On Writing: Dark Lords! [ Sauron | White Witch | Voldemort ]

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Chapters:
0:00 Opening
1:13 Good versus Evil
4:03 Character Arcs
6:49 Dark Lords are People Too
9:31 Creating an Active Villain
10:46 Establishing Dark Lords as a Threat
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Tim Hickson
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Script by meeeeeeeee
Video edited by Cuenin (99% of the time) over at / @cueninscove
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Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/creator
Stay nerdy!
Tim

[@HelloFutureMe]

All shall love me (by sharing this video) and DESPAIR (by uhh... commenting about their dark lords). ~ Galadriel, probably.

[@philswiftreligioussect9619]

I was the only viewer in your last live stream. You went like: Yeah guys Imma-head out cya And I was like dead inside for 10 minutes Love your content! Have a good night!

[@danielduvernay3207]

Surprised this wasn’t a colab with OSP!

[@wisdommanari6701]

I have that wand replica as well

[@gracjanlekston134]

@Oscar Melby Read any Brandon Sanderson?

[@barbershopbible]

My "dark lord" wears white and tells people to love and trust themselves. Like, I'm not joking.

[@UdyKumra]

"Yes Palpatine…no no no we've heard that story before" You dare disrespect The Tragedy of Darth Plageius the Wise

[@darthlazurus4382]

It does get old after a while.

[@niclasjohansson5992]

After two or three drinks and Palatine is on about that old dark plageius story again

[@whispererindarkness]

that was big lol for me

[@antarath517]

@@darthlazurus4382 He could save other stories from aging, but not his own

[@Dr.J42]

I feel Zaheer would do the same.

[@WizardToby]

"Dark Lord Annual Convention" *shows picture of US Congress building*

[@jaredchauncey1259]

I also noticed that.......they aren't all dark lords. The Whitehouse currently on the other hand........

[@WizardToby]

@@jaredchauncey1259 XD yeah Every 4 years it seems we have an election for a new Dark Lord.

[@michaelwicker9538]

Ay this point the only question is are we going to get darth vader minus the force pinch, or palpatine minus the forward thinking...

[@buttsbutts7858]

"I love democracy."

[@margony6921]

I laughed so hard at this! Also glad I am not american right now 😂

[@shandaniel2999]

I think that Avatar had the right idea for the dark lord. They realized that Ozai was an uninteresting character so they didn’t give him a lot of screen time and he was only around to serve the character arcs of Aang, Zuko and Azula.

[@kylesodyssey8591]

Yeah. When people ask if Ozai is a "good villain" some don't consider that he's the villain truly to Zuko and Azula. For Aang he's an obstacle.

[@ayannabranchcomb7535]

Kyle's Odyssey! I love that, he serves his purpose in the story and even as a grown adult he still scares me 😂

[@gamingdemigodxiii5630]

@@kylesodyssey8591 I wouldn't say that Ozai is obsolete for Aang, just contractual. He's the designated Big Bad, and he needs to be deposed so that the world can heal. Aang DOES need him for the "mercy or duty" moral dilemma, but any villain could have filled that role.

[@jonathancampbell5231]

Ozai is only uninteresting because they made him that way / chose not to explore him. If they delved more into his childhood, you might have seen how he was similar to Azula- someone who is trying to impress a distant parent by acting like an asshole, only to find it backfire because the parent doesn't care about you (in the case of Ozai) or the parent prefers your more noble sibling (in the case of Azulon). He even named his daughter after his dad and his dad still didn't seem to care, so Ozai stopped caring too. Of course, they also could have just gave him a totally different personality or motivation from the get-go. Either way, Ozai is uninteresting because of how he was written; he was not written the way he was because he was uninteresting.

[@tommyscott8511]

Yeah, Ozai serves his purpose of being the baddest motherfucker in the story. He's the Fire Lord, someone so powerful Iroh, Dragon of the West, is uncertain he could defeat him. Aang, and only Aang, has the power to do so, and that's Ozai's role. He's not Zuko or Azula, genuinely complex antagonists who challenge the heroes. He's just there.

[@Twanou45]

22% more dark 30% more Lordly 50% more dead protagonist parent = 102% nerd

[@Tink00]

I thought it was gonna be 100% reason to remember the name

[@gohunt001-5]

Don't think that was supposed to be additive, but rather a percentage more than last year *of that particular category,* so 122% dark 130% Lordly 150% dead protag parent

[@Tink00]

So 200% reason to remember the name. I gotcha

[@kevinlane1219]

Seriously, you shouldn't add them together; they represent increases.

[@trashpanda2200]

Its like how if 100% = 20 and then it increases with 25% that means it increases with 5 which is 25% of 20. And the final worth would be 125% of the original or 25.

[@sewershaman3280]

I fleshed out my dark lord too much until he essentially gnostic Jesus and now I agree with him

[@mobslayer211]

Lol

[@themediocremaster2388]

Hey it happens haha

[@minez5628]

I feel ya

[@user-me5fh3yu1j]

I guess just put some of that not being evil into a minion?

[@vaughnjohnson8767]

Yes. I guess I have my own ‘dark lord’. It’s just that he isn’t truly evil. Its like if Ozai in avatar had the story of Zuko. And his most powerful minion will feel betrayed by him, and so steal his power, and take up the position. And for the lolz be more powerful than the previous ‘dark lord’. And PDL (previous dark lord) will have a redemption arc. What do you guys think? Should I change anything?

