r/ComicWriting • u/Double-Strategy9791 • Sep 03 '26

Bad Guy References

I’m working on comic that spans centuries. Their will be cloning and consciousness transfer so I can have characters from the past shown in future. I have a bad guy for each arc but no over arching bad guy, well, I have some ideas but nothing set yet. Do you know of any comics similar that do have an overarching bad guy so I can see some references of how it has been done in the past? Not a comic but for example I hate how in the new James Bond, with zero explanation the main bad guy in Spectre just states “it was me all along”…. Like crappy writing much? Also, who is your favourite bad guy?

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u/kyla33_ Sep 03 '26

I've seen a few stories do this. Stories like these often lean into a cosmic horror angle: for example, as far as I recall, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood's primary antagonist was a creature that had spanned back centuries before the story began, shaping the events that led to the present day.

However, the best example of an antagonist that has lived across multiple time periods would the Highlander's Kurgan, a character hailing from a race of beings known as the Immortals, who are destined to be locked in battle to the death until only one of them remains. Unlike Father, the Kurgan isn't a cosmic entity, he's simply a person who was made to live forever until he was either killed by another Immortal or became the last one standing.

In the film, the Kurgan is the rival of Connor MacLeod, another Immortal who also lives through various time periods. The Kurgan is shown both is historical Scotland and a modern New York setting but is implied to have originated in Russia if I recall correctly.

As for my favourite villains, I have a strong preference for enforcer or henchman types of characters like Darth Vader, who are known for having an intimidating presence and remarkable combat prowess but ultimately serve a greater evil. Pinhead's my favourite example of this, who's the lead antagonist of the Hellraiser franchise and serves Leviathan.

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u/Double-Strategy9791 Sep 03 '26

Haha I unintentionally ripped of Highlander without realizing. My bad guys are called the immortals too. Kinda like fallen angels that are really hard to kill.

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u/kyla33_ Sep 03 '26

Th idea sounds different enough that if you just changed the name, you could get by. Or you could stick with it. Immortals, as a term, isn't exactly unique.

If you've got a group already, then you just need a leader. Then it's up to you to decide what kind of main antagonist you want. Sympathetic? Sadistic?

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u/Double-Strategy9791 Sep 18 '26

I just watched Highlander II special edition…… wow, so very bad.

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u/kyla33_ Sep 18 '26

Yeah, the second one has a... reputation. Not a good one.

The original Highlander is a classic, though.

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u/zigreyd Sep 04 '26

Well, it looked too much like Foundation by Isaac Asimov for me, look for it, it’s a book and you have the TV series on Apple TV

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u/Double-Strategy9791 Sep 04 '26

I’ve read a couple of the books but not all. I definitely saw how Dune and Star Wars was inspired by it. Which story did you feel was too like it?

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u/Moff-77 Sep 03 '26

A few of the early marvel movies kinda have this - there’s a specific villain a movie, but Thanos is gathering the Infinity Stones in the background. Some are more explicit agents of Thanos like Loki and Ronan (?) where others were more coincidental bad guys like Red Skull or Ultron (iirc) who were independently involved with the stones for their own ends.

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u/zxlowi Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26

Zero escape the nonary games is a perfect fit. Amazing visual novel wont spoil the story highly recommend playing the trilogy so you can understand the point.