Top 10 Favorite Antagonists

1. CHARLES PALADIN
dis me being a bias mofo. Inquisitor may have made old Jo-- but Charles made new Jo, and the Jo I`ll be writing for the next several acts. His rivalry with Jo is probably tied for my favorite in the rp, they`re both fucking insane bitter smart people with nothing better to do but to play chess and argue about morality like nerds. They`re fucking nerds. And also a good example that a rivalry can be written in completely different ways, and that the format of the rivalry should be changed to reflect the characters in it. They`ve known each other for a whole act-- and haven`t fought once. But, that doesn`t make the rivalry any less intense or real-- it`s just... written differently.
BIAS ASIDE- holy fuck. Charles is a stealthy motherfucker- I bet you all actually thought he was a good guy for the whole two seconds when he was dead, ye? NAW. He`s a twisted, smart as all hell, strong son of a bitch-- and as morality upright as he is, he doesn`t have a single problem cutting down anyone who gets in the way of JUSTICE. He`s a really... needed villain for this kind of rp, that I`m surprised we haven`t had yet- we really needed a "greater good" obsessed authority figure for all our rebellious little supercriminals to hate on because of his suit and tie. He`s resourceful, powerful, and cunning- makes for a pretty insane combination.

2. THE INQUISITOR
The first real NML villain to me. This here is the first villain to actually be like... woah, it`s a villain. Went from "lol im just gonna fuq with all of u" to "iMMA DESTROY THE WORLD" overnight because the goodie goods fucked him up. And shit, I always try to argue that the Inquisitor should have lived way longer-- but every time, someone brings the hammer of truth on me. IF HE LIVED, EVERYONE WOULD BE DEAD. FUCKER WON TOO MUCH.
Additionally- I`ve got a bias toward the Inquisitor too, since his rivalry with Jo basically made her as a character for me. Nowadays, she`s probably my favorite character I`ve ever written, and I have a blast rping her-- and it`s because of the Inquisitor. He set her in stone- they, like a bunch of other rivals, contrasted each other as "crazy emotional human-y bitch" and "crazy emotional not-human-y bitch"-- AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. And, if you keep in mind a few key points from his background and newer revelations in act 3-- his actions in act 2 start making a lot more sense. His run was short, but sweet- and Inquisitor may have actually been my number one because he is my child, but-- I think his death was really unfitting for a villain of his caliber and potential. But, what happens, happens!

3. KRAVEN
If Kraven ain`t on yo list, you either dumb or delusional. This is the reoccurring baddie of all baddies, from act 1 to act 69 probably-- he can`t be allies to Vulture Team without butting heads with them. The cool thing about Kraven doe is that he`s Pan`s main-- so outside of being a villain, he... has a life???? He`s got friends and feelings and lord knows he has enemies (sorry Ryder--), his life surprisingly isn`t all about SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
His concept is a fucking awesome and deep one once you look past it`s face value. His life revolves around the concept of Social Darwinism-- and he adapts for the situation. His beliefs, when he says them out loud- are written by a fucker who takes philosophy, so IT SOMEHOW MAKES CRAZY RANTING MAKE SENSE. Kraven`s an enigma, man. He`s a character I hope never goes away- and his rivalry with Ryder is like... THE RIVALRY. It`s intense, they contrast each other flawlessly, can actually get along like normal people when they aren`t trying to kill each other-- it`s one of my favorite interactions to read in the whole rp, tbh. That`s saying something.

