Friday, June 06, 2008

The Villainous Tarot

Our recent conversation about composing an "anti-Trinity" has brought me back to the idea of villain archetypes.

The idea of villainous archetypes certainly isn't new, or unique to comic books. But when part of your central schtick is "one hero with many foes", then devices that help distinguish those foes become useful. Conceiving of archetypes among villains then helps you create new ones: you can see where the "gaps" are in the hero's villainry and create a character to fill it.

This concept is similar to the Dynastic Centerpiece Model we talk about here. In the DCM, we find patterns between a Dynastic Centerpiece and his or her helpers and supporting cast. In what I will call the Villainous Tarot, there's a set of archetypes that DC villains fall into it, in which, like the Dynastic Centerpiece Model, the members are defined in terms of their relationship to the central hero. The more fully that "Tarot" is filled out, the potentially richer the hero's Rogues' Gallery is.

Filling out the Villainous Tarot isn't a sure-fire thing. If you fill it with crappy villains, then your hero will still have a crappy Rogues Gallery. BUT-- and here's the key thing -- quantity (or, more accurately, variety) is more important than quality. More on that later!

But first, let's take a look at a sample for the Trinity...


Batman Superman Wonder Woman
Mocker Joker Prankster Angle Man
Crime Lord Penguin Lex Luthor Veronica Cale
Opposite Number Killer Moth General Zod Devastation
Twisted One
Two-Face Bizarro Silver Swan
Mental Challenger Riddler Mr. Mxyzptlk Dr. Psycho
Physical Challenger Killer Croc Parasite Cheetah/ Giganta
Gadgeteer Penguin Toyman
Sexual Challenger Catwoman Maxima RIP
Evil Genius Hugo Strange Lex Luthor Dr. Poison / Egg Fu
Manipulator Mad Hatter
Dr. Psycho


These are just some of the more obvious villainous archetypes. They aren't mutually exclusive (one character may fill more than one role) nor unique (one role may be filled by more than one characters). Nor is there any necessary hierarchy among these archetypes; for various reasons, a hero may wind up with an "archenemy" who's a Mocker (the Joker), an Evil Genius (Lex Luthor), or an Opposite Number (Zoom). Nor are these roles immutable; villains can evolve from one role to another (as Hugo Strange once evolved from Evil Genius to Opposite Number or Twisted One) or occupy different roles as the situation demands (e.g., the Penguin as Gadgeteer or Crime Lord). Role can be usurped; the attempt to create Devastation as an Opposite Number for Wonder Woman didn't stick long-term, and the new "Super-Manazon" that DC appears to be planning will now take that role instead.

And this is why the variety, overall, is more important that the quality. Quality is easy to fix. If a villain in a particular role is crappy, all it takes is one issue to give them an upgrade or make them more interesting. As long as a villain has any recognizability, they can be given a new paint job (e.g., Catman, Egg Fu, Black Hand). It's harder to introduce new villains and make them stick than it is to revitalize them.

When I asked you to come with an "anti-Trinity", you each chosen a different set of villains, and, consciously or not, your choices were influenced by what role the villain plays in that hero's Villainous Tarot. Some of you chose villains with the same role, so that they would all have a common goal to give your team unity. Some of you, on the other hand, chose villains with three different approaches to give your team variety. It's like in Risk, when to get extra armies you can turn in either three of the same card, or one card each from the three different types. Re-examine your own choices with the Villainous Tarot in mind, and see what it tells you!

Just like the Dynastic Centerpiece model, the Villainous Tarot can highlight weaknesses in the mythos of a hero. Try filling in the grid above for another hero. The problems are immediately apparent. Most of Flash's villains are, essentially, gadgeteers (and one trick gadgeteers, at that). Small wonder, then, that they've largely been lumped together what amounts to one threat with a variety of faces ("The Rogues"). No one's taking the role of the Mocker of Green Lantern (except for, you know, me and the rest of the internet). Black Manta has to fill five or six slots in Aquaman's tarot, and if you want to have a serious laugh (or a serious headache, depending on your attitude) try and fill that grid in for Green Arrow or the Martian Manhunter.

The nice part is that, in pointing out gaps, the Villainous Tarot spotlights opportunities. As previously mentioned, somebody at DC obvious thought something along the lines of, "Hey, Batman and Superman each have at least Opposite Number, maybe more; shouldn't Wonder Woman have one, too?" Angle Man's not really Wonder Woman's Mocker, just the closest she has to one; he could be pushed more in that direction, and new villains could be placed in his original roles as Mental Challenger, then Gadgeteer. Wouldn't someone Grimbor-like be an amusingly ironic foe for Wonder Woman, perhaps as an enslaver of trafficked women? Or old villains could be re-purposed to fill those roles; wouldn't Circe be more effective as a Mental Challenger for Wonder Woman, rather than as a tepid Mocker of her values?

