So, i plan to make a story based in a superhero world with certain individuals having superpowers, some having an unnatural intelligence, and deciding to dress up in costumes for various of reasons. You know, the typical stuff. My main character will start off as a child who has a strange power. She is taken by her mother to a certain school for 'extraordinary children' which is just a front. It's a school meant for raising future villains and preparing them to officially enlist into their villainous organization. There is an elementary branch, junior-high branch, and then a high-school branch before they're sent off into the official organization. What i need help with is figuring out exactly how the hell would something like a school for villains even work without mentioning something simple and easy like brainwashing the kids. Or can i have these young children brainwashed and have interesting personalities? That's another thing i'll need to think about. How can you raise an entire class of villains with all of them wanting to do bad things? What about transfer students that weren't in the system since young? The normal person wouldn't think about robbing a bank or other villanious activities. Figuring out exactly how the teachers will be able to distort the minds of these kids in a way that still makes them at somewhat like normal kids in school is what I'm struggling with. How would the classes be taught elementary through high school? What kinds of classes would there be? What would a villainous organization want from their future members besides loyalty? TLDR: Supervillain School. How would that shit function?
Don't try to make the school a simple "villain" school. They aren't training punks to rob banks, but are trying to train leaders to take over the world (or whatever you come up with) . The students will probably be children of other supervillains, or scouted when their talents and personality are considered suitable. You would have classes on leadership, dictatorship, political brainwashing for whatever goal these villains have in common, and how to kill heroes in any way. You should pretty much not think like they are villains, but they are heroes in their own minds but society considers them villains. Or you could go the silly route, which is fine in an already silly superhero environment, and simply have "retired villains teach their ways of evil to aspiring young villains!" with classes on "how to rob banks quickly!" "how to look absolutely evil and cool!" "lessons on needlessly complicated schemes with a fatal weakness heroes are likely to make use of!" If you want logical and well thought reasons for a villain school then you probably have a really weird world that forces heroes and villains to appear
If you need inspiration, I would recommend the HIVE (Higher Institute of Villainous Education). It was a great series and made it work. The Basics: Students are split into Leaders Politicians/Bankers Mad Scientists and Enforcers curriculum, they are unable to leave until schooling is complete without a memory wipe, once students graduate they can do whatever they want (one became the PM of the UK)
Arrogant Young Master 101, how to be arrogant, suck up to seniors in your clan/sect, how to NTR the mc, how to get minions.
School for brainwashing, if the evil school not brainwash new talent, some of them might want to rebel and join Justice or bright Side The first thing is brainwash just like how terrorist mob eagerly want to do suicide bombing, ask the superhero would they want suicide bombing?
Well I’m not the best person to offer their opinion but I’ve read a lot of books so I can offer a penny for my thoughts. Personally one of my favorite perspectives is how villains believe themselves to be the heroes (term used lightly) of their own stories. They may know they’re not good but they don’t think they’re evil either, just choosing alternative ways to get what they want (For a greater good or revenge or power etc). But be careful not to make an antihero either. Unless they’re inherently psychotic ( an interesting personality difference you could add) most people know that they’re doing something bad and choose to do this anyways. What makes it different is the motive and the attitude. A rebel who robs and kills believes he is liberating his own people from oppression of a government while the government sees him as an anarchist and murderer. Do they believe rules are useless or are they seeing them as outdated and need for improvement. Maybe they have a motive or plan each time they rob a store or kill a certain person. To incite discordances in an enemy organization by targeting their family or to acquire influence and fear from others to make their future interactions easier. Maybe because they enjoy it? Easy power easy money easy fear. Most people are greedy anyways unless their parents beat it out of them, always going for the biggest slice of pizza or most pieces of candy. The exception is here they go about the dirty, blackened path of power. What would a villainous organization want most? Power, money, and influence. You could Have them grooming the children to be leaders, proving to them through trial and abuse that the easiest and most effective (not moral) way is the violent way. Lack of rules, kinda lord of the flies if that doesn’t seem too cliche. Don’t want to do your homework? Beat up another kid and steal his and the teacher is fine with it. need money for lunch? Steal from the teacher. Normalize the alternate way instead. Force students to be creative. You have to complete a test in an impossible amount of unfair time. How do you do it? Cheat of course. How? Do