4. HAL INNSMOUTH
So-- a few months back, I was writing a TV tropes page for Jo. It was super in-def and super long and still in progress, and one of the tropes on it was named "Broken Pedestal" ( found here! )-- and my description described her relationship with Hal. Soon enough, I got to the part where I was describing every horrid thing he did to her-- and... it ended up being a good five paragraphs...?
Hal doesn`t get the proper appreciation around here. He`s such a colossal DICK and it`s BEAUTIFUL AND IMPORTANT. The fact that he`s a misogynistic, scheming, brutalizing asshole was never covered up-- and his devotion to the Mistress wasn`t written in a way that tried to make him sympathetic, or excuse his awful actions. He was just a dick by nature- and that`s how it was. No one realizes how close he was to actually winning and getting everything he wanted-- and how fucking awful it would have been if he had.
Hal would have actually been higher on this list i love him so damn much-- but, his devotion to Xiu sort of... limits what he can do as a character. We can`t regret killing him off when we did-- because if he lived, Tate would have never come to take his place. His run was short, sure-- but lord knows he didn`t waste his time, and he played his part as Xiu`s Harley Quinn to a perfect T.

5. THE DON / MARIO FALCONE
HRK. Here`s a sympathetic villain done right- Mario was... in the long run, kinda just out to make everyone stop killing each other? But, Vulture and Worm continued to paint him as another crazy world-destroyer-- when in reality, No Man`s Land was his property. And they were fucking up his property.
Pay attention to the flashbacks, and it`s obvious that age decayed his morality. He don`t got no problem with kidnapping and maybe killing a little girl if it makes the tyrannical rapist calm his shit, he`ll kill seemingly unarmed people who are in his way and berate them while he does-- he`s a goddamn force of nature, and he knows it. Also- since he`s Chee`s character, HE ALSO HAPPENS TO BE REALLY HILARIOUS.
Dude was a business man- a professional, knowing when and when not to get his hands dirty. His relationship with Eve was probably one of my favorites to write in the rp, too-- everyone loves to see a big tough antagonist coddle and love his little daughter. That made me really happy. Again, the Don would be higher on this list-- but, I feel like his run was shortened, and he had a metric buttload more potential.

6. CITIZEN ROSS
IS HE EVEN A VILLAIN? He opposed Vulture Team, sure-- BUT WAS HE A VILLAIN?
Honestly I don`t even think so?? When you understand the lore and background of the RP, him wanting to bring back the ever so peaceful (and controlled by Doublethink) AMURICA might sound like a good idea to anyone. He was a gigantic sweetie who invited strippers to his house just to have nice conversations with him, also he was still fucking psychotic and able to destroy a building in one punch probably
Not the psychotic you`d think of when you say psychotic, but just a--delusional kind of psychotic? Even then, he had some realistic standards- he knew that if he did change the world and make it how he wanted, that, well-- he just wouldn`t fit into it. Because he`s how he is by conditioning and nature, and nothing can reverse that-- in the society he wanted, he`d just be another supercriminal, and he can`t change that. He`s real like dat, Ross knows whats up. It`s worth mentioning that I adore his interactions with Jolyne-- he sympathized and humanized her, and her shit only really hit the fan when she thought he was dead. Ross was the only person Jolyne really liked, her first real human connection-- and losing him made her totally willing to be struck down by Jackal at the end of their fight.
Ross is adorable,


7. MISTER GHOUL
husband. I know it`s a little weird that he`s on here, considering that he was a real minor villain-- but, he`s so important. His interaction with Bunny was really cool- and he was just kinda... genuinely funny? His humor was a really nice mix of vulgar and goofy, and it was really refreshing. Henry`s a whole other thing entirely-- Henry is a character you probably wouldn`t expect from his RPer-- but he was flawless, and his relationship with Ghoul was born endearing and funny.
I do think him and Henry should have lived longer, of course-- they`re a clump of missed potential for me. As kind of tragic and awful as Henry`s death was-- all it did was build up a villain who was going to lose to Kraven soon after, anyway. Either way, his run was cool-- and I miss him a bunch-- #BringbackGhoulandHenry2042

8. DOES RAIKO FROM RED SUN COUNT?
bECAUSE SHE SHOULD. Raiko, though she hasn`t gotten her chance to shine just yet-- is a boss ass bitch with her own code of conduct and a way to go about it. She`s an evil dictator student council president with all of Satsugai Academy wrapped around her finger, and all her plans, like many other villains-- are in the name of the greater good.
It`s hinted that she`s dealt with a fair amount of abuse and loss in her life, but she`s obviously moved passed it-- and her experiences definetely have no effect on her BAMF self esteem. She`s amazing, and I loved writing Eirin with her-- I think once she really gets to business, she`ll climb up this list pretty quickly.

