Good bad guys

So what has my odyssey into exploring and ranking gamebook villains taught me about what makes a good villain?

A good villain has many different methods of causing death and destruction.

He also has a sphere

The mercenary leader in the Crimson Tide has a lot to learn.  He just cuts people up.  Sure, he's good at it, but that makes him vulnerable to magic.  Jaxartes, on the other hand, does not just get a huge army to invade Kazan.  He also puts out the fire to the Fangs of Fury and assassinates all of the Warrazi.  He gets his mage warriors to infiltrate every level of the volcano and he has a traitor in the city of Kazan.  He knows how to approach a problem from all angles.


A good villain makes their presence felt.

Darklord Gnaag does not just sit in his castle in Helgedad looking at the latest insectoid steampunk fashions.  He is always hatching plans to get you killed and sending minions out to take over the world.

A good villain poses an immediate threat with massive consequences.          

When you finally confront Karam Gruul, he is surrounded by an army of vengeful war criminals and is about to unleash a doomsday device upon Gallantria.  That's something that really gets the blood pumping.  

A good villain does bad things to the hero and their friends.

It is not clear that Necklace of Skulls has actually caused any havoc in the wider world, but it is certain that he has killed your twin brother for no other reason than the fact that he is a sadistic pig.  He and his hyena servants are cruel and spiteful.  They take great pleasure in your suffering and break any items that you use to help you.   When you play the sacred game, they all come to watch you fail.  It is their actions that turn Necklace of Skulls and his servants into 3 dimensional characters that you really want to beat.  In Trial of the Champions, Lord Carnuss kidnaps you, puts you through painful ordeals, makes you fight against and kill your fellow slaves and then forces you to take part in the most dangerous dungeon in Allansia. It feels really good to kill this guy.  On the other hand, Balthus Dire wants to invade some place and you never see him until the end.  You don't really get a buzz from killing him. 

A good villain takes a lot of effort to kill.  

I might be undead,
bit I'm still buzzing!

The netherworld demon from the Crown of the Kings is a disappointing opponent for the climax of a four book series.  You need someone like Razaak who needs so much stuff to kill him, it takes most of a gamebook to collect it all.  The main villains of gamebooks should be difficult to kill because killing them should be the climax to the story and so it needs to be suitably epic and dangerous to make the reader feel like they have achieved something (but not so dangerous that they can't achieve it).  

My Reflections on the April A to Z

It is wise to ask for feedback about a project once it is done and that is what the Tossing it Out blog has done, so I thought I would be helpful and provide some feedback.  I will copy this blog in its format of breaking down the aspects of the contest.

On my education.


Going through my gamebook collection and researching villains has been a great way for me to find out how to make a good villain for a story.  The different villains have different styles, but good villains make themselves known to the hero through henchmen, traps and diabolical schemes.  In a gamebook, you have to make the reader want to get this villain.  You want the villain to be the reader's nemesis and not some tough fight at the end of the gamebook.  The villain needs individuality.  They need something for the reader to remember them by.  The villain also needs to not pull any punches.  James Bond Villains have lost their X factor for me because you know that even when they capture Bond they will just have dinner with him for a bit before tryin to kill him and then they don't do it effectively like shooting him.  I think Dr Evil from the Austin Powers movies sums it up perfectly:

"No Scott, I have a better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death."


Back to what the challenge did for me - it made me go out there and do a lot of research into an integral part of gamebooks.  Thanks for that.


On posting


I did all of the posts in advance, so this was OK.  This was also the first time I scheduled my posts, so I learnt to do that because of my challenge. 


In case you're wondering how to schedule posts, go to post options, then enter a time and a date, then click publish (I clicked save now at first which still saves it as a draft).  Your post will appear at the designated time and date.


On visiting


I visited a few blogs.  I visited the people who visited me and then clicked a few at random on the Tossing it Out list.  My efforts dropped off as the month went on though.


On following


I am now following more blogs that I like to keep up with.  Some are about gaming, some arene't but I find them all interesting.  Most of the blogs that I am following from the A to Z challenge belong to people who took the time and effort to comment on my blog.  I think following a blog is a lot about building relationships.


On comments


I'd like to thank all the people who commented on my blog, especially the ones who confessed to knowing very little about my posts.  I guess that gamebooks are quite a niche subject but I would like to open it up which is why I did a call for questions on my gamebooks for dummies post.  I would love to have a bigger audience (what blogger wouldn't) and I would love all of them to understand what I was writing about so that they can get as much from gamebooks as I have.