it without getting caught. Have a competition to see who can steal a gem from the basketball gym with the coach guarding it the fastest. Prove the evil way is the best way. Any ways goes as long as you get the end result. Granted a dog eat dog setting can easily turn into some cultivation weak to strong cliche but it is the basis for many darker novels for a reason and a good one at that. Give a reason for the normally suppressed dark desires in our hearts to fester in them maybe? Like one kid knows he’s not strong so he builds traps and another trains his body because he is in scuffles often. One kid could even manipulate his friends just so he doesn’t have to do any work himself. One way people seem to turn on each other is hearing half truths. Half truths can be a bullet for someone in a stressful situation. I guess your hardest struggle here is how do you get a school to beat normal morals out of a bunch of kids without brutalizing them? maybe pull a Star Wars and go from fear (primary) To anger (Middle) to hate (High school) lol Or even a draco Malfoy too. Petty mean and snide because he is insecure lonely bitter. Can even inspire from the seven deadly sins. If given an opportunity to have all you want with no consequences, can you really control yourself because of morals? You could even do some fun academy type deal if you want a lighter note. Oh I’m about to go to hacking and after that I have A bomb making Lab. My infiltration course is this afternoon. How to raise the dead 101. Blood and guts, how to clean up murder and teach underlings. Police 102, how to create a mole. We have to rob a bank with no teachers for our field trip. A grade C or below means you get punished in some way. Perhaps shamed, beaten, or suppressed. My teacher hates me but I hate him too so I put needles in his chair. The rules for that game is unfair but cheating is necessary. This seems kinda comedic and fun on a lighter note. id also suggest looking at the way other people have made their villains. Are u going for a super villain from a comic or one maybe from a novel or show. What type of atmosphere are you creating with this background? How have other written people in being villains without the standard oH I’m evil and I do it cuz I don’t care blah. kinda just listed some thoughts tell me what you think?
Wow that concept is so interesting. I agree that you should not think of them as a villains. Since they have powers how about that their powers aren't fit being heroes or their powers are too dangerous to fit in society, or some tragic backstory like they suffer from abusive or dark past that the only thing that is willing to accept them is the Villain school. Which is nice to see the point of view of those villains. And having just psychopath and sociopath with no really backstory and just want murder would really be funny. I would really want to see a charismatic villain.
Another thing I may add is most villains seen in writing have had triggers. Something triggered them to go full bad or full out with out a care for the consequences or lives of others. Perhaps this is what could make a few of the class rise above to become true supervillains while the rest stay as evil henchmen and evil office workers (lol someone has to do the mundane work)
It would be interesting if after they graduate the memory of the school will be wiped out but in their subconscious they understand and remember what they learned in school so they can act like what they thought, they also won't remember each other to avoid their villainous plan won't start just bcoz they are schoolmate and also they won't help each other Do make as many students as it fit but the one that can graduate is rare
This really depends on how you want to do it, and there are MANY different ways in which it can be done. Here are some that I am coming up from the top of my head, that I am naming myself. Most of them also have the side benefit of explaining where all the Villain's Minions come from: - The Latveria Method. One, or a group, of "Villianous" Supers took over a country, and teach the up and coming Supers of their country how to control and use their powers, their personal moral beliefs, and everything else that lead to them becoming the successful leaders of their own country. Will likely mix Powered and Non-Powered Children for normal classes, with separation for special classes like Powered Control and Gym & Free Periods, with the Non getting more Free Periods. Allows your "villainous" children to have an entire society where they fit in, and have a fall-back to in case their scouting's into the outer world turn disastrous. Named after the fictional country ruled by Doctor Doom. - The Genosha Method. A variant of the Latveria Method, for this one a group of Supers took over a Country and removed all the non-Supers from said country. Basically the same, but without the Non-Powered Children, as their society has completely removed all the Non-Powered from within it's boarders. Named after the fictional of Mutants country ruled by Magneto. - The Classic Cult Method. And underground school that pick up the "rejects" of society, be they Powered or Not, and raises them to be the best they could be in ways the rest of society rejects. This can be to accept and encourage their individuality, allow them more freedom, or, inversely, literally putting them in cages and not letting them out until they follow instructions, depending on the individual. The important thing is to give them a support network that is wholly reliant on the basis of the school. Named after how Cults gain new members, preying on those who have fallen to emotional