Good and Evil. White and Black. Honor and Treachery. Mercy and Ruthlessness. Heroes and Villains. The typical, ongoing battle – that which composes the game we all know and sometimes obsess over (you know who you are). In Magic, and nearly all fantastical worlds, this is the war that forever drives the story (and the game) to new lengths and depths. Without it, what would it be? But, does it only compose the land of fantasy? Or does it make up much, much more? The answer awaits you within the dungeon… so come and swing open the gates that divide the real from the fictitious, and enter Magic: where each player is a planeswalker, battling one another for supremacy! Great wars are waged all across the multiverse, and a single victor will conquer all.

We go here not only to witness this, but also to understand it, for these competitors are not simple illusions, and the victor is not fantasy, it is you! In this land, everyone is capable of amazing feats, summoning beastly creatures and epic spells, all for one purpose: domination. It is a fight to the death for it, and all are willing to go to great lengths for this purpose, employing such underhanded tactics as thievery and deceit to destroy the enemy, obliterating their creations, and even turning them against their owner. In a battle such as this, at least one of the combatants must be evil, yes? So my question is, who is the villain? And how can we tell?

The Notion in Motion

(Sorry for that. Really.) It is a perplexing question, for each side would probably think his or herself to be the “good guy” – they fight to defend their beliefs, which in their opinion are right. But that is exactly what it is: an opinion. Nothing more. What is truly right? Who knows? The Americans, for example, the so-called “world police”, believe they are good, and all who oppose them are evil. Their way is right and pure and true! But let me step over the line for a moment, way over, to the Middle East.

In their minds, they are the heroes, trying to rid the Earth of scum (which would be the Americans), for what they believe is true. Ah, two opposing sides, the perfect recipe for war. But who is right? How do we know that the “good” side isn’t actually evil? The Americans – seemingly oppressors of the planet, or are they saviors? – can only judge by their opinions. What of the others? What if they are wrong? What if everyone is wrong? And how do we know? Puzzling indeed.

But what makes a hero a hero, or a villain a villain, as we see it? Well, it would be up to everyone else to judge that (and we all know people are far from perfect judges). And since it is the perception of the people, I believe the gist of it is this: if they’re against you, they’re villains. If they’re helping you or are against the villain(s), they’re perceived as heroes. If it’s neither, who cares? Let someone else judge. Yes, people are selfish. To be honest, I don’t like them very much. Scurvy crabs.

However, as you can see, the classic battle yet rages in the real world as well – the battle which is fantasy. After all, what is fantasy without good and evil? If everyone was good and noble, they could get along and work together, but that is not how fantasy - Magic in particular - works; where’s the fun in throwing parties and everyone loving each other? Bah! We want death! Carnage! Destruction! That’s the reason for this imagined world, and you are a voluntary part of it, you sadistic person you. Now, let’s dig a little deeper to find an answer to that question…

Thoughts? ...

...

Have Mine…

White Knight vs. Black Knight?

Ah, the classic battle of White vs. Black. White being good and black evil, of course. But why? How can we tell which is the hero and which the villain? Easy, you say, Black is selfish, hurts others for self-gain, is extremely addicted to power, and usually schemes world domination, while White tries to wipe them from the plane for it.

Ha! Look at it this way: Black aligned beings usually have some extreme motivation to get something, and do what they can to get it. Well, don’t many people? As for the whole massacre thing, the dead can always be raised again, right? Recycling, that’s a good thing. They may be a little zombie-like, but think of it as a type of brainwashing for the moment. To Black, existence is a complete circle – you live, die, and serve a purpose after life, just as with Green. Green is good, right?

But White? Pshaw. “Raised corpses are bad! And smelly! And dirty! We don’t want none of that! It’s evil!” So, kill ‘em all, they say.Massacre. Genocide. Sounds evil to me, but why do it? Surely there must be some purpose to this madness that will justify it and make it righteous! To help us all live better lives? Well that depends who “us all” is. If you’re with White, good. If you’re mountain-folk, not so good. In fact, you’re bad too. Hm, sounds selfish to me. Instead of focusing on their single self, though, they focus on their little group of do-gooders. But if you join them? Well that involves their own type of brainwashing; a kind that makes you into the perfect soldier for their armies against the swamps. Hey, same as Black.

And the two “opposite” colors have even more similarities! Check out Zombify and Breath of Life. Both raise the dead for the same price, yet one is “better” than the other? Wrath of God and Plague Wind. Heck, the White massacre even kills their own. Righteous martyrs or fanatical murderers? Afterlife and Devour in Shadow. Both kill a creature, don’t allow it to regenerate, and have a little drawback for essentially the same cost. If they both do the same things, how are they any different?

