Guild Wars 2

If Today, the Anet writer come to your house and beg you to create the best vilain in game EVAR, how it would look ? Personality , power, race , etc.

My favorite vilain have always been the dramatic one who came from the good side, but fall into darkness, like Arthas, Darth Vader, Sasukee ( booooh me, boooooooh me ) .

So it could be, you know, Braham who try to bring the Norns to Jormag, but in seek for power , he would fall under the mental influence of Jormag (or other dragon, it’s just an example). Also, the corruption is fun when there is a mental process behind, not just a magic spell who corrupt the good guy in 3 secondes and it’s all.

There is also the vilain type, most of the time lawful evil, who is evil because they fight for a cause greater than him or us, and we screw all up when we defeat him and cry because we discover he was a kitten for the good of the universe. ( I don’t have an example in my mind for now, so if someone can bring one, with cookies and milk.)

ps : sory four baad angliphss

I think the best villain ever (at least for me, myself and I, all three of us!) would be someone who isn’t evil for some MAD reason. It would be someone who simply wants to gain something by doing “villainous” acts.

For example a noble who hires X group to perform attacks on Y place to distract the Seraph from his own militia taking over place Z.

In other words, something logical, but unexpected and without super “deus ex machina” plot twist giving him invulnerability. Instead of someone like Scarlet: “Undefeated, super genius, amazingly powerful”, I’d prefer someone who simply knows strategy, tactics, have goals and means to reach them, that happen to be immoral.

In my eyes at least, a villain who isn’t evil for the sake of evilness, or even evil at all would make for a much more convincing, and thus more interesting story than an uber powerful super villain who s evil because “yolo”.

I think the best villain in this case would be one you never get to actually kill. I proposed this as a possibility in the Krait thread, but it works as an example here too.

Imagine the Krait are building one of those prophet ascension pillars in Kessex Hills. When it’s done, the wannabe prophet priest shows up, he throws some people on a pyre or whatever and ascends. We try to stop him, but we’re foiled at every turn, and at the last moment, right as we get to him, he ascends. He’s now somewhere we can’t go and that we know absolutely nothing about. The only thing we do know is that the Krait are very convinced that that guy and many more like him are going to invade Tyria one day with an army big enough to wipe everything that’s not playin on team Krait out.

I’m reminded of the old Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon (the good one, not the one that needed eye bleach). It had a lot of potential with the dichotomy of Robotnik and Snivly. Robotnik was the big face of evil, while all the time in the background, Snivly was the one making things happen. Robotnik was a genius, for certain, but he was only the overblown face of the organization. The last episode of the series revealed that Snivly was really the one pulling the strings, calling the shots, and making things happen. Without him, Robotnik was just a fat man with a bad attitude who got lucky once.

So I would like to see something like that. A villain who is just the face, but who everyone believes is the one who is calling the shots. S/He may even believe s/he is in control. But behind the scenes, his/her right hand wo/man is really the one who has the connections, the insight, and the capacity to make the schemes work, lay the traps, and overall get things done. The overshadowing may be intentional as the “lackey” bides his/her time, waiting for the right moment to strike and bring everything crashing down. Until then, s/he plays the role of servant, not doing anything to remove him/herself from the situation so that s/he has access to all that power.

We keep defeating the face, but s/he keeps coming back with new schemes. This isn’t the same as Scarlet, because the face is imminently fallible. S/He’s hardly a master of all talents. In fact, s/he’s probably only specialized in one talent, two at the most. Focused, so to speak. There’s a madness driving this villain. This madness is fed by the “lackey”, who strokes the villain’s ego to keep them focused on the mission at hand and attention diverted away from the lackey’s own plans. We, as players, may learn something about the lackey, and even suspect s/he may be behind some of the mayhem, but we’ll always be directed back at the main villain, the face, as the one to blame for the overall carnage.

That sort of villain pairing is what works for long-term interaction. If we are to get a decent villain for the Living Story, it needs to be someone less Mega Sue.

personally the first time through the living story that I saw Risen Ferghen I thought that he was going to have a much bigger impact on the story than what he did…oh well missed opportunity I suppose.

edit:
Ah here we go an alliance between the Lost, and the Apostate after having both turned away from abbadon. it looks like the forgotten will soon win their age long war against the margonites Commander Thurnis seeing this as an opportunity to wipeout this wicked race from the world, he orders his troops to fire on the Lost, he is pinned to the ground by several arrows and left for dead, but he survives later finding the Apostate the only other living margonite. the Apostate begins to feed the Lost information on how to this used to be the realm of a different god before abbadon and with a certain magical artifact (ex armbrace of truth) to resurrect her and punish the traitors who left us for dead. Together they venture to the spiders heart…

Zwierz, you remind me of a vilain who came by last friday in the Legend of Korra . I don’t remember how to use spoiler balises, so if someone who have seen the episode could explain to everyone, it will be gentle. And yes, you know who i’m talking about.

Scarlet is a perfect villain.

