Antagonist Prompts

(see more prompts in Prompts App)

This is a list of characters/forces you can use as villains/antagonists, and their motivations. Also a list of movie characters that can work well if adapted to fantasy.

Villains/Antagonists

Assassin
Bounty Hunter
Criminal
Corrupt official
Crazy Scientist/Alchemist/Mage
Evil Wizard
Necromancer/lich
Religious Leader
Deadly Monster/Creature
Witch
Demon
Evil Machiavellian Mastermind
Your own employer
Your old mentor
Oppressive ruler
Brilliant Detective
Blackmailer
Military officer/general
Serial Killer
Noble/Lord
Misguided Former Hero
Organized Crime Boss
Powerful Businessman/Merchant
Fugitive/Criminal
Shaman
Trickster
Acolyte of a (dark god, demon, devil, old one, outsider)
Advisor to the (emperor, king, sultan, etc)
Alien Invader from another (dimension, plane of existence, world)
Alternate (dimension, history) version of hero
Being that has been imprisoned or in stasis for 100s to 1000s of years
Construct (body possessed by the villain, experiment of a mad mage or scientist, weapon from a bygone age)
Corrupted angel, hero, or priest / The Fallen
Demigod
Former teammate that everyone thought was dead
Next in line to be ruler
Possessed Hero or Priest

Evil Groups/Organizations

Powerful Organization (business, guild, etc)
Secret Society/Conspiracy
Cultists
Religious Fanatics
Foreign Nation
Thieves Guild
Gangs/Thugs
Spies, secret government agents.
Brainwashed/insane/mind-controlled group.
Hired muscle, mercenaries.
Misguided/evil locals
Angry Mob
Kidnappers/Slavers
Rebels
Terrorists
Mutants/outcasts
Witch-hunters
Invaders
Rival group of adventurers
Tribe/horde of orcs/goblins/kobolds/etc
Infestation
Spirits/Ghosts
Zombies
Vampires
Pirates
Ninjas

Antagonist Motivations

Pride/Ego (Prove themselves to someone).
Greed (Gain Wealth).
Envy (Destroy their rival).
Political Power (Rule an organization/town/kingdom/world).
Magic Power.
Knowledge.
Gain Fame, Respect, Influence, Social Status.
Revenge (kill/hurt a person/people who harmed them or someone they loved).
Fear (Do whatever it takes to survive.)
Misguided sense of Justice
Hatred (of a person/group/class/race).
Love/Lust (Seduce a princess).
Amusement/Entertainment (hurt people for fun).
Cruelty, dark/violent urges.
Biological necessity (drink blood, eat people, rampage).
Following orders.
Competitive spirit, desire to win.
Fanatical Patriotism.
Freedom/liberty (escape their imprisonment/curse to roam free in the world again).
Eternal youth, immortality.
Resurrect their loved one.
Repay their debt to the devil.
Escape pursuit of the law.
Faith/Religion. (Resurrect an ancient evil or a god, make sacrifices to the higher power.)
Ensure the success of their business/organization by any means.
Spread chaos and mess with people.
Enforce the status quo / unjust laws.
Enforce the will of their gods.
Conquest. Conquer/enslave region.
Defeat their enemy.
Regain their honor (by committing deeds their father/family/clan will find “worthy”).
Get summoned/resurrected (escape from hell, get their servants to commit the ritual that will birth them into the world).
Complete some world altering task before their death.
Maintain the power/status they already possess.
Obsessive pursuit of a goal, anyone or anything that gets destroyed along the way is just collateral damage.
Resurrect their child/god/leader/master/teacher.
To cleanse the world of the inferior, non-believers, unworthy, etc.
To harden the people in preparation for some catastrophic event (real, imagined, prophesied) that is approaching.
Infamy. They seek to out do all other villains (past or present).

Movie Characters

Movie characters that would work great as RPG antagonists (adapted to fantasy):

Bellatrix Lestrange
Dolores Umbrige
Snape
Ben Linus
Walter White
Gus Fring
Frank Underwood
Dexter
Lex Luthor
Lucius Malfoy
Draco Malfoy
Loki
Mycroft/Moriarty
Khan
Joker
Syndrome from Incredibles
Magneto
Mom from Futurama
Cruella de Vil
Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog)
Jafar
Yzma (Emperor’s New Groove)
Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
Rapunzel’s Mother (Tangled)
Grue from Despicable Me
Stewie Griffin
Hector Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Terminator
Hal 9000
GLaDOS
Thanos
Gollum
Davy Jones
Count Dracula
Agent Smith
Mr Burns
Tyler Durden
Freddy Krueger
Cersei
Petyr Baelish
Tywin Lannister
Viserys Targaryen
Daenerys
Hound
Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell (Prison Break)
Alexander Mahone (Prison Break)
Badger (Firefly)
Niska (Firefly)
David Monroe (HPMOR)
Mysterio (Spider Man)
Venom
Dr. Octavius
Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Imhotep (The Mummy)
The Kurgan (Highlander)

Good characters that would work great if you make an evil/corrupted version of them:

Captain America
Tony Stark
Firefly Crew
Tyrion Lannister
Dr House
Sherlock Holmes
Buffy Summers
John Snow
Sheldon Cooper
Kermit the frog
Batman
Barney Stinson
Data (Star Trek)
Jean Luc Picard (Star Trek)
Spock (Star Trek)
Taz (Tasmanian Devil cartoon)
Bender
Superman
Ross (Friends)
Phoebe Buffay (Friends)
John Locke (Lost)
Forrest Gump
Woody from Toy Story
Spider Man
Doc from Back to The Future
Yoda
Han Solo
Tony Stark
Shrek
Legolas
Professor Xavier
Genie
Jack Sparrow
Hermione
Dumbledor
Hagrid
Luna Lovegood
Professor Mcgonnagal
Ron Weasley
Indiana Johnes
Jason Bourne
James Bond
Deadpool
Wall-E
Dr Horrible
Megamind
Mike Wazowski
Bojack Horseman
Mr Peanutbutter
Timon and Pumba
Zoidberg
Ron Stoppable (Kim Possible)
Leslie Knope
Jim Carrey
Michael Cera
Elon Musk
Thomas Middleditch