Villain Judging

Design:
Finished:
Depth of Character:
Originality:

Hiraeth the Lost = An interesting and haunting design work that feeds into characterization, a reasonably complex personality that was gutted via brainwashing and coming out a far inferior villain personality, but making for a decent figure of tragedy. The history itself doesn't quite earn its big moments (nothing about how the Truth brainwashed her and her struggles here tells us anything about her as a character), but there is a competent sense of writing in it, especially with the use of third arc properties well to elevate her threat levels against her enemies and, especially, with her tragedy arising from wanting to make her daughter's day special and ending with that same daughter killing her in the end.

Nicias = A bit of a vague design, but I actually appreciate a "normal" appearance as a villain, small personality, but what's there looks promising as a root, but barely elevated by a vague and lackluster history which, while having promise, doesn't quite constitute a villain turn to evil.

Queen Devil = A typical design of reds, oranges and yellows, with only a lack of jewelry and a few scars to differentiate her from the typical design. A typical sadist who snarls and snaps at annoyance, though containing nuances of those she loves of her family and a Commander Wildfire. The backstory is a generic tale of a villain protagonist with some major plot holes (why did Scarlet let her attend a school when she textually wanted Devil isolated to make her her tool?) and some nuances that aren't fleshed out to elevate it further (Wildfire, Falcon and Ash, what are they like to accept and love a sadist like Devil?)

Cydno = Points for the attempts at an interesting design, but the colors clash too much. The personality shows little nuance beyond a love for a mother, the backstory has few holes (if she returned back to Pyrrhia to realize Hurricane was dead, why go to Pantala again?) and how could a SilkWing slave manage to mate with a RainWing without either getting caught? Also, how did he get clearance to get to Lady Jewel's library as a slave?) and doesn't factor into personality at all. A generic mastermind who runs into the problem of possession as villainy.

Crux = A *very* intentionally clashing design with the special touch of a fifth leg, integrating both features of the two tribes his parents are from, this stands out as a design that adds to characterization. LOVE his personality as a privileged and scornful business owner, this section letting us know how much of a professional veneer covers over a spoiled brat who never had to work too hard his entire life, but carrying enough nuance to suggest a greater psyche, a mind that might regret through thinking over his actions and drowns it out through self-deceptin. Genuinely love that he's not physically impressive, but a financial and mental scourge onto his enemies, it gives him an edge above the sadists. I especially appreciate that his backstory feeds into his personality, a spoiled brat who was given everything and inflated with a sense of self-importance (though my only two nitpicks are: did his fifth leg not impact how others perceived him at all and there was probably a greater amount of dragons who suspected him than just a clawful, given the frequency and likely other HiveWings there), the first incident being a genuine accident, but later ones becoming more intentional, as he drowns out what little of a conscience he had with each murder in the name of progress and numbers along with hints of an increasingly remorseless attitude growing.

Heteractis = An interesting appearance that differentiates him from the crowd, typical SeaWing colors, but little touches like the chipped and scratched scales near his wrist and the brown claws make up for most and more. Personality is a typical pretending-to-be-submissive personality that stews with vengeance. The backstory format is a nice choice, but the details are small and not enough to elevate what is a revenge story's origins.

Murasakino = 99% coding and filler text.

Praying Mantis = A generic appearance that does feed a small bit into characterization. A very generic vengeful 'kill everyone' personality as a villain, despite the pretenses of a former more complex backstory. Her backstory is ridden with holes (if this is pre-third arc, then Pollen should've straight-up died, considering the LeafWings hate them enough to burn down a whole Hive) and from what the writing with Queen Sequoia suggests, this is out of character for her (and, even if it's not, fifty years is downright overkill. It's not a competent tragedy if the reasons for it are contrived from different parties' end) and nothing about this scenario is believable enough to nurture dreams of genocide from someone, given that the SilkWings did nothing to them.

Enigmatic = I like the design work enough. Personality is generic and not fleshed out at all.

Shean = Interesting hybrid combination, overly reductive character concept and no characterization to back it up.

Thorny Devil = Not much design work, some inkling of a mildly interesting personality, but the unfinished history merely gives his villainy a reason, rather than elevate it beyond what's a not very fleshed-out character.

Hate = Some points for an almost approaching something of a decent villain concept, but lack of compelling personality and history holes (how can she be Queen Dazzling's daughter, but be born to a poor family?) drag it down.

