Help me out here.... A former diabolical mastermind who once had an evil fortress, cunning army of red shirts at his command, and doom weapons at his disposal is now working a government job after serving time in jail. He/She is helping them research something, something suspiciously eeeeeeeeeeevil. or not. What does he/she look like? Why is he/she working for the government? Is he/she good or evil? Any future plans for global conquest? Superpowers or special abilities? I appologize for being intentionally vague on some questions. Try not to read too deeply into what I am asking. How long was this person in jail? Roughly five years, assuming. What did this person get caught doing that put this person there? He was trying to take over the world and got arrested by a team of superheroes. What happened to the fortress? I'm open to a suggestion. I've avoided thinking too deeply into it. If it was an evil fortress, how could this person be good? Either he reformed for some reason, or the government paid him a hefty salary. Perhaps eeeeeevil just doesn't pay Why would the government hire this person with such a shady past? My first idea was that he was helping the government find a solution to a doomsday weapon (orbital wave motion gun / orbital partical annihilation laser?) that he invented in the first place. That creates all kinds of questions, so I'm turning to others for some random inspiration.
I think you've got some questions to answer before we can answer yours. How long was this person in jail? What did this person get caught doing that put this person there? What happened to the fortress? If it was an evil fortress, how could this person be good? Why would the government hire this person with such a shady past?
I can't answer those, because the details don't exist. I'm having writer's block on a character I am writing.
What does he/she look like? I think that depends on the characters personality. Does the character want to look threatening, special, or unusual, conversely, does the character want to blend in so no one would suspect him? If so then I would think such a diabolical mastermind would change their appearance to suit such. Why is he/she working for the government? It depends on how you characterize the character. If they have redeeming qualities the character might want to make amends for the character's past actions. It could be part of a Machiavellian plot to escape from jail, or lose government surveillance. It could even be that the new threat endangers his/her life, forcing him/her to work for the government. Is he/she good or evil? It depends on the motives. The character could be a good person doing good things, or an evil person doing good things for the wrong reason. I personally do not believe any person (or character) is evil, so you may try to make him sympathetic allowing the reader to understand his/her motives. Any future plans for global conquest? It depends on the first on the two pervious factors. Superpowers or special abilities? The superheroes that arrested him had powers (I assume), so unless you want the character to be like Lex Luther, then yes probably. I think the powers of the mastermind should counter that of the superheroes (or the superhero who is his/her archenemy). If the hero's power was physical, then make the masterminds power non-physical (or vice versa). For example, he/she could have telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, psychometry, tecnopathy, and so forth (again assuming the hero's/heroes' power/powers were physical). It is always good to have opposing characters counter each other. My first idea was that he was helping the government find a solution to a doomsday weapon (orbital wave motion gun / orbital partical annihilation laser?) that he invented in the first place. That creates all kinds of questions, so I'm turning to others for some random inspiration. It could be that a former employee of the character stole some of his/her research/technology and is using it to build a doomsday device. It can be a rival of his/hers, trying to take advantage of the lack of competition. It could even be an admirer, trying to show him/her how great the admirer is.