[@InquisitorThomas]

HEY DOCTOR DOOFENSMIRTZ IS THE GREATEST DARK LORD IN OUR HEART!

[@imperiumgrim4717]

Facts bruh

[@raiorai2]

We have no choice but to stan

[@bearholdensharkslux4791]

The disrespect on his name is a true crime against humanity

[@Joker-sy4xr]

DOOFENSHMIRTZ evil incorporated

[@promatheus951]

More of a Dim Lord, tbh. But that's what makes him loveable.

[@UdyKumra]

"I am your sixth brother twice removed" Tim it hurts how true this is

[@williamfrancis5367]

I am your father's brothers cousins former roommate.

[@plaguedoctor981yt8]

william francis And that makes us what?

[@williamfrancis5367]

@@plaguedoctor981yt8. Absolutely nothing!

[@caliburnabsolute8517]

@@williamfrancis5367 Which is what you are about to become!

[@raiorai2]

No, you can't do that! You'll have to kill me first! N-No, don't worry, Protagonist, I'll be okay to keep being your Mentor. This could never go wrong.

[@iwndegraaf1055]

I'm quite sad he did not allow Palpatine to tell the tragedy of darth plagueis the wise

[@kidagirl99]

One might call it... A tragedy.

[@HickoryDickory86]

He must be a Jedi in disguise, because that's not a story the Jedi would tell. He's an imposter!!!

[@mercytalks8762]

" so let's take a look at Tolkien's "silmarillion" otherwise known as *the bible... for nerds*" Me: *chokes on my nachos* STOP CALLING ME OUT

[@taliajung1553]

I wheezed when he said that--truer words have never been spoken

[@kelnmiirkageoni1667]

I feel like narnia seems to be more like bible for the nerds, than silmarillion

[@bearholdensharkslux4791]

@@kelnmiirkageoni1667 reading the silmarillion felt a lot like reading the bible

[@wwoods66]

Really, it's just the Old Testament.

[@Richard_Nickerson]

@@kelnmiirkageoni1667 The Silmarillion is literally the Bible of Middle-earth. I haven't read the Narnia series, except for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I'm a proud nerd and dislike the Narnia series. So, you're wrong.

[@simonster-9094]

Tim: "The Silmarillion, otherwise known as the Bible for nerds." Me: "Heh heh heh." *Nervously tucks away the copy of The Silmarillion that I bought last Wednesday.*

[@taliajung1553]

Whatever you think of "The Silmarilllion", your world will never be the same after you read it. I wish you the best of luck :)

[@laurelelasselin]

@@taliajung1553 True

[@InsomniacXIII]

"Do you have a moment to talk about our lord Eru Ilúvatar? 🤓"

[@Himmyjewett]

@@InsomniacXIII nah but let's talk about our Lord and savior morgoth

[@noahs.6209]

When I was 9, I tried to write a Fantasy novel with a dark lord. His Deal was, that he ruled the world for 3500 years, because he ate a magical strawberry when he was a child, that made him full on immortal and invincible, so he just stepped infront of the old king and killed him. Then he got defeated by four magical 12-year-olds that could bend the elements.

[@revan0890]

We've all been there.

[@eid8fkebe7f27ejdjdjduyhsvqhwu2]

Magic Mushrooms exist, so I wouldn't exclude magic strawberries from the realm of possibilities.

[@feralchangeling97]

Who hasn't written a bad fantasy story when they were a kid? Haha...😐

[@vaughnjohnson8767]

Sounds like Darkstalker... Peacemakers in actuality

[@austincarter5691]

Are ya looking forward to your eleventh birthday Noah?!

[@NoGoodIDNames]

"Morally gray villains" *Shows the Night King*

[@erikthomsen4768]

NK did not wrong!!!!!!

[@christiankrarup6501]

@Endriago He had so much of an arc, like... uhh...

[@AprilOceanBlue]

Everyone is pretty terrible in GoT, I can understand the argument to burn Westeros to the ground as a favor to the rest of the world

[@MrWhangdoodles]

@@AprilOceanBlue It hews a little too close to the real world.

[@williamerickson520]

@@christiankrarup6501 Not to mention a dynamic, fleshed out personality.

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

A D&D D.M. named Logan once said that a good way to write a villain, is to write a hero, then have them fail.

[@Lightfire398]

That sounds like an excellent idea, or a very good starting point at least.

[@MrWhangdoodles]

Or have them succeed.

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

@@MrWhangdoodles in all the wrong ways.

[@Rainbowthewindsage]

That's an interesting way of looking at it.

[@justsomejerseydevilwithint4606]

@@Rainbowthewindsage everyone is the hero of their own story.

[@a.morphous66]

The Dark Lord Annual Convention being hosted in the Capitol Building is the best joke I've seen on this channel

[@cjkalandek996]

I'm so glad you actually talked about the _Percy Jackson_ series.

[@bearholdensharkslux4791]

Me: *sees this comment* "you have my attention"

[@phillipamorris422]

Neeerd!

[@cjkalandek996]

@@phillipamorris422 takes a nerd to know a nerd.

[@pinkajou656]

@@phillipamorris422 yes, thank you!

[@cyclopsboi]

love seeing rick riordan get a shout out. His books while being YA are really well written and pretty enjoyable reads.

[@olorin7611]

The movies, on the other hand, were absolute rubbish. I wanted to claw my eyes out at 13:21.

[@cyclopsboi]

@@olorin7611 yeah too much was lost in translation.