Arashi = an atypical design, especially given general RainWing thin physique, the color palettes are aesthetically pleasing and I appreciate that her current appearance is founded on her history through specific scars. I appreciate the writing effort to make her more than two-dimensional, especially with how she de-stresses through self-harm and how she transition between her childhood to her adult years, but there are inconsistencies like 'she lies' and 'she wears no persona' as well as how she thinks it safe to omit her beliefs from her enemies, but develop close friendships regardless, which doesn't quite add up. One thing I'm not entirely sure how she squares her 'the strongest survive' with her childish ideals of easy good vs evil. The personality section never quite makes that striking connection between her thinking herself strong *and* good and all the rest are weak and evil and it makes for a characterization disconnect of ideology. The history... is interesting in how it utilizes canon elements and I think the strongest elements of it come from the Moonbeam section of the story, where there's a clear sense of selfishness and self-interest with Moonbeam bouncing off against Arashi's want for freedom and sympathetic company. The Vespers and Flaming Gold elements taper off what was a simple, almost cliched, yet effective fall into villainy because the NightWings have no reason to hand their RainWing prisoners to NightWing hybrids and it's less a story about Arashi and more about Vespers, but it served its purpose as another point where Arashi falls further into darkness. And, as an ending note, the resolution with Glitz felt weak, not adding anything that wasn't already established of Arashi's character.

Solstice of the Eclipseborn = Nothing but a common hybrid combination that isn't elevated by good writing and an OP animus concept.

Hijinks = Loooooove this flamboyantly decorated appearance, it gives a succinct sense of character, and the choice of hybrid tones is an underrated one that I appreciate. The shredded wing tips are a nice touch. Her personality is a bit generic in being a Jokeresque type, but what elevates it slightly are the hints of regret and guilt and love for her Brass. Her history makes sense as the hybrid child of two parents from different tribes, and I *adore* the use of witch-doctors in WoF lore. It's a simple tale of tragic want to make things right, and the consequences from not realizing the costs of that. However, it's competently written, the pieces to make the tragedy hit are written here, there's just little to elevate it beyond competent beyond the witch-doctor aesthetics. However, I do wish we got an idea of what costed her sanity, was it soul-loss, just like animus magic? Because that would be a wonderful connection. Still, that is not written on the page itself.

Psyche = a cliched 'red-eyes' gimmick that's accounted for with a nice pair of lens, I enjoy it. The color palettes are nice, the idea of making her outside the typical Pyrrhia beauty standards is a nice touch. From what I've seen of the bullet points, I actually love that she's not a particularly suave or put-together villain and that she's a hacker. And that she's got her own flaws that aren't related to being a villain, it adds a depth of character and realism to her as a character. Her history, however... her FBI stint isn't particularly telling of her character, considering she goes straight up into hacking after her boyfriend breaks her heart, and I'm not exactly impressed with a 'jilted ex-boyfriend' motive, especially when it hasn't entirely been earned by the overall narrative.

Scald = I appreciate that he was more toned and less overtly muscular, and that he's got a sense of character through the design and posture work done here. And that makes it all the more haunting once it all got robbed. Also, the crossed-out words are a nice touch, to make clear how much his old self is parsed away from the current. I especially appreciate his personality, a complex series of extroverted behaviors, with just enough nuance to give him a sense of interiority, given how much he appreciates keeping to himself at times. And I appreciate that, even with the love-betrayal he suffered, it didn't wholesale destroy his personality so much as accentuate the negatives of pre-existing traits in his character in an attempt to shield himself from further grief. Scald's history is... I really do love the sense of world-building with the Hydras and the Halcyons, giving a sense of inevitable conflict and bloodshed, being the bedrock to the later tragedy in Scald's life. I like how parts of his backstory definitely feed into his characterization, like his self-defense class, and how normal his life was, yet interesting, considering his pen name and writings! He clearly had interiority to him. The Oryx incident... the problem is, there's nothing inherently to foreshadow it beyond the bandage on his left leg. Does the beginning of Scald's history foreshadow the Halcyons? Yes, but with Oryx, we don't see any prior behavior of his that would indicate betrayal. There were no hints, so this betrayal doesn't feel "earned" by the narrative. The betrayal and hurt make sense on a logical/emotional level though, and I can buy how he'd turn his love betrayal outward without thinking through the implications too much. However, I absolutely don't think the child-kidnapping is earned at all. I can infer that Scald didn't appreciate having a happy idyllic family life before his eyes while his love life turned to ash, but none of that is in the text, it's all inference. Scald's a good character... whose backstory needs another draft to really clutch at the fleshed-out potential he's got.