Overall, the challenge has been extremely beneficial for me.  April has provided me with a record number of viewings, thirteen extra followers, some more blogs for me to absorb knowledge from and a deeper understanding of gamebooks.  My only regret is not visiting many other blogs.  I started out with good intentions but it got tiring for me.  Of course I am planning a wedding and working a full time job at the moment so that may be the reason.  There is just too much good stuff out there and I'd like to thank Tossing it Out for providing a window into that.  


Finally, this post has three other challenges that you could take part in.  Due to the aforementioned wedding planning, I am not taking part in them.  However, a challenge is always good to test your limits so I recommend doing something of the kind.   


Here are all of the blogs that are doing a reflective post on the April A to Z:

No more villainous posts..?

So that is the end of the April challenge.  I enjoyed it immensely and I hope you did too.  I'd like to thank Tossing It Out for coming up with this great idea and organising it.  I'd like to do it next year on a different theme.

I'm glad that I did it.  I have discovered a lot of great blogs that I wouldn't have found otherwise and I shall be following them with interest from now on.

I have learnt a lot from making these blogs.  First of all, I have had a good analysis of what makes a good villain.  Villains seem to be integral to a story, sometimes even more so that heroes.

Alfred Hitchcock said 'The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture' and this certainly rings true for the gamebook villains that I have analysed.  The gamebook villains that have come top have been within inches of victory or already have cities or countries under their control and a horde of henchmen to foil your every move.

Villains also seem to hold an attraction with others.  Many other blogs have focused on villains or named villains as part of their posts such as:

Adventures that score 
Coffee Thoughts
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Breaking Fantasy

Also, Jonathan Green has written numerous posts with villains as the theme:

B is for Baddies
Q is for Quezkari
Z is for Zagor
Guess the Book Cover (where Jonathan has a lego version of one of his book covers showing one of his villains)

Guess the Villain ( where Jonathan has made a lego version of one of his villains)

Lego Fighting Fantasy Villains (where Jonathan gives you step by step instructions on how to make your own lego Belgaroth).

Of course, there were probably posts about heroes too.  I don't know who would get more posts about them - heroes or villains?

But enough with the analysis.  Here's the final ranking of the villains and next week, I will write about what I have learnt makes a good villain.  

So without further ado, here are the rankings for the April A to Z League of Gamebook Villains...

So there we have it!  Gnaag is the best (worst?) villain out of the 26 villains we profiled.  This is due to the fact that he was a constant thorn in the side to Lone Wolf over several books, managed to conquer most of Northern Magnamund and kept control over the other Darklords who are a violent backstabbing bunch at the best of times.  Congratulations!  

I'd like to thank Naar
who spawned me...

Karam Gruul and Zharadon Marr share the runner up prizes for their efforts.  They were pipped at the post because of their lack of ambition and for not being as prominent as Gnaag.  Better luck next time, guys.

Not surprisingly, most of the bottom rankings are held by servants and henchmen who, by definition of their roles scored very low on ambition.  Most of them also scored low on prominence because they were hardly in the book apart from the scene where you kill them.  However, my sympathies to poor Ikiru for scoring lower than Darramous.  He must be sulking in his pit right now.

Next week, I'll go over what makes a good villain from what I've learnt about this lot.  But for now it's...

On the other hand, there are plenty of other gamebook villains that I haven't covered purely because their name starts with a popular letter of the alphabet, so I will be doing more villain posts in the future.  If you have any suggestions for villains, please leave a comment.  

Onwards to May.  Arion games is releasing Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Edition.  I've pre ordered my copy and I will do a review on it at some point, probably in late June as May is going to be a very busy time for me this year and although I've scheduled all of May's posts, I won't be on the blog much as I've got a lot on.  I will go into detail about what on May 29th's post.  


Have a good week!

April A to Z - Z is for Zharradon Marr

He needs to feed his
 pets properly.

Appears in:  Creature of Havoc (Fighting Fantasy 24) by Steve Jackson.

Background:  Zharradon Marr is one of the Demonic three.  After his apprentiship ended with the murder of his master, he managed to get ownership of a gold mine and with the gold, he bought a training ground for his soldiers and mananged to capture a flying ship.  He is currently experimenting with creating new creatures with the aim of making a perfect monster for war.

Prominence:  Creature of Havoc has a very in depth background which highlights a lot of people from Marr's life.  You can meet most of these people in your wanderings.  9/10.

Hardness:  You cannot kill Zharradon Marr and if you annoy him, he will use his magic on you.  you can only win if you have a crystal club and the vapours of life.  And even then, you don't kill him.  you only destroy the portal to his dimension.  10/10.

Ambition: Marr wants to conquer Allansia 9/10.