A member of the enqueste with more panache than Kudu.

A story that develloperait with us over time, we thought a nice NPC, which sways gently in the background.

When loss of comrades, or bad choices, it slowly becomes your antithesis.

something like that.

I will be looking more at villains that actually wants some kind of “greater good”. And for that greater good they are willing to sacrifice others.

Look at the organizations I made to get an idea:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/fangen/Create-your-own-Living-Story-patch-A-game/

1) Erinyes – Sacrifice children every 50 years to prolong their lives. Their battle experience and knowledge cannot be obtained otherwise. Their goal at the end though was to protect humanity.

2) Angels – Want to rule over the humans, with the ultimate goal of changing all future humans into Angels (humans naturally infused with the power of Abaddon). They believe that Angels are what humanity is destined to become. That’s what humanity’s greatest god, Abaddon, wanted in the first place. Once all humans become Angels, they will rule over all other races with superior magic.

Ok, lets go back and rewrite a few things. Let’s say that the agitator in Southsun isn’t just some mysterious Sylvari and was instead someone connected to one of the characters, lets say he’s Ellen Kiel’s brother. Ellen follows orders to capture him and bring him back to Lion’s Arch. The consortium presses for his execution and Captain Magnus has to agree. At the Dragon Bash the aetherblade attack still takes place but the Kiels escape together to the hidden base. There can still be an investigation but this time players have to do something to uncover Mai Lin and find the hidden base. We go through the base with Jory or Kasmeer and at the end of the dungeon one of the Kiels is killed but Mai Lin and the other Kiel get away. This leaves two well known and fully motivated aetherblade captains as villains in Scarlet’s organization. Scarlet herself can then be introduced over the next couple of months.

A villain idea, meaning our enemies?

A Human guardian that fights to protect his little sister. This little girl has vast powers and could summon mayhem.

The Asuran, and the humans have problems with communication with the guardian causing a mis-communication between them.

However, The Inquest is after the little girl as well. The Asurans know too well that the little girl can’t fall into the hands of the Inquest but also, the guardian and the little girl is causing too much havoc and destruction wherever they go. They must be stopped.

The Heroes of Tyria must kill the guardian and retrieve the little girl.

Character personality:

The human guardian is completely stubborn. Sometimes, you will hate that stubbornness. He only wants to be left alone. He just doesn’t trust Asuran to keep his sister safe from all harm. He also doesn’t trust his own kind after the humans tried to sell him out.

The little girl has a motherly attitude even though she is still small. After seeing blood after blood and going through the length that her brother gone through, She can only offer small things she can only do. Feeding him, tending his wounds, giving him morale support. She is the kind of character that you don’t want to destroy bonds.

However, both characters do not know the magnitude of her powers. Anywhere they go, the little girl has to release her influx of power, destroying villages and massacring people. In the game, we would see NPC’s opinions on the little girl.

I like grey area stories, which is why I love Guild Wars 1. Do we capture a little girl to save thousands or leave her alone but risk her killing thousands and get captured by the Inquest?

It’s since been turned into the Scarlet storyline, but I really do like my “Agent Provocateur” idea I originally proposed last year as a lead-up to a Canthan expansion. Here’s how it would have worked:

1. In Cantha, the current Emperor has completely subjugated the continent. Full of ambition, he now has goals to expand the Dragon Empire across the seas and conquer the continent of Tyria as well. While he prepares his armies for war, he sends several agents over to Tyria to make things easier for the invasion by destabilizing the ruling kingdoms however they can.

One of these agents decides to form the various renegade/evil factions into an alliance and goad them into launching potent attacks against the established governments. Her first success is with the Molten Alliance (though it was stopped through the player’s efforts), and she later also forms the Aetherblades (funded and backed by the Xunlai Banking guild, who she co-opts in the name of the Emperor) to act as her own personal army if needed. She tried to set things up so that Mai Trin became one of the Captain’s Council (and thus put herself in a position to start pulling strings in Lion’s Arch), but the players thwarted that plan too.

The Agent would have organised an alliance between the Inquest and Nightmare Court too, eventually culminating in a raid on Lion’s Arch between the Molten Alliance, the Inquest/Nightmare Court, and the Aetherblades in an attempt to seize the city. Once again, the players foil this attempt, although the true reason for why the Agent was trying to gain control of the city doesn’t become obvious till a few months later, when a massive invasion fleet from Cantha shows up and it becomes clear that the Agent had been trying to take control of Lion’s Arch so that the Emperor could use it as a beachhead to land his army and start his invasion.

2. This leads into the Canthan expansion, where the players first fight back the Emperor’s armies, then sail over to Cantha to begin a guerrilla campaign against the Emperor. (This is also where the Tengu would have become a playable race, as they’re eager to reclaim their homeland.)

3. As the expansion progresses, we discover that the Emperor possesses near-godlike power, drawn from an Elder Canthan Dragon that he has captured/subjugated using powerful magic. (Or perhaps the Emperor has fallen under the sway of the Elder Dragon and become its Champion.) Either way, it once again ties the storyline back to the Elder Dragons.