Flake = Typical IceWing design, if described competently. Nothing else.

Princess Aura of the SkyWing's = The pink underbelly's a nice design touch, otherwise a generic SkyWing design. Her personality makes sense, but nothing is particularly elevated by nuances in the characterization. The history has its holes beyond being not very fleshed-out (why the easy hatred between Smoke and Aura, what does it MEAN for both characters to hate each other on first sight) and how would Aura even remember at the age of **0**. Other concepts like the Sunset friendship and Gia relationship that could make Aura more complicated a character aren't given any space to breathe in this section.

Quell = A few nice touches with the deformed barb and the golden armband, but the red glow stripes clash with the dark beige coloration. Her personality is a generic 'hates everyone' type with only the slight wrinkle of wanting scavengers to coexist with dragons, but that isn't given any proper attention from her backstory. Her history isn't very fleshed out and her abilities, while creative, don't really have a basis from a character or world-building standpoint.

Frysta = I REALLY do appreciate the more scarred and disabled appearance, it gives her an distinction from the other design work from the other entries. However, she doesn't have a backstory and her personality seems like a generic dissociative identity disorder villain story.

Atacama = A nice overly thin design, suggesting some circumstances in his life, and the ice-blue eyes hinting at characterization. Otherwise, a typical design. Personality looks like a simple troll. Nothing more beyond the repaying the dragonet with two gold coins, nothing less. Backstory's a typical 'bad parent, sent to orphanage, bullies there, got thrown out due to snapping.' The panic attacks are an interesting tidbit and the idea that he's got a different personality is... tripe, but could be utilized to better potential. However, the writing just isn't there to elevate beyond a generic reason that Atacama's life isn't great.

Helioconia = It's certainly a fascinating description, detailing how much hybrid genetics can go "wrong" to a few born among them. However, to me, it makes her distinct, especially the misplaced teeth and the metal add-on nail. Her personality is rather generically hateful and resentful of her creation, though it also makes no sense, considering *she* is a hybrid. Why allow special dragons, hybrids, animus dragons and such things like firescales, if your organization thinks the existence of such creatures is wrong? Why not just kill them outright? And her backstory just makes it all the more baffling. I don't take issue with the logic that Helioconia thought putting her resentment and pain into the fuel of pre-existing resentment from crowds, but I *do* take issue with how young she was AND how she could think it a good idea to reveal herself a hybrid, considering Pyrrhia's anti-hybridism culture. Especially given that her organization thinks that 'hybrids are bad'... that just gives her followers reason to think she's bad and should be killed. That's not a smart move and it undercuts Helioconia's competence.

Yew = Her color palettes are a plain green/grey combination, but I appreciate the specific scales and the fact that she shows some signs of age and wear-and-tear. Her characterization's got a general schemer idea going on, and a drive to fulfill a balance that only she sees, fueled by clear grief. None of this gets elevated beyond a nugget of complexity, given how she sacrifices her personal wants to let her son be happy where he is. The backstory is fine, if written without many surprises, though I personally find the Oryx incident gratuitous and just misery for the sake of misery. An act just to drive Yew further to despair. And I'm not sure how plausible it is for Yew to jump straight to 'make a cult' just to satisfy her need for balance. Maybe a hint of how her grief made her want to control the world around her more and more as a unhealthy coping mechanism in the face of so much loss? Otherwise, it's an uneven history, rushing the villain portion of the history.

Queen Caiman = A very plain appearance... if not for the green underscales and the eyes, and the golden baths, and the accessories on her, giving her an excellent amount of characterization through design work. I really appreciate this sort of thing and I'd like to single out this writer and commend them for this. Her personality isn't exactly the most nuanced, but I love the sense of genuine menace and how her envy fed into her ever-growing sensation of power. It's not necessarily clever, but she's a great love to hate villainous personality. Her backstory is genuinely affecting, as a lonely MudWing with no siblings and alone except for herself and her wits to carve out something better, and I love how the poor nature of the Diamond Spray Delta justifies her siblings not hatching, adding to Caiman's resentment. And a heartbreaking detail that Caiman didn't want what happened to her and her siblings' eggs happening again. Otherwise, it's a competent villain story, if not necessarily deep, compete with villain protagonist, hero antagonist, and hubris and arrogance and greed being the end of Caiman. And I appreciate that we have a MudWing villain who could actually be a part of WoF canon in terms of being a portrayal of (bad) rulership.

