Lit Books Comics A/V Villains/Antagonists you'd like to see in future works, in any time period?

What are some Villains/Antagonists you'd like to see in future EU works, in any time period?

 

I want to see a Star Cabal like group in the post OT period. More out of a sense of wanting the galaxy to be truly free from the wars of the Jedi and the Sith

 

Make new enemy factions and think outside the box a bit. The Nihil were a step in the right direction.

 

I would like to see the criminal underworld be actually threatening at scale. Like Black Sun in SotE, Tavira in I, Jedi, or the Hutts in various stories. Not "we could rule the galaxy" big, but "we don't mess with their space" big or "this new sociopath running the Pykes is a threat to the whole Rim."

 

I think in the upcoming Post-ROTJ comics from Marvel it would be cool if Xizor came back as a major antagonist, he's gotten some buildup during Crimson Reign so it would be interesting how he would operate with the Empire gone but with similar large-scale goals, and it's a natural next step since the Star Wars 2025 run will begin 1 year after Jakku.

Also Guri.

That said all of the above options would be good for that time period.

 

1 more typical gangsters/pirates & the criminal underworld: what can I say I like these guys and they come in such variety too. Even without inventing any more new ones there are plenty I would like to see expanded upon.

2 the Nihil featured in a movie/show in the High Republic era, or a past/future version: Honestly feels like an expansion of the above, but whatever, the Nihil are a fun pirate turned terrorist turned rogue state group, honestly kind of star wars Cobra (is there an in-universe show called trooper joe with Nihil expies as the villains? In my headcanon yes), and would make perfect video game enemies.

3 return of the Mega-Corporations (Trade Federation, Techno Union, Banking Clan, new ones, etc.): In particular, I am interested in more stories featuring the imperial era ones prominently - TaggeCo, the Mining Guild, PreMor, CSA etc. And I especially want to see what the corporate confederation is about, such as if they were connected to any of the others I mentioned or part of the conspiracy to fund the First and Final Orders

4 darksiders more interested in destruction than conquest, like the Sorcerers of Rhand, Death Star all: Or more accurately, I like small scale force using antagonists, like the Blazing Chain pirates, or some of the dark side antagonists from Ultimate Adversities, like that Seth guy who wants to live forever and ruin individual lives for the fun of it, or the crazy one who thinks of the dark side as a god and became a serial killer in its service. Force using bounty hunters and mercenaries would be fun as well.

5 Something Else (please specify):
a) Local governments and warring factions are a classic mainstay of books and comics, especially jedi adventures in between the larger wars, and occasionally you get things like the Yevatha or Yinchorri who are a threat on a larger scale without being galaxy wide. I wouldn't mind that type of story appearing in a game or film as well.

In particular, in works set in older eras, it might be fun to see minor cultures as major players in their own right, like the Tionese-Republic wars, or the Adozec Hegemony making a brief appearance in SWTOR

b) Non-force based religious groups. Something like the Ffib from the Republic comics, but more high profile.

c) Mercenaries. Particularly organized companies. Can easily supplement any of the other villains on this list, and/or have their own agenda.

d) Space ninja. We got, like, a couple different options for them, it would cool to see some of them be more prominent.

 

I'm pleasantly surprised at the support for more Trade Federation, Techno Union, or similar types. It could also be very timely...

But I do hope we break new ground too. Written well, it could make Star Wars feel like it's rising again. Sith and Empire sell, but they shouldn't be the feature of any new flagship. I think LFL has heard us on not liking how the ST is too similar to the OT, and shows like Andor show there is appetite for well-written politics (at least the political background acknowledged).

If we have clear darksiders, and we will, we've really only seen them led by Palpatine in live-action (with the one exception of The Acolyte, but even that isn't too far removed from Palpatine). Even if you call them Sith, have the darksiders be bent on destroying the Republic or Jedi out of revenge and envy, more like terrorists, but literally not caring what happens next, just caring that these current iterations die due to perceived guilt over something. OR truly nihilistic and psycho, thinking the only way to bring peace is to end all life and all possibility of life, trying to re-create the Exegol fleet but just use it to destroy as many planets as possible instead of exert power... but you'd need someone truly sociopathic to lead it, and either brainwashed slaves or droids to actually follow that leader. Make them more visually distinct too.

I'd like to see different kinds of MegaCorporations too. I just want them to be distinct and given character, not just look like the Empire. The diversity and "personality" of the MegaCorporations of the PT are what make them so memorable and appealing.