Style:  Zharradon Marr has worked hard to get a smooth operation and a big organisation.  He has a cool flying ship, a castle in a forest and a gold mine.  His most trusted henchmen are very individual with the half troll Thugruff, the sadistic Darramous and the sick and wrong Quimmel Bone amongst many others.  8/10.

Diabolical genius:  Marr can create life forms.  You are his creation and your whole quest is a test of your abilities.  Marr has several sadistic traps such as a portal that creates endless chaos warriors, a robe that causes hunger and a zombie that shoots flames out of its eyes.  9/10.

Total score:  Marr is a tough adversary to get the better of and you don't actually kill him in the end.  You can only destroy his portal.  45/50.

April A to Z - Y is for Yourself

He's not a nice man.
If you meet him, you
may feel cut up about it.

For this post, I will count the mercenary leader in Crimson Tide as yourself as that is one of the interpretations of what you are told in the book.

Appears in:  Crimson Tide (Fighting Fantasy 47) by Paul Mason.

Summary:  The mercenary leader wears a demonic mask and leads a band of mercanaries.  They raze your village, kill your father and carry off your mother to be a slave.  The aim of the book is to avenge them.

Prominence:  The leader and his men appear a few times in the book before the showdown, including in your mind as well.  5/10.

Hardness:  The mercenary leader has a skill of 12 and a stamina of 18, making him very hard.  He is heavily armoured.  There is not much chance of slaying him in combat although he is vulnerable to magic.  7/10

Ambition:  He just wanders around the country causing trouble.  Of course, he may be some aspect of your dark side so it's pretty hard to tell.  5/10.

Style:  It's all about the mask.  Is it magical?  does it represent you being taken over by your rage and hatred?  If you put it on, a crimson tide descends forever.  Your opponent has a face similar to yours when you finally see it.  Beyond the mask, he's just a tough warrior.  4/10

Diabolical genius:  He's probably a good tactician but he has no grand plan.  4/10

Total score:  You should be glad that your dark side is just basically a powerful warrior with nothing else to do.  25/50

So that is 'yourself'.  However, there are plenty of times when you are your own worst enemy in gamebooks and in a future post, I will list stupid decisions that you can make in gamebooks.  

April A to Z - X is for Xakhaz

I'd hate to be his tailor.

Appears in:  Beneath Nightmare Castle (Fighting Fantasy 25) by Peter Darvill-Evans.

Background:  Was an archmage of the despicable gods of Zagoula.  He was defeated three centuries ago and his spirit was sealed beneath the city of Neuberg.  He has been awakened by a sorceress who has gained control over the ruler of Neuberg, Baron Tholdur and has moved into his castle.  He is now sending lots of disgusting beasts into the town and killing innocents.

Prominence:  Almost all of the encounters in the book are because of Xakhaz.  The swordsmen are there because they want to raise Xakhaz from the dead.  The Lovecraftian monsters are Xakhaz's creations.  There are many other sadistic encounters such as being attacked by Baron Tholdur's daughter who is wearing a crazed suit of plate mail or by a crazy goo driven robot who calls himself Skarlos (the hero who slew Xakhaz three centuries ago).  Xakhaz clearly likes to revel in his insanity.  9/10

It's not a barrel of laughs.

Hardness:  You have to pass a willpower test to fight him.  If you do, you will realise that the huge mound of limbs that is Xakhaz is way more powerful than even the strongest adventurer - skill 14, stamina 32.  He can be killed or severely weakened if you have both the Talisman of Loth and the green glass globe.  There are also several skill enhancing items so you can even the odds a bit as well.  8/10

Ambition:  Wants to become lord of all Khul.  9/10

Style:  Xakhaz is Lovecraftian through and through.  Neuberg Keep his not his place, but he's making it his own with his tentacled horrors, diseased mutants, 'head juice' to drink and general terror that could snap you sanity at any point.  Unlike most other sorcerers, he is a huge mound of limbs and other body parts that have been sewn together.  Great.  9/10.

Diabolical genius:  Xakhaz's ways are defeating you are unique in the sense that death is one of the better options.  Madness is his main weapon.  Xakhaz has also created his own unique monsters that can drive someone insane as much as tear them to pieces.  In fact, Xakhaz doesn't kill many people unless he wants some body parts.  He's actually quite efficient.  He also has a sick sense of humour.  Instead of locking up the baron's daughter he puts her in a suit of plate mail which attacks people.  He lets Senyakhaz control the baron's mind and he creates a mockery of his former killer.  What a joker.  9/10.

Total score:  Xakhaz is great.  Most evil sorcerers like to cause terror and mayhem but most evil sorcerers also prefer to have the boring bipedal body structure and just employ orcs to do their dirty work.  Most evil sorcerers are also not completely insane.  These sorcerers have a lot to learn from Xakhaz.  44/50

April A to Z - W is for The Winter King

He thinks he's so cool.

