Hey guys
Haven't completely snooped around the site, but I noticed a thread about lack of Golden Age villains good enough to use today and this thread.
Wizard magazine (I know, I only bought it for the articles?) had a villain special about a decade ago talking about types of villains and although I didn't necessarily agree with their categories, they did havea point. It also had Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross developing Astro City's Samaratin villain, Infidel. Their process seemed pretty similar to this board.
THere are archetypes, ranging from hired goons ("hired goons"?), bank robbers, up to galactic threats like Darkseid.
Anybody want to work together to develop a list of possible archtypes and a couple examples of each. Keep them fairly broad, then we could use them as a jumping off point to create new villains.
Anyone?
My draft list:
Hired goon/cannon fodder - the nameless faceless hordes like Kobra Cult, Parademons, AIM, HYDRA, etc.
Superpowerd goon - the old Spider-Man version of Sandman, the Shocker, etc. - just some schlub with low level concerns (robbing banks)
"I'm gonna ruuuuule the world!" - Dr. Doom, Red Skull, Lex Luthor, the Claw - they want power, and they are smart (?)
The shadowy counterpart - they are a dark inversion of the hero and seem to exist to torment them (Joker, Venom/Carnage)
Cosmic Conquerors - they big, they powerful, they want to rule the Universe (or destroy it) - Darkseid, Thanos, Korvac?
Direct Opposites - like the old Bizarro Superman, or Reverse-Flash, or ... um Black Adam, etc.
Of course, there are more, and there are villains crossing many categories in varying degrees (Major theme/minor theme?), but what do you think?
Subject: Villain Archetypes 