Yeah, I should have said there could be darksiders with the criminal underworld too. We have started to see this with Jude Law's character in Skeleton Crew (so many different names, but you know who I mean) and what's implied about Baylan Skoll before he joins up with the Thrawn loyalists. Force-powered mercenaries, bounty hunters, pirates, and other criminals, perhaps working under the Hutts or Pykes or Black Sun too. Darth Cognus, Zannah's apprentice in the old canon, was also like this. We get a hint of this with Maul and Qira, and this would have been a bigger focus in Lucas's original outline for the Sequel Trilogy (with them deciding to put that storyline more in-between trilogies instead). Also responding to @Irredeemable Fanboy and @KirKanosForever here too.

Your Set Harth example actually fits under the "darksiders who just want to ruin Republic/Jedi and don't care about ruling." Smaller scale and less ideological, but that's kind of like what I was thinking of, someone like Set Harth would fit into the category, at least in my head. These are your "Joker" types, but a lot of diversity within them too. Another type within this category would be those who have a grievance against the current Republic or Jedi, think of the vendetta against certain Jedi in the Acolyte, but not necessarily being against the idea and existence of the Jedi or the Republic. Just seeing the current one as corrupt, or guilty of an atrocity of negligence, and thinking the people will sort it out after they destroy the current system. But all these types can fit under the "darksiders who want to cause ruin but not rule" category, in my mind.

The "serial killer" darksiders, who kill for the sake of killing and basically worshipping death, those I can see fitting under the other darksider category. Smaller-scale, diversity within that category, but still kind of in that mode of thought. The focus on death and destruction... not ruling, and not necessarily even revenge or ruin. Just ending others.

Smaller wars, with mini-empires or mini "alien" invasions, make sense. Kind of go with the "warlords" choice, since those alien invaders would be more like nonhuman-dominated variants of the Imperial remnant/warlord types. They should have stories, and are getting them in the New Republic period between trilogies. Just not very imaginative, and would prefer to see more of these other things, or at least the next "big thing" to not be focused on them. Since this is kind of what the First Order grew out of too. A classic, but also a "been there, done that" that needs a break before we get back to it. At least the resumed Thrawn movie would stand out a little more than the typical warlord, due to Thrawn standing out among other Imperials, and the alliance with the Nightsisters. I agree that overall it would be more interesting in Old Republic times, particularly before the last big Sith War 1000 years before the movies.

Religious groups and "ninjas" would just add a "flavor" to some of these other categories, I think.

What exactly do you mean by this?

Agreed. Hopefully some of these options are "outside the box" enough! I'm always curious about other options too.

 

Independent planets and nations that want nothing to do with the NR after the imperial defeat.

 

Would they be the villains, or would the New Republic (and any supporting Jedi) trying to conquer them be the villains? I think this could also fit under a couple categories above. ("Jedi Generals/Lords and/or Republic officers, semi-noble antagonists (idealistic Separatist heroes) "; "Light-siders who aren't truly villains, just different, like other Jedi orders or other republics"; "Jedi-like group but following a bloodthirsty Rebel group, like Saw's Partisans or Anti-Hutt rebels")

 

More Other...
Not villains. Just a government that is independent from the NR. For example the return of the Tion Hegemony as an independent nation. The NR is in the position of being told that they have to respect the Tion borders and sovereignty.

What is the NR going to do? Be the ones to start another war to force them to join the NR?

 

i want to see the Hutts declare independence and conquer a few neighboring sectors, re-establishing their sinister edge, while incorporating many of the ideas above:

• They get backing from corporations.
• They have a shadowy darkside enforcer, more psychotic than sithy.
• The real peril for the galaxy is if the Hutts and Imperials can make a deal to hammer the NR.
• Pirate Fleets are the primary instrument of the Hutt's reach into the borderlands.
• They threaten some smaller governments like Hapes or Mandalore.
• It is not some book-ended saga which will return the galaxy to the status quo...but an open-ended shift that may not go back soon or ever. A protracted cold war develops between the Republic and the Hutts. Getting inside Hutt Space becomes treacherous. Nar Shaddaa becomes the dark twin of Coruscant in terms of influence, traffic, and wealth. Everything happens there, and the good guys can't get there!

