on behalf of the United States military, he also has a personal desire to eliminate whatever he believes to be an enemy, and is willing to breach moral or ethical conventions, relying on what he perceives to be the protection of a “legitimate chain of command”, regardless of the immorality of the orders.
“CLASS FIVES: RESOLUTION”
Antagonist: “The Great Enterprise”
Age: approximately 10,000 years
Birthplace: Sumaria, ancient Middle-East
Skills/Powers: global influence and secret military power
The original “secret society” or “shadow government”, created around 8,000 BCE by Aluil, king of Sumer. It is intended to guide and shape mankind’s progress from a life of dependence on manual labor, necessary for mere survival, to a cultural state where all work is rendered unnecessary through advanced technology or manipulation of the environment. This would eventually allow the human race to focus their time and efforts on their unique ability to use cognitive intelligence, rather than waste their entire lives seeking basic survival.
Antagonist: Grau Haifisch
Age: unknown
Birthplace: unknown
Skills/Powers: Social engineering/psychological manipulation
Escapes incarceration in a secret prison facility located in Panama, and while discovers the existence of the “Great Enterprise”. For his amusement he initiates a personal contest with the Department to uncover this mysterious society and see if it can be either destroyed or subordinated.
Henchman: Peter Lupus
Age: 34
Birthplace: Germantown, MD, USA
Skills/Powers: Assassination, physical combat, weapons expertise
Freed from the off-shore secret prison in Panama during Grau Haifisch’s escape he becomes temporary “muscle” for the antagonist. He is allowed to indulge his passion for torturing and murdering young females in exchange for his services.
Antagonist: “The Old Man”
Age: unknown
Birthplace: unknown
Skills/Powers: Foresight of future events
The current leader of the “Great Enterprise”, a mysterious figure working from complete anonymity but controlling the embedded personnel and influencers in every significant governmental, cultural and societal center of power throughout the world.
“CLASS FIVES: MEET JOHN DOE”
Antagonist: Jason Fellows (aka “The Magician”)
Age: 67
Birthplace: unknown
Skills/Powers: master illusionist, master criminal
Recently retired from a career staging elaborate deceptions that allow the commission of large scale crimes throughout the world, he is recruited by Grau Haifisch to facilitate another escape for the incarcerated manipulator.
Antagonist: Grau Haifisch
Age: unknown
Birthplace: unknown
Skills/Powers: Social engineering/psychological manipulation Commissions the “Magician” to engineer an elaborate plot, involving kidnapping and mass murder, to facilitate his own escape from the ultra-high security prison facility located in Colorado, USA.