Appears in:  Night of the Necromancer (Fighting Fantasy 63) By Jonathan Green.

Summary:  The Winter King lives in the tower of Frostfinger which also holds the Spirit Stone, gem which holds the souls of many people.  The Spirit Stone can be used by you as a powerful weapon against Unthank, but the Winter King will not just let you take it.

Prominence:  He owns his own tower, but he plays no other part in the book.  2/10

Hardness:  His tower is tough to infiltrate.  If you can't fly, you have to fight several ice ghosts to get across a frozen lake to the tower.  When you enter the tower, you climb stairs which seem to take an eternity to cross and then you may have to fight a hellhorn, a coldclaw and a hellhorn champion.  When you do get the spirit stone, you then have to face the Winter King himself who first sends 1-6 ice ghosts against you before fighting you himself.  He has a skill of 11 and a stamina of 14, which makes him a tough opponent.  In addition, being killed by the Winter King means that your adventure is over for good, unlike most combats in Night of the Necromancer where you get another chance.  8/10 

Ambition:  He really wants to keep the Spirit Stone, live in his tower and stay king of winter but that's about it.  5/10

Style:  He ccertainly fits the 'winter' bill.  Less so with the king thing although you may have just caught him in his armour rather than his royal gear that day.  Ice based villains occur quite often.  The Winter King has the added extra of an army of ghosts, so bonus points there.  6/10

Diabolical genius:  He basically sends lots of creatures to fight you and then fights you himself.  1/10

Total score:  The Winter King is a strong opponent but we don't really get a wider picture of his power beyond trying to steal the Spirit Stone.  22/50

April A to Z - V is for Vonotar the Traitor

It's a blast.

Appears in:  Fire on the Water (Lone Wolf 2), The Caverns of Kalte (Lone Wolf 3), The Prisoners of Time (Lone Wolf 11) all by Joe Dever.

Background:  Vonotar was a member of the wizards' guild of Toran but he betrayed them for the magical power of the Darklords' wizards.  He then ends up in Kalte, controlling the mind of the ice barbarian chieftain.  You catch him and Vonotar is thrown into the shadow gate which leads to another dimension.  You also get thrown into the shadow gate a few years later where you come across him again.  And he's annoyed.

Prominence:  Vonotar or his servants are not prominent in any of the books, but he is one of the few recurring gamebook villains.  Bonus marks for this.  6/10.

Hardness:  With a power ring he wields, Vonotar has a combat skill of 30 and an endurence of 21.  He is immune to Psi surge and mindblast.  His endurance is quite low, but his combat skill is quite high for an ordinary wizard (I expect the power ring improves it).  He also manages to blast you and damage you for five endurence points before the combat and before you get near to him, you have to fight five notorious criminals from Sommerlund which have a combat skill of 38 and and endurance of 46 together.  Killing him and the five criminals is a pretty tough job even with all of the combat skill raising weapons and skills you have.  7/10.

Ambition:  Vonotar's orginal ambition is more magical power, but then he tries to take over ice barbarian tribes.  His ambition in the Prisoners of Time is to get home.  Ultimately, Vonotar is a lackey to the Darklords and so can't get too high a score in ambition.  4/10

Style:  Quite typical wizard with a typical modus operandi of wizards.  4/10

Diabolical genius:  He manages to get the Kai Lords killed but after his initial betrayal, his genius kind of stops there.  4/10

Total score:  When it comes to Lone Wolf's enemies, Vonotar is a small fish that resurfaces more than once.  25/50.

April A to Z - U is for Unthank, the necromancer

The kitchenware salesman
really had a unique sense
of style.

Appears in:  Night of the Necromancer (Fighting Fantasy 63) By Jonathan Green.

Summary:  Unthank is the chamberlain of your castle, but he has secretly being making pacts with evil spirits and sacrificing innocent people in an attempt to cheat death and take over the Old World.

Prominence:  Unthanks and his servants appear in a few scenes in thebook before the final confrontation.  He is also responsible for the nasty spirits that hang around your castle.  7/10

Hardness:  Since you are a ghost, he is able to banish you.  He is also well passed his sell by date and he should have died years ago.  If you face him in combat, you will have to fight a skill 11 stamina 10 opponent which is not too shabby for a wizard.  In fact, the combat skill of wizards on Titan seems to range from reasonable to completely awsome.  If he summons the Sahdow King and the Shadow King kills him, he comes back from the dead as a skill 9 stamina 8 opponent, which is quite good for a dead man.  8/10.