The specifics of what is done what role or which character are merely details, and you could make a wide variety of interesting and valid choices. I wouldn't want to see every hero's Rogues' Gallery become cookie-cutter predictable, but I would like to see writers and editor take greater advantage of some obvious opportunities to fatten up their hero's Villainous Tarots!

44 comments:

Adama said...

I did a quick Tarot for green Arrow. I wasn't able to fill everything in, though.

Green Arrow


Mocker:

Crime Lord:
Brick

Opposite Number:
Merlyn

Twisted One:
Onomatopoeia

Mental Challenger:
Count Vertigo

Physical Challenger:
Brick,
Constantine Drakon

Gadgeteer:
Count Vertigo

Sexual Challenger:
Shado

Evil Genius:
Deathstroke, The Terminator

Manipulator:
Stanley Dover

Siskoid said...

Intriguing idea as usual. Do you think you have all Major Arcana covered though? The mention of Manazons makes me think that maybe there should be some kind of Enemy Race/Organization, and Ra's al Ghul's absence could be a spot for some kind of Ruthless Anti-Hero who considers himself an activist and thus a hero, but whose ends justify his means (in the Magneto mold).

Patrick C said...

For Superboy (RIP)

Mocker: Superboy IS the mocker
Crime Lord: Silicon Dragon
Opposite Number: Match
Twisted One: Silversword
Mental Challenger: ?
Physical Challenger: King Shark
Gadgeteer: Scavenger
Sexual Challenger: Knockout
Evil Genius: Dabney Donovan (potentially)
Manipulator: Silicon Dragons/Knockout/Paul Westfield/Lex Luthor - kid was easily manipulated

Anonymous said...

I came up with a somewhat different tarot for Green Arrow.
Mocker: Bull’s-Eye
Crime Lord: Jakob Whorsmann
Opposite Number: Slingshot
Twisted One: Clock King
Mental Challenger: Professor Million
Physical Challenger: Merlyn
Gadgeteer: Red Dart
Sexual Challenger: Shado (not so much a villain, but hey)
Evil Genius: Horace Kates (aka Wizard)
Manipulator: Steelclaw

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who thinks The Trickster would have been a great Opposite Number for Nightwing?

Both were the sons of circus acrobats, with James being scared of heights, whereas Dick was a natural. James willingly gave up his family for a life of crime, while the loss of Dick 's family lead him to a life of crime fighting. James is naturally inventive, while Dick's been given all his equipment and training by a billionaire.

Add to that the familiarity of a Joker-esque (though more mature/sane) gimmick, and you can't go wrong.

Anonymous said...

A couple thoughts on the Hal Jordan tarot:

Mental Challenger: I'd have to say Goldface, who fills in a couple other slots too. Several of Goldface's schemes were crimelordly in nature and couldn't be resolved with a big green boxing glove, and of course he's historically been smart enough to encase Hal in yellow bubbles (something Sinestro never consistently did).

Mocker: Tattooed Man (the original one). It's counter-intuitive, but his shtick seems to be goofy constructs that foil Hal and make him look dumb.

Anonymous said...

foil Hal and make him look dumb.

Like that's hard.

Jacob T. Levy said...

Patrick C's comment reminds me just how great Kesel's Superboy run was. Outside of the Milestone line, I can't think of another time in the post-Bronze Age that so many fun and memorable villains were created for a character so quickly.

Unfortunately the attempts to create a new deck of villains quickly usually feels *very* forced. Shuffling an established villain into a new or different hero's deck is often pretty forced as well. The modern DCU's self-consciousness about the idea of a "rogues' gallery" makes it even worse-- we get heroes complaining that their crappy villains aren't as cool as Batman's individually or Flash's in aggregate, and I get thrown right out of the story. The post-resurrection Green Arrow is exemplary here as far as I'm concerned-- some established villains who just get handed over to him for no particular reason, some new ones created that fail to grab my imagination.

Anonymous said...

Here's my tarot for Martian Manhunter.
Mocker: Mothman
Crime Lord: Mr. V of VULTURE
Opposite Number: The Marshal
Twisted One: Ma'alefa'ak
Mental Challenger: Getaway Mastermind
Physical Challenger: Martian Mandrills
Gadgeteer: Human Flame
Sexual Challenger: Bel Juz
Evil Genius: Professor Arnold Hugo
Manipulator: R’es Eda

Scipio said...

