I very seldom spend time watching what could be called “traditional television”, preferring the kinds of brief and often informative programs featured on various YouTube channels.
And since my primary interest is storytelling, I’ve been viewing a lot of “Top Ten” type videos related to characters in various saga-sized epic universes, such as ranking every single Marvel Cinematic Universe villain from worth to best.
That got me thinking about those larger stories/series I’ve written myself in which the primary motivation of the tale is some kind of “good vs. evil” type struggle and what the root of the basic conflict is that pushes them along.
So I decided to present a quick listing of all the so-called “villains” in my two multi-book series, the “Class Fives” (5 books) and the “Johnny Sundown” series (7 books). The first is a literary version of a superhero comic book but rooted in what could be called the “real world”, or at least one in which actual physics and other natural laws apply. The second is a kind of “noir” (French for “black”) retro-detective series which takes place in Chicago, Illinois during the 1950’s. It just so happens, the protagonist, Johnny Sundown, is both a native Sioux and a “power user”, what we know as a magician.
So here’s a quick breakdown of the “bad guys” in each of the two series.
THE CASEBOOK OF JOHNNY SUNDOWN
ATOMS & MONSTERS
Antagonist – Dr. Constantine Keltner
Category – “Mad” Scientist
Status (at story end) - Deceased
(An untutored magician who mistakes his latent abilities for some as yet unexplored law of physics who blindly researches it experimentally without being aware of the collateral damage it is causing.)
Antagonist – Timothy Ferguson
Category – Victim of fate
Status (at story end) - Deceased
(A student of Dr. Keltner, also an untutored magician, whose abilities are inadvertently activated by the experiments, which includes the “wild talent” of transformation, which makes his natural handicap of being a sleepwalker an unconscious means to become famous movie monsters and seek revenge on perceived enemies.)
DIRTY COMMIE BASTARDS
Antagonist – Stanley Crooch
Category – Serial Killer/Psychopath
Status (at story end) – Deceased
(Basic insane murderer of children, obsessed with his own sins and attempting to avoid eternity in hell.)
Antagonist – Ivan Sukut
Category – Corrupted Ally
Status (at story end) – Alive, free of custody
(Untutored magician whom Johnny befriends and teaches but is compelled to complete a secret mission in order to protect his family.)
PURE EVIL
Antagonist – Rev. Peter Angelis
Category – Fanatic/victim of fate
Statue (at story end) – Deceased
(A schizophrenic being influenced and empowered by the consciousness of a deceased magician, on a fanatical mission to complete a spell he believes to be the will of God.)
Antagonist – William Marston
Category – Fanatic/Consciousness of deceased magician
Statue (at story end) – Destroyed
(A professor at Cambridge University during the time of Sir Isaac Newton who developed a powerful spell he is now seeking to have completed using Johnny’s powers.)
THE LAST ZOMBIE WAR
Antagonist – Roger van Pelt
Category – Fanatic/self-absorbed
Status (at story end) – Deceased
Antagonist – Caroline van Pelt
Category – Fanatic/self-absorbed
Status (at story end) – Deceased
(Caroline and Roger van Pelt are not expressly evil, rather a pair of very self-absorbed, powerful magicians who don’t care about collateral damage they inflict while attempting to fight each other in a divorce.)
BEFORE THEY WERE GODS
Antagonist – Malawa
Category – Fanatic/immortal
Status (at story end) – left the universe
(Not evil, merely unconcerned about collateral damage caused by his attempts to create matter out of nothing.)
THE JOURNAL OF JOHNNY SUNDOWN
Antagonist – Francis Jones
Category – Fanatic/Consciousness of deceased magician
Status (at story end) – Destroyed
(The consciousness of a fanatic magician intent on completing a spell that will allow him to become a God.)
OFFICER JOHN SUNDOWN, CHICAGO P.D.
Antagonist – Theodore Blain
Category – Serial Killer/Psychopath
Status (at story end) – Deceased
(Sexual deviant psychopath intent on finding a woman who is not “polluted” by lust.)
CLASS FIVES
ORIGINS
Antagonist – Dr. Walter Montgomery
Category – “Mad” Scientist
Status (at story end) – In custody
(Insane physicist who believes reality is merely a dream he is trapped within and uses his experiments into Dark Matter to attempt to awaken himself in some other universe.)
DEVELOPMENT
Antagonist – Grau Heifisch
Category – Agent of Chaos
Status (at story end) – In custody
(Intent on destroying any order or system he encounters for his own amusement.)
Antagonist – Jean-Paul Galliani
Category – Henchman
Status (at story end) – possibly deceased
(An unaffiliated “Class Five” who is corrupted by Heifisch.)
REBELLION
Antagonist – Col. William Phillips
Category – Fanatic Military
Status (at story end) – Unknown
(A fanatic soldier intent on using his military power to inflict maximum damage in spite of it being unnecessary.)
Antagonist – The “system”
Category – non-human, a set of regulations and processes
Status (at story end) – unaffected
(Nothing but a process upheld by legal fiat.)
RESOLUTION
Antagonist – The Great Enterprise
Category – Secret organization
Status (at story end) – Destroyed
(An all-powerful cabal intent on ruling the world.)
Antagonist – The “Old Man” (leader of the Great Enterprise)
Category – All-powerful leader
Status (at story end) – Escaped
(The uncontested leader of the millennia old conspiracy with unusual abilities.)
Antagonist – Grau Heifisch
Category – Agent of Chaos
Status (at story end) – In Custory
(Having escaped prison he competes with The “Old Man” for control of the chaos being caused.)
MEET JOHN DOE
Antagonist – “The Magician”
Category – Professional criminal
Status (at story end) – Deceased
(A genius criminal who specializes in tricking the authorities.)
Antagonist – Grau Heifisch
Category – Agent of Chaos
Status (at story end) – Escaped (Freed by the Magician through the action of the book.)