Ambition:  First, he wants to live forever and has managed that quite well so far.  He also wants to summon a powerful spirit and rule the Old World with an army of the dead.  9/10

Of course he's evil.

Style:  He looks a lot like a villain which makes me wonder why you didn't kill him ages ago.  The beard alone should have been reason to.  6/10

Diabolical genius:  He's managed to become the chamberlain of your castle while simultaneously taking part in all of his nefarious sorcery.  He's managed to get you killed and, if his schemes are not thwarted, he will sacrifice your sister to some evil spirit.  Lots of diabolical with a side of genius.  7/10

Total score:  He's a cunning necromancer and a worthy adversary.  37/50

April A to Z - T is for The Titanium Cyborg

How does he shower?

Appears in:  Appointment with F.E.A.R. (Fighting Fantasy 17) by Steve Jackson.

Background:  The Titanium Cyborg's real name is Vladimir Utoshki.  He is an expert in enhancing the human body with robotic parts and he is also the leader of the Federation of Euro-American Rebels (F.E.A.R.).  You need to catch him.

Prominence:  Most but not all of your criminal adversaries are working for F.E.A.R. in this book.  8/10.

Hardness:  At skill 18 (the highest in a Fighting Fantasy book), stamina 20, the Titanium cyborg is impossible to beat in normal combat.  He will also kill you within three attack rounds with his lighting eyes.  You can only win if you get a circuit jammer and then he becomes a puny skill 9 stamina 10 opponent.  8/10

Ambition:  He wants to gain control of a satellite (A Star Wars satellite - is this a comment on the Cold War?) capable of destroying cities.  He will use this to control the world.  10/10

Style:  There aren't many cyborg villains with lighting eyes.  He also has an interesting collection of super villain underlings, although the other five heads of F.E.A.R all look disappointingly normal.  8/10.

Diabolical genius  From killing JFK the unnamed president to taking over an army base to collapsing a stand at a football match(?), the Titanium Cyborg certainly has a wide array of super villains with different powers to draw on.  8/10.
:

Total score:  This guy has Titan city crawling with criminals and gets to within inches of ruling the world.  42/50

April A to Z - S is for The Sorcerer

Big boots.

Appears in:  Siege of Sardath (Fighting Fantasy 49) by Keith P. Phillips.

Background:  Not much is known about the Sorcerer.  He is leading a city of Dark Elves who want to take over Allansia and he has kidnapped a Storm Giant with the idea of learning what he knows.

Prominence:  From paragraph 1, you learn that the Sorcerer's shapeshifting (and sometimes bat winged) dark elves have infiltrated all communities in Northern Allansia in order to drive them apart and cause strife and warfare.  He is smart enough to send servants to a tomb in order to retrieve a magical amulet that will cause his downfall.  He also cuts of Sardath with a magical storm.  8/10

Hardness:  You never get to know the sorcerer's stats because if you try to fight him, he utters a spell preventing your attack and then drains your life.  Unlike most gamebook villains, the sorcerer does not underestimate you and converses with you to discern your weaknesses.  You can only defeat him if you have the amulet, have the right number on the back and say the correct things.  However, once you know the correct conversation, you will always win.  7/10

Ambition:  Taking over Allansia for the Dark Elves.  9/10.

Style:  The Sorcerer has a very imposing figure despite his profession.  His Dark Elf lair also has some insanity inducing architechture.  Also instead of the standard villain lines, you can also have quite a pleasant conversation with the sorcerer.  It's almost like he's a bond villain, who are always very stylish.  8/10.

Diabolical genius:  He has created bat winged dark elves and a shapeshifting potion.  He is also trying to break the will of a storm giant.  In fact, simple combat is the last thing this guy would take part in.  8/10.

Total score:  The Sorcerer is a sophisticated villain who has covered all of his bases and requires a lot of effort to take down.  40/50.

April A to Z - R is for Razaak

Seven heads are better than one.

Appears in:  Crypt of the Sorcerer (Fighting Fantasy 26) by Ian Livingstone.

Background:  Was once an apprentice to a lawful wizard but turned away from that and demanded that several nobles relinquish their power to him.  When they didn't he, sent lots of plagues and tormented them until a warrior killed him.  He was sealed in a tomb but it was decreed that the tomb should not be opened for one hundred and ten years or Razaak will return and destroy all life (which idiot did that?  Shouldn't they have just decreed that Razaak will be dead for all eternity).  Someone didn't get the memo.