Time = It's different in that it's not a WoF design, but it's not particularly telling or unique beyond the wrist scars on Time. There's no personality, but from what I can, it's not a particularly deep one. The history... is fine, but it doesn't exactly speak much of his character, and the degree of how much his talons are in the history of Pyrrhia serve to make him more plot device rather than character itself. It's a neat concept... but that's just the thing. Neat concept to meta-justify all the great evils later of WoF history. Not a neat villain.

Perception = It's a very broody, typically dark NightWing design... beyond the square jaw and the brown eyes. It's got a few nice touches, but nothing particularly stands out from the rest. No personality, but what I can infer, not a particularly complex one. History is incomplete, but what I can read seems like there's potential! A loving family that fell through illness, a caring brother, and a turn to villainy, not at first through death, but through a con, establishing the different tone that this villain might take. I look forward to reading a completed version of this.

Phasmid = the jet-black's a different touch from most SilkWings and I like the little details added to characterize him more like the gazelle hide pouch, the "tight and quick muscles" and the sharp claws that he sharpens. What's there of the personality and the quirks sounds interesting enough, potential, at least. The backstory... I appreciate the incorporation of the Poison Jungle, but the rest of the backstory is just a contrived turn to darkness, given the level of chance that Ivory had to be in the path of Phasmid's slash and a needless fridge of a female character just to fuel Phasmid's turn to evil.

Gatekeeper = A pleasant to the eyes design, with an understandably creepy wing spots pattern and a genuinely affecting posture with his hands that speaks to characterization. Personality's a likeable one, one that with the interesting meat of survivor's guilt, but not necessarily a villainous one. The backstory itself... is uneven and laden with plot holes. The Water love is dropped so fast that there's little impact to her as a character, despite her inclusion here. The idea that he loves the killing because he's preparing for Queen Silverwashed's murder isn't emphasized enough, making it *feel* like a throwaway detail. The Nemesis inclusion isn't a particularly satisfying one because Gatekeeper's never much cared for the morality of his murders, just the chance of getting home, so why care now. And the idea that King Dimitri could recognize Queen Fiercekiller's murderer without even seeing his face is laughably contrived as all-get out.

Ceramic = There's definitely a sense of creativity with the concept and the design work itself, given the metal. The color palettes give this eerie shininess that feels unnatural as an organic color. Her personality feels different from most other villains, giving a defeatist sort of air to her, a sense of 'too far, too late' with her morality, but, through her history, there's a sense of Destiny still in there, and carrying vengeful grudges from how her enemies treated Destiny's "death." Her history, across Destiny and Ceramic, is one with some potential, a story about a spoiled brat who, upon seeing death start to inch closer, started to take different things into priority instead and ending up relishing it. However, I don't think Destiny and Ceramic really mesh together. It feels like two different character concepts at times, especially given the abrupt nature of how Ceramic was kidnapped and stuffed in a lab at the end of Destiny's section, meaning it doesn't flow as a coherent character.

Rhodochrosite = A thinly sketched appearance, but what's there is telling, given the quote. No personality. His backstory, though, is rather intriguing though as a psychologist who simply wanted to experiment and test his theories, taking up Scarlet as a patron in order to be supplied a steady line of bodies to explore his theories on. I like the touches of him getting frustrated by Pyrrhia's inability to discuss mental trauma and him shoving down his conscience with Scarlet's prisoners, given the attitudes of the Sky Kingdom with death and how the anguish of his prisoners and experiment subjects got normalized with time. I'd be interested in seeing more of him.

Harpia = Typical appearance, but in a way that suggests characterization as one of a privileged class and knows that, given her accessories and beauty. Her personality is understandable for a dragon of her social class and the tidbit about her parents could serve to nuance her more. It is currently not fully formed yet, but PTSD from witnessing one's parents' deaths could flesh her out. Her backstory does explain her motives, but it is a bit too linear, too direct, lacking anything to elevate her beyond a vengeful killer.

Maelstrom = His appearance makes sense and speak of the damage his backstory has given him. His history... falls short. Mostly because why didn't he just enchant a blade to kill Empyrean? Unless Empyrean had animus magic, just enchant a blade to fly in his neck. That's the biggest plot hole that makes me unable to take this seriously, despite the valiant attempts to make this feel epic and grand. It says Maelstrom's only 40 in human years, but "Whether it was over the course of decades or centuries" contradicts that. Only the ending few bits offer anything particularly special or character-defining with Maelstrom, given his attempts at evil fall short.