[@whitetiger0855]

Yeah the movies were awful

[@Asummersdaydreamer14]

I remember recently seeing an article title about Netflix possibly giving Percy Jackson another go (tv) tho it might have been about the Kane series. Not familiar with the books except for the Lightning Thief, but that original Percy movie is terrible

[@cyclopsboi]

@@Asummersdaydreamer14 the Kane series was fantastic, it was all about Egyptian mythology and occurs in the same world and time as percy jackson.

[@AegixDrakan]

"-And 50% more Dead Protagonist Parents!" **Cracks up, then suddenly freezes and sits bolt upright** Did you keep track of which protagonists you killed the moms of and the dads of, and how many are both dead?! That will MASSIVELY influence the development of the protagonist! You might end up with a John Wick tier protagonist when you could have gotten someone a lot less lethal! :o

[@weldonwin]

If the protagonists are older, this can also apply to spouses, or children too

[@quidditch1991]

I literally sat there and paused the video because I realized my protagonist had dead parents, and that I needed to rewrite that to make it more interesting and less vague than “died under mysterious circumstances”💀

[@suffering-everyday]

imagine if a dark lord killed the protagonist's entire family

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

In a setting with group marriages (like polygamy, but also polyandry), % of dead parents is more customizable

[@fuzzymurdermittens]

You're use of Voldemort as an example was very funny in the part about building anticipation and threat. Voldemort is a caring dark lord. He always waited patiently for Harry to complete his yearly education. Good man, Voldemort.

[@dennisposthuma]

but then you watch the second movie and you see that Voldemort is an anagram of Tom Riddle and you imagine 16 year old Voldemort writing in his little diary I am Lord Voldemort and Voldemort becomes a little bit goofy.

[@malikpierre-louis3343]

i think the explanation at least int he books was that he was scared of dumbledore stopping him

[@NobodyC13]

"DARK LORD ANNUAL CONFERENCE." Shows image of Congress. Subtle.

[@GreaterGood258]

Here's an interesting story idea: You have your standard Chaotic Evil Dark Lord: spiky black plate, kicks puppies for fun, gearing up to crush the free world beneath his bootheel with his vast armies of mindlessly loyal minions. Then the Apocalypse happens. The earth heaves, the seas surge, fire rains from the sky, and everything is left on the brink of utter collapse (Dark Lord: "But I haven't done anything yet!"). Now Mr. Lord is pretty much the only real power left on the planet (largely by dint of his lands already being pretty bleak, and thus comparatively less worse-off than elsewhere), just like he wanted, but there's simply no room for his selfish evil in the struggle to survive in this bleak new world. If he tries to act as he always has, there won't be anything left for him *to* rule. And he does want to rule. He started this gig to become a Dark *Lord*, not some two-bit bandit chief. He just didn't expect actually ruling the world would be this hard, or that he'd have to save it in the process.

[@sevencats4964]

That sounds super fun

[@johannageisel5390]

Reminds me a little to "Megamind".

[@thatsabingo6695]

That sounds like the plot of Megamind except on a global scale

[@ManiaMac1613]

"Huh. I didn't think I'd actually get this far. Now what?"

[@mariustan9275]

@@ManiaMac1613 Well I need a kingdom to rule so I guess I'll have to civilize the badlands.

[@UdyKumra]

Love that you used a clip of Sanderson just drinking water 😂

[@fullmetaltheorist]

Yep

[@Arcticgreen]

Part of Light Yagami's arc is his breakdown and abandonment if his code. By the end he is willing to kill even his allies if they become inconvenient to him.

[@thomasraines1396]

It wasn’t even at the end I don’t think he already had that mindset not long after getting the Death Note.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

The change of protagonist is subtle and frankly the strongest point of the story.

[@dj_koen1265]

Everytime i think about it I remember how good deathnote is Yeah the replacements for L werent very well done but i liked the ending a lot. And i think it is among the most interesting stories i have seen

[@theofficalchairmanrevoluti614]

This was simultaneously released 9 minutes ago and 1 day ago. The dark magic of being early, everyone.

[@CulturalOrigins]

That was a fantastic intro

[@KatherinaBathory]

The same can be said for the outro ;)

[@SarahAbramova]

How'd you get here early? Patreon?

[@KatherinaBathory]

@@SarahAbramova yes

[@kylesodyssey8591]

Hahahaha, it's funny because it's TRUE....... *cries in American*

[@Variocom]

@@kylesodyssey8591 very telling how someone not from the US sees the senate that way (even in satire.)

[@Longshanks1690]

I've literally been trying to work out how to properly do my "Dark Lord" character in the story I wanna write for a few months now without it just being a knockoff so this video was the perfect coincidence for me, lmao.

[@feralchangeling97]

Luckily the video wasn't hucked out the window.

[@chinuaalibatya7345]

I still dont know what I'd do. I want the dark lords defeat to be cathartic even more so than the secondary villian

[@13KuriMaster]

@@chinuaalibatya7345 Then by going off of this video, making the Dark Lord show up in person to kick your protagonists' rear end a few times and having them do something to hurt the protagonist on a personal level (also done in person) might be good things to do.

[@chinuaalibatya7345]

@@13KuriMaster. Yes but be honest. What interests you more? A deeply complex antagonists vs deeply complex protagonists? Or a dark lord vs the deeply complex antagonists trying to overcome him?

[@13KuriMaster]

@@chinuaalibatya7345 Not so sure really.... might be a tie for me. All depending on how it was written.

[@JohnnyJP7]

How can you say no to somebody trying to tell you the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise?