"Do you think you have all Major Arcana covered though? "

Oh, no; wasn't my intention to do so!

Anonymous said...

Tarot, tarot, tarot your boat! Here's my villainous tarot for AQUAMAN!
Mocker: Qwsp
Crime Lord: The Supreme One of O.G.R.E.
Opposite Number: Ocean Master
Twisted One: Kordax
Mental Challenger: Thanatos
Physical Challenger: Scavenger
Gadgeteer: Fisherman
Sexual Challenger: Aqua-Queen
Evil Genius: Dr. Varn
Manipulator: Black Manta

Anonymous said...

Scipio, I just realized: how could you leave Dr. Domino out of Wonder Woman's villainous tarot?!? Surely there's a space for Chairface Chippendale's spiritual cousin; as Crime Lord, Evil Genius, or even Mocker?

Tony said...

I always thought of Despero as the Martian Manhunter's arch-enemy, physical challenger and mental challenger.

Or is he more of a league-wide foe?

Anonymous said...

I think I would have put Dr. Psycho in the Mocker role for WW, Angle Man in Gadgeteer, and Circe or Ares as the Manipulator.

Scipio said...

Despero is traditionally a JLA foe.

Gus Casals said...

Great food for thought as always, Scip.

I'm still trying to find the right place for Circe in WW's Tarot.
She could be an opposite, she's definite challenger, and I guess another archetype is the mystic/magician, and she certainly fits there, as well as Myx for Supes, Kadabra for Flash and so on.

Zaratustra said...

Circe might be less of a Opposite Number and more of a Rival Twin: A villain that competes with the hero because they're alike rather than opposite (such as Atlas and Samson for Superman). Just a theory.

The Insect Queen might be Superman's Manipulator, no?

Let's try Captain Marvel:
Mocker - Uncle Marvel?
Crime Lord - Mr. Mind
Opposite Number - Black Adam, Captain Nazi?
Twisted One - Niatpac Levram
Mental Challenger - Mr. Mind
Physical Challenger - Ibac, Mr. Atom
Gadgeteer - Dr. Sivana
Sexual Challenger - Black Beauty (Yes, Cap has one!)
Evil Genius - Dr. Sivana
Manipulator - Mr. Mind

Mr. Mind and Dr. Sivana hog a lot of the spots here.

Anonymous said...

This works just as well for Marvel characters, too. Here's Spider-Man:

Mocker - Green Goblin
Crime Lord - Kingpin
Opposite Number - Dr. Octopus
Twisted One - Venom
Mental Challenger - Mysterio
Physical Challenger - Sandman
Gadgeteer - Scorpion
Sexual Challenger - Black Cat
Evil Genius - Alistair Smythe
Manipulator - Jackal

Diabolu Frank said...

totaltoyz, that Tarot for the Martian Manhunter is totally-- um, not bad actually. I'm so used to getting irate about that sort of thing, it's kind of a knee-jerk reaction. The Aquaman one was good, as well.

I had more issue with Scipio's examples. Killer Moth? Bane, Ra's, Wraith, Reaper, Black Spider-- I could go on for a while. Some potential Superman manipulators include Ruin, Conduit, Brainiac, Mongul.

The word "nemesis" gets thrown about a lot in comic books. If you look it up in Webster's, it's defined as "a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent." Despero is a classic JLofA foe, but he's also the Martian Manhunter's nemesis. J'Onn had a hand in almost every Despero appearance from 1960-1996, and has been singled out as Despero's most hated opponent since 1990. See? Knee-jerk reaction.

WONDER WOMAN:
Mocker: Dr. Psycho
Crime Lord: Ares
Opposite #: Devastation
Twisted One: Silver Swan
Mental Challenger: Circe
Physical Challenger: Giganta
Gadgeteer: Dr. Cyber
Sexual Challenger: White Magician
Evil Genius: Dr. Poison
Manipulator: Veronica Cale
Curiously Absent: Cheetah

Mr. Bretterson said...

Wonder Woman

Mocker: Duke of Deception
Lying, treacherous servant of Ares opposing the agent of Aprhodite.

Crime Lord: Doctor Cyber

Um, she's a crime lord.

Opposite Number: Nubia

Her symbol is the lion whereas Diana's is the eagle. I would also equate her with the serpent. The battle between which well symbolizes the battle between the celestial gods (Diana's benefactors) and the Chthonic gods (Nubia's benefactors).