breaking point and supporting them to build up something reliant on them. - The Mind Control Method. This method is a fairly simple one, Powered Individuals join the Boarding School because their Mentally Unprotected Parents are Mind Controlled into sending them there at a young age. Once there, they are raised to be dependant on the school and associated organisations for all emotional support. Basically a variation on the Classic Cult Method, only instead of picking up society's rejects, this method has people actively seeking out those with the potential to become powerful, having them join their school, and working them into their society from there. "Failures" are mind controlled into becoming minions. Naming reason should be obvious. - The Secret Protectors Method. Inverse to the previous methods, this method posits that those who are praised as "Hero's" are the true villains, and villains have a job to keep them distracted and content in their "role" as "Hero's" in order to stop them from attacking the Defenceless, taking over the world, or devaluing non-inherently valuables (inherently valuables like food and water) by repeatedly stealing Gold, Silver or just straight Cash to do things like pay their rent or amenities. Can be played both straight (as explained) or subverted (used as an explanation behind the organisation and school that is fundamentally untrue). Named for how the children should be taught to see themselves. - The False Government Method. In this method, the school is outright required to be a boarding school. The Villainous School pretends to be (or may actually be) a "Secret" Government Run Boarding School for just Supers, with a stated intention to raise Super Soldiers, Super Police, and even Moles for Super Hero/Villain Groups. And are willing to go to any cost to get these kids to obediently follow them. I'm talking having a few Healing Supers on staff to recover lost limbs and muscle tears from daily Gym Class. The NON-COMBAT DAYS of Daily Gym Class. Named the False Government Method because the intention, from a Villainous Organisation's Perspective, is to torture the kids into despising the Government, and thus joining their Anti-Government Organisation, though if done by the Government, the intention is to terrify the Kids into obeying the Government, regardless of what happens in the future.
I also agree that you have to make the villains think themselves as the hero or at least think of themselves as not evil. One thing I suggest you do is to cultivate a culture of neutrality and apathy. You want to create at minimum a group of neutrally aligned individuals that will turn into the base/foundations/start of anti-villains. From there, you then can pick the ones to turn into full-blown villains. This way you can transform normal kids as well rather than being forced to only have kids already likely to set on a path of villainy. Your goal is not to have perfect villains. Your goal is for there to be a net-negative (net-evil) in the world. This means preventing more good. One aspect of such a culture is the slippery slope of power. Power corrupts because it's easy. With power, you have access and the ability to abuse it as well as a level of leeway and a certain line or amount that can be overlooked. It includes justification, self-righteousness, viewing that there's no such thing as wrong or evil, that selfishness/self-interest is the norm and accepted because everyone else is doing it. For example, you are the manager of a restaurant. Your friend pays you a visit. They order and you decide to help a brother/sister out by using your employee discount to give them a discount. They ask for a cup for water, but in reality, use it for soda. You overlook it. It's something any good friend would do. It's not a big deal. No need to call them out and risk a friendship over a soda. Besides, even if the discount is for yourself only, nobody needs to know, it's your discount, you're the manager, it's harmless and all the other employees do it. Nothing wrong with helping a friend out. You wouldn't even get into trouble because it's minor and who would cause a fuss over such a thing? Now translate that into a scenario where you are a CEO or a high-level government official like a mayor. For example, easing and cutting steps in the paperwork/negotiation process for a friend's company. Nothing wrong with helping a friend. They may be flawed and there may be better people, but your friend will get better, you know them and trust them more, and accepting/overlooking flaws is a part of friendship. Plus, everyone else in the industry does it. You work hard and you earned it. It's not wrong to take advantage of your authority for some minor things. Your friend has helped you in the past so you should repay them. Your friend will also be doing good cause you trust them. They might be less qualified, but they'll learn. Not a very good person, well they're smart. Not very smart, at least they're someone you know and not some other. The bad is magnified, but the justification/goods are too. Even if there's good, it doesn't take away from the bad and the bad's scale. Another example is justifying nepotism, helping a relative get the job. The people better qualified losing the opportunity? They'll find work elsewhere and succeed there, not your problem. Besides, it's not a big enough thing for people to make a fuss about. It's expected. It's helping the family. You are the boss after all. Yadda, yadda. Do you see the point? Slippery slopes and bad translation of scale. Great power and great responsibility, but it's hard to really grasp the amount of responsibility, even more so uphold