If I could turn Braham into a villain in Guild Wars 2:

• Cragstead was attacked by the Molten Alliance once more, Braham promised Ottilia that he will come back for her and get help.
• Braham sought for aid from Hoelbrak again and but did not received help from his own people like before; not even his own mother, Eir Stegalkin.
• Braham then asked Rox to help him but she apologized that she cannot anymore because she is now part of a new warband and she can’t just abandon her responsibilities.
• He went to Divinity’s Reach and talked to Countess Anise and asked for her help but she said that the Shining Blade cannot leave DR because their priority is protecting Queen Jennah.
• Braham came back to Cragstead to see only its ruins. The worried Braham ran back to Ottilia’s place and saw her cold body lying on floor stabbed by her own weapon. He stood in front of his dead beloved for a good five minutes. His knees weakened and he kneel down and prayed to the Spirits of the Wild but they did not answer.
• Now the torn Braham thought that the world is against him. Then, Jormag whispered into his hear: “Come to me, my child. The North. Far Shiverpeaks as the mortals have called it. I shall aid you. . .”
• Braham came back from Far Shiverpeaks with his own army of Sons of Svanir, Icebrood Kodan, and two Claws of Jormag. They marched towards Hoelbrak.
• Knut Whitebear underestimated Braham and led the downfall of the norn settlement.
• After the fall of Hoelbrak, Braham and his army entered Ascalon. Their path become covered in ice and snow.
• An Ash Legion Scout reported to Rytlock Brimstone. The Charr knows about Braham’s intention – to invade the Black Citadel.
• In battle, Braham and Rox met:
  “You know I’m ready. I can’t speak for Frostbite. Then again, neither can he, because he can’t talk.” Braham said.
  Rox remembered the exact same conversation she had with Braham in Crown Pavillion and replied: “He talks. You just have to know how to listen. Right, boy?” Frostbite then purrs. “See? Frostbite’s ready. Let’s show Braham what happens when you mess with our pals.” And the two clashed.

First rule of creating a likeable villain in GW2: They have to take down Trahearne at some point. If you manage to make the shrub likeable in the last 10 minutes of his life, all the better.

I’d love it if story progresses to a point where the blood imperator Bangar Ruinbringer and Legate Minister Caudecus become true villains.

As to why? Well, for Bengar see my thread here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lore/Concerning-the-future-of-the-Charr/.

And Caudecus is clearly a white mantle leader who funds centaurs and bendits to make queen Jenna look weak and who uses populist rhetoric to become loved by the people.

They both stand in the way for true peace between charr and humans.

Diovid.9506:

I’d love it if story progresses to a point where the blood imperator Bangar Ruinbringer and Legate Minister Caudecus become true villains.

As to why? Well, for Bengar see my thread here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lore/Concerning-the-future-of-the-Charr/.

And Caudecus is clearly a white mantle leader who funds centaurs and bendits to make queen Jenna look weak and who uses populist rhetoric to become loved by the people.

They both stand in the way for true peace between charr and humans.

So Demmi Beetlestone is actually a White Mantle Spy that infiltrated the Order of Whispers? Epic!

The Meat Wagon.7194:

Scarlet is a perfect villain.

Not even close.

If I were to make a villain I’d make them amoral. A lot like Gauron from Full Metal Panic.
Then again, somehow ANet managed to take that character type with Scarlet and completely screw it up.
They’d need to act unsettlingly familiar with certain characters (I like this direction in the recent TA LS). There needs to an air of uncomfortability when they are around and they should rarely be around. On which note why does she pop up all over the place in these clockwork invasions? It’s killing any threat she possesses by making it seem like she spends all of her time screwing around trying to burn country side.
They also need to show absolute disregard for those around them and instead of defeating them like some Tyrian Team Rocket have defeating their latest scheme mean unknowingly killing off a character or causing something horrible to happen. Have it done in such a way that the villain almost WANTS you to defeat them so that they can have you walk into doing that. This would set characters and players on edge when they face the villain because they would have no idea whether or not they even WANT to stop them.

I don’t know…I just wish they had made a villain like Scarlet but without the saturday morning feel.

Honestly, and it hurts me to say this (very deep inside) Palawa Joko was a great villain. The hate I have is based on ArenaNet’s decision to not allow me to kill him. That said, he could be brought back into the game to accomplish great things.

SpeedFiend.4521:

I think the best villain in this case would be one you never get to actually kill. I proposed this as a possibility in the Krait thread, but it works as an example here too.

Imagine the Krait are building one of those prophet ascension pillars in Kessex Hills. When it’s done, the wannabe prophet priest shows up, he throws some people on a pyre or whatever and ascends. We try to stop him, but we’re foiled at every turn, and at the last moment, right as we get to him, he ascends. He’s now somewhere we can’t go and that we know absolutely nothing about. The only thing we do know is that the Krait are very convinced that that guy and many more like him are going to invade Tyria one day with an army big enough to wipe everything that’s not playin on team Krait out.