[@mme.veronica735]

If he's so wise why is he in a tragedy? Surely he'd know better

[@JohnnyJP7]

@@mme.veronica735 'Cause he's so wise, he was able to make his student even wiser than him. 😎

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

Ironically, his one grand flaw was that he was fairly selfless for a Sith. Utterly dedicated to the Grand Plan and ending the cycle of abuse between master and apprentice when the Jedi had been brought down. He trained Sidious, he empowered him and then neglected him, leaving Sidious with time to study the ancient texts and transform his resentment into an ideological conclusion. Plagueis wanted them both to live forever as the rulers of the galaxy, Sidious wanted him dead.

[@haillobster7154]

It's treason, then.

[@michaelramon2411]

Oddly enough, one of my favorite of my villains is a super-deconstruction Dark Lord. He's actually more of a rebel than a tyrant, serving an Antichrist-like role as the apparent herald of the destruction of the civilization and perhaps even the gods. Everyone is terrified of him. His magic breaks the rules of magic. He's an unstoppable force capable of single-handedly demolishing any opponent, while using his nihilistic minions to infiltrate and corrupt any opposition. ...Except, most of that's a lie. He's a master of presentation, manipulation and psychological warfare who wants his enemies to THINK he's an unholy abomination. Most of his "impossible" magics are tricks or unique applications of other abilities (though he does know some magic that is kept a secret from the public by the civilization's leaders). His defeats of powerful foes are carefully orchestrated traps to exploit the foe's weaknesses. He managed to nearly dismantle the protagonists' team through a series of manipulations and tricks before they even knew his name. He's actually a legitimately good leader, gaining his minions' loyalty by respecting and aiding them in addition to exploiting their (legitimate) grievances with the society they are fighting. (The best example of that is when he learned one of his minions was in love with a main character. Instead of pulling a "Kill your lover to prove your loyalty to me!" thing, he promised the minion that he would do whatever he could to ensure the lover survived the upcoming war.) And he's kind of in the right - the society the protagonists are defending is a deeply exploitative caste system whose leaders use religion and talk of "destiny" to keep everyone in their place. And the character's philosophy of "destiny is meaningless, you decide what you will do"(even in the face of some in-universe magical destiny stuff) is much more in line with my general outlook on the subject. This is not to say that the character is truly a hero - he has a great willingness to do terrible things for his goals, and in the end I think he is more motivated by selfish ambition than anything he preaches, but I just find him such a fascinating character as well as a great challenge for protagonists to defeat.

[@NicholasLaRosa0496]

What story is this?

[@michaelramon2411]

@@NicholasLaRosa0496 It's called "Dusk." Unfortunately, it's not available anywhere at this time. (Creating a plot and characters is much easier than writing a whole book out, let alone publishing it.)

[@user-qi6pv9jh7o]

HPMOR moment

[@bakured]

is... is the villain convention at capitol hill in the US because that is correct, carry on, good sir

[@qawamity]

I would add that there is a kind of weird inversion of The Dark Lord with the idea of a tyrannical light. A recent example of this would be Horde Prime in the Netflix She-Ra. Horde Prime conquers to enforce peace and order. That he crushes individuality and free will in the process is irrelevant to him. Prime's light casts out all shadows.

[@deadlypandaghost]

Are they protagonists because their parents died or are their parents dead because they are protagonists? Send Help

[@sayerglasgow115]

What if they did a heroic protagonist-y thing and the villain killed their parents for it?

[@B2WM]

@@sayerglasgow115 Nah, it's because it's Tuesday. ;)

[@alucard347]

Luke: you killed my father! Darth vader: I have killed many fathers. You will need to be more specific. This quote, right here, from the star wars comics, answers your question. A dark lord kill many parents. They don't expect any of their surviving children to become protagonists. It is only when they know a child is destined to be a protagonist that they would kill their parents. Voldemort killed many parents in his career, but he went after harry's parents specifically because he knew Harry is going to become a protagonist.

[@sayerglasgow115]

@@alucard347 Should've known better. Trying to kill a protagonist destined to defeat you while they're still a child has a 100% chance of being the thing that sets them on the path to defeating you.

[@alucard347]

@@sayerglasgow115 well, to be fair, he went after harry. His father stood in his way so he killed him on the spot, and he was trying to spare his mother and just aim for the child, but she refused to move so he killed her as well. He wasn't expecting actually getting defeated by a baby, neither did he expected to let harry live and grow. He was trying to end the child of the prophecy, and by doing so accidently created the conditions for the prophecy to occur.

[@samburcham4753]

"Silmarillion: The Bible, for nerds" is this channels best quote, by far.

[@Kastriona]

I hadn't thought about the contrast between dark lords and the henchmen and their place in the story arcs. It's something I've automatically done in a few story ideas, too, probably because of writing influences. I also have a new book to read. Mistborn sounds fascinating. Thank you for more food for writing.

[@TheOverArchiver]

Everything by Sanderson is AMAZING (and is actually how I found this channel)

[@Hello-ub8kt]

Mistborn had a good plot and great world but I lost interest midway through the second book, mainly because I wasn’t especially invested in the characters and the word building was getting too chaotic and crowded for the kind of story it was.

[@ivanhagstrom5601]

@@Hello-ub8kt Really? The second book was by far my favourite. The political intregue really interested me! The third one was kind of a let down for me though.

[@adrs1380]

Mistborn. I read the 3 books in a week. I just couldn't put them down.

[@Skelethin]

But is more dead protagonist parents really a good thing?

