Victor Highcastle is fresh out of Magic training and out on the streets of 1889 Chester, England. He tries to meld his magic with the new technologies popping out at this time. The elders of the Chester coven scoff at Victor’s idealism towards technology, they think magic can provide all they need. Victor wants to use the combination of magic and technology to help the world. Being that Victor is meddling in a new form of magic, you can expect things to go wrong. Now then, Mister Highcastle and the basic plot has been described. But there isn't really a central conflict. Could someone please help my brainstorm some villains I could flesh out into worthy adversaries?
Jack the Ripper? In all seriousness, my favorite seen from the first Dresden Files novel was where the dark wizard conjures a magic circle to protect himself while he strengthens his pet demon Harry Dresden's magic isn't strong enough to penetrate the shield, so he throws in an empty Cola can to short circuit the energy which then blows up in the demon summoner's face. Maybe a pure-mage more powerful than Highcastle's pure-mage elders attempts dark magic that they cannot stop without Highcastle's wider range of tools? And maybe the dark mage could be Jack the Ripper
Victor descends into an obsessive state in his relentless search to perfect his new form of magic. His experiments become more bizarre and deranged, he works by night and rarely sees daylight. But his new invention, an automaton in the shape of a person, sometimes seems to move on its own when seen from the corner of his eye. And the other day it was not in its usual spot when the first of those children was found murdered... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Eug%C3%A8ne_Robert-Houdin (for research)
I'm thinking more of the "Harry Potter" style magic instead of stage magic. Also, I want my Character to come across more as an abscent-minded professor rather than a deranged psychopath.
OK, you wantcher nice Steampunk villain, coming right up? So . . . what does Victor really want as he moves through the streets of that fascinating black-and-white city? Who or what is likely to stand in his way? Can that person or force be established as Dangerous, Powerful, and Up to No Good? Voila, your villain.
He wants to marry the realms of magic and technology for the benefit of all wizards. The only thing standing in his way currently is the coven elders, but they need more definition than "Scary hooded elder".
They may reap some benefit, but as they cannot control or understand magic, much will be lost on them.
I suggest brainstorming some possible conflicts that could happen and from there creating a character that could instigate such conflicts. Perhaps your villain doesn't have to be a person at all but instead something like a struggle in society, an organization/cult, or a unnatural/natural phenomenon that can only be resolved by an invention he's created. You can also go reverse and concentrate on creating a character with the intention of making him the villian. Then concentrate on why he would become a villian. What's his purpose in his actions? Why is he "evil"? What's his goal? Why is he fighting against the hero? Does he see the hero as a villian and himself as the hero? Hope this helps! Have fun story building!
Here are a few ideas: 1. The villain could be someone who either sucked at magic or simply abandoned it for the power of technology and hates wizards (especially those who want to 'corrupt' the purity of technology). 2. A tech-based wizard-killer (she can even use pistols or a rifle) who happens to have set her sights set upon your MC. 3. A guy whose body absorbs magic and who has set his sights upon the MC. 4. A creation of the MC's, blending magic and technology, a reanimated corpse. The guy rejects that creature at the start and the creature can then go on a journey where it discovers that people hate it because it looks like a monster. It can come back and kill the MC's fiancee and family and then demand the MC create it a wife. You could call the creature the MC's monster! 5. An old creation of both magic and technology that was created by someone who merged both a long time ago, which hunts those who do the same. 6. A time traveler from the distant/recent past (I think the 'time machine' story was set in the 1800's) who goes to the future for the fun of killing people and such and who's set his sights upon either all wizards or just your MC. 7. A grammar nazi. 8. A saboteur who's trying to master the technique first so he can patent it (the idea of patents existed for a while surprisingly). 9. Something similar to #3, except it's a breed of creatures that feed on magic. If they're attacked with spells, they negate everything that's thrown at them, but can only be defeated by tech (and the MC being one of the only, if not only, wizard who's actually dabbled in it, he actually HAS contingency plans against these creatures).
Since the protagonist goal seems to be to merge tech and magic but his peers don't believe in it. How about an old wizard who does take the concept seriously, and is seriously scared of the possibilities. He might be behind the movement that scoffs tech, because deep down he knows any half-baked wizard wannabe can defeat archmages if they start enhancing their stuff with technology.
The most obvious opponent is a non-magical industrialist whose business would be destroyed by semi-magical competition.
That sounds nice, but Magic is "generally" not taught to those outside the coven. I could have a character who was stripped of his magic for various reasons, but for some reason I just can't picture and ex-wizard getting into industry like that. At least, not as the head of the company.
I hope I'm not being redundant in saying this.. The most obvious pick for a villain, one that immediately came to mind for me, is a member of the "Coven" - particularly a very old member who is perhaps high on the social/academic ladder. It's classic, and it can be played with and interpreted so many different ways. It calls to mind the situation with Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca, in Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. A man who sought to rectify a situation that he didn't fully understand, but thought would harm the establishment if no action was taken. There will always be a person who is stuck in the old ways of any practice, or what-have-you. It makes a great villain, to me.
Actually I'd like to use this here to suggest the opposite: A brand new initiate who's got talent, innate skill and is so good he's expected to be the next Coven leader or is a cinch to join the council (if the coven elders have no definitive leader). He's so engrossed in the idea of pure and untainted magic that he views trying to merge it with technology as a horrendous abomination. He can try to stop the MC through ordinary channels first, but then gets so frustrated (when the official channels are of little help) that he cracks and ends up trying to directly harm the MC (admittedly this idea is something I've seen frequently in anime).
That's not... really opposite, is it? Another good idea; just more detailed than my vague suggestion. Of course, I might just be lacking an understanding.
Heheh, I meant opposite as in instead of an old member of the coven and an elder, he would be a brand new guy who's essentially just been initiated
See? Lacking understanding. You said "brand new initiate" and I foolishly thought you were referring to the MC. Thank you,
Or you could have the coven researching magical technology in secret. They use their religious belief in purity of magic as an excuse to stop other people from researching it. It could even be a punishable offense to do so. So while MC is researching for the good of the people the coven could be trying to control the people. This gives you a villain magician who will be potentially more powerful than MC since he has been doing it for longer than MC, for more sinister goals. MC’s creativity and insight to what technology is going to mean for magic could get MC his edge back over the villain. Hope this helps
I like both these ideas. Maybe the elder and the newbie are father and son (or grandson) who team up in an effort to thwart our hero. Maybe make the older one a vice-president or something not quite the top so he can scheme towards it. Now, I kind of also want Mister Highcastle to explore the world and seek out magic users and new technologies there. Maybe some kind of ethnic villain?
dude, your story takes right smack in the middle of Britains imperial century. BRITAIN is your villain! Queen Victoria and the royal family develop an insidious plot for world domination, which exploits both technology and magic. Make technology a metaphor for materialism and reason and make magic a metaphor for spirituality and hope and you have yourself not only an entertaining but a potentially heavy novel ! I can see it now. High casltle is surrounded in his fortress by five hundred British imperial soldiers. He holds in his hands the scepter that opens the portal to the realm of all things magical. In a last desperate attempt to stop Victoria from conquering the entire world, he destroys the scepter, eliminating all his hard work and Magic from earth forever . If you want to go bigger, include the Illumanati, France, Russia, and America.