The Meat Wagon.7194:

Scarlet is a perfect villain.

We take these two ideas and put them together! Scarlet wants to hijack an ascension ritual because she just knows how they work but what is on the other side is unknown to her and it irritates her. She succeeds! But now she is gone. Probably automagically converting all the krait over on the other side to loving/worshipping her. Maybe she can take the bloody prince with her and they can have a baby.

If I could create one? Hmm…

I think I would make an Ascalonian Foefire ghost similar to Bria, the ghost in Iron Marches that had free will and retained all her powers she had in life. Only this time, the ghost would be a mesmer, and he would have the power of “possession” by overtaking and subduing the victim’s mind and replacing it with his own.

Since he’s going to be a villain, I might as well make him a bit powerful. Let’s add the ability for him to take knowledge and information from his victim’s mind, before he destroys it, and he can used such knowledge to perfectly impersonate the person. Might as well go the full gambit, he is also able to use all his host’s body’s skills to the best of their ability, as well as his own mesmer abilities.

So, no matter what his host’s profession is, he will always be /mes. (Like the days of old!)

His instruction would be a LS of him infiltrating the ranks of the Black Citadel. He would jump from body to body, making his way up the ranks, and leave a trail of dead, comatose, or insane victims behind him. This is where the player shows up to investigate.

Long story short.

1. Player helps Rox and npc investigators.
2. Main investigator leads players of a merry hunt of killing Flame Legion and Renegade “suspects”.
3. Investigator leads player to Ascalon ruin, and has Rox clear out different ruin. He looks second investigator in the eye, then proceeds to kill himself.
4. Horde of ghosts spawn, attacking the players, but mysteriously allowing the second Charr investigator to flee unharmed.
5. Player returns to BC afterwards, only to get jailed. The investigator has accused the player of killing the lead investigator. Smodur allows the player to plead his/her case, but has to postpone judgement to a later date. He has an important meeting to go over the final stages of the Charr/Human peace treaty.
6. Rox, after hearing both sides of the story, and smelling something fishy, sends Frostbite to help the player break out of jail.
7. Rox and player rush to the meeting area, only to find it being attack by ghosts, and Smodur and the Investigator fighting in the center.
8. Smodur cuts down the Investigator when the player approaches, and for the first time, the ghostly villain is shown raising out of the corpse.
9. (Insert mesmer battle with a lot of teleporting, illusions, and ghost summoning.)
10. Ghostly villain vows vengeance on the Charr and the traitorous humans for daring to embrace their swore enemies, before the players and/or Smodur kills him. His final words before fading away is, “You cannot kill what is already dead…”
11. Cuts away to a cutscene of him slowing reforming in some forgotten Ascalon ruin.

Or, they can simply expand of Bria. She could very easily be expanded on into full villain status. She is even already stealing the souls of Charr cubs, so she’s more than halfway there! lol

I want an actual Nemesis, and if the Nemesis has to be Scarlet, you have to be starting to get on her nerves after stopping her on atleast three seperate occasions already. I would want her to not only be a better, even more demented villian, but a villian that really irritates you on a more personal level.

I want a Living Story Release where she apparently knows everything there is about you, and she totally uses that to her advantage to get under your skin. For Example…

You get a letter from Logan, Rytlock, Caithe, Eir, or Zojja, saying that you need to go speak to them, Immediately!. Scarlet left a “Package” for you.

You go to them, depending on where (for this example, lets stick with Logan, you need to go to the Seraph headquarters), and you see a giant box. Well, you knew what happened the last time Scarlet sent you a package, so you take extreme caution. You open the package, and its just a holographic Scarlet, talking to you The Player Directly.

She says that she has taken an interest in you, seeing as you have stopped her plans on atleast three seperate occasions, she wants to speak to you. Logan says that this is an obvious trap, you shouldn’t do it! Then the holographic Scarlet keeps talking. She says that she thought that you might not want to come, so just in case…, she kidnapped someone important to you so your would be sure to come rescue them like the good hero you are! (In the case of humans, this would be Lord Faren, Petra, or Quinn, your friends depending on the social status you picked at character creation)

You go to the Location Scarlet marked on your map. (It could be an Aetherblade base in the Shiverpeaks for example) Turns out, it was a trap. You and Logan are attacked by Aetherblades almost immediately. As you make your way into the base, you find more Holographic scarlets telling you everything she knows about you and also about how much of a pain in her backside you’ve been.

(spoilers for those who havent finished these stories yet)

At the bottom of the Tower, there is another hologram. Scarlet speaks to you, saying that she doesn’t think she needs to say anymore. The message should be clear!

You get a reward for completing the dungeon, but this whole instance should not be designed to feel like a victory,…for you atleast. It is 100% a total defeat. Scarlet knows everything there is to know about you, and she knows a weakness that can be used to your disadvantage in the future.