Perhaps it is the way the deed is done. Yes, it makes all the difference by declaring justice in killing the victim rather than simply inflicting them with heart-stopping terror, or killing in broad daylight rather than the shadows of night, or bringing God into the matter to prove to all others that they are right instead of keeping it in the dark, or brainwashing by rehabilitation camp rather than zombification. Pfffft. I’m not even done yet. Debtors’ Knell, Vindicate, Angel of Despair. All combine similar abilities of the two warring colors to produce a powerhouse that does the job better than any other. The similarities go on and on, but that’s more for another article. Let’s not lose our focus here.

We have determined that it is up to the outsiders to judge who is the hero and the villain, yes? But sometimes, simply the more powerful side is considered the hero, merely because they have the power to force that idea onto others (or just kill their enemy and not leave a choice). Media and politics are good for this. So is religious influence. Ah, conspiracies. Take the movie 'V for Vendetta'. Spectacular movie (I can’t help but have a certain fondness for psychopaths). The people of the government are, naturally, evil and corrupt (in my opinion, all are, but this movie takes it to the extreme). Being powerful as they are, they make themselves look good, but V sees through the tricks and lies, and tries to stop it, making him the hero. But the government is good! It does all sorts of good things for its people! And this man is trying to destroy it! He’s bad! Well, I don’t want to ruin the movie for those who have yet to see it, but let’s just say there’s more to it than that. But you know what this government sounds like? Those dastardly plains folk! Always preaching about gods and how they help everyone [subliminal message]killallplainsfolk[/subliminal message]. Bah! Moving on, now.

There is always a villain lying somewhere behind blind eyes, plotting and scheming against the world, and a hero always rises to stop them – whether reluctantly, by fate, or choice. It is necessary that good eternally battles evil, for the world cannot exist without either, as represented in the Ying-Yang. Each person is partially good, and partially evil, and they balance each other, because yes, you can have too much of a good thing. People need a little mass-murder and arson to shake up their lives every now and then. So in the lands of fantasy and reality, there will always be heroes battling villains. This we know already, but the question still remains. And since the comparisons between White and Black didn’t really get us anywhere, I must ask again: who is the villain? How do we know which side fights for evil and which for good? Who is the protagonist to these endless wars, if the colors of Magic can’t tell us themselves?

Which brings us back to you. You, who each time in playing a game of Magic, try to kill a friend, who is also trying to kill you. And when you do, it is a glorious victory! Under normal circumstances, friends would not battle each other so, but this is no ordinary situation – it is Magic, an imaginary plane in which you are writing a story every time you clash with another player. So the answer is not that certain colors are good or evil – they are merely the tools with which you become one or the other. You become the main character, and your battles decide your fate.

But, of course, everyone could be a villain; get Crovax and Volrath together and you have two power-hungry scoundrels who would easily destroy each other and anyone else should their power be threatened, but this does not change the fact that two opposing sides with different principles are duking it out for dominance. So maybe, just maybe, America and the Middle East are evil as well. After all, the fantasy world is basically the real world with magical stuff thrown in. This is the beauty of Magic, that not only is it the greatest game ever (but of course it is ), it’s like a different, real, world altogether (save for the beebles and lhurgoyfs and walking, snowball-throwing brownies).  [But they're lowfat too... ~Streetz~]

Thoughts become Fantasy

Now say in reality, you’re Eric, some nerdy guy that couldn’t lift fifty pounds or throw a punch if his lunch money depended on it; but in Magic, you’re LORD ERRIC’VOR! A mighty mage who harnesses all five colors of magic, and twists them to his will to crush all who oppose him in the name of all that is good and just – being one of the few left who does so in the sea of vile filth that rely upon undead corpses to do their bidding (from your own vantage point, of course). You are still you, but with POWER!

Each player is capable of his or her own story, and every battle a part of it! It isn’t all about card interactions, my friends, it is, well, MAGIC! Anything is possible when mana obeys your will, and it is your choice – or perhaps your fate – whether you fight for yourself, or for others. For power, or for justice. For evil, or for good. To be a villain, or a hero.

Think about it, and imagine it, [*a battle scene begins to appear before your very eyes, with you as one of the adversaries*] that you are a servant of the great Yawgmoth (but of course ). You live in a swamp on some distant plane (which you plan to conquer in time), and rule every living and dead thing there. It’s a good un-life. But just beyond your land of rotten corpses, another mage is dwelling in the plains. You have a choice, now. Either be nice and leave him to his stupid little plains-y things, or go kick his @$$! Why? Why not?! You’re here to conquer! You can turn that land into your own once he is dead, too. Now the battle has begun.