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

I think it oveeruse

[@thegarunixking1101]

@@USSAnimeNCC- I think Skelethin is saying that more dead parents will mean more protagonists which means more people trying to take them down.

[@ouroboros_1355]

The Garunixking so they should kill their children instead 🤔

[@annakilifa331]

You should also attack the orphanages, to kill future heros. Attacking orphanages is always a good idea if you're a dark lord.

[@MRuby-qb9bd]

Listen, you've also got to kill the parent surrogates. Gotta make'em double orphans.

[@kickasterisk6155]

Dark lords: "oh no i'm shaking in my custom baby seal leather boots"

[@13KuriMaster]

Hmm, referenced Percy Jackson..... brought in Phineas and Ferb.... got a clip of Spyro in there. This was super good. :)

[@trinidad1179]

As someone who lives in the US, I can confirm the congress building is where the dark lord convention is held😂😂

[@ryansutter9434]

Ya the Congress building and the White House are two different buildings. Lol

[@michaelbryant3640]

I mean, what is Congress if not the opposite of Progress? (Old joke, I know...)

[@Maynick2001]

I like how the dark lord convention takes place in the U.S. capitol building.

[@sayakchoudhury9711]

I am writing a short story from the perspective of a dark lord, this was most enlightening!

[@mushroom_doesnt_exist8053]

I'm interested agshhdjdjdjjd

[@theellafant67]

Yes Palpatine? Me filling in the blanks: you ever hear the tragedy of... Yes we’ve all heard that story before. 😮

[@terrorcop101]

First, loved your intro; just perfect. Second, as far as LOTR goes, there's also the lesson that evil ultimately destroys itself. Better for good people to show mercy, certainly; but in doing so, it opened the way for Gollum to fall off the edge with the Ring in hand and thereby destroy the evil of Mordor. Edit: A really great example of "we're not so different" is How to Train Your Dragon 3, where Hiccup has to confront the guy who isn't just equal and opposite to himself, he's everything Hiccup could've become if he chose to kill Toothless instead of freeing him.

[@laurelelasselin]

Have you read the How To Train Your Dragon books? The films messed them up so much. Please read the books.

[@puki860]

'Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise? I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful... the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. It's ironic he could save others from death, but not himself.'

[@LindyLime]

Thank u

[@taliajung1553]

The greatest story every told

[@vaughnjohnson8767]

Yes

[@iantophernicus6042]

Here’s my issue with Ozai. For as one dimensional as his character appears in the show, his villainy stems from the conflicting mentalities of Zuko and Azula. As I see it, Ozai never had children. Ursa had a son she would do anything to protect and a daughter who she couldn’t entirely connect to, but she still loved both of her children. Perhaps not equally, as she saw how quickly Azula adopted some of Ozai’s vindictive traits, but ultimately, she admitted to Azula that her failing was having not loved her enough. Ozai however, had no children. He had a Weapon in Azula, as he fostered and probably instilled in her the relentless drive for perfection. Meanwhile, despite being his firstborn heir, Zuko was always a Weakling, to his eyes. He asked too many questions and was too compassionate for his own good. When Ozai banished and branded him, he indirectly granted Zuko his freedom, even if it took him three years to see past Ozai’s fiery reminder. The problem is, where does that leave Azula? Azula held Ozai’s respect and believed she had him wrapped around her little finger. In reality, Ozai had her safely stowed away in his pocket. Ozai banished Zuko for having more honour than him, but in doing so, punished Azula in term. For Azula to be the golden child, there had to be someone to set the standard for her to shine in comparison. With Zuko gone, Azula had to bear the brunt of satisfying Ozai’s exorbitant demands on her own. Any failings or mistakes could not be pushed back into Zuko. She would have to take the fall for herself. Out of all Ozai’s orders, why else would Azula flagrantly flout his will for Zuko to remain banished, if not as an act of self preservation? Azula saw that having Zuko back would save her own skin, as Zuko could divert the heat of Ozai’s temper away from her. She also knew that the years of exile would leave Zuko so desperate to return to the palace, that he would put up with it, for fear of being cast out again. Sure, Ozai would not be pleased about being defied so openly, but if he were told that Zuko has defeated the Avatar, he would be obliging enough to allow him to sit at his right side once more. The idea that Zuko’s banishment might have exposed him to how people perceived the Fire Nation was not even a possibility that Azula could have entertained. Imagine what it was like to work so hard to restore Zuko’s honour and title, only to have him denounce Ozai outright, leaving her behind for the second time, this time of his own volition. I realise I started out wanting to offer my perspective on Ozai, but both Zuko and Azula can attest to his malicious influence. Azula was convinced she still held power over Ozai, right up until he gave her the cast of title of Fire Lord, only to forge the title of Phoenix King for himself. Whatever final shred of fatherly love or familial connection was severed, the moment he made himself into an untouchable, living figurehead. Even more vindictive, was how he made his ‘love’ into a sort of commodity, only affording it to the child that earned his favour. Azula was born lucky. Zuko was lucky to be born. When Lu Ten died and Iroh removed his troops from Ba Sing Se, Ozai was itching to claim Iroh’s throne, taking Azulon’s command of losing Zuko as a sort of entry fee to get his place. Ursa helped to kill Azulon and put Ozai on the throne, under the condition that she be banished for her treasonous act and that Zuko would be spared. How many other times did Ursa have to defend Zuko from Ozai? Was there ever a time when Ozai saw Zuko as his son, or was he always the Weakling, that had to be squashed so that Azula would flourish? I’m stopping here. I don’t know how much more I can say before I lose sight of my point. My final point: Ozai was more than the show could properly portray and Azula deserved so much better than to have him as a father. So many people will rush in, declaring that Azula was rotten from the start and that she always would be, no matter what. In truth, I want to know who she might have been, we’re it not for Ozai. She may have unknowingly picked up some of his more unsavoury traits, but with Ursa and Zuko to help her, she would have ultimately been in a better space. At one point, Iroh himself believed that the Fire Nation’s cause was just, before Lu Ten showed him just how misguided his belief was. In a show where there are fire sages that remain loyal to the Avatar and their cause, where the Earth Kingdom form a totalitarian society, built on the backs of lies and deceit, where even those taken from the Water Tribe could turn out to be more malignant and vindictive than the worst of the Fire Nation, is it really that hard to believe that Azula, in the right setting, might have had the capacity for good within her, just waiting to be unlocked?