 

Having watched Ahsoka recently, I'll confess I find Baylan Skoll fascinating. He's a fallen Jedi who isn't a Sith, is intelligent, honorable, and keeps his promises, and while he's helping the Imperial Remnant it doesn't seem like he's genuinely loyal to them and is just using them to achieve his real goals, which apparently involve going "back to the beginning" to permanently end the eternal conflict between the sides of the Force. He's a type of villain one doesn't often see in Star Wars and I'm legitimately very interested in learning more about what his ultimate motives are.

 

Cool! It could work, but maybe in a different time period than post-ROTJ. That's just because Hutt Space has been independent already for a while, and Bloodline makes clear that the Hutts have been in sharp decline in the 25 years follow Jabba's death.

I think they made the Hutts way too centralized than what makes sense, Jabba didn't even live in Hutt Space and just was some guy in a dweeby palace with schmucks for his court, but it's what they went for with the new canon, starting with TCW.
*** My preference would be for Hutt Space to have one powerful crime family per habitable system, and it's a huge assembly (and effort) to get the hundreds to thousands of them together to make any geopolitical decision, which is why they hardly ever do, and why outsiders make deals with individual Hutts on their home turfs instead. (What the old EU seemed to be describing.)
*** That, or Hutt Space has always been "officially" part of the Republic, but just the mafia-infested part of it where they're the shadow government but true rulers. (What TPM seemed to be implying.)

 

What about combining some of them? Like a Criminal Mega Corp run by a darksider? (like Xanatos from the Jedi apprentice books)

 

I think it works best if it's an extant organization that gets taken over by a Darksiders - like if in Legends, around a year after Endor, some Emperor's Hand took over Black Sun. You've got a proper infrastructure that works, and then you put someone with Force visions and incredible abilities at the head and it's threatening AF

 

Imagine someone like Baylan Skoll being Xizor's right-hand man between ROTJ and Ahsoka, then taking over...

For the underground, what turns me off is too often they're the dumbest, short-sighted henchmen-type who run everything. But in real life, the true godfathers of crime had charisma and gravitas (which I'd say Skoll has, and the movie Sith Lords). A darksider like that in charge of a rising criminal underworld what be a newer story and get me invested, and not feel like they're C-level villains in a sidequest. I loved Skeleton Crew, and we need more stories like that (with small yet real threats of characters and places we've grown to care for) but those pirates just wouldn't make it as a bigger threat. Neither would the criminals who face Han in TFA or Solo, or who Fett faces in his "book." I'd say "The Client" has the gravitas of a godfather type, although he ended up being Imperial and not used as much as his potential, someone like him as the leader of the criminal underworld would work great too.

I do like tying ideas together too. Perhaps the Yuuzhan Vong stir trouble in the criminal underworld, to weaken the galaxy before their invasion. Or the Mega-Corporations know if they outright try to dominate like in the Clone Wars that they're too weak to handle that, so they employ the underworld instead. Same with the more unique darksider groups I mentioned, or the bloodthirsty rebels who justify extreme violence, or human supremacists who start off by inciting terrorism and chaos from oppressed nonhumans to justify their supremacist ideology.

But they have to have a truly threatening, charismatic villain of gravitas, or be a tool of one of those larger forces, for the criminal underworld to work as a real threat. At least for me. They've been botched too often.

 

Preferably not dark siders or Sith. I'd rather something new.
Though in my own ST rewrite I made the criminal element the antagonists, and that is a story I'm open too.

 

Thats a good idea. Kinda like what Maul did in TCW.

I like the idea of a mega-corp that also uses criminals. OR criminals with a mega-corp front. Say post war there is a a mega-corp that has a lot of influence, but it it also a front from black sun (or who ever), with the new secret head of the org is a Sith, kinda like what lucas wanted to do with Maul in his ST idea.

 

pius dea Returns

 

I've been thinking about this and its interesting to note that the "allience" in the Rebel Allience is referring to all the factions who banded together to fight the empire. Now that the empire is gone, the allience of nessecity is over. What of some of the faction's have belifs that are contray to the New Republic and become a hostle foe to them?

 

I'm thinking that's where some of those factions mentioned in the Aftermath trilogy come from. There's that pirate "nation," who maybe could have been some of their underworld connections. Then there's both the Neo-Confedation/Separatists, which seemed to be the non-corporate side of the Clone War's separatists, and a separate Corporate faction. My guess would be the Neo-Confederation types were eventually convinced to join the New Republic in some part, or if some remained independent I don't think they'd necessarily be hostile.