Twisted One: Silver Swan

She's nuts. But use Helen Alexandros rather than one of the shitty post-Crisis versions.

Mental Challenger: Doctor Psycho

Ectoplasm! Not just generic comic book telepathy!

Physical Challenger: Giganta

She's giant!

Gadgeteer: Baroness Paula von Gunter

This is Wonder Woman's actual arch-enemy. See http://nonadventures.com/!

Sexual Challenger: Angle Man

Though really he had a thing for Donna Troy...

Evil Genius: Doctor Poison

She's Evil! And she can make poisons! She must be a genius!

Manipulator: Egg Fu

I know I'd do what he says...

Siskoid said...

Green Goblin, with his personal ties to Spider-Man (best friend's father and then the best friend himself) might point us to another Arcana: The Personal Foe. The hero would find it painful to fight this villain because of the personal relationship he has with him or her, or perhaps the villain knows the hero's alias etc.

Examples include Star Sapphire, Alfred as the Outsider (or the new and unimproved Jason Todd), Lex Luthor in Smallville, and any friend, girlfriend or family member who has been turned into a monster or villain over the years (the former Supporting Cast member).

The Despero discussion brings us to another set of Tarots, those related to teams rather than characters. And let's not forget the Enemy Team Arcana. The Super Revenge Squads of this world, you know?

Anonymous said...

This essay has helped me figure out why I've never been real keen on the Green Goblin. It turns out he's really just a glorified Gadgeteer (glider, pumpkin bombs, sparkle blasts, all sorts of gasses) with pretentions to Crime Boss.

All of the Goblin's cachet comes from his personal ties to Peter (which weren't in any of the Ditko issues anyway) and killing Gwen Stacy. The Goblin really only *means* something if you know the history (continuity). There's nothing in the concept itself that screams archenemy.

Thanks, Scip. I always enjoy the "theory" posts.

Diabolu Frank said...

justin-- How did you feel about the Hobgoblin?

siskoid-- the problem with a super-team tarot is that there are too few decent super-villain groups, especially with an overall identity, much less enough to be assigned to any one heroic collective. Perhaps that's a fault of super-groups in general, which might explain why so many teams gang up on one uber-baddie. I guess you could tarot the Mr. Sinisters and Starbreakers...

Anonymous said...

Interesting!

Let me try Captain America:

Mocker - ??
Crime Lord - Viper
Opposite Number - Winter Soldier
Twisted One - Crossbones?
Mental Challenger - (Not so much a Marvel thing, maybe.)
Physical Challenger - Cobra/Grey Gargoyle
Gadgeteer - Machinesmith
Sexual Challenger - Diamondback
Evil Genius - Armin Zola
Manipulator - Doctor Faustus

'Couple thoughts.

I'd rough-estimate that 60-70% of villains play "opposite number" at some point in their careers. Setting up hero/villain point/counterpoint is almost de rigueur in current superhero comics. This one feels a lot more broad in scope than the others.

I can't believe Wonder Woman doesn't have a Sexual Challenger. There's GOTTA be one. Hercules? Maybe?

Man DC needs to get on that, like, post-haste.

Anonymous said...

OK, let me try it with a Marvel guy who used to be my favorite super-hero: Iron Man.

Mocker - The Ghost (Tony Stark built his personal fortune and super-heroic career on technology, which the Ghost "mocks" by trying to destroy all technology)
Crime Lord - Justin Hammer
Opposite Number - Crimson Dynamo
Twisted One - Midas
Mental Challenger - Spymaster? (I'm admittedly stuck on this one)
Physical Challenger - Titanium Man
Gadgeteer - Unicorn
Sexual Challenger - Madame Masque
Evil Genius - Mandarin
Manipulator - Obadiah Stane

Anonymous said...

totaltoyz, that Tarot for the Martian Manhunter is totally-- um, not bad actually.

Thanks, FLD. I admit I was reaching with the "Martian Mandrills" but I was stuck for a physical challenger. I could have used the Marshal, but to do that I'd have had to either have him in two spots on the tarot or make Commander Blanx the opposite number, neither of which I wanted to do.

Anonymous said...

Frank: I loved the Hobgoblin, but he hasn't been ac enduring villain. After Stern/Romita Jr. and DeFalco/Frenz left and they cleared up the mystery, the second Hobgoblin floundered as a second-stringer, became a demon, became a Cyber-Goblin and got killed because no one could figure out what to do with him. Hobgoblin, then, isn't a very strong concept; he just had strong creative teams at first.