[@the2ndNaruto]

Congress as the dark lord convention. Perfect.

[@epauletshark3793]

I want to see a dark lord with an obsession with bacon that eventually leads to his downfall.

[@The-kr9rb]

Bacon in moderation is amazing his doom could be that he eats literally nothing BUT bacon, and is thus left weak enough to be beaten by the heroes

[@gyrozeppeli7573]

Time codes 1:13 - Good vs Evil 4:03 - Character arcs 6:49 - Dark lords are people too 9:31 - creating an active villian 10:46 - establishing dark lord as a threat 15:15 - campfire review 17:35 - summary

[@logan6034]

Bruh, he clearly stated that the time codes are in the description

[@ismirdochegal4804]

I read "Tim Codes" and was like: haha...oh

[@k.5425]

It's in the description box...

[@zondwhomlovesjesus8444]

Dude, Jesus loves you. I write it seriously, not just because of time codes. God is eternally good and He loves you. Choose Christ in this life while it is not too late :)

[@ismirdochegal4804]

@@zondwhomlovesjesus8444 You said "God is eternally good". Which god? Does that good god has a name? At least one by which the other gods know him?

[@Alejandroigarabide]

YES!!!! Finally someone states that a "pure evil" villain can not only work but if used wisely also strengthen the message. I love complex villains but I always believed just pure evil villains work too.

[@goldfish544]

"Those who resist me will be crushed by my deliciously fashionable but still definitely black boots" 😂😂

[@UdyKumra]

I first started using Campfire because of you, and while I don't use it all that much, it is one of the MOST useful tools I've ever used.

[@MRuby-qb9bd]

I've been suuuuper uninspired this year, but I agree, Campfire is pretty great. It takes me back to all the random world building I did as a kid, even if I can't make anything coherent, lol.

[@malachimclean3638]

Yoooo I'm so happy you mentioned the Inkheart trilogy; those books taught me to love reading as a kid but I've never met another person who knew about them

[@TheBloodswordsman]

I'm on the opening skit and after watching OverlySarcastic's take on GrimDark - I'm honestly like "if the Dark Lords have only been 22% more dark this year than last year - what the hell happens when they stop holding back?!" I mean seriously, a global pandemic, wildfires, riots, government totalitarianism and the continued knowledge that no matter what we do or act, nothing will ever improve - and that was with the Dark Lords being only 22% more dark?!

[@AegixDrakan]

**eyes go wide**

[@micheldesjardins9174]

I mean 22% is still a lot considering how dark they already were

[@PhoenixCrown]

We've got more darkness to come... before the light!

[@epauletshark3793]

2020 beat them to it.

[@squibble311]

22% more means that this year they were 122% evil. so, e

[@EyeMCreative]

Please make an On Writing about writing mysteries and how to reveal the right information at the right pace, and have the right twist and all the other things that a good mystery needs. :)

[@susanli7149]

I see your Melkor and Fingolfin background hahaha

[@laurelelasselin]

How dare you speak that name

[@nolangimpel39]

Great analysis, the Palpatine joke was excellent

[@stoshpehowic3590]

For a really interesting antagonist, I would suggest reading the Chaos Walking series, where the arguably irredeemable Mayor Prentiss actually goes through an interesting arc.

[@Ben10man2]

I just started writing a story with a dark lady, your timing is impeccable as always, Tim.

[@rebeccaepperson7972]

I’m not even surprised to find out I have another brother I didn’t know about. :P

[@NaoyaYami]

You mean you always have one extra seat at family gatherings, just in case? :D

[@rebeccaepperson7972]

Naoya Yami actually, yes. We have a running joke in the family that I have an older brother that lives in the basement. It started as a bit of a mean joke (I am the oldest in my family) when I told my younger brothers that if they didn’t behave then our mom would make them sleep in the basement (unfinished with a dirt floor) like our older brother, Steve. Now we set a place for him for holidays and knock on the basement door before entering. It’d be rude to just barge in.

[@NaoyaYami]

@@rebeccaepperson7972 That's unsettling and hillarious at the same time.

[@chinuaalibatya7345]

Yes, yes it is!

[@oORiseAboveOo]

Rebecca Epperson Imagine what happens one day, when you go down there and see Steve.

[@FabulousKilljoy917]

Can I just say how grateful I am that you’ve brought PJ into the conversation 😭it does not get enough recognition

[@lautaromansilladerqui4117]

This came in the right time as I'm rewriting an old novel from high school. I kinda make a statement about the nature of love through the villains of the story. They're a military squad and the Captain is forced to pretend he loves and cares for his subordinates, but one of them ends up betraying him and helping the hero. Also the evil captain is only desperate to defeat the hero because he's told has no valuable if he doesn't serve a purpose to the organization. Greetings from Argentina!