Prominence:  Razaak's servants are all over the place, causing havoc for you or anyone who lives in Allansia.  His servants include a dragon so he has some serious firepower.  Most of your encounters are caused by Razaak.  8/10

Hardness:  Razaak has several spells that will instantly kill you if you don't have the correct items. He also has a skill of 12 and a stamina of 20 making him a formidable warrior, but the kicker is that if he hits you twice in a row, you automatically die.  He can also only be killed by one weapon which will turn you into a skeleton eventually.  It is not for nothing that people say that Crypt of the Sorcerer is unfair. 11/10

Ambition:  The destruction of all life.  10/10

Style:  He lives in a bog standard evil sorcerer crypt and he has a horde of everyday chaotics but he has also recruited Ungoth, the Skeleton King (he must be good if a king is taking orders from him), a dragon and lots of undead.  5/10.

Diabolical genius:  Strapping Yaztromo to a pentagram, sending a dragon against you, having an undead skeleton king ask you weird questions are all part of Razaak's repertoire (I've just made him sound like a stage magician).  Most of Razaak's servants just attack you, however and if he was really clever, he would have had one of his own servants find his sword first and not have left it in a lake for anyone to take.  5/10.

Total score:  An powerful and almost indestructable sorcerer has recruited powerful and almost indestructable servants to destroy all life.  He could have worked harder on some details but killing Razaak is an almost impossible challenge.  39/50.

April A to Z - Q is for Quezkari

He's got a talented
dentist.

Appears in:  Bloodbones (Fighting Fantasy 60) by Jonathan Green.

Summary:  Quezkari is the god that your pirate enemies follow.  After killing Cinnabar and piercing his heart, Quezkari comes to avenge his death.

Prominence:  He's appears at the end of the book but a lot of your enemies follow him.  6/10

Hardness:  He has a skill of 13 and a stamina of 18.  Unless you are protected with a charm, his blows deal 3 stamina points of damage.  He can only be harmed by magical weapons.  That's quite hard.  Also, unlike some villains, he cannot be killed of by a single item.  There are a few items that weaken him, but he will still be a challenge.  9/10

Ambition:  He is described as a manifestation of all the souls turned into zombies by Ramatu and all of the people killed by Cinnabar so I guess his ambition is lots of death.  8/10

Style:  He's a voodoo death god.  I suppose he appears quite typical for a voodoo death god.  5/10.

Diabolical genius:  When you face him, he just attacks you.  His servants also do not come up with anything particularly outside the box.  4/10.

Total score:  Sure, he's a god, but he's not the brains behind the operation.  32/50

April A to Z - P is for Parsion

Ragadorn tour 5050.
Parsion is on the far right.

Appears in:  Fire on the Water (Lone Wolf 2) by Joe Dever.

Background:  Parsion is introduced to you as a priest who accompanies you on a coach journey between Ragadorn and Port Bax.  However, it turns out that he is an assassin whose job is to kill you and to prevent you from getting the Sommerswerd.

Prominence:  Parsion is not in the whole book.  He turns up for a few scenes.  4/10.

Hardness:  A combat skill of 16 and an endurence of 23 makes Parsion a fighter with some skill but he is no master.  However, he does manage a couple of assassination attempts before you finally confront him.  3/10.

Ambition:  He's been ordered to kill you by someone who works for the Darklords.  He's not too high up on the food chain.  3/10.

Style:  He's not too distinctive although maybe he's not trying to draw attention to himself.  You won't think about him once he's gone.  1/10.

Diabolical genius:  He pulls off quite a good impersonation as a priest and comes up with creative ways of killing you - trying to get you run over and by poisoning your food.  One mark deducted for wearing a blatantly obvious sign of his allegence.  4/10.

Total score:  Parsion, if's that his real name, provides and interesting challenge to you in the book but he ranks a little higher than mook in the hierarchy of the enemy.  15/50

April A to Z - O is for The Overlord from the Citadel of Chaos by Jamie Thomson

He auditioned for Tron.

Appears in:  Citadel of Chaos by Jamie Thomson (not to be confused with the Citadel of Chaos by Steve Jackson who is not to be confused with the Steve Jackson who wrote Scorpion Swamp.  We all clear now? Good).  This is the 2nd book in the Eternal Champions series.  However, just to clear it up, the evil ruler of Godorno is The Coils of Hate is also called the Overlord.  

Background:  The Overlord is a computer program whose(?) original aim was to make sure that humanity was well looked after.  However, soon got ideas of its own and starting trying to sap humanity's strength by making live a life of pleasure.  Anyone who objected was killed and replaced with clones.  Now the Overlord has taken over most of the World.

Prominence:  The Overlord himself(?) only shows up at the end, but you have to deal with his(?) its(?) servants all of the way through the book.  There are several underlings who you have to fight first.  9/10.