As you lay down a Swamp, you’re expanding your reach within your lands, exploring them, if you will, which you can tap into for power. You are limited in how far you can travel, but being the dark mage you are, you use that limited power to create more! You channel it through a ritual, calling forth the powers of darkness and multiplying it by three, using that power to summon a horror beyond comprehension from the depths of your machinated home-world – a Negator; a specialized killing machine of Phyrexia to defeat your opponent.

Then they must respond to your threat, lest they and their people be killed without a fight. You are the villain (to them, anyway), trying to take over that which you want for yourself, and they are trying to stop you, making them something of a hero to their own people. They discover a wide-open plain, from which they draw their own power to summon a herd of lions; in hope they can hold off your attack and exploit your Negator’s weakness – for with great power there is always a sacrifice, and the more power, the more sacrifices. But you are the mage of death!

It is your turn again, and as your land becomes ripe for the tapping once more, you discover more, just enough to strike Terror into the hearts and minds of the noble creatures – so much that it disables the vital organs completely, killing them in an instant. The battlefield now clear of nuisances, your Negator goes in for the blow – a deadly one to be sure. Three more hits like that, and you’ve won.

How does the puny white mage have a chance now? Well, there certainly are numerous possibilities – endless, almost. Say that now, after gaining access to more power; the white mage summons a Knight of great valor, and a purity that banishes the darkness itself from him, preventing all harm that could come from it. Now it is you who is in the predicament – at the moment at least – and it sure didn’t take much!

But enough of this *the battle scene fades to infinite blackness*. You create your own stories whenever you “play” the “game”, whether you realize it or not. And actually, everything you do invokes a story. *a mirror appears in the room with your reflection, changing with your thoughts* Take a look at yourself. Are you a person capable of great feats, whether for good or evil? You may not be able to summon monstrosities out of thin air, or kill someone with a thought, a few mumbled words, and fancy hand waving; but you could become a great leader, commanding other people to do your bidding – or become a serial killer of some sort (I actually don’t recommend this – the ‘good guys’ will most certainly win, and the rules work a little different between fantasy and reality), either way creating an epic of your real self, for good or evil.

Fantasy Meets Reality

Yet how does all of this mumbo-jumbo relate to the more strategic side of Magic? How doesn’t it?! Think of it in a different perspective. You are in a war with your opponent – to the last man standing. In such a bitter battle as this, how might it be waged? Timing. Planning. Scheming. It is your tactics against theirs; what plan of attack is the best? Ok, I may be stretching it a little bit, but where there are villains, there is inevitably war – whether of words or of blood. How you handle it determines how the story is written, and who the victor will be. But this is something that must be mastered through experience, despite the loads of advice that could be given and/or googled.

Even still, a battle is a battle. The same tactics used in real war can be used in Magic. The difference is that one involves imaginary creatures and magic and whatnot, whereas the other… doesn’t. So the ‘how’ is a little different, but since the idea is the same, so is the story at its heart. (Does your head hurt yet? If not, you’re probably either a genius or you’re not paying attention.)

Speaking of stories, if you have ever read one by Stephen King or another of the type, and if you take the creepy, sometimes-unrealistic phenomena out, what’s left? Normal people doing what normal people do. (Sounds kind of like the fantasy junk you’re in to, doesn’t it?) And if stories about normal people can be best sellers, why can’t yours? Magic is its own world, and your own is another, in both of which you are you; the choices you make and actions you take creating stories that you, sir, are the author of – whether you choose to help others and be moral, thrive off others and only help yourself, live in the moment by your every passion and dream, pursue hidden knowledge, and/or follow your most basic instincts – in fantasy or reality. (by the way, two brownie points to any and all that can figure out which colors of Magic these relate to!)

Who you are is up to you, but in a way it isn’t. It just is. I believe that a hero is truly someone who helps others first, and themselves last. It isn’t as much trying to be this way as it is just doing it and following your soul (Wow, that sounds corny). Villains are the opposite, and will hurt other people if it benefits them. The White and Black colors of Magic are quite close, yes, but have their own little twists to make them unique. So who are you? I feel that if you are still reading this article, you are some sort of villain, but maybe that’s just me and my hope to spread evil across the world… and, um, thus balancing the good there definitely is too much of already…

<_<

>_>

Well, don’t answer just yet; I have a contest at the end of this article to do just that. It is partially in celebration of my third article here at Magic Deck Vortex, somewhat officially making me an author of the place, or something like that. But either way, I would first like to thank the following people of MDV who helped make this possible:

Streetz, for publishing my dark and disgusting articles, despite their generous amounts of said darkness and disgustingness.

Tynion, for his much support that actually made me think I’m worthy of writing something people would want to read.

Cashew, for spurring this article on.

Yawgmoth, for part of the initial inspiration.

You! The readers of Magic Deck Vortex (more specifically, those that read The Dungeon of Malefict), for without other minds like my own that like this stuff, this article probably wouldn’t exist.