And a wonderful costume design.

markandrew -- Could we consider the Red Skull to be Captain America's mocker?

Diabolu Frank said...

totaltoyz, you could move the Marshal to Physical Challenger and make B'rett the Opposite Number and still keep the Pre-Crisis theme. The only exception in your list was Malefic, who could be replaced by Commander Blanx. Anyone who'd commit genocide to close a real estate deal qualifies as twisted in my book.

justin, my thinking was the Roderick Hobgoblin was a more compelling character that could fit in several tarot roles. The Macendale one, besides sucking infinately, was another lousy "gadgeteer," and lesser than Green Goblin.

markandrew, got to try my hand at a Captain America revision:

Mocker: Batroc the Leaper
Crime Lord: Baron Zemo
Opposite Number: Flag Smasher
Twisted One: Red Skull
Mental Challenger: MODOK
Physical Challenger: Serpent Society
Gadgeteer: Machinesmith
Sexual Challenger: Viper
Evil Genius: Armin Zola
Manipulator: Doctor Faustus

Anonymous said...

Here's what I have for Captain America.

Mocker : Madcap. A person who lost all faith in order in the Universe after a church bus accident he was involved in killed all the church goers including his family, but gifted him with powers of being immune to pain, regeneration, immunity to lethal damage and a madness inducing gaze.

Crime Lord : Captain America doesn't really fight street crime. I'm guessing that subversive organizations like HYDRa or the ecret Empire might fulfill the role.

Opposite Number I'd say Red Skull as he was the champion of Nazi Germany. Also Flag Smasher, the head of an anarchist organization. Since the last time I saw him he was a completely drugged up tool of a crimninal corporation, I guess he could be a Twisted One now.

Twisted One : One of the Captain America's from the 50's went insane and had to be put into suspended animation. He was later reanimatred and bercame Dr. Faustus's champion.

Physical Challenger : Crossbones as someone who matches Captain America. Mr. Hyde as someone who is a much bigger physical threat and has to be outhought. Maybe Batroc belongs here. His category seems more to be the out of his league villain.

Gadgeteer Machinesmith

Sexual Challenger : Diamondback, maybe the Sisters of Sin.

Evil Genius Armin Zola.

Manipulator : Dr, Faustus.

Anonymous said...

Just about all of Firestorm's foes are personal foes.

You've got

Multiplex : Martin Stein's lab assistant.

Killer Frost : Martin Stein's ex-girlfriend.

Typhoon : A bathyscape operator transformed when lightning hits a bathyscape his was operating. i believe the powersource was designed by Martin stein.

Hyena : Ronald Raymond's girlfriend's sister.

Black Bison : One of Ronald Raymond's teachers.

Anonymous said...

"Crime Lord : Captain America doesn't really fight street crime. I'm guessing that subversive organizations like HYDRa or the ecret Empire might fulfill the role."

Surely you haven't forgotten Sidewinder and his Serpent Society from the 1980s and 1990s? It was like the Mafia, except instead of Italian-Americans it was all Herpeto-Americans.

Scott McCormick said...

These comments have shaken out a few new ideas. I like the Rival Twin (as distinct from Opposite Number), the Misguided Idealist, and the Friend-Turned-Foe. What about the Unhelpful Helper and the villain created by the very existence of the hero?

Do groups get the same tarot?

Matthew McKinnon-Gray said...

I came up with a slightly different tarot for Martian Manhunter:

Mocker: Ma'alefa'ak

Crime Lord: Faceless and VULTURE

Opposite Number: Desperro (funny skin colour, physical superpowers and metal abilities, sounds like an evil J'onn to me)

Twisted One: Either Ma'alefa'ak or Dr. Trapp

Mental Challenger: The Master Gardener from the "American Secrets" mini series

Physical Challenger: Tor the evil Martian robot ghost

Gadgeteer: Locus

Sexual challenger: Bette Noir

Evil Genius: Dr. Trapp

Manipulator: Either Mr. Bones or Cay'an from the most recent mini series

I like yours a lot Totaltoyz. I have to admit, Tor and Faceless aside, J'onn's pre crisis opponents skipped my mind.

I also tried one for Azrael:

Mocker: Bane

Crime lord: Luc Lizardo - more of a sleazy businessman but close enough. Lilhy, Scratch or Biis could fill this role too.