9. TATE AMARANTH
I`M GONNA BE COMPLETELY HONEST TATE WOULD BE WAYYY HIGHER ON THIS LIST IF I DIDN`T DESPISE HIS FACECLAIM A BIT. IT KILLS ME.
NAW, but it`s so fucking refreshing to see a dicky dick villain played by someone who isn`t Pan. He`s a dick, out for power and blood-- and like plenty of others, he`s willing to do whatever to get there. Including sleep with the Mistress. When he`s asexual. HARDCORE.
I think his two-faced quality is beautifully written and potrayed- Tate knows that in life, you can`t go about everything with moar snakes. Sometimes you need to play people to get what you want. And that`s totally villainous and awful yeah but-- Tate knows whats up.
A thing that makes him a bit more impressive than Hal (from the character`s perspective, at least--) is probably his prowess. He`s sneaky, yeah- but if he`s caught? HE`LL JUST MURDER EVERYONE IN THE ROOM AND BE VERY HAPPY ABOUT IT. That`s admirable to me.

10. THE MISTRESS
The Mistress doesn`t get proper credit, either-- she`s a huge part of the lore, and delusional, yeah-- but, good-hearted and strong as fuck. She and the Trust are out for the good of humanity-- and honestly, when you live for hundreds of years, your moral code gets a bit cloudy. To Xiu, she`s the good guy-- and everyone on the other side is the bad guy.
I love Xiu personally because the tropes she uses, and how it`s used. She`s a drop dead sexy lady who can use her looks to her advantage, and has no qualms talking about her bedroom conquests--those traits aren`t common for a antagonist. Usually, those are traits reserved for the real male antagonist`s femme fatale sidekicks-- the Mistress is her own operation, and her concept is flawless and nicely executed. My only issue is that she didn`t actually do too much in the actual rp... she`d be way higher on this list if she had. Her death battle was fun and all-- but, I would`ve liked to see her show off a little earlier.