…That’s what I would do to make Scarlet a better Villian, or atleast one I would actually care about happily dicing into little bits of red salad in the future.

Edit : I’m sticking with Scarlet because the design of her character is very good. She just doesn’t feel like much of a threat yet, atleast to me, the player, who defeats her every time I see her. If there was an instance where she specifically defeats ME the player, then I would like her as a villian a little more. And as a bonus, it would also continue the personal story a little!

Seriously, something like that would be almost the perfect thing to really get her under the player’s skins, although that would lead to a very branched/varied story for the players. I know if I learned that she had kidnapped Dinky or Deborah or perhaps Malyck/White Stag in order to get under my character’s skin there could be some real motivation in the fight finally.

Turn Trahearne into a villain. Who wouldn’t be happy having to finally blow his head off?

Then Kormir as a final boss, just to give that “God-Slayer” feel.

ANet, where is my money?XD

Simple: a terrorist.

They wouldn’t really have personality because you wouldn’t ever interact with them directly – you would only see him/her through the typical brief videos/holograms. An Asuran with a device that can cloak everything in darkness (read: your entire screen goes black for a few seconds) – the device has a chance of activating during all dynamic events (except for really difficult ones like Tequatl). That would get the villain under the players’ skins.

I would tell him to go back home because he is drunk.

Someone who we know is very powerful, not only because of his powers, but mostly because of connections. Someone who’s not either bad or good, more like grey.
Someone who isn’t mad or working without the reasons. Person who is very confident, adult, who we feel is always step further than us. Who has clear ideas, not to “destroy the world muahahaha” but more like someone who has his own vision/idea on how to “fix” thing, a born leader with charisma, yet not loud.
It can’t be any crazy technican or zomg big boss. More like a man in a suit.
It has to be someone we would like to join

If you have ever read “The Witcher” saga, take a look at Emhyr van Emreis or Vilgefortz. They’re both perfect villians for me. Especially Vilgefortz

Mad King is already exist.

I think Gnashblade would make a good villain. He has power of his own, is possibly one of, if not THE richest NPC in game, and has a real reason to not like the players much. His influence is felt everywhere as the bltc is located most everywhere. He could make his push for domination from the shadows. Perhaps he is the one behind Scarlett….

I wouldn’t make a redeemable character, but rather a villain who knows that he or she will not be liked.

For example, I’d make a Caudecus-style human extremist. He thought that the Minister could get things done, but clearly has failed. He even failed to reign in his own daughter. So my villain would undermine the Minister’s hold on the Bandits and use them to attack the other races.

Stealing every bit of tech and magic possible from them, his forces would have made blitz raids on people and leave evidence behind of the other races. A Charr home gets sacked and a Sylvari sword is left behind. Asuran labs destroyed with a Iron legion banner riding high nearby.

Sow some confusion with the other races, cause strain on the treaty between the Humans and Charr. Have the Sylvari question if the Inquest is experimenting on their kind as the Asurans did to one of their Firstborn years ago.

As the heroes track him down they find out he has found some ancient magical McGuffin which he claims will bring back the Mursaat. As it activates, turns out it only lures a new Dragon closer to Tyria. The villain will die, either by the heroes or by his own hand (hey the game is up, might as well not give the goodie two shoes the satisfaction), but his last words will echo into the darkness:

“You have FAILED dear Queen Jennah. You all have failed. Evil, true evil, is now on our soil and Humans need to stand firm. Not this Pact, not this collection, but our backbone alone. If we do not then we become nothing more than servants for these other races.”

There’s no redemption, this guy will not see any goodness. He is pure hate pointed at the other races and the weakness of his own. He is also willing to bring a Dragon to Tyria’s soil just to prove a point.

That’s my villain. Is it cardboardish? Is he a one trick pony? I don’t care, because as a hero I’ll feel good taking him down.

A villain who hates the main character for past actions and choices.

A villain who is is strong because of political intelligent.

Rym.1469:

Someone who we know is very powerful, not only because of his powers, but mostly because of connections. Someone who’s not either bad or good, more like grey.
Someone who isn’t mad or working without the reasons. Person who is very confident, adult, who we feel is always step further than us. Who has clear ideas, not to “destroy the world muahahaha” but more like someone who has his own vision/idea on how to “fix” thing, a born leader with charisma, yet not loud.
It can’t be any crazy technican or zomg big boss. More like a man in a suit.
It has to be someone we would like to join

If you have ever read “The Witcher” saga, take a look at Emhyr van Emreis or Vilgefortz. They’re both perfect villians for me. Especially Vilgefortz

My villain would have very much same qualities as yours. He would be mysterious, powerful and very confident and charismatic and wouldn’t really be good or bad. The player character would be very close with him, even have a crush on him. Then at some point he’d betray the player and leave the character with a broken heart.
Maybe the player character could even capture this villain, but he’d escape and the player character would be really mad and yet still have feelings for him. Of course this villain could be a female too.
(Too much like Caithe and Faolain and soap opera? Not if you ask me =D)

I’ve see some great idea here I liked the Guardian and the little girl, dunno why, but that remind me Last of Us.