Opposite Number: The Asian Azrael

Twisted One: Pretty much any Azrael villain qualifies but none more than Brother Rollo

Physical Challenger: Calibax

Gadgeteer: Biis on at least one occasion

Sexual Challenger: Sister Lilhy

Evil Genius: The Gray Abbot

Manipulator: Nick Scratch

Anonymous said...

I finally thought of a decent Physical Challenger for J'Onn J'Onzz: Korge (from Justice League of America #115).

Anonymous said...

For the Hulk:

Mocker: Speedfreek
Crime Lord: Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross commands a well-armed organization dedicated to destroying the Hulk.
Opposite Number: Abomination
Twisted One: Madman
Mental Challenger: The Leader
Physical Challenger: almost all of them, from Abomination to Bibeast to Trauma...
Gadgeteer: The Hulkbusters
Sexual Challenge: um... Betty Banner became the Harpy at one point, I guess.
Evil Genius: The Leader
Manipulator: Aggamemnon, Mephisto

Anonymous said...

See and this is one of the reasons I've been enjoying Brand New Day. Marvel is, essentially, building a brand new Rogues gallery for Spidey. Sure most of them probably won't stick but at least they're giving Spidey a few guys who'll show up later.

Mocker: Screwball

Crime Lord: Mr. Negative

Twisted One: Paperdoll

Physical Challenger: Freak/Deity (Who I think is supposed to return?)

Gadgeteer: Menace

Manipulator: The Bookie

David Weed said...

Daredevil's Rogues gallery wins

Bullseye - Twisted one
Elektra - Mocker
Kingpin - Evil genius
Mephisto - Manipulator
Mr Hyde - physical challenger
The Owl - Crime Lord
Echo - Sexual Challenger
Leapfrog - gadgeteer

..who am i forgetting..

David Weed said...

The greatest hero from any universe, i present you,
Rom, Spaceknight:

Manipulator: Galactus
Evil Genius: Gyrich
Twisted one: Hybrid
Sexual Challenger: Starshine aka Brandy Clark
Physical Challenger: Wraith-hounds
Mental Challenger: Dire Wraith (female)
Mocker: Dire Wraith (male)
Gadgeteer: the torpedo

has several opposite numbers, the other spaceknights who fight him towards the end of the series, ditko's run
yeah!

David Weed said...

How about for Optimus Prime:
Megatron: opp number/phys and mental challenger/ twisted one
Starscream: manipulator
circuit breaker: gadgeteer
Unicron: evil genius
sexual challenger/mocker: shia labeouf

Diabolu Frank said...

Another despute from contrary FLD:

DAREDEVIL
Mocker: The Jester
Crime Lord: The Owl
Opposite Number: The Punisher
Twisted One: Elektra
Mental Challenger: Bullseye
Physical Challenger: Gladiator
Gadgeteer: The Eel
Sexual Challenger: Typhoid Mary
Evil Genius: Kingpin
Manipulator: Bullseye

David Weed said...

Don't forget Stilt-Man and Beetle, two more gadgeteers, and the circus of crime, a bunch of mocker-gadgeteers, for ol horn-head


And Thor's rogue gallery someone..

Anonymous said...

Thor
Mocker: The Crusader
Crime Lord: The Son of Odin is above such mortal concerns
Opposite Number: Executioner
Twisted One: Loki
Mental Challenger: ?
Physical Challenger: Absorbing Man
Gadgeteer: Grey Gargoyle
Sexual Challenger: Enchantress
Evil Genius: High Evolutionary
Manipulator: Loki again

Anonymous said...

And, just for fun, here's a Villainous Tarot on Bill Clinton!

Mocker: Bill O'Reilly
Crime Lord: Newt Gingrich
Opposite Number: Al Gore
Twisted One: Hillary Clinton
Mental Challenger: Kenneth Starr
Physical Challenger: Ronald McDonald
Gadgeteer: Linda Tripp
Sexual Challenger: Monica Lewinski/Geniffer Flowers/Gina Gershon
Evil Genius: Karl Rove
Manipulator: Pat Robertson

Anonymous said...

Could this be one of the reasons The Spectre never quite got off the ground? Even though interesting villains appear in his stories, they rarely survive to a second appearance.

Mocker:
Crime Lord: Gat Benson (1-time appearance)
Opposite Number: Azmodus / Zor / Eclipso
Twisted One: The American Scream (1-time appearance)
Mental Challenger:
Physical Challenger: Anti-Monitor (1-time appearance)
Gadgeteer:
Sexual Challenger: Madame Xanadu
Evil Genius: Beltane (1-time appearance)
Manipulator: Shaitan