So first; I am excited that we learned that ChatGPT is basically just
Amazon Echo Silver. Second, and more importantly, back to the discussion of villians. Its important to understand there are a LOT of TYPES of Villains. This is one of the major antagonists - and it seems Larian is going for a sympathetic villain archetype (Anti-villain) with this one, but there are a LOT of other options and a lot more villains in the game that will be very different and have different motivations.
This is me going back to my undergrad Literary Influences class - which was a long fucking time ago.
Here are all the different types:
1)
The Bully - Opposition to the protagonist is expressed through oppressive behavior. Can be sympathetic or not - depending on if backstory is explored.
2)
The Beast - This is an actual monster. They cannot be reasoned with and is popular in horror and science fiction genres. This is probably the most common type of villain we will face.
3)
The Machine - Basically the same as the Beast except they are lifeless, not capable of pain, or any human or animal traits. Basically the Undead would fall under this category.
4)
The Anti-villain - These are the sympathetic villains that have positive traits or codes of honor. They may have noble goals but immoral tendencies. Solas from Dragon Age comes to mind. I think maybe Kethric Thorm is one of these.
5)
The Mastermind - They are highly intelligent, they have some sort of evil master plan. This is a pretty standard and common type of villain. Its important to note that the mastermind wishes to defeat the hero on a mental and intellectual level and not through direct action. Lex Luthor is the most obvious. Irenicus would fall under this as well.
6)
The Fanatic - Ideological extremist usually motivated by religion or an extreme ideology. The cultists of The Absolute would fall under this one.
7)
The Henchmen - Not smart. a Sidekick of a greater villain. Loyal to the villain if not their ideology. Moist from Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog - but there are a lot of other examples, they are usually not particularly memorable characters.
8)
Evil Incarnate - They represent EVIL itself. Usually no backstory, no development. The Joker I think is the best example of this sort of evil, although there have been graphic novels written that have attempted to fill in a backstory that does humanize him. Sauron from LOTR is a great example. They wear pointy hats and wave "we are evil flags".
Anyway, the point is we have seen a fair share of these so far and I think we will likely see all of them before the end of the game.