Hardness:  The Overlord's program is stored within an indestructible titanium cube so you can't destroy the hardware.  It can also go anywhere on the world wide web so it needs to so you have t trap it with a cybercage program.  If you do manage to face the program, it will be tough as the Overlord knows almost every martial art with only a few weaknesses in the program.  9/10

Ambition:  The Overlord wants World domination and the eradication of humanity.  10/10.

Style:  He's a computer program so he's not too hot on clothes.  He also doesn't mince his words and refers to you as a virus.  However, when he dies, he makes a nice multicoloured explosion.  5/10

Diabolical genius:  He manage to fool humanity that he was helping them while taking over the World.  He's also smart enough to take a lot of precautions to protect himself.  He has systematically gained control over most living things.  9/10

Total score:  He's strong, effective but not too fancy.  A bit like a computer program should be.  42/50

April A to Z - N is for Necklace of Skulls

He's definately not 'armless.

Appears in:  Necklace of Skulls (Virtual Reality 4) by Dave Morris.

Background:  Your twin brother, on a mission to the great city, found it almost deserted, having being attacked by werewolves.  After a journey across the desert, he comes to the palace of the Necklace of Skulls but does not return.  It is up to you to find out what happened.

Prominence:  Until you get to his city, your encounters have nothing to do with Necklace of Skulls himself.  4/10.

Hardness:  Necklace of Skulls is a powerful sorcerer.  If you don't win the game with the hydra blood ball, he makes your partner disappear in a shower of sparks with a thought.  He can do the same to you if you do not act quickly.  He can be killed after a punishing combat but  if you have your brother with you, defeating him becomes a lot easier.  Killing Necklace of Skulls is not the hardest part of the book.  The hardest part is killing the sorcerer and leaving with your brother.  7/10

Ambition:  When you get closer to the Necklace of Skulls' home, people talk of strange beasts attacking their cities, but I'm not sure if that is down to him.  From what's explicitly stated, it seems that he just likes to hang out in the desert with his doggy friends which makes me wonder why people visit him so much.  3/10

Style:  Necklace of Skulls certainly has a unique look, a unique name and a unique place to live.  His servants are also brilliantly devious and enjoy revelling in your suffering.  9/10.

Diabolical genius:  Each of the Necklace of Skulls' challenges are diabolical, especially the end of the sacred game, where if you didn't win by throwing the hydra blood ball through the top hoop, he blows up your partner.  His rooms do not kill you but weaken you and terrify you, prolonging your suffering.  Necklace of Skulls really has some sadistic genius about him.  8/10

Total score:  A brilliant villain who just needs to get out more and something to aim for.  31/50

April A to Z - M is for Malbordus

This place is the pits.

Appears in:  Temple of Terror (Fighting Fantasy 14) by Ian Livingstone.

Background:  Malbordus is a human who was abandoned by his mother and raised by Dark Elves.  He showed a talent for Dark Elf magic.  As a test, he was sent to the city of Vatos to find five dragon artefacts and animate them so that they become dragons.  He will then lead an army across Allansia.

Prominence:  Most of your trials and tribulations come from your journey rather than dealing with Malbordus.  Even in the city of Vatos, the servants who attack you are servants of Leesha rather than Malbordus.  1/10

Hardness:  Malbordus casts one spell which will reduce your skill by three if you do not have a rind that will protect you.  It will make your battle with him harder, but it's hardly instant death.  You then fight him.  He has a skill of 10 and a stamina of 18.  Not too shabby, but there have been better stats for the big bad villain at the end.  6/10.

Ambition:  Conquering Allansia.  9/10.

Style:  He's a human raised by Dark Elves and likes a cool desert city, but there is not much about Malbordus that sticks out.  3/10.

Diabolical genius:  Malbordus gets a bonus mark for the messenger of death but other than that, there is very little that he has done to stop you.  The rest is done by Leesha.  3/10

Total score:  Malbordus is just at the start of his super villain career so he hasn't had time to develop his own brand and raise his own army.  If he had been allowed to live longer, he may have done a lot better.   23/50

April A to Z - L is for The Lizard King

The nudist avenger.

Appears in:  Island of the Lizard King (Fighting Fantasy 7) by Ian Livingstone.

Background:  The Lizard King rules over Lizard men and other nasty creatures on Fire Island.  He also owns a gold mine worked on by slaves.  To make himself stronger, he has attached a gonchong to his head.

Prominence:  You only see the Lizard King at the end, but his soldiers are around a lot of the island.  They are also in the gold mine.  He does not own the island outright, however as there are tribes of pygmies and head hunters there.  7/10.