Lemur the RainWing = The appearance certainly gives characterization of a dragon putting on a facade and the glint in his eyes as someone who can't help but slip in it. His personality has some interesting wrinkles in it, someone who enjoys a particular sort of hobby, his weaknesses, and has his traumas, and has a sliver of interiority, given his desire to become an antagonist, a true-heeled villain. And I do think his backstory does fine with explaining how such a dragon would escalate from admiring villains to wanting to become one himself. And there's a kernel of potential about a character who actively wants to go against fate in such a meta-textual way, but is doomed to a life of mundane nature.

Naomi = Typical, but small touches like the grey-ish spines, the blue freckles, and the pale pinks help to differentiate her slightly from the rest of the IceWings. Her personality suggests her as a typical schemer... except smarter than the typical one, exercising softer power rather than the hard power of brute force and threats. There's also a hint of a stressful interior deep down. Her history's actually good: choosing to depict her as a lowly commoner who was tired of being unheard of by the nobility and ambitious for the power to rule away the poverty of her past. I also like how the history covers how a lowly commoner, with just wits, the right looks, and connections, can become royalty through good luck and timing.

Flicker (Moon) = I REALLY like her design! It all adds to this haunting atmosphere and aura around her, more sensory details beyond the visual adding to her mystique of blood and smoke. And there are hints of characterization in her eyes, her voice, and her smile, all hinting at a character behind the veil. Her personality's another general merciless, emotion-less schemer without little to elevate it beyond. Despite the incomplete nature of the history, I quite liked it! There was a genuinely loving relationship between Flicker and Fury which had its understandable tensions, given the fireless and firescales nature between the two, and I can completely understand why Flicker would 1. take a sort of glee at the power she now possessed over others after a lifetime of powerlessness and 2. think the responsibility stops with Queen Oriole and want vengeance on her too, considering Fury's death was on her orders. And where the history leaves off gives ample opportunities to turn her into the haunting figure in her appearance. If there was one thing I had to critique: its that maybe it rushes the transition from Flicker being mournful to slitting her parents' throats too soon. I feel it should've build up to it a bit or started with her bullies first instead of her parents.

Tree Snake = Not particularly interesting appearance and the color palette is decent enough. No personality. No backstory. Her relationship to her children, though, does bring up a spark of complexity, but it's not fleshed-out by a history.

Queen Ruthless = Contradictory appearance (she wears no jewelry, yet two sentences later, she wears a silver chain) and generic NightWing looks. Personality's a typical sadist. I would spare more thought if there was something to do that with. Thinly-sketched and generic history without anything to elevate it. Relationships are dull and Ruthless is overly villainous to the point of cartoonish.

Bixbite = A typical design, but with some nicely tasteful color palettes and a nice touch on the gemstones being used to cover up her scars. I especially appreciate the choice to have her embed gems onto her brows and the teardrop gem especially, as well as the red spike at her tail end. Her personality, which is a mixture of cleverness and vengeful like most villains here, is elevated by a few factors: her regrets at the road of villainy she's taken, her hypocrisy over her embedded jewels, her determination to cover the scars with embedded gems and see it as strength, and her genuine want for friends to dispel the loneliness she can feel. I think her backstory's quite good, showcasing a clearly suffocated dragon from a higher social class who felt trapped and needed a release, only to end up spiraling to further depths of moral decay as a show of rebellion, step-by-step, until she felt she had nowhere to go. I do nitpick some elements of her history bullet points, but the history, as is, isn't completed, so I cannot entirely judge.

Lyric, or Fovealis = I think things like her topscales and antennae being navy blue muddle the design choices of a Silk/Night hybrid, the small white dots on her face are a nice touch to signify her NightWing ancestry. Her personality is fine, a bit two-dimensional, especially her curiosity with death, but is fine for a foundation. Her history feels intensely overblown, blowing up someone's cruel prank gone horribly wrong into turning into a full-fledged assassin (why not just kill Noche when you've already made the moral step of becoming an assassin? Being an assassin can't be legal either!)

Jasper = I like how his hybrid qualities are shown onto his appearance and that, before the incident, there was a sense of character with him. I also especially love the spectacles, it's a small touch that does add to his character and differentiates him beyond the others. His personality is blandly antisocial. The backstory is told rather blandly though and I don't buy certain things like Jasper forgiving them immediately after Seal dealt with them. Up to the point of Seal's death, it was fine... but then it went hyperspeed into implausibility, especially considering nothing about the deaths were built up, nor earned by the narrative. Nothing was felt by me as I read Jasper lose everyone in his life and slowly lose his mind because of the supporting characters weren't built up all that much, meaning their deaths leave little impact on us. End on a point that he wants to take over all the tribes and this backstory desperately needed a complete rewrite.