I could see a vilain mage-hunter who fight for a greater good. Since it’s the magie itself who awake the dragons, he would try to kill all the mage and destroy all artefact , so the dragon can fall asleep again.

Exosferatu.2961:

If I could turn Braham into a villain in Guild Wars 2:

• Cragstead was attacked by the Molten Alliance once more, Braham promised Ottilia that he will come back for her and get help.
• Braham sought for aid from Hoelbrak again and but did not received help from his own people like before; not even his own mother, Eir Stegalkin.
• Braham then asked Rox to help him but she apologized that she cannot anymore because she is now part of a new warband and she can’t just abandon her responsibilities.
• He went to Divinity’s Reach and talked to Countess Anise and asked for her help but she said that the Shining Blade cannot leave DR because their priority is protecting Queen Jennah.
• Braham came back to Cragstead to see only its ruins. The worried Braham ran back to Ottilia’s place and saw her cold body lying on floor stabbed by her own weapon. He stood in front of his dead beloved for a good five minutes. His knees weakened and he kneel down and prayed to the Spirits of the Wild but they did not answer.
• Now the torn Braham thought that the world is against him. Then, Jormag whispered into his hear: “Come to me, my child. The North. Far Shiverpeaks as the mortals have called it. I shall aid you. . .”
• Braham came back from Far Shiverpeaks with his own army of Sons of Svanir, Icebrood Kodan, and two Claws of Jormag. They marched towards Hoelbrak.
• Knut Whitebear underestimated Braham and led the downfall of the norn settlement.
• After the fall of Hoelbrak, Braham and his army entered Ascalon. Their path become covered in ice and snow.
• An Ash Legion Scout reported to Rytlock Brimstone. The Charr knows about Braham’s intention – to invade the Black Citadel.
• In battle, Braham and Rox met:
  “You know I’m ready. I can’t speak for Frostbite. Then again, neither can he, because he can’t talk.” Braham said.
  Rox remembered the exact same conversation she had with Braham in Crown Pavillion and replied: “He talks. You just have to know how to listen. Right, boy?” Frostbite then purrs. “See? Frostbite’s ready. Let’s show Braham what happens when you mess with our pals.” And the two clashed.

This is amazing. I think Braham is the best candidate for fallen hero.

The Meat Wagon.7194:

Scarlet is a perfect villain.

Scarlight is best sylvari, as near to perfect as a walking tree can be, but she is no villain! It’s all media hype and propaganda. And perhaps exposure to some wacky asura-made weed spray…

Trahearne, now – there’s villain material! While he numbed your brain with his monotonous droning on and on about the wonders of Orrian plumbing, he’d be orchestrating the destruction of all non-essential animal life. For he is a loving and dutiful son, Mama Tree’s #1.

I’m not going to pretend to be good at writing villains, but there is one thing I know for certain: Very few villains know that they’re villainous, and they’d better have a kitten good reason for it if they do. Why do some men want to watch the world burn? Because they’d prefer it burnt on their terms as opposed to it freezing over on someone else’s terms. It’s about methodology, philosophy and what they stand for.

A good example would be the final boss from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I won’t spoil anything about him save his characteristics:

He’s charismatic, passionate, he knows what he wants and how to get it. He has a plan and a vision, a beautiful vision corrupted by his highly flawed methodology and his detachment to the plight the masses. As he explains himself to you, a part of you agrees with him and wants to join him— because he makes sense, and the evils you’ve seen him commit are only a means to an end, at least to him. Nothing about him is petty or cartoony, and everything about what he does is a statement of ideals.

That, or you disagree with him and hate him with the burning hatred of a thousand suns, but that’s fair too for a hero.

I also think a mercenary could make a great roccuring villain. Someone that is being hiredby various oorganizations due to the fact that he/she always gets the job done. It could be cases where the merc’s actions cause a number of fires that the PC needs to take care of, and though successful, the merc’s true objectives were still accomplished. We could even end up defeating whatever organization, but he/she is either already moved on or gets away to be hired again someday by someone else.
The merc’s motivation could be as simple as money, or even way more complicated, and perhaps an overarching story that we get clues about along the way. To me, that makes a far more interesting nemesis.

Here is an idea of mine since GW1. (you can see where the idea of Erinyes came from. ^^) Maybe there is something here they can use in GW2.

What if a guy like Verata actually wants good for humanity?

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Verata_the_Necromancer

Everyone knows how limiting The Order of Necromancers (Order of Mages) are. You can’t do this, you can’t do that.

Verata set out to break those limits and rules. His goal is to make humanity powerful enough to defend itself against the Charr threat. However power is not free and sacrifices are needed. And hence the Order went after him.

In GW Beyond, the Order finally set out to kill Verata once and for all.