them. Another thing is that you can make the culture have an expectation of self-interest, selfishness, and neutrality. You're a poor artist and you donate a painting you made to a church. The painting blows up on the net and a lot of money comes into the town and church. Merch of your painting is sold and a lot of money is made. You want a cut of that money. There's nothing wrong with that. Sure you donated it, but it's your work and all of it started because of you. You could also really use the money. They can't seriously be expecting you to get nothing, right? They can call you greedy, but there's nothing wrong with you wanting a cut. It's understandable and reasonable. You can't expect everyone to be saints. You're human. Plus, you'd be in the legal right. This wasn't a really good example, but you kind get the point. The greed was normal. In my view, it was human and understandable. Greed/Selfishness/Self-Interest can be bad sometimes, but it's something everyone has and there are acceptable levels. Now corrupt this and twist it to make such a thing encouraged and fuel it rather than just accepted it via understanding. Make self-interest the norm. Make doing (a lot of) good or being heroic seem like an outlier, abnormal, extreme. Justify and never discourage self-interest and selfishness. Show that it's normal and what normal people do and are like. Doing good is the outlier, the extreme, the abnormal. Self-sacrifice? Who the hell would do that? They must be wrong in the head. Or maybe they just want something out of it. Don't help others in need. If someone gets in an accident, don't get involved. Don't help. You'll get taken advantage of. They might sue you for helping. It ain't worth it. The Peng Yu case has influenced Chinese culture to a degree where such lesson were taught to me as a kid (I, of course, don't accept and disagree with those views/lesson). There are many cases of bystanders doing nothing, not just because of thinking someone else will taking care of it (Bystander effect) or because they can't, but because they are afraid to help because good deeds don't go unpunished. Breed apathy, cynicism, and nihilism. Make an environment where the students see Good/Heroic People as weird. Peer pressure evil/apathy/selfishness. Think about the mindset of bullies. For some bullies, they don't even know that what they do is wrong. It might all be games, teasing, fun in games, or even a honor that they give attention/bully the victim. Even when they see it as wrong, they try to justify it or downplay it because no one wants to be the bad guy. Ego and Pride. Make a school environment of apathy that also encourages or forces students to do bad things. Maybe they know teachers won't do anything so they have to take matters into their own hands. Maybe, the adults even encourage out of the box evil thinking. Have a culture that accepts that snitches get stitches, that whistleblowers, tattletells, and people that need to "be the hero" are stupid and bad for business. You can foster things like elitism. Maybe evil business man type can be the "arrogant rich kid noble" elites of the school with the fancy building. Slip the school into even more hierarchical levels and groups. Or have each school fosters different stereotypes. Have branch schools. For mad science types, you should look at how academia work and how it can foster shoddy and sensational projects/experiments/papers. The way funding works forces a system where clean, honest, and thorough science is not always done. Older and successful academics/seniors also sometimes take advantage of juniors(in numerous ways). You can really be corrupted by such an environment. Magnify that. For full-blown evil, make evil cool. Something to think about is that there are many sides to the Neutral Alignment. Lawful doesn't always mean good. Browse TvTropes and all the subtropes of Anti-Villain; they might help you come up with more ideas especially with how many different personalities/archetypes of evil exist. There are a lot of real-life parallels that when magnified really work. Also, check out Worm. Spoiler The main character goes down a slippery slow. The novel also decontructs and reconstructs the superhero genre. Many people are shades of grey. The main character goes down a slippery slope of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Also spoiler, the powers are really interesting in how they create such a world of superheroes and conflict. Shards want conflict. The gaining of powers via Triggers creates broken/messed up people. The world is a crapsack death world where few heroes are all good and where the world is shit and society is struggling to stay together. I apologize for how messy this post is. I just had a lot of things to say and a lot of ideas to share. Also, I realized that some of the things I wrote make me seem like a sociopath. I'm not. I'm a writer.
While my post is incredibly neat and tidy because, to entertain myself, I design Magic/Mystical Systems that make sense to me, and expand that to explain the worlds they would fit into.
Guess I should mention the Kayfabe mentality, where there is a certain level of civility to the struggle between good and evil in order to maintain the status quo. Those who truly damage the opposition like a punisher or a joker are hunted by both sides. Either side can do whatever they want, as long as they don’t blur the line. If a villain builds a clean power plant or greenhouse to better lives, they need to build it with an aesthetic that makes it look dangerous. If a hero smashes an apartment building on accident, the villain will take responsibility in the eyes of the public