bonus: jo the ostrich
lord and master

Honorable mention-
Mr. Bear, I liked this character very quickly. He was funny. I actually really liked how bluntly he switched to Black Dragon. I would probably have put him higher if he was posted for more, but I thought he was funny and I was actually surprisingly sad at his death.
Jolyne, I thought she was funny. She was very different from Jo personality wise, and I liked that. I liked how she could go from goofy to threatening when the situation called for it. That being said she's not on the list because when I think about it aside from a few moments with Ross and her death, which was very well written, I still prefer her most from the Inquisitor Tower where until the last floor people could only hear her voice.  That's where she was at her best for me.
Red Masque, I find him interesting. His goofiness is funny, but I liked seeing how he acted in the past with Kraven. His level of power and importance is still mostly unknown, which is interesting. It may have been intentional, but I didn't put him on the list because of how little he's actually been in the rp.
10.Poison-The strange thing  for me with this character is I'm not putting her on the list for SSS. I liked her there, but what really made me like the character enough to put her on the list was her sudden appearance in this act of NML. I find her relationship with Bunny fascinating. Looking at how she was in SSS, there seems to be an interesting evolution from the events there to how she acts now. How Poisons vaguely mentioned Red Masque and whats happened to her renewed my interest in him and made me curious how she interacted with him.
9.Gonzo/Kermit/Piggy-I do admit here it is personal. Out of the three of them, Gonzo was the best developed and RPed. He was fun and fit in the setting better than a few of the other Muppets did. But I included Piggy and Kermit in this because I found their relationship very interesting and darkly fun. To me, it was a weird mix of twisted, yet strangely balanced.  It was very interesting to write and I'm glad I could. Another reason they're all included together is because I  enjoyed the three when they interacted together. There was a comradery they could only have with each other, because they were all pretty insane in their own different ways.
8.Ross-Ross was the first real faction villain I encountered in this rp. Zombie and the Holiday Killer technically came first, but they weren't technically connected to a group opposing Vulture. Ross was. He was fun.  I liked how his over patriotism was played and I liked how he could be serious. There were several moments where it was clear he was a balancing factor for Jolyne and that made their interactions interesting to read.
7.Lao-The moment that made me love this guy was when he and Jack fought on Baker Street. As short as it was, that was some of my favorite combat rping that  I've been able to do so far. I loved how he went about trying to make Jack lose control. It was just so fun for me to rp. It was the only fight I've been in where I wished it could have gone on longer. Lao is a very interesting characters, not just for his back story, but for his demeanor. I think he may be one of the best cases of someone who is typically goofy with serious moments mixed in. His emotional reaction to knowing he's dying and having to betray the Mistress were very well written and actually pretty understandable in a weird way. I like that mix of sympathetic moments with downright sadistic moments, especially the ones that have come up in his current fight with Isaac. I just really like this character. He's fun. He's probably not higher because he isn't very vital to the Clans plot in general, but I still really like him.
6.Xiu- Xiu is actually a pretty sad villain for me. Despite how insane her plans are, the goal underneath it all is kind of understandable. I think she was funny at times and she ended up being another villain who could switch to being serious when needed. I wished I could have seen more of her, but other than that I found the secret behind her power and youth very interesting and her death was actually fairly sad for me.
5.Hal-Hal is a dick. From what I did read of him at the end of the last act, he was just awful to everyone but the Mistress, but that's a big part of the reason why I liked him. He was so enjoyably awful to everyone. I loved reading the posts where he was talking to Jo after brainwashing her. It was just really fun. His death is one of the ones I can remember most clearly. I liked the difference in how he treated everyone else  then how he treated Xiu. He was a dick, but he was a complex dick and that's enjoyable  every now and again.
4.Tate-Tate is also a dick. He's also very enjoyable catty. I liked how no attempt was made to try and make him likable. He's just the way he is and he has no shame about that whatsoever. He's one of the characters whose cybernetics I actually really like. It fits very consistently with his theme and that's something I can really appreciate. I like reading and interacting with Tate. He's a very cool presence to have, because he actually does come off as a threat. He's actually been shown achieving his goals and very important people have been shown to be afraid of him. There are many factors in place that make him work as a character.
3.Kylie-Oh my god, I love this girl. This one is definitely personal. I just love this girl so much. Just seeing that she's been posted for makes me smile. Jacks fight with her in the Inquisitor tower was so much fun. I know that her floor was traumatizing in character, but I had a blast rping that. Kylie is just a strange mix of horrifying and adorable. Her attitude on love and affection is so scary, but with how earnest she is able making friends, it's just so cute. She's just precious to me. I would place her higher, but within her own faction, aside from her status as a ranked assassin, she isn't very important and Killer Queen and Ashley holds more importance in that regard. That being said, the reason she's placed higher than Tate, despite him actually being very plot important, is that I enjoy reading Kylie more personally.  She's just precious.
2. Kraven-Kraven is THE villain I heard the most about before and after joining newts. His "death" last arc was one of the ones I remember the most. Without being able to read alot of the rivalry between Kraven and Ryder, their last fight still managed to be very cool to me. In large part due to how Kraven was written. I like how he's been written this act too, despite being very different. It's been fun to read this version of Kraven. He's likely one of the most well developed villains in No Mans Land and I like seeing how he interacts with people.
1.Charles-I picked Charles for this spot because I find him and his goals in context both insane and understandable. The worlds fallen apart and it seems like people aren't doing much to try and fix it. How would you try to fix things? Charles is definitely excessive, but I still find that interesting. Him using the orbital laser on High End was actually kind of funny for some reason. He's definitely dangerous, but in a very different way than other people on this list. I just find him very interesting and he played very well into the plot. He was very different from other antagonists and I liked seeing that.