Verata: “You fools! In the face of the looming Charr threat, you come all the way out here after me? Get out of here at once and defend Ascalon for a while longer. My experiments are almost finished here. Then we will finally defeat the Charr.”
Order Mages: “You broke the law. You capture humans for your experiments.”
Verata: “Without these few sacrifices, all of Ascalon will be destoryed.”
Order Mages: “You must be killed. That is justice.”

Both sides took huge losses, but Verata was eventually killed.

Verata: “Your justice will be the doom of Ascalon. You will have more blood on your hands, a lot more, than I ever had.”

After Verata’s death, a large scale witch hunt by the Order ensured. They would search house to house for Verata followers. Some innocents were killed by mistakes. Others were killed when political families use this opportunity to get rid of old rivals. The Order’s forces were stretched thin and took further losses when they face Verata’s followers.

The end result was the near mutual destruction of the Order and Verata’s followers.

When the Charr invasion reaches Ascalon City, the Order barely had any men left. They all perished, and the Order cease to exist altogether. Come GW2’s time, very few know the Order of Mages ever existed.

Verata’s legacy live on with the few of his followers, and their descendants. Some aim to protect humanity from the shadows. Others are blinded by hate and anger, and aim for revenge. With the Order gone, their foes are those that limits magic with foolish rules and laws.

Also, the villain in Chronicles is a great example.

Who wouldn’t want a fallen hero like the sort mentioned by the OP to be a villain in the game? The greater this hero’s deeds the more tragic his/her eventual downfall. To be realistic you would have to have them turn through personal developments. These developments would highlight their imperfections and make them more human (even if they’re other races).

Let’s say with Trahearne, in your personal story, develops a crush on this female Sylvari that happens to be under his command. He is afraid to tell her his true feelings for fear of being rejected. He will often confide in the player character and ask for advice. At this point you’re probably thinking that this female dies and Trahearne gets all mad but that is too cliche.

What instead happens is that, amidst an epic battle against the forces of one of the remaining elder dragon, Trahearne finally summons the courage to confess to her. The female of course turns him down while apologizing saying that she thought of him as a brother. Trahearne is clearly upset by this but is able to pull himself together- that is until he learns that this female is in love with another one of Trahearne’s soldiers. It is someone Trahearne knows well and has spent a great deal of time grooming for the battlefield.

No, Trahearne doesn’t just kill the guy in a fit of jealousy. See, he’s probably going to be under a lot of pressure since the pact is going up against overwhelming odds and they are slowly losing ground. There are rumors that certain members want to replace Trahearne with a more competent leader and that should be the commander, the player character.

The player is approached by both Trahearne, asking if you will ever betray him, and by high ranking officials in the pact, asking you to lead a coup to overthrow him. The coup happens regardless of your choice but you get to side with Trahearne if you want. It just so happens that the other guy that the female Sylvari chose over Trahearne is part of the coup and in the heat of battle is killed by Trahearne. The female, seeing her lover being killed swears revenge on Trahearne. Trahearne tries to persuade her to stop but she won’t listen and in trying to defend himself he kills her as well. He realizes that he killed the only woman he ever loved and his army has fallen to shambles. He falls into a pit of despair and eventually anger at those that betrayed him. This is when his fall begins.

After the coup, the pact is disbanded and the three orders have turned Trahearne into a fugitive. Trahearne is forced to go into hiding while being hunted like a dog. At the same time, the forces of the elder dragon grow stronger. Many attempts are made at Trahearne’s life and while they all end in failure, Trahearne is barely given enough time to recover from his injuries. Half dead, he stumbles into a village hoping that someone could help him. The villagers recognize him and instead attack him. Unable to control his rage he kills everyone.

No, he doesn’t become a super villain and so he won’t be the main threat. He won’t ally himself with enemy factions or obtain some artifact that will destroy the world. Instead, he would be more of a tragic hero who is just struggling to survive as the whole world turns against him. Because he has absolutely nothing to lose, he is also extremely dangerous.

Sounds a lot like Canach.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Canach
Slightly different circumstances, but still the same result. I would like to see him pop up again though, I actually liked his character.
Slightly different circ

First, get the story off these blender of alliance groups and focus back on the dragons

Maybe another champion of the dragons, like claw, tequtal, and shatterer. But instead of Jormag, Krakatorrik or Zhaitan. What if it was Primordius? Send the destroyers up at us. This is hurting poor…(norn and charr were affected by Molten alliance, Humans by Scarlet..) Asurans and Sylvari. Maybe finding our way down ancient asuran tunnels in an explorable instance like Mad king’s labyrinth. And then a little instanced 5-man dungeon to defeat the champion via asuran technology.

Its a step in the right direction for lore.

My “want to” villain:

Snaff clone

No, I’m not mad, keep reading!

Kralkatorrik would have mesmer abilities. One of his most dangerous minions would be “mesmer assassins”, crystal insectoid-humanoids that can shapeshift using illusions. Think of what the watchknights did Queen’s Pavillion.