[@blondedarkness6258]

Tim: "Who are you and where are you going." I don't know about you guys but that felt extremely uncle Iroh to me.

[@ryansutter9434]

My favorite Dark Lord in fantasy is the Lord Ruler in the Mistborn Trilogy

[@Poisonedblade]

If Dr. Who just carried a gun, about half of his companions would have survived.

[@Poisonedblade]

@Don X Yeah, if Batman just shot all of the villains, they wouldn't escape Arkham ever two weeks.

[@pixelapocrypha]

I'm sorry, I had to comment just because I am shooketh that someone other than me remembers the Inkheart trilogy. I love those books so much and I'm so sad they never got the film adaptations they truly deserved.

[@feroexe7965]

Just realized Sauron looks like a fork.. *oh shit I look the same*

[@taliajung1553]

This comment deserves every single 'like' it gets

[@EChacon]

Such an insightful and Fantastic video analysis *Hello Future Me.*

[@goblinoftheyear7407]

*>Dark Lord Annual Convention* *>Shows Congress Building* Seems about right.

[@justsomewritingfan2202]

Thank you so much for your content. 😊😊😊 I once again will look into it when working on my project! Cant wait for the next one.

[@BennysGamingAttic]

8:31 hey... leave Edmund out of this! He learned his lesson!

[@robertzarfas9556]

THANK YOU!! Oh my word Tim, as someone with a reading disability those little arrows make SUCH a big difference! This is the first of your videos I haven’t had to pause and rewatch the text sections because my mind wants to read the text but literally can’t read and listen at the same time even though you’re reading the same thing.

[@skewercorn9894]

Huh. It's always a pleasant surprise to find someone else who knows about The Legend of Spyro.

[@mattrman3]

very timely for me in the birth of a new story, such a good video. good on ya

[@danielbucher472]

Outstanding video. Entertaining and informative as usual. And also, well-researched & well-executed.

[@Cityweaver]

Yes, Palpatine, we've all heard of him. XD

[@Carcharoth313]

What a pleasant surprise to see you being familiar with Cornelia Funke's work!

[@Liatriss]

Thank you for the campfire review!

[@AHealthyDoseofFran]

This is something I’d never really thought about in terms of a character foil for my protagonist, I was aware of doing so but didn’t truly realise it. This will be useful going forward with my novel!

[@rashkavar]

If I may expand on the example of Mistborn: The Final Empire (some trilogy spoilers, btw): the subversion of the trope is greater than merely the mystery and how that is unveiled, it's also in how the Dark Lord and his substitute are portrayed. Throughout the series, the ever present threat of the Dark Lord's main servant exists in the form of the Inquisitors: largely interchangeable super-enemies with all of the magic of a Mistborn and then some (at least, all of the magic of a Mistborn in the first book, before the discovery of new alloys and their powers). These figures are absolutely inhuman: fanatically loyal to the Lord Ruler and absolutely reveling in the blood and carnage that comes with maintaining his oppressive regime. The Lord Ruler is ever present in the background - his title is even used as a blasphemous curse, because he's the living god of this nightmare world, and everything suggests that he's like most Dark Lords: like the substitute but worse. It's only towards the end that starts to change, and you start to realize just how human he is. He's a man who circumstance has forced to do terrible things. He's touched a power beyond humanity, and been changed by it, taking the long view of a god while still being human, still having human thoughts and limits. He's tried to create an ideal society, taking the aspects he respected of the various cultures from before his rule, and it's failed repeatedly. So he acts as any human dictator does and has the rebels executed....and keeps doing so for a thousand years. By the time of the book, he's *tired*. There's a part of him that wants to stop, but another part that knows that there's an even darker force (the antagonist of the trilogy as a whole) that will destroy humanity if he loses control. He's not a good man, but, by the standards of a Dark Lord, he's a shockingly human one. Especially when you tend to expect a Dark Lord to be the-same-but-more when compared to his chief underlings, in this case the incredibly inhuman Inquisitors. That said, if you didn't see the Lord Ruler as being surprisingly human, no blame to you. He's a mass murdering ruler who seems like he's on par with Stalin and Hitler, but having been like that for a thousand years...like I said, he's far from a good man. But he's more like Thanos - there's a reason for his atrocities, a hope for a greater good. Plans to fight against a god known as Ruin, who wants nothing more than to destroy the entire planet and everyone on it. And there's that exhaustion, that sense that he wants there to be a better world, but he just doesn't know how to do it, and fears to let anyone have enough freedom, lest Ruin influence them into a successful plot to destroy him. (oh wait, yeah, book 1 was the actual antagonist tricking the protagonists into killing the one man who actually had a plan to stop him. ^_^)

[@metzyahrosenstein4827]

Shouts out Turkish Delight, respect.

[@mercury2110]

Always so informative and inspiring❤ I eagerly await your videos because they help me out so much with a story I am writing - thank you. Also the beginning and ending were absolutely perfect🤣👍

[@akseedrake1969]

legit, i've learned more about writing from you than most of my teachers in the last decade. you're a blessing, thank you for these, my writer friends and i love them

[@MiaNena545]

"I am your sixth brother, twice removed." 😆 I didn't even know I had a fourth and fifth. 😆

[@glorysky1998]

"50% more dead protagonists parents" Disney is that you?