...and all other writers of this site for their critiques, suggestions, and comments, these being my personal favorites to date, all for my very first article:

Quote: Originally Posted by Einsteinmonkey That was the weirdest thing I've ever read.

Quote: Originally Posted by lionden_56 I second that. I'm officially creeped out. It just seems too...I don't know...sadistic.

Quote: Originally Posted by lionden_56   Quote: Originally Posted by Death By Beebles It's too dark for me. What he said...sorry, but I'm not a fan. You sound homicidal in it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Streetz This is the kind of article that makes those Catholic mothers think Magic is Satanic.

Quote: Originally Posted by Death By Beebles Nothing personal, it's just too dark for the family style atmosphere we are trying to promote at MDV.

(And it still got published!)

Fear and lack of understanding of the unusual? Perhaps.

And now, for the contest; because I know how much you all love competing and fighting to the death in a bloody battle of underhanded tactics, deceit, and cruelty. (You do play Magic, don’t you?) This is not an ordinary contest you see on MDV, there will be no deck-building here. In fact, there will be nearly nothing to do with the game of Magic in this particular contest. Nope, this one is for Vorthos, baby!

*Ahem*

Let’s get down to the guidelines, shall we?

Create A Villain(ess) Contest

As the title says, in this contest you will create your own villain/villainess in a Magic: the Gathering setting. But what does that mean, exactly? Actually, it’s up to you. Make up whatever your twisted little mind can create, just a description and perhaps a background. This contest is pure creativity, and that’s just how I’ll be judging it:

Creativity: 100/100

Simple, eh? You can submit whatever you like, but the basics I’m looking for are: a description of the character - what they look like, how they act, etc; a background – where they come from or their past; and whatever other details you would like to include. Depth, cohesiveness, content, and mostly the overall idea will be the basis of my judging (that is, your creativeness in these areas). Keep in mind that no being is entirely powerful – balance is appreciated *hint hint*.

I’m leaving this wide open for you with very few guidelines – have fun with this . And remember, creativity is the ability to create. These are only the basics.

Oh, all right, and if you REALLY want to, you can go ahead and make a hero instead of a villain. Bah. I would actually prefer you create your character based off yourself (and say so if you do), so I’ll leave this option open, but you don’t have to. (Besides, I have no way of enforcing that...)

For all the over-achievers out there that want to do even more, you’re more than welcome to write a short story, draw a picture (it doesn’t have to be good, the idea is more important to me, but stick figures lack character.), or even create a Magic card of your villain. Whatever you so wish – if you can think of something more, go for it!

I know some of you have not the time and/or skill to draw a picture above stick-quality, but have all kinds of cool ideas for it (like me). If this is the case, then you can describe it in the following layout:

Color (The color theme(s) of the picture)
Location (The scene of the picture, where it is)
Action (What’s going on?!)
Focus (The, um, focus of the picture)
Mood (The feeling you want the pic to portray)
Notes (Whatever else you want to say about it)

Notice: Bonus points may be given.

One final note before I let you get on with your arduous, conflict packed existences: Villains aren’t necessarily black and live in dark places. Or blue. Or any color they’re ‘supposed’ to be. Or lack of color. (If you don’t believe me, read my next article and I’ll go even more in depth.) The world cannot be restrained by such rules, for each individual is completely unique. They are both evil and good in his or her own way (as shown in Yin and Yang). Besides, rules are meant to be broken. A villain can be whatever your mind is capable of creating… which raises another question: Does a villain even have to be a creature of some kind?

That’s it! Send your stuff in to me by PM through MDV’s forums (I’m Maleficent) or by email to this email address by 1/29/07 Any questions can preferably be sent to the same places, or in the thread for this article’s discussion. Until next time, have a nice life.

Maleficent, author of The Dungeon of Malefict, is Praetor of The [Order] of Phyrexia, and speaks for Yawgmoth himself. He hopes to spread the word of The Ineffable and all his greatness far and wide, so that more may learn of his wisdom and be accepted into his good graces.

He also likes to spend his free time slaying the unworthy in a variety of gruesome and agonizing ways, recurring the corpses, and doing it all over again.

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
Find other articles by this author here.
Find other articles from this series here.

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Articles Spotlights from 2007:
Lorwyn Theme Week Intro & Schedule of Events
Blink And Bounce: Timing is Key
Going Blind: XCB Metagaming - A Prolonged Conclusion.
The Science of Magic: Genetic Engineering, Part Two.
Shifting Lineaments: Casual Metagaming (Pt. 2).
The Dungeon Of Malefict: Pure Evil!
Land Week Introduction & Schedule.
Combofusion: Legends Timeshifted.
One Card to Rule Them All: Coastal Piracy
Irrational Love: Chimeras. The Lego's of Magic.