But beyond these minions, Kralkatorrik could create “special versions” of them. Snaff was inside his head, so we could consider he was inside his, too. Destiny’s Edge was way too dangerous, so he would create a crystal replica of Snaff, with all his memories, and make him look realistic through mesmer abilities. Snaff 2 would lead Kralkatorrik’s minions against Destiny’s Edge, the Pact and whoever menaces Kralkatorrik, but specially his former comrades.

Snaff 2 would be a perfect replica, with just small changes to make him want to serve Kralkatorrik. Why? Why not make him a mindless slave, with Snaff’s memories being just information he would use?

Because that isn’t as dangerous, and Kralkatorrik, being a mesmer, would know it well.

A 99% real Snaff would carry Snaff’s emotions, too. No matter how you look at him, he would be a perfect copy. It wouldn’t be like a mindless Zhaitan-loving risen. He would be Snaff. Zojja would face him eventually, and she would be facing Snaff, not just someone pretending to be him and using his memories to manipulate Zojja. Bold honesty is much more dangerous than manipulation.

No matter how Destiny’s Edge looked at him, he would still be Snaff. Even the replica would believe himself to be Snaff. Like if he was still alive, or he had been resurrected, with only a single “dark” point: Serve Kralkatorrik. And when you’d face him, he would reason his actions as good, not noticing deep inside him there’s a single “Kralkatorrik is bad” switch turned off, which he can’t turn on.

Destiny’s Edge would defeat him, and in his defeat, he would say goodbye as Snaff would if he had been allowed to properly. He would overcome his dark point, manage to realize Kralkatorrik had put a forced idea inside his head, and die as 100% real Snaff.

And no matter how you tried, you wouldn’t be able to save him, and he would die in your arms, again. Destiny’s Edge would be forced to murder Snaff, or be murdered by him.

From the very moment of the creation of the replica, Kralkatorrik would know he was making a winning move, no matter the outcome.

And that’s it, hope you liked it :P.

A better Living Story Nemesis would be someone with a clear motivation, the reason for the this Character’s actions must be clear. This Character must believe what its actions are just. Character must be dangerous and its actions logical.

Character actually gets ahead of the heroes of Tyria while still losing the battles. Example of a storyline, A Son of Svanir who is Dragon Champion that acts very autonomously, he looks like most Son’s of Svanir but he looks like he is starting to turn into icebrood. His right arm and shoulder are made of corrupted ice and wears some cool armor. He was sent to the mists as part of Jormag’s mist invasion plans. His connection to Jormag is weakened during his time in the Mists. On his return to Tyria he realizes he is not bound to Jormag but still believes in Jormag’s ideology. He becomes the first True Shaman of Dragon. He sees himself as special in that he does not have to serve Dragon but abides by its way of life. In the Mists he obtains knowledge of Tyria’s Magical leylines. His goal is ritual to invoke a Tyrian Ice Age to cull all the weaklings from Tyria. (Could be a cool because this somewhat close to ice fractal possible future)

You will confront this character several times each time you will drive him off but at a cost. First time you meet he successfully completes part a preliminary part of his ritual. You fail to stop him but learn of his plans. You fend of an Icebrood monstrosity that was a by product of his ritual. Another week of living story, you need to track him down. You meet with your lore NPC and find clues meanwhile learning about your nemesis’ back-story. Another living story arc, you now know where your Nemesis will go next. You confront him with your lore NPCs. You are prepared and you win buy things do not go 100% as planned you and your party are stuck fighting a boss as the Lore NPCs chase your Nemesis. Your Nemesis Bests the Npcs and slays one of them but spares the other for inflicting a wound on him out of a twisted sense of honor born from his ideology. Your Nemesis respects strength eg. As the first person to wound him he spares the NPC.

This example Nemesis is a dangerous existence. He believes he is purifying the world and shaping the world into a more natural state. He has a clear goal. He is not technically evil. You can not ignore him and have need of revenge on him for killing a beloved lore NPC. He is a balanced character unlike scarlet master of everything. He has a core skill set he is a Dragon Champion Shaman and he is really good at being one. You will have hard time fighting him head on but he can be outsmarted. when you do out smart him he will pull out his ace card.

See a great bad guy no complex back story no crybaby past. Not evil just for the sake of it. Bad guy does not need to be ultra deep. Just need to be urgently threatening and intimidating.

i think seeing someone turn evil would be cool, using an example from dragonfable as an example.
there was a war against a super powerful dragon and the blacksmith’s apprentice had family in the town being attacked, he entrusted the player to protect the town and keep his family safe but the player was too late and his family died,
he becomes enraged and blames the player for their deaths and turns to this pyromaniac evil dude to train him, he then becomes powerful and starts a new war and we have to try to stop him

that would be pretty cool, the living story could last for a while with all the different chapters, maybe the different chapters could e separated by a few months when said bad guy goes into hiding for evil training 101 and then come back for a big war in which we, the players have to kill x many (instanced) waves, with different endings to if we succeed, how many losses (of npcs) or if we lose, how badly

thats how i imagined a living story to be, the outcome and direction of future stories determined by how players act in the current one