Hardness:  The Lizard king has a skill of 10 (12 when wielding a fire sword) and a stamina of 15.  He is immune to non fire attacks.  He also has a pet black lion with a skill of 11 and a stamina of 11, so you have some tough fights ahead of you.

You need a fire sword and/or a monkey to defeat him.  If you have both, you have an easy fight as you reduce his skill to 6.   If you have the fire sword without the monkey, he has a skill of 12.  If you have the monkey, he has a skill of 10 and you can increase your attack strength (I know it says skill but it won't work unless it says attack strength) by 2.

If you kill him, you have to make the correct decision to kill the Gonchong.  Whatever you do, you still have to fight a skill 11 opponent.  7/10

Ambition:  To rule over Fire Island forever (it is implied that the gonchong extends his lifespan).  Bonus mark for the forever part.  8/10.

Style:    The Lizard King lives in a pretty bog standard castle and his lack of clothing means that he is a bit limited on the personal style.  Bonus mark for attaching a wierd creature to his head.  3/10

Diabolical genius:  Old fashioned violence achieves most of the Lizard King's aims, so not really.  2/10

Total score:  The Lizard King has achieved a powerful rule over most of Fire Island and has increased his strength and lifespan with the gonchong.  27/50.

Gamebooks for dummies - a request for questions

The for dummies guy has spotted
my need.

Hi all!  I hope you're having a great evening.

The April A to Z challenge is going well and I enjoy the comments and visits from all the people who have stopped by to take a look at my humble blog.

I have noticed that some visitors have not had much experience with gamebooks and in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, I will be doing a blog post on the 19th June where I will do an explanation of what gamebooks are and give a brief overview of some gamebook worlds.

If anyone has any questions for me for that post, then please leave a comment on this blog (any post) or email me at sl1605@gmail.com by June 12th so that I can have the answers ready.

Have fun!

April A to Z - K is for Karam Gruul

His pedicurist gave a
glowing report.

Appears in:  Moonrunner (Fighting Fantasy 48) by Stephen Hand.




Background:  Karam Gruul was a powerful but little known general in Brice during the War of the Four Kingdoms.  He is responsible for the deaths of thousands through murder, inquisition or deadly traps.  He was declared dead at the end of the war but he has made a reappearance and wants to start another War of the Four Kingdoms.

Prominence:  Gruul's agents are all over the place.  You can trust no one.  The only people you can trust are probably dead.  One of his assassins kills the only person who knows why you are here and makes you look like the killer.  And that is paragraph 1.  He is the brains behind the a cult, an army of Brician criminals a reign of terror by strange monsters and undead creatures, the local insane asylum (as a way to get rid of enemies) and pretty much any organisation in Blackhaven.  He has managed to infiltrate every group in Blackhaven and control it.  Only a few individuals dare make a stand against him.  9/10

Hardness:  When you encounter Gruul, he is surrounded by his army of war criminals, disguised as his lieutenant, Radu.  If you manage to fight your way through them, you can then only get close to Gruul if you have one of two skills out of a choice of nine.  If you don't, you die.  If you do manage to confront him, he then unleashes his magic upon you.  If you do not have the right wards and if you roll a 1 or 2, your adventure is over (either immediately or in a few paragraphs time).  Even after his magical onslaught, he will try to turn you into a moonrunner, a beast that he turned you into years before.  If that fails, you have to make sure that you get him to Royal Lendle.  If you make the correct decisions and have a high enough stamina, chances are you will win.  7/10.

Ambition:  He wants to start another war between four countries.  8/10.

Style:  Karam Gruul has style.  He's an evil sorcerer, but his magical technique is his own.  He also knows many many ways to kill you, including traps of his own design (my favourite being the pit filling with water with a ladder which has razor blades on it), poisoned envelopes, poisoned food, carriages that flood and many more.  He also likes to trick you by sending false messages in order to divert you and if he does capture you, he puts you in a sadistic torture device where rats gradually eat you.  10/10

Diabolical genius:  Karam Gruul epitomises diabolical genius.  First of all, he is almost impossible to find as he hides behind a secret organisation hiding behind a secret organisation hiding behind a tavern.  He spends most of his time disguised as someone else and has a mandrake to look like him.  He has killed of most of his enemies quickly and efficiently.  He leaves deadly traps all over the city for you to stumble into.  His servants are not just ordinary mooks - he has a squad of acrobatic assassin sorcerers, an undead monster, an unkillable guard and many many more great monsters.  You get the feeling that you will only succeed by the skin of your teeth.  11/10.

Total score:  Karam Gruul is the epitome of evil genius.  He has everything worked out and you will only stop him by the skin of your teeth.  45/50.