[@sempersolus5511]

At a Dark Lord convention? Probably.

[@robinsprung207]

Great video! Very informative!

[@friend_trilobot]

Your insight is really helpful. I have a pure evil villain (a winter solstice demon that kidnaps and consumes people) and though they have important character development in a sequel, I realized the reason they are pure evil in this one is bc the hero is tremendously flawed and struggles with evil in his own ways - and struggles with shame when he sees he is like the villain in some small ways. Its helpful to see why that's ok, and even a good dynamic.

[@joshobrien3467]

Imagine thinking Palpatine would answer to Voldemort

[@AGD_AwkwardGameDev]

The Ol'Creamy Sheev ain't answering to anyone, and especially not to a noseless virgin.

[@kwasibrew8072]

Akwardgamedev I just don’t understand. Who couldn’t say no that smile, that nose, that smile.

[@AGD_AwkwardGameDev]

@@kwasibrew8072 Maybe, but when it comes to Sex appeal, the Chancellor has the high ground on Voldy

[@ClintEPereira]

Do you really think Palpy would put together powerpoints? Organize who brings the coffee/donuts that week? That's more of a Voldemort thing.

[@AGD_AwkwardGameDev]

@@ClintEPereira I mean you have to remember, Palps was a politician. So he had to start from somewhere. Maybe he used to do design campaigns for the Naboo senators. Maybe he had to give food to homeless Gungans and help out Wookies at Life Day to have more votes. Voldy is more of upper management kind of guy. He will keep on talking about his master project, but first, he's gotta tend to his pet and write in his Diary

[@d1g1t0r]

"And those who resist me shall be crushed beneath my deliciously fashionable butt-" And cut! Thats the episode folks

[@alejandroganfornina8679]

I love your long, rich and complex videos¡

[@the_well-known_stranger2275]

We did it Daniel, we got Tim to read Wheel of Time!!!

[@munku121]

Nice OUAT reference. :). Hated Regina/Evil Queen. Loved Rumplestiltskin. And, LOATHED Mila and/Hook.

[@matt_9112]

Harry Potter books: Molly Weasly v Bellatrix Lestrange > Harry v Voldemort, 50% for the reasons you mentioned, 50% due to seeing a cliché motherly character going full lioness and being pushed to the breaking point, honestly didn't expect that although it fits really well (Molly being always shown as deeply caring for her family and being a competent witch).

[@NobodyC13]

It was also a foil battle between Molly's motherly love for her children and their friends compared to Bellatrix's fanatical love for Voldemort and the Death Eater cause.

[@matt_9112]

@@NobodyC13 exactly. I think that falls under the "minion" part from the video, since they both basically embody the concepts the two mains stand for, compassion/love and cruelty/hatred.

[@Frostgnaw]

Arthis Menethil was a well done dark lord as well. There's a dungeon where you literally have to run away from him as he slowly creeps towards you, killing you if he reaches you.

[@thewayiseeful]

Loved the wheel of time reference! I'm currently reading it for the first time (not done yet, i'm in book 5) and absolutely in love with the worldbuilding and happy that the "dark one" is actually shown as a motive or vessel for our phisically existent villains!

[@Dalenthas]

The Mistborn Trilogy actually has 3 Dark Lords, one in each book. SPOILERS The Final Empire: The Lord Ruler, obviously. He wasn't an active villain and didn't have a sub villain, mostly because of the structure of the story as a mystery / heist. The Well of Ascension: Straff Venture. He went with the personal connection and sub boss tropes pretty hard. The Hero of Ages: Ruin. Interestingly enough, the two plot threads of the story each had a different sub boss, but the more important one was obviously Marsh.

[@Ironluke_2001]

OMG did I see The Legend of Spyro in there?

[@ukenfuknfriends]

about my dark lord: He literally lives in a world below the actual world in which the story takes place, his army emerges in a market square with his super minion somewhere in the front lines. His army gets kinda trapped there due to some geographical issues. He himself appears just before the seemingly main protagonist arrives. Kills that protaganist, A new protagonist emerges, the new protaganist fights him in an epic battle, which causes some shifts in the magic system (kinda similar to the male part of magic being smudged in the wheel of time), then gets dispelled from the physical world, his army re-emerges a couple hundred years later to fuck shit up and do the basic dark lord things. I did not think about how I would kill him, or if I will kill him at all.

[@user-iy7mf2pw9s]

I don't like it but i am gonna steal it for my book, thank you!

[@ukenfuknfriends]

@@user-iy7mf2pw9s let me know when you wrote it, would love to see how you expand on this one.

[@lukewright3943]

I really love this channel. Always very well done videos with lots of love and research put into them. I want to be a published writer one day and love all the free information on youtube.

[@ImCassy]

Brilliantly written!

[@alexm-e4910]

Tim, Tim-o-Thy.... Tim, my dude, you absolutely need to write a full series of skits about the dark lord annual conferences. Please?

[@BowTheBoo]

I started the video thinking, "I wonder if Ozai counts as a dark lord?🤔" I guess he does. 😆

[@zyanego3170]

Earth Kingdom Propaganda lies! He only wanted to spread the wealth of the glorious Fire Nation to the other Nations!!!!

[@BASEnutter2105]

Awesome to have more on writing videos!

[@tactlesswordace9711]

Love these videos, I learn so much as someone who’s trying to learn as much as possible between these videos and books. 📚 By the way I have not got around to your book but I plan on getting it real soon.