Boa = The design is a nice bit of characterization through camouflage and the part about the anger in her amber eyes and the long frontal fangs speak towards her characterization. There's no personality to judge. The problem with her history is that it's her mother's history for two-thirds of it and not too much is developed of Boa as a result.

Lord Eshchaton = I find her design work quite creative and complex! Lots of muted colors, but intentionally so, and the symbol of a glowing sun rim on her eyes is enchanting. And I'm charmed by her awkward scales and how unkempt her appearance is, feeling like there's a sense of character with it. I especially like all the wardrobe choices, seeing as they're peeks into character. There's a lot to like about her psychology and personality, I appreciate that her killing urges were something baked in from her history and not an innate part of herself and the characterization itself is about how she copes with those urges, about how this naturally decent-mannered dragon switches between roles in an attempt to feel better about her failings through inadequate coping mechanisms that she chooses to use because she feels she's gone over the deep end of morality after too long a life, full of regrets and death. I'm especially a fan of how she tries to justify or excuse her own murders on the basis that her victims were lesser dragons and that, deep down, she knows that, but feels no other resource. Her history itself is interesting, being someone who only survived in her childhood by the grace of darker creatures and chose to become someone who killed monsters, channeling her urges into something practically better for dragonkind. There's a sad, poignant tragedy behind Ezcha and Oscen's relationship in that they loved each other, but Oscen let himself be caught up by the rhetoric of others in how much of a "monster" Ezcha was and that led to her years of undeserved imprisonment.

Refined = I'm a fan of tribrid designs, and I like how the NightWing part of her is subtler than the other parts, and I especially like the fact that she covers up her blemishes with make-up, carrying an air of characterization in how she conducts herself. Her personality is nothing but a typical creepy sadist. Her history itself...  I get her anger towards Adonis. I do, and that part of a privileged person being apathetic enough to make the difference between her parents being saved or not fueling Refined's anger is understandable. However, her killing her entire school makes no sense (what message does that send to your queen except that you're a monster who kills innocents?) and her killing dragonets really doesn't have any thematic pay-off. She might have pretenses of being more complex, but she's effectively just a one-dimensional monster.

GS-278 = I do like the tattoo on him, which hints at his background, and the burn wounds with the limp. I especially like the little touch of a MudWing skin cloak. The personality is of a stoic sadist, nothing particular of note beyond the long memory of his. I actually like the hints of Talon not inherently being a bad dragon by him hearing the cries for help from downed dragons and wanting to help, but his villainy turn... too rushed, too abrupt, too much without explanation or grounding in characterization to help sell it to the reader. And twelve losses? That strains credibility because how does he still have a group after that many losses? A good leader would've tried to stop it sooner.

Raja = Incomplete appearance, but carrying hints of promise with the scale patterns and the gem-shapes Raja has. Nothing else.

Fade = I like the notion of a tribrid design that's a bit less striking to the eye and overlooked, and I like the oxidized copper band as a distinguishing design choice, carrying into a sense of history. As for her personality, I like the elements of her learning and being interested in psychology and her envy is something that makes sense, and I'm especially a fan of how her perfectionist tendencies have led her to dismiss most compliments. Her history with the family has some elements of promise, but it's underwritten and the element of envy and jealousy are too undercooked to make the Wondrous murder land with the impact it should have. Her relationship with Striking, however? That's where the history takes a nosedive. Striking, as a character, isn't written well enough and is too cookie-cutter a jerk (why the HECK do you tell your girlfriend that no one will love her, you PUTZ) and that inciting element is too weak to support Fade's turn to killing.

King Hydra = The appearance is concise and having some nice touches to it, the two crests and twisty horns. The color palette is nothing special, but I appreciate the design choices of his two skulls upon the shoulders and his garnet gem. His personality is nothing particularly special, but his beliefs on fate are an interesting nuance into a typical villain personality. His history is interesting in how it feels told, like an epic in coming, the language feels like. There are interesting facets, such as him having brothers that he tended to and that he kinslayed his father for being an inadequate caretaker, and how praise for his qualities inflated his head. It's incomplete, but I see plenty of potential with how King Hydra could go forward.