Puppet Villains

[Nekohime1989]

Technically your introduced to the true villain at the very start. He's a lurker and also the save point in the game.

Spoiler

Never trust a crow... They're nothing but trouble.

 

[Asrielupgraded]

I'm trying to find a sprite for my old design for my game Charlie for vxace

I can't find any.

 

[Kes]

@Asrielupgraded [mod]Posting in a thread with something unrelated to the OP's query, request or discussion is hi-jacking, and is not permitted under our Forum Rules which you can read here.[/mod]
In addition, you are unlikely to get a response as this is the wrong section to be asking that. You need to post a new thread in Resource Requests.

 

[Ragpuppy87]

I think the key to any good villain is about character build up. What is this baddie about? Revealing a villain you have interacted with and gotten to know throughout the game to be just a puppet is risky but it can work if done properly. One thing to avoid is bringing them up at the very end with absolutely no buildup or reasoning. Make sure that we meet or hear about this puppet master a couple of times before the reveal. Get some of that character build up in.

Zant -The Legend of Zelda-Twilight Princess. A puppet of Ganondorf. Link doesn't actually see Ganondorf until the game's finale but he knows who he is due to a flashback scene. Even if the player has never played another Zelda game they are introduced to Ganondorf well before the character is revealed as the puppet master behind the twilight throne.

N - Pokémon Black and White- We meet the puppet master Ghetsis before we even meet the puppet N who serves as the game's primary antagonist. It is revealed before the final battle that Ghetsis was just manipulating N and is the true mastermind of Team Plasma. We also come across Ghetsis multiple times throughout the game and he interacts with the player. It's an obvious reveal at the end, but by the time we battle the puppet master we have learned to despise the guy, so there is a personal investment on the player's part.

Porky Minch- Earthbound- This one is unique as it's an instance where we don't need much character development on the part of the puppet master for it to work. Porky starts out as just a bully and as he becomes more corrupted by Giygas's influence becomes a truly evil character. Yet we know very little about Giygas once we actually face it... However we have again, heard about this entity since the game's very beginning. Giygas acts as a looming threat throughout the entire game. So it still works.

These three examples all were "Puppet Villains" in a way. At the end there was someone or something else behind their actions. These puppet masters all work due to one common theme. The player knows who they are, by the time the battle with them ensues having been introduced in some way well before hand. I think that's the key to a good puppet and puppet master villain.

EDIT: Just saw the date of the last non-moderator post. Sorry if this qualifies as necroposting… Either way just my two cents. Late as it is.

 

[Wavelength]

Very good advice from @Ragpuppy87 there. The more you are exposed to a villain before you realize that they are the force you need to fight against, the more compelling the fight becomes. Sometimes they're shown in a villainous light the whole way; sometimes they appear like a decent person until the reveal. Either way can be effective.

One thing that hasn't been discussed yet (unless I missed it) is that the best Puppetmaster-type villains are the ones that manipulate peoples' motivations (especially the motivations of other not-totally-villainous antagonists) - by tricking them (with lies or with schemes), threatening them, swaying legitimate institutions the antagonist belongs to, finding a way to offer what that antagonist desires, or some combination of those. A puppetmaster isn't merely someone who hides in the shadows while they send their minions at you! A puppetmaster is a villain that pulls strings to (mostly non-violently) force people to do their bidding.

Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantastic example of a Puppetmaster villain (while also being an action girl). For a much more brutal version of puppetmasters, Psychopass is absolutely full of them, with a miles-long tableau of puppetmasters controlling other puppetmasters.

 

[TheOneEyedOne]

It's difficult regarding this, since alot of times it's out of no where. I would have the true villain be secretly introduced early on or better yet have them as a party member.